California Here I come or This One Time at Surf Camp - Camp America

When I arrived at camp I had 10 days of intensive staff training, which was mainly spent going out in the local area, getting to know the other members of staff and learning loads of fun games to play with the kids. At the end of the training we went hiking in the mountains of Julian, which was a fantastic experience.

Once camp started I took the kids for various games and activities including beach volleyball, basketball, swimming, tennis, football (or soccer as the Americans call it), drama, radio broadcasting, arts and crafts, fashion, dance and much more! In the evenings the whole camp would pay fun games such as dodgeball, Capture the Flag and Battleships. We would always finish up the day with camp songs, which included classics like Oasis 'Wonderwall', Phantom Planet ‘California', Green Day ‘Time Of Your Life' and Guns ‘N' Roses ‘Sweet Child Of Mine'.

On the last evening of camp there was always a celebration, which I was responsible for organising, each party would have a fun theme like pirates or popstars. During the day the kids would help to make decorations and come up with funky outfits to wear, and each cabin group e.g. girls ages 8-13 and boys 13-16 would work on an entertaining skit to present to the rest of the kids.

After all the dancing and energy filled fun we had a campfire, which was a great way to bring the session to a close. On the day the parents came to collect the kids there was always a surf contest down on the beach, to show how the kids had improved and how much fun they'd had.

For the three-week sessions we would have weekend excursions, which included trips to Universal Studios, Sea World, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Wild Rivers Water Park . At Universal Studios I had a group of 13 kids including a kid in a wheelchair, I thought this would be a major hindrance, but it turned out to be to the groups advantage as we got to the front of every line with our priority passes. At Six Flags Magic Mountain I had a group of Mexican kids, only a few of them could understand me, but that also worked out surprisingly well, both times I had the groups that wanted to go on the high octane rides, which was super fun.

Summer camp is a big thing in America , even at the campus I was on there were other camps running such as Christian Surf, Bagpipe, Karate, Cheerleading and Academic camp, in America there is a camp to suit every child.

American kids seem so much more confident than kids do from the UK ; the ones I worked with were all very sheltered and protected, compared with kids from back home. Most of the kids we had to look after were very privileged; there were kids from Beverly Hills , including two sister's who's mum was the director of Tiffany, they lived a few doors down from The Osbournes .

After camp I met up with one of my campers in Santa Monica and we went surfing at Zuma beach, at only 16 years old, she had a brand new Mustang, that she just had to beg her dad for! Her parents took us for dinner at a really nice place in Malibu called Paradise Cove, where we sat outside and watched the surfers and the sun setting whilst we ate, it was bliss.

During our time off a few of us went to Mexico, we drank Corona for 99 cents a bottle in the sleazy border town of Tijuana and then we headed down to a beautiful beach in Rosarito. On the Independence Day weekend some of us went on a road trip to Las Vegas , Nevada . We drove through the Mojave Desert , stopping off at Baker to check out the world's biggest thermometer, which registered 115 degrees Fahrenheit on the day.

We stayed in the magnificent MGM Grand, squeezing 8 of us into a room with 2 double beds, which we didn't really use as we all stayed out gambling and drinking till the sun came up. The whole event was ace and just what you'd expect from the man made metropolis.

After camp a group of us went on a road trip, we started off by going through Orange County where we lounged on Laguna Beach , unfortunately for me a big wave swept over me and took with it my bikini bottoms, which was incredibly embarrassing. Next we headed to Newport and Huntington Beach before moving onto L.A. and Hollywood . On the first night in L.A. we ended up in a motel in Inglewood , which is a pretty ‘ghetto' area.

We then stayed in a nasty hostel in Venice Beach where there were 30 people to one room; I hardly slept at all that night. We were glad to get to our hostel in Hollywood the next day, it was right around the corner from Mann's Chinese theatre and a lot nicer that our previous accommodation. We hung out on the beach in Santa Monica where they used to film Baywatch and went to a gig at The Viper Room's (part owned by Johnny Depp) on Sunset Boulevard.

During the rest of our travels we stayed in various motels and hostels, where we meet lots of like minded people who had been travelling all over the world. We used to book into the motels as 2 people and then bundle the rest of the group in when the owner wasn't looking, it was hilarious.

After exploring L.A. and checking out the Hollywood Hills we set off on our journey up the Pacific Coast Highway ; we saw some amazing sights along the way, which included Malibu , Santa Barbara , Big Sur , Monterey and Santa Cruz . We finished up on the West Coast with sightseeing in San Francisco and a 4-day hiking trip to Yosemite National Park .

After this I left my road trip gang and got an overnight Greyhound bus back down to L.A. staying in Santa Monica , going to see the UCLA campus and surfing for the last time in California . I flew over to the East Coast via Atlanta , Georgia . When I arrived I went to stay with relatives in a big house on Long Island . I then headed to the city to see all the sights of New York . I stayed in a penthouse apartment on the Upper East Side near the beautiful Central Park , where I went jogging and felt like a true New Yorker. I returned to London at the end of September.

During my time in America I met loads of amazingly cool and interesting people from all over the world, I learnt to surf and went everyday during the two months I spent at camp, which was a totally awesome experience. Camp America gave me the chance to travel, live and work in a totally different environment, I got to make new friends, develop my skills and have the best summer I've ever had, I would recommend this experience to anyone who wants a fun fulfilling summer.

America was everything I dreamt it would be and more, and from what I saw it was just like the movies and the TV shows I'd seen, I never realised that this happy, bright and positive place actually existed. Returning to the cold, cloudy and wet country otherwise known, as the United Kingdom was a struggle, I'm getting used to it slowly but surely. Bring on surfing on the sunny shores of So-Cal next summer is all I can say.