CAMP! CAMP! CAMP!

Salutations everybody. Since some of you have been demanding for a new post, I will write one down about the camp. Besides, there are plenty of photos of the camp I want to upload. I'll write an account about the camp first, then post the pictures. Long post ahead, eyes be warned.

P3 Camp 2008

The day started with all Lasallians assembling in the halls in their classes. I walked in to the hall and as usual, 3G greeted me enthusiastically and I returned the greeting just as enthusiastically. Everybody was in PE T-shirts and either shorts or long pants.

Not all of them were excited about the camp because it would be their first night away from home. The classes were then re grouped into Groups 1 - 15. It was a messy grouping with the Gs being in various groups! I was in charge of Group 12 which had several G girls. I was glad to be at least in charge of some of the Gs. The rest were Fs.

Our camp facilitator was a teenage looking guy called Rasyid but insisted on being called "Crispy" for some reason. Group 12 seem to enjoy calling him "Monkey" though. I do admit, he sort of behaves like one, with all that jumping about and howling with laughter! We shared the bus with Group 11 whose camp facilitator is a Chinese name I forgot already. But her underlings called her "Round Mountain".

Wow, the trip there was ever so noisy! Crispy and Round Mountain were very energetic and exchanged jokes with the Lasallians. My G girls were of course packed full of silly jokes which I had to suffer through when I was with them (-_-") So they wasted no time in telling them to a very stumped Crispy.

The camp facilitators had funny names. One was called "Potato". He was the most gungho and popular one from what I have observed.

When we reached the campsite, Chief Mojo addressed us. He was a big man who commanded the whole P3 level impressively. No one dared to talk when he was standing at attention.

The P3 teachers, Mr Indra, Ms Bavani, Mr Calvin Tan, Ms Han Huaxiu, Mrs Amy Ng, Mdm Mary Wong and Mr Gavin Lee were all there, including extra teachers like Ms Mellissa Chan, Mrs Rosie Hoh, Ms Duan Yarong, Mrs Iris Ooi and of course, there was me!

The teachers did not participate much in the games and cheers and only observed from afar to ensure that everyone was safe and accounted for.

The camp was mostly about cheers. Lasallians learned a lot of cheers and games which taught them how to work as a team and trust each other. I walked to all the games where the Gs are and tried to snap photos. But then most of the girls were camera shy and those who were willing to be in my photos were the ever present Bryan and Shawn.

Speaking of Shawn, I was surprised to see Naveed and Shawn show such impressive leadership and showmanship when they led the cheers together with Potato in front of over 200 Lasallians! I was proud that G boys were up for that task. It took nerve and courage!

We had lunch and dinner at the campsite. Ashley taught me how to play this game where you have the aeroplane, person and rock which Lasallians from all over the school have been playing. When I finally understood it, Gs were screaming at me and demanding me to play with them just because they knew I was a beginner and were eager to defeat me!!! (-_-") Nonetheless, I complied and lost to many Gs. I remember winning to Skyler though :D

It was a great bonding experience for me with the Gs. Though I did not participate with the games or cheers, we had time to talk, play and of course the girls were endlessly teasing me.

When it came to wash up time, it was quite chaotic. I went to take a look at the girls' washing area and was surprised out of my mind to see a large number of girls bathing together and laughing and shrieking. I was surprised only because I've never seen that many girls bathing at once! :D I did not go to the boys' washing area because I feared seeing some of them without any clothes on.

When washing up time was over, the teachers were dismayed to find so many underwear and T-shirts left lying around. We were given the long task of collecting underwear and T-shirts... (-_-") I shudder thinking of all that underwear. A whole big pile of them!

At night, we had something called the Blind Man's Walk. This particular game scared some of the Lasallians because it involved being blindfolded and taken to other places far away. I thought it was quite interesting. I teased some of the G boys while they were blindfolded. They knew immediately it was me. The G girls were all grabbing on to me and calling my name whilst they were blinded. It was quite funny to see them calling my name when I was quite far away from them.

The day ended with another bus trip where I sat near Jojo and Divya, and Darren and Alex. Darren's glasses were quite dismantled so I had to borrow tape from Jolyn and tape it back. Like Harry Potter's glasses. I did not talk much then because I had motion sickness. I do hate buses!

We assembled in the hall and had more cheers. Several parents came to take a look. One parent actually bought four boxes of durians for us teachers to thank us! Thank you!

It was a long day. Lasallians were visibly very tired and sleepy. We had some closing cheers and then the girls slept at the P1 classrooms while the boys remained in the hall. The teachers were in various parts of the school.

I know some of Gs said they did not enjoy the camp, but all around, I saw smiling and laughing faces of the Gs and I was content knowing that that meant they at least had a certain measure of joy and laughter during that experience. I was glad I was there too, to be able to be with the Gs before I leave next week on Wednesday.

Now here are the pictures!

"I Wonder What's Happening" As you can see, the girls were ridiculously camera shy! I got a shot of Fernanda only because she didn't realise I was taking photos. This was during a walk from campsite one to campsite two.

"You Better Give Us Food Or We Will Eat You" Starting from right, anti-clockwise direction, Skyler, Paul, Fabien, Warren, Travis, Bryan and Wen Xin. These boys loved to be photographed. Especially the Buttman.

"HAHAHAH" Left to right, Anne, Sze Kaye, Nikhita, Shu Yi and Jie Ling.

"Wey, You Block My Pretty Face" Left to right, Pei Xuan, Fang Qi, Sindhuja, Song Lin and You Xuan.

"Take My Photo Must Pay Wan OK" Fernanda, Kim, Jolyn and Gina.

"Ms Hidayah, I Think I'm Melting" Ok, this one is kind of funny because Denzel was telling me a long and sad story about the weather being too hot and he was dehydrating and I snapped his picture.

"OK Never Mind" Then he realised I was snapping his picture and stopped telling his sad story and posed with a smile!

"The Weather Is Too Hot But I'm Still Smiling" Han Seng

"I Am A Pretty Ballerina But My Friend Ran Away" Fang Qi, Song Lin and Anne.

"2 x 4 = 8, Therefore Two Boys With Four Fingers Showing Must Have Eight Fingers Altogether" Bryan and Shawn

"Ryan, You Better Not Let Go" Ryan and Warren.

"Shu Yi Is Very Photogenic, Even Camp Facilitator Farhana Is Mesmerized!"

"I Am Not Like Other Girls, I Am As Pretty and Photogenic As Shu Yi So Take My Picture Ms Hidayah" Gina

"Oh Alright, You Can Take Our Pictures But We're Not Going To Smile For You" Sindhuja and Song Lin.

"Wait, Ms Hidayah, I Haven't Thought of A Good Pose Yet" Philip, Mark, Naveed and Skyler.

"Nikhita, I Think I Dropped My Shoe" Shu Yi and Nikhita

"Mark: Again?!"

We had a gorgeous sky in the evening.

It was like the clouds were on gentle fire.

"P3 Teachers Are The Coolest Teachers In DLS"

"Ms Hidayah and Mrs Amy Ng Are The Coolest Teachers In P3"

"Eh, Where Are We?" Some girls I don't know.

And to end it, here's a picture of blindfolded Ad'n! "I Wonder What's For Dinner"

I am deeply sorry if your picture is not here. The day was hectic and these are all the pictures I could take. It doesn't mean I didn't try to hunt you down for your photo. Either you were camera shy or you were in a group I didn't see that day.

More pictures to come for the party on Friday!!!!

About the party, it's not anything big since we only have two periods which Mr Lee has kindly given us. I got us pizza, cake and some tarts. It's just a time I want to spend taking photos and hanging out with you guys. See you on Friday!