Hey everyone :D I'm finally back from COALS!
Actually, honestly, COALS was not too bad...
Initially, as some of you can remember, I was dreading my life out for COALS..
I really wonder what made me feel so reluctant to go for COALS.
Was it losing the comfortable and relaxing days I usually have at home?
I suppose. All along, I was feeling uncomfortable, there was something nagging at the back of my head but I just could not point it out.
Anyway, I'm actually really glad I got to go for COALS. Now that it's over, I can really say that it was a refreshing experience, and I'm not lying. I have mixed feelings about leaving camp, part of me feels fantastic that it's finally over, while another part of me feels really terrible about leaving my Gryphon mates and instructors.
Especially the instructors.
While I know I will miss Gryphon, I think I might miss the instructors more. I don't really know what and why, but it was a whole new experience with seniors being such good, sweet, lovely guides along this journey. I think our 3 (4, plus instructor Joey) instructors are soooo nice and I'll miss them :( I will also remember the 3 OICs especially instructor Shannen and our silly impersonation of her. (Actually I think she's quite cool -creepy smile- most people do) Perhaps the reason for my so-called sadness over the instructors is because there will not be another moment in school when we can play(?) or bond or whatever with them as Gryphon, well, unlikely anyway. :(
Click the cut below to read about the camp
Like I mentioned, I was so reluctant to come to camp especially after my first night home after the chalet. I seriously contemplated calling in sick, but I didn't. I remembered to bring everything this time and I told myself I wanted this so I had to just do it. After doing all miscellaneous and settling down at the camp, we realised we had to perform per-campfire-- meaning we didn't qualify for campfire. Oh well.
We went through low elements first, going in and out of ropes around a table and several other activities. Then we moved to "unstable" (I think that's what it's called). The idea was to go from under to over a (or vice versa) "canteen like" table without touching the ground. At first almost all of us thought it was impossible. and it was, pretty much, until Mr Chue succeeded, followed by our instructors. Unfortunately, I failed miserably and almost lost some limbs. They're still aching as I type.
Then we moved on to high elements. I haven't done any ever since p5 camp where we had to walk along a tight rope with 2 supporting ropes at the sides. I went up first for abseiling and it was oh gosh. High. Faith, trust and pixie dust, I told myself. Faythele, you're not giving up that easily are you? slaps self. With the ropes attached, I was told to lean back over the damned ledge and it was so slippery. Thankfully the high E instructor was encouraging and patient, which put me at ease.
Then, he talked to somebody and I froze and thought Gosh please pay attention and I didn't move and I just hung there and he realised and he came back to reality that my life was in his hands and I continued phew. Reached the bottom safely, heart thumping and staggering like the little scaredy daredevil Iwaswanted to be.
Moved on to the zipline WHICH WAS FANTASTIC. When I got up to the top, the instructor there was kinda nuts, which I liked and thought was entertaining. I think they're made to be like this so we wouldn't FREAK OUT OMGOMGOMG. Anyway, he was funny and just plain weird. Then-- THEN it was time for the damned jump. When I was good to go, I hesitated for a moment and just stared into space. It didn't register that he already said bye in a sadistic way. I jumped. I didn't expect the drop. The cable seemed so tight but there was a drop before I started sliding down.
First it was my heart that seemed to not drop fast enough together with my body. It felt like it skipped 10 beats. After that fraction of a second, I could feel the pressure against my entire body, before the best experience of my life ended.
Outdoor cooking that night tasted horrifying. I don't even want to think about it. Most of Gryphon swore we didn't want to see cabbage anymore. Then it was time for pre-campfire performances. It was rather crappy and uneventful. Lights out was early that night and I slept next to Pradeeptha. After some discussion about EL and wishing for the last day to come, we fell asleep. BUT NOT FOR LONG. I kept waking up thinking somebody was waking me up for sentry duty (hope I spelt that right). Then when Hui Zhen and Sab really woke me up, we went for duty with the 3 instructors. lalala
Morning came around and Pradeeptha gave me a card from Jasmine. Gosh, I'm so sad she's leaving. Pradeeptha and I almost or maybe teared when it slowly sunk in. Dear Jasmine, I'll miss you :( Good Luck.
The next day, we did some orienteering and I'm glad it's over. Truth be told, I'm really not good at knots nor orienteering, but the next activity of building a swing was fun. It was actually a success and we could swing on it. We played truth or dare again and then went for rafting. Crazy thing. Our raft fell apart in the icy cold water and I felt like I was in quick sand in the water. Oh, and I can't swim. So that was just so scary when I started to float away. Down and dirty, boy were we wet! Thank God Pradeeptha lent me her shoes. THANK YOU DEAR. Lunch was yummy but it made me think of home. sigh.
Next, we went on the high elements obstacles. The first challenge pole sucked. The dude there facilitating was, ugh. Just pay attention already. He was listening to Glee Songs on his phone and dancing along gosh. When it was time for me to get up and he hooked the line on, there was a sharp pull at my head. I thought it was the helmet cause it was gone once I touched it. Climbing up the pole wasn't so hard, it was the standing and balancing that was tough. The pole shook really really hard that it took me a while to get used to it. I was quite surprised by myself; at how I was moderately calm and still alive. I realised I was steady and no longer shaking so I sprung up and tried, tried to catch the trapeze bar. Well, a short person is at a disadvantage in here. I caught it but couldn't hold on, and my weak arms didn't help either. When I was unhooked, the dude was like: "Oh I know why you kept saying ow already" And he held up a clump of hair.
It was finally shower time. There wasn't time for showering after rafting, except, we weren't allowed to shower thanks to the rain and we couldn't get our stuff. So we went for campfire stinking ugh. Everyone wore their COALS shirt. Gryphon's was black with lime green words (which really glows in the dark, well, that's what I feel anyway) We looked cool yeaaah. I saw Esther and Michelle. Well, technically, Leaders. Our campfire cheer was awesome and so was the special bit for the OICs, except nobody actually understood the first 2 until we reached the most obvious impersonation, and everybody started laughing hysterically.
After campfire, we were reluctant, but finally had a bath even though we were really tired and it was cold. Then, we helped to finish up the leftovers as supper and didn't want to go rest this time. Gryphon is just incredibly weird.
On the last day, we had our final outdoor cooking and it was the best. Everything was well cooked and really fast. We were done way before all the other groups and I'm so proud :) After a hearty breakfast, we cleared up the entire camp site and made our way back to school. Gryphon won the award for best cheer! Wooo! Then we spent some time with our instructors, singing them a farewell song and taking group shots all in "appreciation" for the OICs. We did the impersonation twice for instructor Joey and for them to record it. :O Yeah, It was crazy and scary cause we didn't want to offend any of the OICs, especially, instructor Shannen :x
That was probably it, apart from random facts like, Gryphon's theme song is Mine due to our ability to "see" stuff and our cries of "I can see it now", our signature action is a sexy wink and our winning cheer was made during the bus ride to the Camp site.
Well, I'm really glad to be back home even though I'm aching badly and I'll miss everything. This was awesome.
No comments :
Post a Comment