Memoirs of Chefoo (a trip down memory lane)

Manila. I’m back where I started. This time—not as an innocent, young and carefree lassie—but as a grown, independent woman. Here in Makati, rows and rows of skyscrapers mar the sky, men and women in their tailored suits scamper here and there, each minding his or her own business, traffic mocks the regular stampede of cars invading the streets. Life in the metropolis… it just seems so detached from nature. Where can I get a whiff of fresh air? I look down at my high heeled shoes and sigh. No running around Makati that’s for sure. =)

My mind wanders to another “epoch” in my life to a place where the endless blue sky meets acres and acres of green… where occasionally an eagle soars with its powerful wings and the air smells like grass and morning dew…

Let me take you down memory lane to a place called Chefoo.
(Haha! Drama noh? Cge lang gud, usahay ra ni =D!)

THE RIDE

My family traveled around for quite a bit when I was young. See, Mom and Dad were missionaries then, and where they go, my sister and I go. Shortly after I finished pre-school, we packed our bags and headed for East Malaysia where Dad was assigned to teach in a certain Bible School in Miri, Sarawak. The problem was, all schools in the area had Chinese curriculum and required all transferees to have adequate knowledge of the language. Since my sis and I didn’t know squat about mandarin, our parents decided to send us miles and miles away to a boarding school way out in West Malaysia for our education. To get there, we had to board 2 (or was it 3?) planes and a taxi going up Cameron Highlandswhere the school was located. And get this—we had to get there by ourselves! I remember we had these tags that read “Young Passengers Traveling Alone.” I hardly felt any pressure though. I was with my sister =). Poor sis! I was as carefree as ever in all our trips, while she had to bear the burden of taking care of me and getting us safely to where we were heading. Mind you, we are only one year apart but she was given all the responsibilities: cash, directions, you name it! (If you happen to read this sis, I want you to know that I appreciate it, super)

THE SCHOOL

Dozens of missionaries’ kids from different parts of the globe converged in Chefoo. There were Thais, Americans, Dutch, Koreans, New Zealanders, Canadians, Burmese, etc. … what a sight! The school was run by the Brits, therefore everything, from the education, food and way of life in the school was dictated by them and was totally unfamiliar to me then. Here are some of the things I had to adjust to that I can remember:

1. Meals – No more rice meals!!! I think we only had rice about once during my entire stay (levels 1 to 3). Everything had to be eaten using knives and forks and we were only allowed a maximum of 2 servings per meal. Dinner was served with dessert… my favorites would be chocolate fudge pudding, English triffle and homemade strawberry ice cream! Our dorm aunties were very strict when it came to table manners: elbows should be off the table at all times, serviettes should be properly used, and “please pass the ____” was a phrase commonly used to get hold of objects on the table that aren’t necessarily out of reach, but are just nearer to another person. No slouching was allowed, no boisterous laughs. Only prim and proper etiquette was observed. Grace before meals were sung. Out of a dozen or so songs that we used to sing before meals, I can only remember 2 of them =0! A gigantic bell that could be heard all throughout the school was pulled on to let everyone know it was meal time. We had to line up according to our dorms outside the mess hall and entered it single file when it was our turn. Very orderly. Kind of reminds me of military school (hehe…joke! That’s exaggerating it quite a bit).
2. Baths – Unlike in the Philippines where we’re used to taking a full bath at least once a day, there in the highlands, we took baths only in the evenings and washed our hair once a week using the sink! My sis and I have a good laugh every time we recall the shock of our first bath in Chefoo. We were made to put on shower caps to keep our hair from getting wet, then had to share a bathtub with another dorm mate while we scrubbed ourselves using face towels. The water was drained out only once every 3 pairs of dormers! The good thing was, the water was warm and there was usually enough time to dilly dally in the bathtub.
3. Hair – it was SOP to brush our hair 100 times in the morning and in the evening. If we get ready for school early enough, we could have our hair done by our dorm auntie or a fellow dormer who has a knack for doing hairs (like my sis). There were lots of styles to choose from: pigtails, crown, French braid (single, double, or upside down), ponytail, braids, etc. We didn’t use gel so “spiffing” it up (punk-style) is out of the question =D!
4. Clothing – We changed often enough everyday…. 3 times actually: from our pajamas to school clothes, school clothes to play clothes, then play clothes back to pajamas. But the same 3 clothing were used for the entire week.

SCHOOL

School was a lot of fun. I don’t recall we were pressured academically, and we pretty much enjoyed our classes. We had lots of activities, experiments and hands-on learning. We’d have nature walks, art class, research on wildlife and the different cultures of the world… I think you get the picture.

SPORTS AND HOBBIES

Chefoo was where I learned a lot of outdoor stuff. I learned how to use stilts, do lots of tricks with a jumping rope, do flips on the monkey bars (by the way, I fell on the monkey bars from playing tag while on it and sprained an arm), etc. On Saturdays, we either went to town to play in the public playground and buy goodies, or hiked up a trail and have picnics. Sometimes, we also visit a nearby stable to view and pet the horses there.

The school was located atop a mountain, in a clearing that was surrounded by dense jungle… the sort where trees had large trunks and roots that form stairs, where only tinges of sunshine could pass through the canopy of leaves and the ground was matted with soft dead leaves. There were numerous trails that surround the area….I just loved it.

A stream ran through Chefoo. If you look closely at the stream bed, you can see lots of shiny gold pieces. The stream runs through a section of the school known as “Adventure Island.” It’s a somewhat a child’s playground…. This is where the swimming pool is located and where an assortment of things could be done by a child (left to his/her imagination).

I remember making “fairy gardens” with my friend, Tara, out of moss, ferns, sticks and wild flowers. Sometimes we'd imagine ourselves to be great chefs and invented an assortment of pastries from the clay pit. We took turns on the flying fox (no time to explain bout this one) and played in the tree house.

On wet days, my friends and I played with mud.... while singing “Mud! Mud! Glorious Mud!” =). The mud felt really good then, as we squished it in our hands and made miniature castles and moats with it. We also had time for skating, biking, playing stuck in the mud, poison ball, capture the flag, and a whole lot more.

In the evenings, we had fun in our dorms crafting, playing indoor games, or playing dress ups. Sometimes, a bedtime story was played to get us all effectively settled in bed. I can still remember “The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Friends” being played on the cassette.

Chefoo cultivated my love of sports. The school encouraged kids to do lots of outdoor sports and held Water Olympics, Sportsfest and Mini Olympics (I’ve forgotten how often though).

• Water Olympics had events like the ball and spoon race, kickboard race, underwater diving, and all the strokes (freestyle, breast stroke, back stroke, etc.). My sis was a “born” swimmer… she got lots of awards. I just placed in the ball and spoon race and kickboard race.
• Sportsfest – All the students were divided into teams (My sis and I were always on opposing teams). Events basically include track and field sports (sprints, relays, obstacle course, long distance running, high jump, long jump, three legged race, etc). I joined most of the events… I didn’t join the long distance and high jump. Only level 4 students were taught how to do the high jump and I was in Chefoo upto level3 only Sprinting, hurdles, relay, obstacle course and long jump really rock! I miss ‘em sports. I never really got to try them again once I got out of Chefoo (except for sprinting).

• Mini Olympics – Teams had to create their own country, create a map for it, a national anthem and design a flag. My team’s made-up country was named “Austranada,” represented by the color pink. My sister’s was “Oringinelle” (I think), and were the orange team. Events here were cool! We had events such as:

1. Shadow boxing
2. Weightlifting – here, sticks with two balloons on either end were lifted by the players. The player which lifts it most convincingly/dramatically to make it seem so heavy wins.
3. Maria went to town – an interesting relay involving dress up clothes and a wheelbarrow
4. Pole climbing – balloons were popped that were located on top of poles. Some balloons contained water!
5. Boat racing – two races were performed here… on one hand the boating pond was used and paper boats that were made by players were raced by blowing using straws. On the other hand, boxes were used to craft bigger sized boats that were carried by different players in a sprint.

   There were a whole lot more but I can’t remember them anymore.

I daresay I’ve got much more I can write about on the subject but I gotta wrap this up now or I’ll never get to post it.

When I was shedding tears and homesick to the bone one night, my Dorm Auntie said to me “One of these days you will miss Chefoo,” –- and she was right. My sis and I left Chefoo after being there 3 years… I have wanted to go back --even for just a visit, but I haven’t been able to. Now the structure is still there, but the school is not. Home schooling is prevalent with missionaries' kids now, so the place was decidedly sold to a Methodist organization and converted as a retreat house or a camp site of some sort. There are only 2 people from our school that I’m still in contact with…I wish there were more but, what can I say? I was a 3rd grader then =).
Time to come back from memory lane...

I'm once again here in Makati. I've got to go home.. its 6:30pm. Adios!