That was meant to be ominous for a reason.
Technically, it started fine - they arrived exactly on time, so we were happy. But then, everything went downhill. Following normal tradition, we had a 1/2 hour admin session, getting them to hand in snacks, sign the normal agreement and fill in the allergy information for the med bay and dining hall. The chaperones were not happy with this, seeing no need for admin, whatsoever. Yes, they had filled in the forms earlier, but it's OB tradition, alongside the back to basics - as is eating the food you're given. However, lunch was 'too spicy' for these westernised children, with many refusing to eat.
Everything just got worse.
As the trip went on, the chaperones began to take more and more control away from the instructors, leaving them unable to bond with the participants, and causing total communication breakdowns as the instructors began to resent them - one, for refusing to let them do their jobs properly, two, for acting as though they weren't competent enough to look after the children, and three, for pampering the children with no thought to the point of OB. The schedule constantly changed to fit around the time demands, and the food fits that kept getting thrown - with a demand for a second breakfast when the first didn't satisfy their tastebuds, leaving me to clean everything up afterward - drove everyone insane.
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| Their expectations of OB |
OB tradition was completely put on a backslide, thanks in part due to having a middle man who, obviously, wanted to please the client. Dinner attire was completely ignored, with shorts and flipflops worn, confusing other course participants following the rules of long pants, shoes and shirts tucked in (for the guys). To make it worse, after just two meals, the chaperones decided they couldn't trust the food, and went out, buying over 600RM worth of food. Camping at Pangkor, the breakfast menu saw them having an option of bread and jam (as standard), Corn flakes and milk, alongside Pot Noodles. Just to remind everyone, this is not a resort.
Even worse, the packed lunch of fried chicken, scrambled egg, rice and cabbage was rejected, because apparently four days of chicken is going to damage the children hugely, so our timings went completely loopy, with them insisting on the children making sandwiches, forcing us to leave nearly two hours late for camping. Owing to this, as the kids happily ate, the chaperones briefing them on who knows what, us OB lot were running around setting up their tents; later we cooked their food for them. The fact that we had to do rappelling based on who wanted to, instead of encouraging everyone, was apparently our fault, despite the fact that it due to them that we were late in the first place.
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| Back to Basics, at its best. |
That night, a heavy storm meant water and mud got into a few of the tents; the teachers, angry because we didn't wake up immediately, to help the situation, decided the children were very much in danger of possibly dying, that these tents clearly were not safe, and a night without enough sleep was the end of the world. Thus, Thursday saw us landing back in OB and watching, open mouthed in shock, as they sent the children straight to their rooms, and contemptuously walked away, leaving us 9 instructors to clean up - with 40 tent sheets, all the cooking equipment, 43 sleeping mats, 3 dome tents, 6 rations drums (3 filled with their own purchases, including kit kats - very back to basics, no?).
If you want to know how awesome the OB staff are, than the fact that 8 instructors not on course, as well as a part timer, just there for 5 days, assisted us for the 2 hours it took to clean everything up should start to make you understand. That Thursday, from 6 in the morning, until 9 at night, we had less than 1/2 an hour to ourselves - which was spent rushing around, having a shower, and unpacking, before lunch. That evening, we were forced into cleaning everything up from the BBQ, because, again, the children needed more rest, and the chaperones clearly couldn't (more like wouldn't) help.
What's ridiculous, is that I actually liked most of the chaperones on a one to one basis - they were interesting, funny and pretty nice. But then you get their complete disregard for the instructors, because they were completely focused on pandering to the kids - or really, the parents, because the kids seemed to have a complete ball, and kept offering to help us, before being herded away into the chaperones protective circle. Even worse, because of the fact that George and I were white, and Khaliq mixed with little accent, the chaperones and Navigate Together team kept coming to us for everything - yes, we speak the best English, but we have a Course Director for a reason, and not only are we not even actual instructors, just support, we're bloody volunteers. How the hell are we meant to know, or have the authority that they want out of this?!
I have never been so happy to see the back of a course; yet even as I say this, I adored those children, and when the chaperones, on their rare moments of not jealously drawing them in, were chatting amongst themselves, I had a lot of fun with the kids, encouraging them down the rappelling wall and along the rope course. But if I never have to do a course like this again, it will be too soon.
Mainly though, I state this: do not use middle men. They just make everything worse - hyping up expectation, changing boundaries and tradition to suit their needs, and causing miscommunication with the need for 3 point contact.
There is so much more I could say about this course, but I feel like there's only so much of a rant you, as a reader, can take before wanting to possibly kill yourself (or me), so I shall end on the note that while the course was stressful, their leaving saw the biggest smiles and happy dances I have ever had the pleasure to participate in - so maybe it was good for something after all.
Emily
