Oh no... I've not been posting for a very long time...I have been so busy with my never ending pile of homework (LOLx)
Anyway, i just attended a Guides skills training camp last Friday & Saturday. It was really really fun, although they were quite strict with us. It started at 8am in the morning. After we placed our bags in the hall, we proceeded to the field to pitch our tents and kitchen shelter n other structures. Just as the name of this camp goes, we really needed all the skills that we had learnt to build all these structures.
For the sleeping tents, we had to stick the metal pegs into the ground at a correct angle, align them with those of the other corners, and make sure that our tent did not sag, as we would be sleeping in them...
For the kitchen shelter, we had to get our square lash right, note where we put our different “木”, and get the angles of the pegs right. Our knots also needed to be very very tight, which meant we had to "chou 绳", so that that kitchen shelter doesn't collapse. The same goes for the kitchen dresser.
For the kitchen shaft, the "木" had to be knocked far in into the ground, and as usual, our knots must be very tight so that it doesnt topple over when we are cooking our food.
After lunch, it was time for our outdoor cooking. We collected our raw food and instant noodles from the canteen. We split tasks, and I was told to marinate chicken, under the guidance of my Yr 4 senior, while my Yr 3 seniors did the cooking.
The food was delicious!!!! We even had marshmallows and sliced bananas with chocolate to dip in for dessert!!! Finally, we cleared the place up and got ready for night OJ.
--Night OJ--
Our 1st station was the gadget making station. We had to construct a Roman Chariot within a given time, and transport one person from chair to chair. Our patrol was very "enthu" and we completed the task quite quickly, thus we weren't punished, YAY!!!!
Our 2nd station was the first aid station, where we were given a scenario and we had to tell the Yr 4s how what we would do and what first aid materials were needed. Then, we were supposed to act out what we would do. For every mistake made, we had to do some physical stuff like pumpings, sit ups, birdpieces(sp?) etc.
For the 3rd station, we had to run around the netball court in a given time. For every 2 rounds we ran, we would get a waterbag which we would need in our last station.
For the last station, we had to wheelbarrow 1 round around the canteen, and at the same time, transport our waterbags without dropping them. Then, we had to crawl under tables, also transporting our "precious" waterbags.
Anyway, our patrol won the OJ!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! IXORA FOREVER!!!!!!
The next day, we went for a hike in the vicinity of the school at 5am…… We were paired with Patrol 5, Kingfisher. We were tested on our map reading skills as we had to find out where the places were on the maps, using the grid references given. Although we were very tired, we still persevered.
Our last place was Macdonalds’, and we were the first group to reach there!!!! (Because we took a shortcut) After having our breakfast, a lot of us slept as we were very tired and remember, we woke up at 3.55am!!!!
After that, we played captains’ ball at the grassy area outside Macdonalds’. My seniors were PRO!!!!!!! Then, we returned to school to strike camp and “jihe” for evaluation on our gadgets.
Well, all of us owed our Yr 4 seniors 111 pumpings in total because of all our small mistakes, like leaving our pegs lying around. But our Yr 4 seniors told us to do a circuit of 30 birdpieces, 20 sit ups, and 2 rounds around the field.
Adding on to that, we had to hold boys’ style pumping position for 5 mins while our Yr 4 seniors scolded us. When we got up, we could see that they were about to cry…… Then, they asked us to proceed to have our lunch.
Anyway, I felt that I’ve really learnt a lot from this camp, not only skills, but the importance of punctuality and to have a sense of urgency. It is a good preparation for the Annual Training Camp, which will be tougher…