"Want a 'men toes'?"
That was more or less the beginning of my journey of self discovery, 5 days in OBS, on a small island off our already very small island of a country.
My instructor was an extremely patient, flexible (I don't mean physically) man. He never once lost his temper, only getting rather disappointed when we were late of activities, or frustrated when he can't communicate to the PRCs. He wasn't the jolly, jokey guy, nor was he the sweet, nice guy. He was the medium build, stocky, strong guy, who I must say, has a very lame sense of humour.
And above was his first sentence to us. We were on the boat, speeding across the ocean, watching civilisation disappear on the horizon, and also speeding past the bigger but slower boats our friends were in. He pronounced, mentoes as men toes, not mantoss. And his first lame 'joke' was trying to call it 男人的脚指头.
So that was our instructor whom my watch spent the last 4 and a half days with.
Speaking of which, the last 4half days was an exciting experience. I had the not so false impression that this camp was going to be scary, tough, and torturous. My seniors had almost succeeded in driving home the point that my tent WOULD collapse, I WOULD get sunburnt, I WOULD have to kayak for 8 hours, I WOULD have to trek with a 20kg bag for the whole day, I WOULD get bitten by sand flies and mozzies, I WOULD have a harder time if I was in camp 2, I WOULD only get to bathe for 2 days... and the list goes on. But I tell you, it was God's wonderful grace that somehow protected me all this while. That list up there, for me, is so unapplicable. I am proud to say that of the list up there of bad things that could posibbly happen to me, only the part about getting bitten by mosquitoes applied to me. The rest is untrue.
The first night it rained, but my tent DIDN'T collapse. It (merely?) flooded, such that my tent mates and I had to squat for almost 2 hours from 4 am, not wanting to sit in the water.
I didn't get sunburn at all. I merely got darker, and HA in your face for the seniors who rather gleefully bade me farewell the last time I met them and cant wait to see how badly burnt I will get after the camp, because I diligently (but not obsessively) applied sunblock and wore sleeves, so I didn't burn. Yay to me (:
Kayaking was fun. We woke at 4 am to get ready, left at 7am, and reached our destination at 12, 1pm. Thank you God so much for the great weather and tides, as well as the 3 watches' determination and motivation. I feel especially accomplished for this because my kayak was the 5th kayak to reach land, apart from the 4 sea ex leaders. AWESOME :D
HEH. The trekking part, the bag WAS terribly heavy, but kudos to our instructor who noticed the buckle on my bag which was so loose, he helped me tighten it so much that most of the weight was on my waist instead of my poor skinny shoulders, and the rest of the journey was so much better. The best part was, we got a premium discount too. Hmm, better not tell too much! The quarry is AWESOME.
As for the point were my seniors said camp 1 was better than camp 2, I beg to differ, because on the second night at camp 1, my watchmates all complained and preferred camp 2, although it was more rugged. I guess this shows how newer facilities don't necessarily mean a better place and experience, right?
Through this camp, I really learnt a lot. Now now, we might not have done those boring old worksheets that require us to do reflections and write about our learning points, but seeing and experiencing things firsthand is good enough, or even better. I really learnt to appreciate the comforts of daily life. I'm not even talking about my phone, laptop, toilet, TV, fan, bed, or home. I'm just talking about tables, chairs, bathing, schoolbag (compared to their tent bag!), food (UNsquashed bread! hot water), umbrellas...
I also feel that getting so close to nature, getting down and dirty once in a while, is such a great experience. Walking in the rain everyday, washing pots with the soil and sand (although I didn't do that... I watched my friend do it. haha), pitching tents in the forest, watching out for wild boars (scary..), getting into the water with all your clothes and shoes, sitting on soil and grass and rocks... The natural atmosphere there is also great for having intimate converstions with a friend, even while walking across the dark helipad.
And back to self-discovery, I thought that my confidence level was boosted quite a significant amount. I never thought I could rock climb. I thought I would just fall at the 2nd rock. The last time I rock climbed was in p5 camp! But I did it, kind of. I climbed to (past, actually, by one hand.) the red line! At least that was better than my friend, who was very determined and tried many times, but only barely reached the red line once? And that was the harder wall too. I didn't try the inclined wall, though. Like kayaking, this gave me quite a bit of a sense of accomplishment.
In all, this was a fantastic camp, contrary to my apprehension before the camp. My watchmates were wonderful as entertainers, helpers, leaders and companions, to keep me sane throughout. There was a bond that we formed through this camp, and I think, the people who missed this camp for the June one, really missed out on all the class spirit business. Of course, they missed out on all the jokes too. HAHA.
You know what, sometimes you just can't help but listen to their bitching and get influenced. I always tell myself to see for myself, and not judge someone by what others say. But really, I can't stand that air of pretense and tension anymore. Awkwardness. Grumpiness. Impatience. Incooperation. What should I do now? I don't want to be hateful. She has her reasons too, right?