Whilst in kindergarten some bulldozers arrived and started to flatten a hill on the other side of the playing fields. We were told this was for a new hostel. One day, my mother said to me would you like to go to boarding school. My dad thought it would be very good for me. I had now reached a stage in life where didn't want to avoid challenges. If everyone was saying to me this is good for you, I realised they wanted me to do it. I was six at the time. In due course, the bulldozers left and this square block of building started to rise. In due course, mother took me to the shops to get kitted out with a uniform, which was khaki shirt and shorts, grey socks with a red strip, red belt, grey tie, with diagonal red stripe, grey felt hat.
Everything was put into a metal trunk with my name on the outside and I was bundled off to boarding school. I'd never been to boarding school, had no idea what to expect. I found myself in a long dormitory with eighteen or twenty beds, covered in yellow quilts with lockers next to each bed. A mosquito net hung over each bed. They were white. Matron came in and allocated each of us a bed. She did her job and that was it. So then, matron came and collected any tuck we had, such as biscuits, sweet bars. Every mother, knowing their kids were going to be away for some weeks would give them enough sweeties to last three months. Medications were collected at the same time. We all got into pyjamas and into bed. We had earlier been taken into the shower room, a longish room with twelve shower heads.
We were told to take our clothes off, whereupon some of the boys started to twist their towels up and flick each other with the towel. Matron would stroll along and check we were all using soap. Then we'd all brush out teeth. I remember the ablution block for the smell of toothpaste. So then, we all went downstairs to the dining room and we were allocated a table. Ten boys to a table, five down each of the sides, sitting on benches. Then somebody at the head of the table would start to serve up food on each of the plates and you were told to eat it. Then suddenly everyone stood up and a teacher said, for what we are about to receive, may the lord make us truly grateful.
Everyone then sat down with a big clatter of plates and started to eat. Then the person invested with the authority to serve, either a teacher or a prefect, served up the dessert. Eventually I began to vomit a lot and decided I would have to take steps to do something about this, so I stopped eating. One day I went into lunch and the sweets was as an orange fruit salad. I might have guessed it wrong as I was only six, but I think I worked out I didn't eat for six weeks. At the end of the meal, we all stood up and the teacher said, for what we have just received, may the lord make us truly grateful.
No comments:
Post a Comment