Day 3- Swims 2&3 and Trivia with the Aussies

Kaylee

"Water Feeding" (Happy Father's Day Dad)

Today we woke up, ate breakfast and then of course went in the water to swim. But you see, it wasn't just any ordinary swim. We practiced "feeding" in the water. Dan and Paul, Chloe's husband, stood on a bridge and when we swam to the end where they sent buckets down with cups with hot water in them. I for sure noticed a difference. I was super stoked when I found out we can be given hot water to drink while were in the channel. Zombie A got to step aboard and check out the boat they would be using... small. We also met the Australian team and had a trivia competition with them. Zombie B lost by half a point because THE OTHER TEAM HAD AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways, they sure are different. Shout out to my dad: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!! YOU DA BOMB!!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!! I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.

Noah

Cold ocean and windy day

Today, we ate breakfast and swam near the docks. I was thinking I can't do this because of the cold water. We swam towards the end of the docks and we drank hot water to help us get warmer and warmer. I was freezing from the cold ocean and the wind. After we swam, we got into the sauna to help us get warmer. I took a shower after we got out of the sauna. We were trying to find an ATM machine to get more pounds. When I put my credit card in the ATM, the pound cash didn't come out because there something wrong with the bank. We got back to the hotel and we ate lunch with the Australian swimming team. We said hello and shook their hands. After we ate lunch, we went to the docks with the boats we're going in for the English Channel. We got back to the beach and some Zombie Patrol students swam the cove and some students stayed on the beach. I also stayed at the beach because I was thinking I can handle myself in cold water. Tomorrow morning, we're swimming at 7 o'clock. We don't know if we're swimming the English Channel on Thursday because there is a storm in the Channel.

Lauren

America vs. Australia 

I arose at 8 AM, ate a very hearty breakfast, and then headed down to the pebbles on Dover beach to swim for the first time today. My swim was great and refreshing. Apparently, I was the only one who thought the water was refreshing. After eating lunch, we met up with the Australian team who described us as "special." I guess it is pretty easy to tell that we're not exactly the average Joe. Oh! and I almost forgot. Before I got in the water, I touched some bird poop thinking it was a really interesting rock. Whoops! I guess I was wrong. Anyways, Happy Fathers Day, dad. I love you and miss you. You are a pretty cool dad.

Parth 

Trivia with the Aussies

My somewhat lackluster awakening can be attributed to a mixture of a conspicuous lack of sleep and a poor choice of clothing to wear to bed.  Whatever the cause, this morning I woke tired and my bones and tissue awoke slowly throughout the course of the day.  Later in the day, we swam, and 58 degree water tends to wake one up quickly.  I managed to keep up with the majority of the slower crowd for 2 lengths of the portion of the wall that we were swimming against.  After that period of time, I fell behind.  Today was unique in that there was a second swim after the first, which I decided not to participate in, with about 60 percent of the Zombie team.  An unfortunate side effect of yesterday's swim was that I broke my glasses when they fell off the counter next to the shower, and I stepped on them soon after I finished showering. After this, we went to dinner, and trivia night, against the Australians.  We unfortunately lost against the Aussies, though Zombie B was second to first.  To end my day, I will wish my father a happy father's day, and goodbye to everyone.

Diana

"FUN" swim

Today I woke up not feeling so well. I had a sore throat and then I ate a big breakfast. We swam today in the morning for about 30 minutes. It was not as cold and I could have swam for longer. We took a break and then we checked out our boat which was cool and more roomy than I thought. We then went in for a second time which was not the most fun. I swam because I wanted to keep on eye on Cheryl. When we got out I was shivering and had to get in the shower for 30 minuets. After that we went to dinner and then played trivia with the other team that we met. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! I love you dad and papa.

Wesley 

Full and Happy

Today I woke up and I had a great English breakfast. Then we went swimming, the water was freezing cold. Then we went for a walk and I had a very good time. Then we met the Australian swim team. I had a great age appropriate conversation with the guys. They thought I was a great guy. Then we had lunch, and then went to see our boats, they look nice. Then we had dinner. I was having a hard time making friends at the dinner table, so I went to Jon, and he made me feel better. He makes the difference of everything. Dad I wish you a happy father's day. On this trip I feel so free and independent. I hope this trip will give me more growth.

Zack Irvine

Today is June 21, 2015

Today I did a few exciting things. First we of course swam a little and ate a little of break fast and dinner. When I woke up today, I was relieved to get out of my room in which my roommate kept farting and making it a gas chamber. Moving along, we got to see our very small tiny petite boat, the Louise Jane and the pilots of the boat. During which, we got to see the Australians, which was cool. Ending with a trivia and my team, ZOMBIE A, got last place woohoo, clap clap clap. Happy fathers day. End of blog.

Paul 

Nail Filer

Today I woke up and went downstairs to get breakfast with Zach. We went swimming right afterwards, which was colder than yesterday's swim. The mud at the bottom of the channel was squishy and odd to walk over. A small group of us followed this swim with a trip to the bureau de change, where we exchanged our dollar bills for pounds. I used my TI-84 to make a program to convert dollars to pounds, which unfortunately was developed after everyone bought stuff. I bought a Kinder chocolate bar for 1 pound. The exchange rate is 1.65 for dollars into pounds, so do the math yourself. Matt, Parth, Zach and I skipped stones with two other English boys, around our age. A lot of us got some pretty good skips. I haven't received any emails from Josh, who is a friend that I want to meet.

CJ

Day 3

After waking up several times in the middle of the night bathed in my own sweat, I went down for breakfast. Afterward, we were immediately required to get prepared for swimming. Our swim took us to a new beach where I discovered that the water was shallow enough for me to walk a good 50-70 yards before actually having to swim. Our workout was to simply swim to the end of a pier, get hot water in buckets and swim to shore twice. After this easy workout, I decided to beat Zach in several games of speed. Then several of us went into town to explore and exchange money. It’s…really not that exciting. But there’s a KFC. When we returned, we got our first chance to meet the Australian team and see our boats, or at least, Zombie A’s boat. Then, finally, we had a rigged trivia match. So yeah. I would love to take this opportunity to thank my Dad for all that he has done to help the team and I, and that he could make the difficult arrangements to fly the family all the way out to support us. Happy Father’s Day.

Betzi

This is the title because I can’t think of a title.

Our first workout this morning was not very challenging (what was assumed to take us an hour took thirty minutes), so Cheryl decided that she was going back for more in the afternoon. And, of course, Maddy, Diana, and I couldn’t let her go in alone. I spent the hour looking up at the green-topped white cliffs on the shore in between strokes and wondering what would happen if we attempted to rockclimb the cliff face when no one was looking. So. The Australian teams- John asserts that they “enjoy” our type of company, but I feel that “entertained” and possibly “disgusted” are slightly more accurate descriptions. They seem to be nice people though. Apparently Prime Ministers are the sort that come out of their school, a very elite and selective program…. We actually find this hilarious. Here are some conversations between the teams on the boat dock:

Other team’s coach: <snapping fingers> “Sit down, be quiet.”

<Australian team sits down>

Matt: “NO.”

Zach: “My ass smells like fish.”

<this one guy starts laughing like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard>

Other team’s coach: <quietly> “Is the American team ‘special’?”

Maddy: <holding up a flattened dead-bird pancake in between thumb and forefinger> “GUYS LOOK WHAT I FOUND!”

Faith: “Hey, it’s our dinner!”

Betzi: “Take a picture!!! What type is it?”

Maddy: “ka-CAW”

Betzi: ”<raptor noise>”

The Australian team: <looks horrified>

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

Without your guidance and wisdom, I would not be the person I am today.

 Maddy

CHERYL MAKES ME DO THINGS I DON’T WANT TO DO.

Today, we woke up to find two pigeons in our room, cooing in the corner. I rushed them out, easier said than done. We went downstairs for breakfast and we swam at 10 o’clock. We swam along a pier while Dan and Paul (Chloe’s husband) threw down cups of hot water. I must say, this made all the difference. However, it caused me to puke up my morning sausage. Ew. After that, my dad and I went to lunch for Father’s Day. It was very classy and nice. When we returned, the Australian team arrived. We were ready to swim again. Cheryl, Diana, Betzi, Dan and I swam for almost an hour. I felt good in the water, but when I got out, I felt the drop and had to get into my dog suit and take a shower. I then took a long nap. When I woke up, we went to dinner along with a game of English Channel trivia. My table came in second place. Now Cheryl says we have to swim at 7:30 in the morning and that sucks. Nighty night. Cheryl is MAKING ME STOP.

Matt

America is AMAZING!!!!!

I love my country, I love America, it’s the best country in the world. I mean, we have hamburgers, baseball, football, hotdogs, we are so amazing!!!! I mean, did you see what we did in WWII??? The reason why I am writing about this is because this is what I was thinking about when I was swimming in the ocean today. I did 30 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. I felt like a real marathon swimmer but not as much as the people who swam for 12 hours from 9 PM to 9 AM. How inspiring!!!! Happy father’s day to Bassem. Cheryl told me to stop so I have to go.

Faith

PIGEONS

This morning, I woke up to these two pigeons making very loud noises. I woke up Maddy and Kaylee, and soon after, we got them out of our rooms. At 10:00, we all completed our first swim. It was interesting, because we were dropped hot water in buckets from the pier in order to stay warm. Later, a few people went swimming. They did amazingly, and I was very proud of them!!!! GO ZOMBIES!! I have to wrap this up, but HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!

Cheryl

2 For The Day

Some of us swam twice today: Betzi, Diana, Maddy, and me!  It was pretty wild and cold!! Zombie B got second place in Channel Trivia although we all agreed we deserved extra time!  The Vaseline may be everyone’s choice and The Sauna at the hotel will be sadly missed.  We are now looking at 3:00am on Wednesday but you never know.  The food has been good and Dover is truly the mecca for marathon swimmers!  It’s wild to see how many body sizes there are for all of them.  Let’s just say Mine is NOT one of them. I’m pretty sure they were taking bets that I am not going to make it, however, haters gonna hate, and skinny women CAN swim the English Channel! ...or at least, this one can. All the students are doing well, a couple of sore throats, stuffy noses, and insomniacs. John is holding up well and has been in the Channel several times. Tomorrow is another two-a-day, and exhaustion is already beginning to seep in. Some kids are having crying spells, panic attacks, and nightmares, but all in all, it’s just Arch Academy in Dover. Keeping an eye on everything, and everyone. Shout out to Cooper, Karma, especially Buckeye, (Yip Yip!), and, oh yeah- Beth, you are required to go on the next trip!