The first of three weekend programs, each lasting two days and one night, will be held on April 4th and 5th. It was held in Namakusa, Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture!
The program at Namakusa allows you to fully experience the natural countryside while making full contact with fire, bamboo, mountains, and other elements, and experience the changing seasons with all your senses.
Many of the children were participating for the first time, and some found it difficult to let go of their parents at the meeting point. However, as time passed on the train, we could see the children's faces become more at ease as they exchanged sweets and enjoyed the word hunt prepared by the leaders with their new friends.
After arriving at Tobu Ashikaga-shi Station, we changed to a bus and headed to Nagusa. The children enjoyed the beautiful cherry blossoms on the bus.
And this time, thanks to the large number of sunny men and women, we were greeted by clear skies.
Our accommodation this time was the Nakusa Seminar House, which used to be Nakusa Junior High School but is now closed and has been renovated into a lodging facility. There was a schoolyard and a facility where we could run around to our heart's content.
After arriving, everyone ate their lunch together under the cherry blossom trees at Nagusa Chitto Farm. After finishing their lunch, the children climbed the trees, played tag, fed the animals, and spent their time doing whatever they wanted.
At Campship Academy, we value this "blank time" because we believe that it is very meaningful for children to think for themselves in this blank space.
The subsequent elective activities were a lot of fun, with the students going to the mountains with the leaders to collect wood for the drum bath, playing rope in the schoolyard, and playing pokopen in the seminar house (dormitory).
For dinner, we all worked together to make curry, and then we had the long-awaited campfire. We all sang while watching the fire, and the marshmallows we roasted and ate were delicious. Just remembering this time makes me feel cheerful.
The next day, we got to the main event: making pizza!
It starts with kneading the ingredients and making the dough yourself. Once the dough is ready, we finally bake the pizza in a real stone oven. Inside the stone oven, instead of the round pizzas we thought we would see, we found many other beautiful pizzas lined up, including star and heart shapes.
We also made pizza for dessert, and it was the most delicious pizza in the world. After it was done, we all ate it on a bench outside.
After having fun until the very end, we thanked the hostel, got on the bus and headed back to Shibuya.
On the way back, some of the children were asleep on the train. We had a great time right until the very end.
Unlike usual places, we spent two days surrounded by nature.
I hope that the two days where the children were able to express what they wanted to do and spend it as they pleased will become a spring memory for them. I look forward to seeing you again at Campship!
