By Judy Cerovski
From July 30-31st, the New York chapter of JETAA (JETAANY) hosted their first Summer Retreat and a small contingent of JETAA Toronto members decided to drive down for the weekend to check it out.
The retreat was at the Taconic Outdoor Education Center in Coldspring, New York, just north of New York City, in the beautiful and luscious Hudson Valley. True to its name, it was cold in comparison to the continuous heat waves Toronto was experiencing, which was a nice reprieve.
For a first time event, the retreat was very well organized and had a great turnout of around 50 people, including JETAA members, as well as families and friends of JET. It was a great opportunity to swap nostalgic Japan stories with our neighbours to the south, meet new friends, and try new things. In addition to great company, there were high and low rope courses, paddle boating, and hiking. Although some of the weekend got rained out, interfering with some of the planned activities, the group bonded in the main lodge around a roasting fire by playing board games and gorging on smores until the wee hours of the morning.
The retreat was a great weekend escape in picturesque upper New York State. Hopefully next year more JETAA Toronto members will check it out. Likewise, we hope that in the future that JETAANY members will also come visit JETAA Toronto, as they’re always welcome.
Photos courtesy of JETAANY