the things i do for a grade

i am not a camping/outdoor-sy kinda girl. i love the shelter of a decent roof over my head. sitting at the dinner table to partake a meal that was cooked on a stove that didnt require continuous pumping.  ilike sleeping on a bed with a mattress above ground and see the ceiling when i look up.

so what was my 10-year-old self doing camping at the school grounds, sleeping on the floor inside the classroom, smelling of floor wax? i needed it for my grade.  aah, the things you'd do to pass a subject. this was for P.E. aka gym class.  yes, i suck at any physical activity. so to veer away from being the only girl who would flunk gym class and escape the wrath of my parents, i signed up to camp at the school grounds.

several activities were lined up: games, cheering contest, poached egg cooking contest. but first, let's address the issue on why we were camping on school grounds and not on decent camp grounds. it's because none of us, including our so-called camp masters know how to really camp in the wilderness, devoid of any modern-day comfort.  i think the last time my teachers/chaperones ever went on a real camping trip was in their childhood, and it shows. i dont think they would ever be able to defend us from wild animals. so, for everyone safety and their sanity, they opted to camp inside the classroom, which was no different from a sleepover.

back to the exciting activities in store: parlor games, cheering contest, poached egg eating contest.  i dont know why there's a contest for the prettiest poached egg, when none of us has ever eaten a poached egg, much less cook one. at some point, i grabbed the egg from one of the girls and cracked it open on boiling water. mind you, the boiling water was in a pot.

night came and soon, it was time for lights out. as a group, we hurried to the john to do our business. it was then that i realized that i would not be able to take a bath in the morning. great.  as i lied down on the cold hard floors, i wondered what the hell was i doing there.  oh yeah, the grades.

in the morning, as i ate pork and beans from a can and very-soft-almost-porridge-in-consistency rice (the assigned cook didnt know how to cook), i pondered if it was all worth it. i also promised myself that i'll strive better in schoolwork so i wont have to worry about my grades again. come to think of it, i just wanted a higher grade. i wasnt failing or anything.

it was quite a memorable experience. needless to say, it was the only camping trip i ever went to.