Nothing in Particular

OBS (Day 5) - 11/01/19

Day 5

We woke up at 5 am in the morning due to the rain outside. One side of the flysheet was stuck to the tent and thus water was seeping in, making that side of the tent wet. I wore my poncho and went out of the tent in my slippers to fix the flysheet. 

After that, the 3 of us in the tent (I was with Deborah and Natalie) went out to the main buildings to look for the instructors but since we were blur, we didn't know where the Instructors' Lodge was. We went back to the woods empty-handed.

All that freezing cold and getting ourselves wet for nothing. It's fine.

Bo Seng didn't have a poncho so they were literally stuck in the tent. Well, unless they were willing to get themselves wet and run to the EVL.

Two tents from Bo Seng were leaking water so I had to help fix the problem. I'm such a nice person, I know. Totally not self-compliment, by the way ;)

The early morning was just like the one in Day 2. Camp 1 Delta had to assemble at the Expedition Court at 5.55 am. The only difference was that it was raining on Day 5. Everyone ditched their tents and walked to the EVL. Meanwhile, Kurt unpitched our tents and we put them in the ground sheet, folded it into half and carried it to the bench near the EVL. 

We then went up to the multi-purpose hall to assemble and Camp 1 Delta moved out and down to the Expedition Court. By then, the rain had stopped, but the ground was still wet. 

We did some games like Finding Nemo and Egg Immortal, whatever that is. I don't think they called the latter anything at all. Then we jogged to our campsite to do a sweep for tent pegs and any items left behind.

After that, we went to pack the Kurt Store and ended at about 10 am. We locked the Kurt Store for the last time and bid it goodbye. I knew then that I would miss it a lot even if it was just a room that kept our stuff. I thanked it for keeping our bags safe inside for the past 5 days in OBS despite how silly it sounded.

We went to OBS Jetty 1 (the jetty of OBS Camp 1). Ben said that people say, "If you don't do a jetty jump, you've never been to OBS." I really wished to do the jetty jump but I had no spare clothing and neither did the others. What's done is done and we can't turn back the clock to return to the jetty and jump there and then. I sincerely hope that we would get a chance to do a jetty jump together as Kurt 7-11/01/19.

We did some reflection and feedback on the OBS course. "This is the last time we would be sitting in a circle," Ben had told us. "After today, you would go back to your normal lives. But something has changed. You are now a better and more resilient person." It was when I realise that it was really time to go. 

We wrote a letter to ourselves which would be sent to us 6 months later. When I receive in 6 months later, I would probably copy it over here. 

"Remember on the first day when I told you that you shouldn't tell me that OBS sucks because you haven't experienced it yet?" Ben asked us and we nodded. "Now, feel free to tell me, 'You were wrong, Ben. OBS sucks!'" We all laughed and said the course was wonderful. It was bittersweet. In a few hours, we would not see each other ever again.

Ben returned us our valuables and gave us our OBS souvenirs. I was happy and sad at the same time. 

Time was ticking.

We went to the souvenir store called Outward Bounder Shop which is literally OBS in initials. This is where the story of Nithila continues.

Since she didn't have a choice but to return home from OBS, Brandon and I thought that we should get her an OBS shirt. We paid for the shirt which costs $16. Brandon paid $10 and I paid the remaining $6 since not everyone had enough money to pay. We kept with the story that everyone pitched in to get her a shirt.