At first, I thought this camp would not be fun as I heard that there were many boring activities. However, when we boarded the bus to bring us to Camp Christine, I was feeling excited and thought that this would be a good departure from a normal dreary school day.
The camp did not start out on a good note as we were one of the first classes to arrive and we had to wait in the baking sun for the other classes to arrive. We tried various means to keep our bodies from the burning rays but they were not very effective.
After the camp briefing, the first thing we had to do was to pitch our tents. We were given a demonstration by the trainers, then we had to do it on our own. We had a nasty shock when we found a pair of socks and a hairclip inside our tent but we were even more surprised at seeing toads around our tent.
After that, we had our first activity, rafting. We had to build our own rafts from logs, four rubber tyres and ropes. Each of us had a go at sitting on the raft and in the midst of all the spraying of water at each other, Shintaro lost his glasses as he tried to dodge water being splashed at him. It was disappointing to know that although most of us comforted him, there was a few boys that took advantage of the situation and made fun of him.
We had our Nature Discovery after that, where we walked around the campsite looking for leaves, plants and insects. Then, we had Trekker's Challenge where a student was to walk on a rope supported by the rest of us. I found it rather fun, if not dangerous and painful as one of the students stepped on my hand while trying to make his way around the rope. After that, we had Space Odyssey where we did some activites which I found kind of boring.
Night came and after dinner, we had a Blind Man's Trail where we walked around the campsite blindfolded. I felt vulnerable as you had to trust the person leading you and you never know what the next step is going to be like. After that was supper and to hit the sack, or rather, tent. It was uncomfortable as we had eight people in a tent and you couldn't really move without hitting the person next to you. We felt like sardines in a can.
The next morning, our first activity was outdoor cooking where we cooked apple cinnamon, sausages and some dough. We got to ate what we cooked and surprisingly, it was relatively good! We never knew we were such good cooks. Next, we had low elements where we had to swing across a rope and build a bridge from logs over "water". This was fun as it required teamwork and support from your friends.
However, it started to rain before the next activity, Mad Max could begin so we had to do it indoors. This activity wasn't fun as we did it in a confined area and we had to form objects with our body, which to me doesn't make much sense. After that, we had Gladiator Challenge where we were to build catapults to launch water bombs at a target. This failed miserably as neither team could even get the bomb flying towards the target!
Finally, we had, to me, to do the most dreaded activity of all, Nature Ramble. This involved walking in a mud pit with mud up to your shin. We used the mud to draw on our friends' shirts and faces. Though it was fun, I did not like the washing up and the feeling of mud all over me. Our shoes were ruined and many, if not all threw their shoes away after that.
After dinner, we had the most fun activity of all, the campfire! We performed our class cheer in front of everyone and the trainers even played many of our favourite songs and Mrs Lucy Toh finally declared us
mature enough to earn our long pants, much to the delight of everyone. The trainers kept us entertained until it was time for reflection. After that, it was bed, no, tent time again and day two had passed in the blink of an eye. How ironic! The camp was ending just as I was starting to enjoy it.
The following morning, we had breakfast before doing area cleaning and taking down our tents. Soon, it was time for camp debrief. We had a surprise as our class was chosen for the best group and our prize was a "PSP", which in fact was a notebook. Three days had gone by like three hours and as I left the campsite, I felt rather sad about breaking camp. I never thought I was going to feel this way but in fact I really liked the camp, and unlike many people who came to the camp for the sake of the long pants, I came and enjoyed myself, despite my initial mindset and the many drawbacks such as the dirty toilets and small halls. This was a good opportunity to get to know my classmates better and to know how well we bonded together as a class.
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