今日は七日目。最初の１、２日はとても長く感じられたのに、後半からはどんどん時間が早く経過して、いよいよ明日はみんなとお別れ。午前中は集合記念写真撮影後、大望のミステリオオリンピック。ブルー対レッドチームの対抗戦。玉入れ、つなひき、スイカ割りの三種目を競い合い、優勝はブルドラゴンチーム。
その後は恒例のLet's Get Wet! ただいつもと違うのは、せっかくプールがあるのだからプールの中でLet's Get Wetのイベントを開催しました。プールに浸かりながら水鉄砲を使ってめちゃめちゃ遊び、とにかくすぶ濡れになるのが目的です。
Cafe 101でみんなで食べるランチは今日が最後。メニューはすきやき丼。思い切り遊んだ為に、食欲も絶好調。静かな時間の後は、明日のお別れ会のリハーサルタイム、大掃除大会、個々の荷造りに励みました。その内容については明日まで内緒！ どうぞお楽しみに。
夕食は煮込みハンバーグにサラダ。そして最後の夕食なのでデザートにはアイスクリームの登場です。ミステリオでは美味しい食事をしっかり食べてもらいたいと、普段の日はほとんどおやつは出しません。だから余計に今晩のアイスクリームの味が新鮮だったのかもしれませんね。
そしていよいよミステリオ最後の夜を飾るキャンプファイアーの始まりです。キャンプファイアーデイレクターの勇さんが、今年はどんな火にしようかとずっと考えていてくださっていて、実際すっごく不思議なことが起きたのです。なんと、、、たいまつで火を起こすことなく、ビートのある音楽と共に火が自然に燃え始めたのです、ああーびっくりした。最初は雨が降るかもしれないという天気予報だったのに、雲の影から少しづつ見え始めたお月さまは、ブルームーンと言われるスペシャルな月の夜、自然の神秘さを感じることができました。
キャンプファイアーの周りでみんなで踊ったり歌を歌ったり、CITたちがカップダンスを披露してくれたり、ギター演奏があったり、キャンパーたちがこの１週間を振り返って感想を発表してくれたりしながらも、ハイライトはやっぱり４人（Emily, Sophia, Fuga and Wakana) のCIT３年の卒業式。恒例となったパイ投げも、もちろん実行され笑あり涙ありのあっという間の２時間でした。
Hello again from all of us here at MSTERIO!
Today, Friday, July 31st marked the 7th day of camp. Although this day marks the final days of fun at MSTERIO kingdom, it is also (arguably) one of the busiest and most fun-packed days here as well. Let us recount just a few of the days events.
The last full day of camp at MSTERIO means a number of memorable annual events. First, is the annual MSTERIO olympic games during which the camp (counselors and staff included) is split into two teams; red and blue. This year, the teams were named “The Blue Dragon Team” and the “Kimchi Red Team” respectively. After dividing into the teams, the games began.
The first event of this years games was a bean bag toss. Each team was to gather around a net on a pole; much like the hoops used for basketball, except that the pole was supported by a person at the base. A series of circles were drawn around the based of the pole so as to create separate zones for the campers, and counselors and staff to participate from. The first ring surrounding the base was the designated space for the pole barer and assistant; the second, for the junior campers; and the third, for the counselors and staff. The rules of the bean bag toss were fairly simple: at the sound of the starting gun, each team has approximately 1 minute to get as many of the bean bags scattered across the rings, into the central net. After one minute, each team would count the gathered bean bags and compare to find the winner.
As spirits were high and the campers were full of energy this year, the first round resulted surprisingly, in a draw. To settle the score, a second round was held in which the time was reduced to 30 seconds. In this round, the tie was settled and the Kimchi Reds won by 1 point, taking the lead in the games.
The second event was the much anticipated Tug of War. The red and blue teams split up to their respective sides of the the battle rope and prepared for war. As the blue team appeared to be relatively heavy in their male adult staff members, MSTERIO’s head Chef Josh and his Sous-Chef/Art director Anthony, took the end of the red team to help level the playing grounds. After a round of nearly 30 seconds of heavy heaving on both ends, the blue team finally dragged the red team across the center mark to tie the score 1 to 1 in the games.
The final event, the Watermelon Smashing contest or “Suika-wari” would be the tie breaker. Each team was allotted 10 watermelons to smash across 2 rounds. The watermelons were lined up on top of a blue plastic sheet, and each watermelon had a line of campers in front of it. The campers were to stand in single file in front of their respective watermelons, blind folded and with a bat. Then, at the sound of the gun, each camper was to be guided by the voices of their counselors, who would be their eyes, verbally telling them what steps to take to crack the watermelon successfully. The first round wielded more cracks in the watermelons of the blue team than that of the red team, granting them the first point in the event. The second round was decided by looking at the degree of the crack, counting only those watermelons that showed a well-defined split in the fruit as opposed to a few cracks or shards. After examining the watermelons after the second round, it was decided that the Blue Dragons again had more clean splits, thereby granting them the win over the last event, and consequently the games!
Following the games was MSTERIOs other annual event, “Get Wet Day.” As the name suggests, this is when the entire camp engages in water play and drenches each other in what ever way they can; a cool relief from this year’s hot Gunma prefecture summer. During this event, the campers use water guns, water balloons, hoses, pumps, buckets, and whatever else they can get their hands on to wet each other and cool down after the games.
Needless to say, this works up quite the appetite even for the largest of campers, counselors, and staff.
After lunch, there were many rehearsals for the various activities that had been taking place across the previous 6 days, (art, calligraphy, dance, etc.) as the presentations of each would be the next day.
Later was the camp main event: the Camp Fire.
The camp fire, hosted and maintained by Yu-san every year, is a hit as the campers and counselors reflect on both the week and on previous experiences, as well as plan for the future. This year, the camp fire brought great news of CITs graduating into counselor-hood, a counselor being accepted into university, a performance by one of the most veteran members of the camp, and many stories of companionship, new friends, and experiences at this years camp. Campers young and old stood up to share their experiences and stories with the camp, making for an emotional and memorable evening to wind down this years MSTERIO.
To make matters even better, that night was the “Blue Moon.” Legend has it, that every three years, there is a month in which the moon becomes full twice across the 30 days, and that the latter is known as the “Blue Moon,” after which the saying “Once in a Blue Moon” was coined. It is said that those who look into or up at that moon, on that night is to be granted good fortune and a flourishing love life. Who could have asked for a more fortunate occurence to help bring this years MSTERIO to a lovely close?!