Chapter Thirty-Four: In Perspective (~jinghan)
I just got home last night from an amazing camp. I shoveled food into my mouth, had the sweetest shower of my life and fell asleep straight away after that. But you don’t want to know what I did after I got back; you want to know about the actual camp, right?
I had just gotten home from my last day at uni before the mid-semester break, dumped my bag full of lecture notes on my bedroom floor and already I was dissembling my room tossing clothing into bags, trying to find multiple toothbrushes, (all while trying to have a conversation on facebook.) I had a mere 12 hours to pack for two consecutive trips: 1) I was going skiing at Mr Hotham with my family 2) I was going on a camp organised by a Uni group called the Kwong Lee Dow Scholars.
Well I went skiing with my family first, which was brilliant. We had the most beautiful weather, perhaps even a bit warm considering we were wearing ski clothing, but I liked it. The snow was very nice to us, the runs that were a bit icy in the morning softened up to a perfect consistency by the afternoon (after a day in the sun) and the ones that were a bit too soft in the afternoon was just right in the morning. So we managed to cover a really good range of runs including some black ones, and for the first time skiing felt effortless and relaxing. And in the evenings after a hot shower, I would zone out put some nice music in my diskman and just read.
I did some pretty decent legs of driving as well, including some very fast and some very bendy driving*. So after the ski trip I drove from Omeo to Bucchan where I met up with the camp group. I was a bit nervous because they’d all know each other from the train trip and I’d be a bit out of the loop. But it turned out that I didn’t need to be worried at all.
The camp was run by an international non-for-profit organisation call Outward Bound, and was in the Snowy River National Park area. We spent the first day learning to put up bivvies**, collecting gear, separating stuff that we would carry (one change of clothing only) emergency clothing and clothing for trip home and playing some silly games. When it was dark we stood in a circle and talked about what we considered outside out comfort zone like pooing in a bucket, keeping up with people who are more fit than we are, abseiling, not having electricity, being with unfamiliar people, etc. We had two camp leaders, and they talked about Outward Bound’s visions and aims which was to make us all realise theres more potential in each of us than we know ourselves.
Day two was a big hiking day, we had to pack all the food and we learnt to navigate using contour lines, and how to use a compass, the difference between grid north and magnetic north. You know how when you do hiking things sometimes the fast people are way ahead while the slow people get further and further behind, while getting more and more tired because the fast people stop only long enough for them to catch up and then keep moving? After a little of that, we worked out a system of putting the slowest people in the front and everyone agreed not to overtake anyone. After that we managed to travel a tight group, and gave as a great sense of team-man-ship. It also meant we could sing songs as we walked. (“There’s a hole in my bivvy dear Eliza, dear Eliza…” “If you need to tie your shoe tell a friend…” ) We did some initiative/teamwork activities and talked about leadership styles, and it turned out that everyone in the group were very “people” focused as opposed to focusing on achieving a goal in a timely manner so it was almost completely dark when we got to the camp site.
The food was pretty damn awesome, better than some camps where you get the food cooked for you even. I discovered the deliciousness of cream/yogurt soaked bread with jam for breakfast. You should try it if you ever have the chance. At first it was mostly the girls doing the chopping around the “kitchen table” (which was merely a tarp on the ground). But by the end we were teaching the guys how to chop stuff etc. (I caught this guy chopping the capsicum one piece at a time.) For lunch we had sandwiches every day, and there were some crazy combitions of things put into a sandwich (vegemite, tuna and jam anyone?). On the last day the leader got us each to take out a bivvy cord and sit in a circle – we should have seen it coming – they made us make, eat and clean up lunch tied together. Sounds horrible? It was one of the most fun things that happened. For dinner we had a wok that we put over the fire. On the last evening we were given a challenge: to keep the fire burning all night; so we had to set up a roster of people to supervise the fire. sitting by the fire talking at 2-3am in the morning was one of the most relaxing things I did on the camp, actually.
During the day we also did some climbing activities. We worked in pairs to climb this giant ladder, and even though not everyone made it to the top we all tried really hard and worked well with the people we were climbing with. “Success is measured by how hard you try…” is what the camp leaders told us. We did rock climbing and also abseiling. I was at first excited; but when I got to the edge of the cliff I was nervous was hell when I saw how bloody high the abseil was. The exhalation didn’t really kick in until I was on the ground at the bottom, but I’m glad I did it. It comes with bragging rights after all. Afterward I went back to the bottom to take photos, and the two girls who were scared of heights went last. I was holding my breadth hoping that they’d at least come to the edge. (They wouldn’t have forced us to go down but everyone was encouraged to put on a harness and at least go to the edge of the cliff face). But you know what? Both the girls both abseiled down! I think everyone was in admiration of their courage. I mean for some people it’s not a big deal, but it must have taken so much courage for them.
And toilets? As one girl said on the last day: “if you asked me at the start of the camp, I would have never guessed how god damn happy I would be to see the poo bucket when we come into camp.” Whatever awkwardness surrounding the idea that was in the air at the start was gone by the end of the five days, and we were all loudly discussing the matter of poo on the train home. (We apologise to the other people on the train). The sleeping bags were really warm and comfy. The first night I was kept opening my eyes at intervals and thinking “whoa! shit! trees!” but I slept so well every other night. We were really really lucky that it didn’t rain at all during the camp.
There were twelve of us all together. At the start I barely knew anyone’s name, and had seen maybe two or three of the people on an acquaintance-level before. But by the end I think I can say that I knew everyone fairly well, and was really comfortable just hanging out with them even when they were talking about bands that I didn’t know etc. I think I already miss them.
On the fifth, and last day, we were given some solo reflection time. And it was during this time that I realised how much the camp had changed my perspective on life. Before I went on the camp I was stressed as hell: about studying, about keeping in touch with friends, about spending a whole week of my holiday at a camp when I could have been studying to catching up with friends. But at the end of the camp what was on my mind was the weight of food in my pack on my back, washing my hands so that we wouldn’t all get sick while on the camp, putting up my bivvy properly incase it rained – rudimentary things that are the real stresses of human life. Everything else in life are things that we should take joy in, small things like having a toast on one morning out of four, or the feeling of success when you’ve hiked to the top of a hill. Before the camp I was nervous as hell about spending five days with strange people, but by the end I was feeling nervous about leaving them to face the other people in my life as the slightly changed person that I am now.
Anyway, so I got home, and had the sweetest shower in my life, and fell asleep straight away. In the morning I found my uni bag full of lecture notes exactly as it had been a week and half ago when I had got home from uni before the mid-semester break. And I laughed. Life’s crazy, but I’m ready for anything now.