Last week was our first night out under the stars as a group, and it was also my first time camping in the snow. It was an exciting and fun new experience and I highly enjoyed the day. We started out at the garage gathering tents and then made our way behind the horse farm once everything and everyone was together. The first thing we decided to do was put the tents up early and get situated before doing anything else, and afterwards the fun began. Each country had developed a group activity that was aimed to be fun, active, and involved some sort of team effort. We did all sorts of different activities, and some of which I hadn’t done in many years; such as the three-legged race and potato bag relay. We acted as animals in order to acquire puzzle pieces in which displayed our beautiful selves when assembled. We collected large sticks in an attempt to fully-flip the largest one, and my group one – no big deal. We stood on all different limbs during one activity, and had another in which simply entailed good old tic-tac-toe with a little running in-between each move. The activities were well rounded and unique, and in the end a lot of fun. After we got a nice sweat going, it was time for hell’s kitchen in which every group had to cook up a well-balanced meal that looked good, tasted good, and was good for you all within 20 minutes. There was coos-coos with salmon & veggies, asian beef and egg-noodles, chicken with rice and veggies, and the best for last my group prepared salmon with pasta and broccoli & carrots. Every meal was delicious and every group did an awesome job preparing and working together to create an enjoyable dish in the end. After the meals, everyone went back to their tents to finish assembling their sleeping quarters while those who were already finished began to tend to the fire. Everybody went out and gathered wood and helped to prepare us all for a night with a never ending fire. We sawed large pieces into smaller bits, and stacked up as nice of a pile as we could to get us through the night. Once the fire was going, everyone slowly began to prepare their dinners. I grouped with some others and made a nice spicy chili full of vegetables and beans, and was the perfect meal to enjoy around the fire. After dinner we all gleefully pulled out sleeves of Bixits for dessert, and I even prepared a banana boat with chocolate and crushed Bixits in the middle. We learned a lot as a group about cooking around the fire, as a bowl or two of water may have accidentally spilled into the fire and put out nearly half of it, but we managed to recover and be extra cautious how the bowls were placed on or around the fire. We found two sleds that happened to be left from the children, and obviously put them to good use with a little ramp action along the way. It was fun seeing sides of people that I had not seen yet, and I felt that throughout the night we became more of one big happy family. Michael ended up bringing out the pancake mix and prepared everyone around the fire a pancake with two banana slices and chocolate drizzle on top, and that was the perfect end to the day and ever encroaching food coma. After I enjoyed my pancake I had gone into my tent for the night and crawled into my sleeping bag. I had brought my silk liner and it was my first time using my sleeping bag, and I felt that it did a rather good job throughout the night. I woke up a few times and was cold at some points, but in the morning woke up pretty well rested and warm. We woke to the sound of what sounded like rain but ended up to just be large flakes of snow, and it was quite peaceful and a cozy setting. After awhile we were all up and assembled our gear and broke down the tent – in which we learned to never place under a tree again when there is snow or precipitation above as it will continually drip onto the tent throughout the day/night. After everything was stowed away, a few others and I enjoyed two nice bowls of oats, fruits, nuts and seeds before heading back to our apartments. It was a nice experience to pack up and prepare food in the cold first thing in the morning, and we definitely did an awesome job doing so. In the end, the overnight trip was an amazing experience and an all around success, and I look forward to the future trips together as the group is full of kind well-rounded people, and everyone is always full of positive energy.