First Day of Summer Camp!

First Class of Summer Camp
On the 20th of December, the first lesson for Fo Guang Shan New Zealand Summer camp was conducted. During the class, Venerable Rulian set out the mannerisms and etiquette of the Temple which were expected of the camp participants, as well as imparted the wooden board hitting sequences to them. Although the contents of the class were fresh and foreign to many of the participants, the youths concentrated hard with focus and determination to learn the way of life at the Temple.

During the lesson, responsibilities were assigned by nomination and vote, namely class leader and room leaders. Although it the first time for some participants to have a chance to become a leader, many were willing to give it a go. This illustrates that the youths have come to the camp equipped with the attitude to learn about Buddhism, give everything a go, and learn as much as they can to make the most out of 2008 Summer Camp.

From the class, participants learnt how to walk, sit and stand elegantly, as well as how to eat, greet each other and behave in the Shrines and classrooms.

Youths Cleaning Session for the First Day
Under the guidance of Venerable Abbess Manshin, the participants of Fo Guang Shan New Zealand Summercamp helped with many chores and tasks that were needed to be done around the Temple. Several youths attended to the bamboos and trees, where they discovered a few problems such as not knowing where they had water before, or how much to water the plants, but with Venerable Abbess Manshin’s presence, these minor problems were swiftly resolved.

Other youths were assigned to the task of sweeping the inside corridors of the Temple, and although the job was difficult and involved a wide area, everyone was perfectly willing. Everyone put in all their effort to tidy up the corridors, and by good cooperation, the job was done in a short time.

At the end of the working bee, the youths’ engaged in meditation and taichi – were part of the youths’ program - to allow them to rest and relax.

Account by Fan-Ping Chiang and Sheng-Han Lim