Fun and Games... Not really

Hi guys/girls. Maiden post here =)

A group I'm involved in (descriptions masked to protect the innocent) organised a day of fun and games, which I just returned from. Admittedly it wasn't half bad (although it was overcast and I didn't quite manage to get the slight tan I wanted), but once again it reminds me of why I hate "orientation camps", "day-o-fun" and other similar activities. Well, ok, maybe "hate" is a little extreme, just put it down as "dislike", or "do not find any fun in" if you are averse to strongly emotional words.

First of all, I like well-planned, well-executed stuff. Rules must be well-explained, and not subject to changing in the middle of chaos. Conditions should be made as fair as possible to all teams. Once this rule is flouted in any major way, I will shrug off all semblances of competitiveness and simply treat the activity as another Day of Fun and Relaxation (TM). I suspect this usually doesn't bode well with some team members and the organisers in general, because I tend to hear things such as "Why are you not running? You are the last team, c'mon catch up catch up!!!"

Secondly, I hate it when people tend to get overly excited and emotional. I don't like it because they tend to do stuff that doesn't pass through the thinking-and-logic filter, and such stuff is usually ridiculous enough to make the logically-thinking side of me break down. That in turn pisses me off and makes me overly excited and emotional, and I hate to be overly excited and emotional because I usually end up saying stuff that I will later regret. And when I have to try very hard to not be overly excited and emotional, it wears me out and makes me tired and sleepy and in need of a nice long sip of Ice-Blended Caramel at a side cafe, and since this is never allowed in the rules (for no good reason I can see) many parties end up being unhappy, which further exacerbates the overly-excited-and-emotional situation.

Thirdly, if any money is spent on such activities (as is always the case for freshmen orientation camps held at local universities), they are spent on useless activities like going to parties/clubs, water-bombing, buying carbonated drinks and mixes and stuff I don't like, need or want. Since such expenses can quickly add up to half the cost of a decent hard drive per camp, you can see how such activities would in all likelihood irk me even before I get started on them.

I won't deny that I had fun at the activity. But if you ask me if I could have done something more fun and enjoyable the answer is yes. Unless, of course, said activity happens to be organised by real geeks with real organisation and execution skills and involves a game of physical pong or something equally ridiculously geeky and funny, and not *yaawwwnnnn* yet another checkpoint game of treasure hunt, charades or any multitude of overused and overexploited activities.

[Disclaimer: As you discerning readers might already be able to tell, this post was written with a highly biased lens and is an exaggeration of the author's actual feelings and opinions on the subject (but I swear if an unknown stranger tries to drag me to such an activity I will strangle him with his entrails suppress all murderous intent with every ounce of being and, with a beaming smile of bloodlust politely turn him away). That part about needing a fix of ice-blended caramel is true though, as is the fact that all orientation camps cost money. I don't deny that such activities are usually fun for and possibly beneficial to most of the participants involved but if you want their opinion they are plentiful on Myspace. This is the other side of the coin.]