Sojourn 2004
The day started out bright and cheery. I arrived at the sunny island after lunch, and that was after ice breakers and flag making was over, hence I was the only stranger before we started out for our round robin games. We introduced, or rather, I introduced myself to the group. Vodka is our name, and that would be our identity and bond for the next couple of days.
Vodka :: Comprising of :: Joseph :: Xiaoyun :: Bernard :: Ashely :: Jeftor :: Naiyan :: Lionel :: Liang Long :: Liang Wei :: Eunice :: Justin :: Kenneth :: Johny :: Rajesh :: Jonathan ::
The first round of games begins! Mahjong tiles (where I realised that my group comprises of avid gamblers), Water Captain's ball (with confusing senior interventions and additions) and just as we were about to start on Water Tug of War, the sky decided that a change of mood was in place. It rained.
We retreated to the safety of the hut, where we hoped to wait out the rain. It got heavier, so XO and Vodka started the traditional Singsoc game: Polar Bear! It wasn't till almost dinner time that the weather let up and we headed back onto the beach for the final round: war games. Creativity was stretched to the max, where we realised how cheeky my group can be. The aim of the game was to knock down opponent's bottles within their 'fortress', so my members buried our bottle beneath the sea bed.! All that was left within the fortress was a bottle cap, which of course, will not topple.
Horror house that evening, and this year, it's really horror. We had a mix of screams and laughter in the house during the activity. It’s interesting how people would react to their fears. Someone could actually enter the house, talking to the 'spirits' within and asking if we (the spirits) are willing to be friends! But all in all, despite spending nearly 5 hours in the house, we, and the participants felt that it was pretty well done this year.
The next morning saw a bunch of red puffy eyed Imperial students, sleepy from the thawning through the night. Nonetheless, the games must go on. Day 2 started with the sun blazing overhead, and with that, the bunch of us started our beach games. The entire afternoon was dedicated to an "Amazing Race" around Sentosa. The well devised clues and interesting station games kept our brain thinking and occupied. Vodka was split into 2 teams, with Bernard taking the A team and me heading the other. Our luck turned out to be so rotten that throughout the 8 stations, the consecutive station would definitely be on the other side of the island. To even the odds, we hitch-hiked a vehicle whose driver turned out to be a kind soul who drove us for the entire game. Well, no rules broken ;)
BBQ in the evening. Mingled around, talked, crapped, and entertained one another. This turned out to be yet another activity which drew back loads of seniors, both graduates and existing students. MOSA was given out, before Vodka was announced to be the champion OG! Woohoo~ After 3 years of Sojourn (finally!). No prizes though for guessing the post BBQ entertainment. Polar bear as usual. Though many left that night, there were still enough of us to flood the Harbourfront Macs the next morning during breakfast.All in all, this was a great camp. It definitely served it core purpose of bonding the freshers and the seniors before we all head back to gloomy London. At least we could be the sparks and cheers in each other's lives ;) Here's my tribute to the organising committee, and especially the 3 programmers: Yuwei, Kechew and Huiyuan. Well done guys~!Consolidated some sms-perience from the freshers, and here they are!
Eunice :: It’s been a great experience! Quite useful for us freshers to know about life there! We were able to interact with our peers and seniors and had loads of fun!Liangwei :: The camp was good, and the people were nice. I think it’s important to get to know some of the people there before you actually go over, and this camp was the key. Thanks a lot!
Liang Long :: The spirit and enthusiasm of the seniors rubbed off me. Just seemed that there was barely any "turbo lag" before everyone was accelerating towards fun! Enjoyed myself thoroughly, especially during the haunted house and the amazing race. Alcoholism rox!
