Away from home for the first time

Over the weekend the young lady had her first overnight school trip. It was meant for the first formers to make new friends and to get to know each other better. It was held at an activity centre equivalent to our Taman Negara, probably with better facilities.

 

The young lady was placed in a dorm much to her dismay as her bestie got a room shared with another form-mate complete with tv. There were 8 of them and it wasn’t that bad compare to your average hostel back home. However, according to the young lady, it was cold and smelly. “It smelt like pee,” in her own words. I think they had enough showers and toilets as there was no queue in the morning. Lights off was at 10pm and the girls had to be up around 8am which gave them enough time to shower and have breakfast as their morning activity started at 915. Unfortunately her floor had no hot shower and she couldn’t be bothered to go to a different floor. Hence it was a quick wash for her.  

 

Among the things that they did were night-trekking in the forest, archery, water raft building and high ropes. I wonder why they asked us to pack torchlights as they didn’t even use it during the night walk. The young lady had a blast during the water raft task despite they had to carry it to the water, challenging for those with small built like her.

 

Food wise, they were delicious and her only complaint was the portion. I reckon that they assumed her appetite was in proportion with her size. Dinner was way too early ie at 6pm and there was no supper/snacks before bedtime. I packed some stuffs for her but by the time she realised she was still hungry, she was already cosy in bed. Cold weather does that to you. You prefer the warmth of your duvet than to fill your tummy.

 

Mobile phones were not allowed but as it was a first trip for some of the girls, they smuggled one. The young lady said they called their mum when they felt homesick and she envied them. She blamed me for ‘obeying’ the rule but I think she did quite well. She even comforted her dorm-mate who was missing her mum badly that she cried.

I must say that I was pretty impressed with her packing. It was organised given it was her first time and they had loads of things to do. Wet and used clothes were in different plastic bags and they were neatly placed in the luggage. Some girls just stuffed their things in the bags.

Overall it was an eye-opener for both of us. No doubt she missed me but she handled herself well that we both agreed boarding school is an option if there is a need to do so. I bet if we decide to send to one, it has to be close to a close friend’s place. Well, an hour journey give and take. Relocating at a later stage will be difficult as she has her exams, hence we have to consider that option. For now, let her enjoy the comfort of home and my cuddles.