the first steps
Orientation week started the moment I dropped my bags off at the Boarding House. It’s been an eventful week with a ton of activities, many friends made, our first boarding house party and living out of a suitcase before moving to something more permanent, here’s my story from my first week at UWCT.
Monday, 7th August 2017
After getting changed into my sports attire, I was taken to our first activity by Benjamin (Mexico) and Russell (another fellow Malaysian).
The first activity is a game held close to UWCT’s heart, Luib. Luib is played as follows: two balls are used, a football and a rugby ball. You go into the game with 5 lives, and the winner is the last man (or woman, because at UWC we don’t discriminate!) standing. The aim of the game is to hit other people with the balls, but when a ball is thrown at you, you must catch it. You lose lives by doing the following things: dodging the ball that is coming right at you, catching a ball then dropping it, running away from an oncoming ball (dubbed the Frenchman) or hitting someone in the head, be it accidentally or on purpose. The only way you gain a life is if you already have one ball in your hand and you catch another ball at the same time. The thing about Luib that makes it stand out from every other sport is it is a game of ethics. What I mean by this is that there is no referee, you are your own referee, your own judge and jury. You decide if you lost a life. You decide to be honest or dishonest. Now during orientation, after playing a few practice rounds (which I was late to because I had just arrived), we got into a proper game with a mix of guys and girls. While it was fun, I felt Luib wasn’t my thing because a lot of the guys were much bigger and stronger than me, which ended in things getting pretty painful. Anyway, it was an enjoyable game and we moved on to the next activity, which was ice-breakers organised by the Grade 12s followed by frisbee.
Blue briefing us on the rules of Luib
Game of Luib in action
We then proceeded to break, and then assembled in Thanyapura for a presentation with Julian, the former principal of UWCT. He spoke about what it meant to be a UWC, as well as some short, thought-provoking activities in smaller groups which encouraged us to get to know each other better as well as show us we were more alike than we think.
After the presentation we had with Julian, we went to lunch in the canteen and were given a break for about an hour. We were then given short briefings on our visas, collected our stationary and bought our uniform. The rest of the day was pretty chill and consisted mostly of socialising and making new friends.
One tough thing was the first call home. This was the first time I spoke to my family (keeping in mind this was the first time I’m living away from my family), so naturally the feelings of homesickness came with the call, but the company of people I spent the rest of the night with and the conversations we had made me feel much better.
Tuesday, 8th August 2017
I woke up at 6.30am and freshened up because my group were leaving the school for a day out. We left campus at about 7.45am and visited a beautiful Buddhist temple. We were taught about the history of Buddhism in relation to Thailand and its importance to the Thai people. We spent about 20 minutes there before hopping back in our van and visiting Ta Rue Market, which was a wet market that sold fresh produce and local delicacies. I was over the moon when I found a Malaysian delicacy, kuih lapis, and immediately bought a whole packet of it. We walked around for about 10 minutes, buying some snacks before leaving for Phuket town. At Phuket town we were taken for a traditional Thai breakfast: roti. Roti is essentially egg in dough. This was slightly confusing for me as in Malay, roti means bread. It was a similar concept but not the same. Regardless of its meaning in the two countries, it was thoroughly enjoyed by every one of us.
After finishing our meal, we walked off all the calories by taking in the beauty of the architecture of Phuket town, all of which I could see a lot of similarities with the architecture in Penang, a state in Malaysia. We saw many shops with beautiful and cheap tie-dye shirts and promised to return for a shopping trip in the near future.
After about 2 hours spent in Phuket town, we headed back to school. We were given a short presentation by Kru Chris on a very brief introduction to the IB, promising to go into more detail the next day. After that was over, we dived straight into our first activity as UWCT students giving back to the community. Each UWC has its own focus when it comes to service to the community, and UWCT places a major emphasis on environmental sustainability. They have a club established called MANTA which currently works on two projects: mangrove planting and coral monitoring. Anyway, back to the activity. We took baby mangroves that had been nursing in the mangrove nursery in school to a mangrove swamp about an hour from school. We spent an hour planting the mangroves, which to my surprise I enjoyed very much, even though I had gone into the activity not expecting much. The heart-warming feeling you get when you carry out an act of service is incomparable to any material good, and being surrounded by like-minded people who enjoy carrying out such activities made me look forward to all the potential activities I could engage in over the next two years to give back to society.
Collecting the mangroves at the nursery in school that look strong enough to be replanted.
We got back to boarding, had a quick shower and dinner at the canteen before everyone came together in the Boarding House lounge for a Sustainable Fashion Show. We were given materials found around the school like old boxes, newspaper etc. and had to find a model and make them a costume. My group chose Igor (Russia) as our model, and made him a flamboyant dress, with a hat and ‘hypebeast’ shoes. Needless to say the win for our group assured Igor that if UWC didn’t work out he had a bright future in modelling.
The rest of the night was spent with a mainstream game of Never Have I Ever, giving the Grade 11s and 12s a chance to get to know each other. There was another call home in between all this, with the homesickness slowly receeding with each passing day, followed by a good night’s sleep.
Wednesday, 9th August 2017
I woke up slightly later, at about 7.15am as I had learnt that breakfast never actually starts on time during orientation. After breakfast, my group continued the building Group C had started on for the Shaka Shack, which we were building with the idea of giving the DP students an area to chill in and drink coffee which was sold at the Shaka Shack. We built this area out of bamboo and wood, using cement to strengthen the structure. Abigel (Hungary) and I started off the morning by following Kru Joe to a site near the school to collect some rocks to mix with the cement, all of which was done under the scorching sun. After collecting the rocks for about half an hour, we got back to school and worked on the framework of the structure. I spent most of my time painting varnish on the bamboo to make it resistance to damage by the rain, and in the process getting varnish on myself too (which was rather tedious to remove). Our building went on for longer than expected, so we got to lunch later than everyone. Lunch had never tasted so good since I had arrived, though I think that had more to do with the amount of work we did rather than the actual taste of the food.
Kru Jeff giving us instructions for the next step of building
After lunch, we had a more in depth presentation and discussion on the IBDP by Kru Chris, which was then followed by a subject carousel by the respective subject teachers who were available to give us an insight on each subject and to clarify any doubts we had on our choices. We were given a two week deadline from the day school starts to finalise our subject choices, which gave us room to try out subjects we were not necessarily confident in.
We then got back to some team building activities and continued building the Shaka Shack, by which time everyone was ready for dinner. After dinner, we were told by the Grade 12s to meet in the MAP Room. There we were told to close our eyes, and trust that the Grade 12s would guide us to where we needed to be. When we were told to sit on the grass and open our eyes, we were met with the beautiful sight of a candle-lit pavement. This was followed by a Thai Ritual where the Grade 12s and teachers showered us with blessings while tying strings around our wrists, in a way welcoming us to the UWCT family. This was definitely one of the highlights of orientation week, and it personally gave me a great impression of my Grade 12s who offered their time and a listening ear should we need one at any time.
We wrapped up the night with Emmanuel (Nigeria), Kinga (Bhutan) and I eating instant noodles from each other’s countries. Twas a good day!
Thursday, 10th August 2017
We started after breakfast by writing letters to ourselves 3 months from now, with the idea of opening them 3 months on and seeing how much we’ve grown, whether we’ve achieved all we wanted to etc. We then proceeded to the Mindfulness Centre in Thanyapura where we had a mediation session which was extremely relaxing. We had been told earlier on that this was a common daily practice that is done during homeroom and any time students feel stressed, so this session really made me look forward to doing it.
We were then given a tour of the facilities of Thanyapura by one of their staff, making me fall in love with it even more. After the tour, we went back to the Boarding House and got changed into our swimsuits for the swimming assessments. These were facilitated by Kru Heidi who stressed its importance in order to sign us off as a capable swimmer for other co-curricular and extracurricular activities we want to do in the future like surfing, snorkelling, scuba diving etc. I found it particularly tiring even though it was only a 50m swim and treading for 2 minutes, but that’s because I’m also rather unfit. I passed though!!
After having a shower, we went back to the canteen, had lunch and moved on to presentations by various people in the BH lounge. These presentations addressed things like homeroom, counsel and mutual agreement on communication. After that was over, we had another one in the MAP room by Kru Watson and Kru Heidi about the core of IB - CAS, ToK and EE. Later that night, Arielle (Bhutan/USA), Maya (USA), Phoebe (Hong Kong, though she’s actually American Dutch) and Josh (Sri Lanka) had one hell of a dance party in the kitchen, something that became a common occurrence for the next few days. There was a short briefing in the lounge then I went to my room to get a good night’s rest, the first of the week.
Friday, 11th August 2017
Woke up early at around 6.30 because breakfast was 7am, left campus at 7.45 for Thai Muang beach. At the beach we played a few games, had some good discussions and ate coconut ice cream (heh). After, we had a delicious lunch, we walked for what was defo more than 1k to the Turtle Sanctuary (even though the teachers told us it was only a kilometre away). There we saw a jumping crocodile, other species of fish etc. The highlight was the sea turtles. We cleaned their tanks then put disinfectant on their bruises and wounds. (the purple disinfectant stayed on my hands for two whole days omg).
We walked back to the beach and I spent a bit of time there with Jhanati (India) and Thimali (Sri Lanka) before heading back (slept on the bus lmao). Got back, had dinner, went for a 2k run and to the gym, had a shower at Thanyapura (showers are amazing there!!) and returned to the BH. Did my washing for the first time and the daily dance party in the kitchen. Also played Cards Against Humanity in the BH lounge. Got to bed at a decent time but set an early alarm, knowing I had to repack my bags as I was moving to the villa the next day!
Saturday, 12th August 2017
Woke up at 6.30, freshened up and repacked all my bags so they were ready to be moved when it was time to move to the villa. Had breakfast at around 8.30 and moved to the villas at 10.30am. Once I was all unpacked, I called home and gave them a tour of the villa which was absolutely stunning! I felt like I was on holiday rather than at a boarding school tbh. We then left the villa for lunch for about an hour, then went back and got changed for the gym and to watch Luib.
I went to the field with the idea of just watching and supporting the game due to my medical condition (I underwent spine surgery three years ago so can’t really engage in contact sports), but after seeing the people playing, it didn’t look too aggressive so I decided to take part. We played Luib for about an hour, and were treated to refreshments which are apparently present on a weekly basis at the Luib club. I was thrilled that I made it to the final 3 in the last game we played, because my stamina is pretty low so I usually get out early on in the games.
Phoebe and I then went to the gym for about an hour and a bit, had a shower, went for dinner and then chilled at the villa until 8pm. We then left the villa for the BH lounge where we were having our very first BH party. We had different kinds of food like quesadillas, crepes with chocolate, tortilla with eggplant, chicken, Haribo gummies and many more. Danced a bit then headed back to the villa at 11.30. I had a much needed skype call with my friends back home who updated me on all the latest news, which was a nice way to end the night.
Sunday, 13th August 2017
Woke up at about 7.30am because my body apparently hates sleep and then had a shower. I had nothing better to do so I went to the BH with Anna and Elisabeth (Grade 12s) and helped clean up the lounge post-party. We discovered breakfast was actually brunch, which was at 10.30am, played pool at Thanyapura Hotel and attended a guided meditation class with Krishna, Abigel and Parry before then heading back to the villa for some chill time.
I did my washing and ironed my clothes (another first! I was getting used to adulting here!!!) Met up with Phoebe at around 3pm and went to the gym. Got back to the villa, had a shower and went to the guys villa to watch a movie (Everything, Everything) with the Grade 12’s. Mid-movie we had a villa meeting, going over safety procedures and other basic rules to follow. Finished up the movie, went back to the girls villa and made maggi mee while calling back home. Ate up my unhealthy yet delicious instant noodles and had a brief chat with Cameron (who’s the boarding houseparent and English teacher here) about poetry and college options. Went back to my room, finished up a few stuff and went to bed.
Monday, 14th August 2017
Woke up at 8am (finally my body let me sleep in!), had a shower and chilled in the room. Went down to breakfast at 8.30am (almost missed it because apparently it was treated as any other Monday school day, even though it was a public holiday). Went back to the villa, worked on the blog and started my CAS documentation.
Went to lunch, played pool at Thanyapura then went back to the villa. Continued work on the blog, then long chat with Aby and Parry before Maud (Netherlands) and Lauren (Armenia) joined us. After, we went to dinner at about 6pm and then I went to the gym with Phoebe at about 7pm. We got back to the villa at about 9pm, had a shower, worked a bit more on the blog and packed up my stuff for school before getting to bed.
Tuesday, 15th August 2017
First day of school, woke up at 6.15am. Freshened up, got dressed and got out of the villa at 7.25am sharp (this was the time agreed on by people in the villa as our houseparents are teachers and need to be out in time to grab breakfast and be in their homerooms before 8am, so no waking up late for us :( ). Walked through the rain to school, had breakfast then headed for homeroom.
At homeroom, we had some ice breakers which were facilitated by Kru Wendy (the drama teacher), mindfulness (we did some meditation which was led by Kru Jo, who also happens to be my houseparent) and distribution of our timetables. We also discussed the communication charter, after which we had break,. During break I signed up for auditions for the school musical, booking my slot for Thursday, so we’ll see how that goes! (fingers crossed I get a role heh).
That was followed by assembly in the MPH which had introductions to the new teachers as well as the first whole secondary assembly of the year. I then had Math HL and then Theatre, both of which I really enjoyed. After lunch, I went to the library and got my Math HL book and rushed to the MAP room as we were late for a meeting/presentation by Kru Jon. They sorted out the timings for our timetable, then we were dismissed. Phoebe and I headed back to the villa, looked through song choices and practiced a few before going to the gym. I spent about 25 minutes there, went to dinner then went back to the villa. Had a shower, called home and went to bed.
Orientation week leading up to the first day of school was extremely exciting, meeting new people from all over the world and learning about different cultures and their individual practices was very enlightening. It was nice to see the common goals we all shared, as well as very motivating to be surrounded by a group of like-minded people eager to learn. I can’t wait for what the year has in store for me!