Glenalmond '08

Right, I suppose I'd better explain what Glenalmond - or Glen - 08 actually is. Let's start with the obvious; the 08 stands for 2008. We clear on that?
Ok, lets be serious here - Glenalmond is a college situated in Perthshire (roughly 7 miles out of Perth, funnily enough) and every summer since about 2000 the Episcopal Church (there's no way on Earth that I'm explaining that to you) has taken over it and ransacked the grounds and its buildings. Basically, Glen is a camp for any Christian youth member who wants to go and explore more about their faith and meet tonnes of new, uber cool peeps along the way.
And the best bit is - for a Christian youth camp, Glen isn't that preachy! So everybody wins.

So what do we do there, I hear you ask?

Well, where do I start? Sunday is the day we arrive, and the camp begins when each diocese (churchy area) brings forth their own wee cross which is decorated by the youth of that diocese. There's six in total, I think... Anyhoo, these crosses are placed on one big cross and once they're altogether, then the camp can officially begin. On Sunday nights, we usually have a Quiz Night to get everyone into the swing of things - kinda like one big ice-breaker. Then it's night prayer, said back up at the dorms on each individual floor. Then bed time at some rediculous hour in the morning when a leader finally loses their rag with all the chatting going on.

Each morning begins with breakfast, and the food is pretty damn good. Nothing to complain about really. I mean, who could complain about the option of having a fry-up every morn? Everyone sits together in the school's dining hall and shares the morning banter - mainly people being really tired and trying not to fall asleep in their cereal bowls.
Brekkie is followed by morning prayer in the main theatre, and then Workshops. Workshops range fae Art to Drama, to writing a newspaper, to Music, to photography, to filming, to debating, to baking and this year even to comedy (now that was good!). Following this are our House Groups. House groups are...well...they do what it says on the tin really. All delegates are sorted into groups and its in these groups that we do our worship in (each night one house group will perform a short worship - ok, this sounds preachy, but it's actually a hip way of doing the whole religious thing, cos each worship is made up entirely by the delegates. This means funky songs are usually involved, and some kinda sketch, either funny or serious, along with a prayer and some kinda symbolic thing that involves everyone, e.g. lighting candles). House groups are generally....well, let's be honest, boring, but this year I kinda enjoyed mine, cos it was the top house group so it was us oldies and we generally had a good banter, especially seeing as we had ace leaders (including the almighty Bish; the bishop who runs the joint - he's just awesome).
Then it's lunchtime - more tasty grub.
Then a wide range of activities. Each afternoon is taken up by two activies, and each one is usually ace. You can find yourself spoilt for choice sometimes. Here are some examples:
Swimming (always ending with a game of incredibly vicious water polo where all Christian morals are thrown out the window and people claw at each other and drown each other in order to win a game -such good fun!), supervised snoozing (meaning a leader plays a relaxation cd and you can catch up on some well-needed sleep), knitting (ok, sounds lame, doesn't it? But it's a chance to gossip and in some cases there was even EXTREME knitting - oh yas! This involved knitting in the middle of a glen near Glenalmond - well worth signing up for, cos the scenery's just gorgeous), outdoor and indoor games (self-explanitary), climbing, and many more.
Following this is free time, where you can do whatever you want, unless your housegroup is leading the worship that night, in which case you have to go and practice for it.
Then it's dinner time - more food, yay!
Then it's the house group's worship.
Then it's that night's activity. It's up until now that every day has pretty much the same routine (yet it never gets boring, surprisingly - oh, excluding Wendesday, which is an amble, usually based on some random theme the leaders have come up with. This year, it was "Transylvania-shire" - tres contradictory?) Anyhoo, now it all varies fae night to night. This is the line up:
Monday - Ceilidh - always kick ass.
Tuesday - Murder Mystery - written by one of the leaders, it's damn hard sometimes, especially this year's one!
Wednesday - Question Time - basically one big debate sesh where everyone gets to put their point of view across about some kinda issue. Sometimes a bit dull, sometimes entertaining - a nice, healthy balance usually.
Thursday - the highly anticipated Disco!! Need I say more?
Friday - Cafe Society, aka a Talent Show, although this year known as "Show Time!" (has to be said in show-jazzy voice with jazz hands gesture), but some people thought GVP was more interesting, GVP standing for the Glenalmond Variety Performance... make of that what you will.
Friday night ends with an outdoor night prayer held in the quadrangle of the college, infront of the chapel. This is possibly one of the most beautiful moments that Glen has to offer. All delegates and leaders standing in a circle in the night, lit only by candle-light, singing together and being thankful for the amazing week that Glen has been. If the night is clear, as it kinda was this year, then a starry night sky just completes the scene. It's usually a very emotional moment, as it's officially the last night of Glen (and this year, it was my Birthday!!).

Then Saturday comes, and by 2pm everyone's usually long gone. It's like a bloody tear-fest usually; everyone's sad to leave behind the new mates we've just made, and the old ones we may not see again for the next year. And for those nae coming back, it may be a case of nae seeing them for a long time. But we all leave with happy memories, and as cheesy as this may seem , it's a nice way to end it all.

Of course, for us Elgin crew (or should I say Diocese of Moray, Ross & Caithness Crew), there's always the banter of the mini buses on the way back home to look forward to!

So, as you can probably guess, Glen is always great fun, with plenty of laughs and banter and emotional moments too.
It's a place where you can just be yourself, with no prejudices held against you for being who you are, or who you want to be.
You mingle with people old and young, and it opens your eyes to all walks of life. In a way, it teaches you to be more open-minded.
And perhaps the best part is, that even if you're nae the most religious person in the world (I'm in that contingency), it still gives you a little bit of faith - a faith in humanity even.

And with that inspirational speech out the way, I'm off to bed.