This past weekend was spent at Fort Drum, NY for a 400 person international airsoft game on the United States' Memorial Weekend. It was not a usual airsoft game either, it was an 18 hour Military Simulation on a US Army Base using their training facilities and eating their rations.
It was a great deal of fun, while being an experience to remember forever. Our friends down south were very welcoming to us Canadians (a group from Toronto, a group from Montreal, and a group from Ottawa attended), and gave us free guns to use during the game since we weren't able to bring our own across the border.
It is an amazing facility, about 1km squared of buildings, with another 11km squared of woodland and misc. structures/vehicles scattered around. They had a soundtrack playing all day of distant explosions, dogs barking, people screaming and yelling; they had air cannons going off that sounded as loud as real artillery going off...it really added to the effect of the game and got us as close to real combat as we would want to get.
Before the game we got registered for the event, received free patches and embroidered "kill rags" (red flags we put on our heads when we get hit, so other players will stop shooting at us). We set up camp, and returned to see the actual US Military MPs doing combat convoy training maneuvers in the facility, they drove in with their massive humvees, then 10 minutes later we hear m16s and .50cal machine guns firing off blanks inside the facility. Apparently the convoy was supposed to come upon a simulated IED, which was a propane tank that went off (very loud), it was very exciting to see the real army in action...without being in any danger.
All in all it was a fun weekend, and well worth the 2hr drive down...which was a lot less than a lot of American players spent getting to the facility...I also noticed some players from the UK and Russia at the game.
Oh and our team won, 5000 vs. 3000 points :)
As to the End of Airsoft, this game will probably be my last big airsoft game, I'm slowly getting out of the sport, I've sold most of my guns, and will be selling all of my gear and such in the coming months. It's not that I don't enjoy playing, it's just that I have other interests such as Photography. I may even return to games just to take pictures (assuming I can custom order a bullet proof lens protector). Depending on how much money is freed up, and whether or not I can get a well paying job, I will probably have to weigh my options on either getting more camera lens, flashes, camera bag, etc. with getting a Motorcycle...I think I've been influenced by Long Way Round, Long Way Down, and those fun excursions on Dad's motorcycle...plus almost everyone I know in Ottawa either has a motorcycle or is getting one. I'll probably end up with about $2000 - $3000 after selling everything airsoft related, and assuming I can get a job above min. wage...I should be able to buy one on financing (lease to own). That said, it's not written in stone, and I'll be focusing on school work and finding a job.
Back to real life, did some job interviews, waiting on being contacted about job offers, keeping my fingers crossed. I'll keep looking in the meantime, going to start asking some friends if they can give me a recommendation, and going to "suit up" and go job hunting downtown with Alicia. It's getting very frustrating not being able to find work, even though I'm applying to 10-15 jobs a week or more, I'm only getting 1-2 replies from potential employers.
Luckily, I'm not wasting all of my time, I'm going to Summer School at Carleton University...taking 2 courses (down from 3, which was way too much work in 5 weeks) from beginning of May until the end of June. Hopefully well before then I will have a job and will be working full-time from the end of June until the middle of August when Chris & Anna have their wedding in Sweden!
Enjoy some pictures from this weekend, unfortunately not by me...I didn't want to bring my camera along because a) I'm a foreigner on a US Military base; and b) I don't feel comfortable bringing a $200 camera with $1600 worth of lens and gear to a foreign country when I won't be with my gear the entire time (camping). Unfortunately with these pictures, I always end up being at the back. Points for anyone who can spot me. Hopefully more people will upload pictures from the game, I know someone took a direct picture of me...all of us Canadians really stood out because we were wearing Canadian Forces camouflage in a sea of US camouflage.
EDIT: Apparently blogger cuts off the images, click them for the full image at a slightly higher resolution. Alternatively head over here: OP PINE PLAINS 2 for a constantly updating gallery of images from this past weekend.
