Himalayan Home - 3. HH Chapter 3

“Hamilton sir, Christopher Hamilton,” I responded nervously, “Ah yes, the one we have to keep quiet about, ok you are quarters are upper floor, East wing, and you are in Room E19 Bed A,” the staff member said to me, “1st Floor East, Room 19 A, got it, thankyou sir,” I replied.

“You will be sharing with a lad in your same year, Giles Kent, he has been a boarder here for a few years so he will be able to show you around,” the staff member added, “Thankyou sir,” I replied, as I was handed a sheet of paper, which had a layout of the boarding house, and on the back was a map of the school buildings.

Stepping away from the staff member, I said goodbye to my Aunty Grace and thanked he for bringing me here, “Am I correct in assuming that this Giles Kent he mentioned, maybe the same lad who is the nephew of someone in the law business that we know?” Aunty Grace said to me quietly.

“That would be correct Ma’am,” a voice said near us which made us both jump, “sorry about that, my name is Giles Kent, and yes my uncle is one of the local magistrates, and he asked me to keep an eye out for you, but I don’t need to worry, since we are both roommates,” the very tall lad said as he smiled and held out his hand first to my aunt then to me.

“Hey Giles, I am Christopher and this is my Guardian and Aunt, Ms Grace Alpike,” I said making the introductions, “Nice to meet you both, now if you have finished your goodbyes, I will escort this young man to his new quarters,” Giles said to us.

I gave Aunty Grace one last hug, and she whispered that she will come and collect me on Saturday morning, so we would go to the Meditation centre in Snug, and I nodded my head in understanding, and watched as she turned and headed back to her car.

“Come on Bud, no point hanging around here, we have lots to do before 5.45, grab your bags and I will show you the way,” Giles said to me, and as he grabbed my backpack and shoulder pack, I lugged the big suitcase behind me, and followed him inside the boarding house, which has three levels.

“Leave your bags here a moment and let me show you the recreation facilities here, firstly down in the lower level…Giles said and I let go of my suitcase next to where Giles had left my other two bags, and we headed down some stairs.

“Down here, we have the Year 11 & 12 games room, the video theatre for all years, the Year 11 & 12 Lounge room and study hall. Back upstairs on the ground level, we have the Year 9 & 10 Lounge room and study hall, the Boarders Canteen, which is run by the year 11 boys under the supervision of the duty master, also there is a library, four year 12 rooms, which accommodates the four house prefects and finally the meeting room, where we gather each morning before breakfast and before dinner, for roll call and to be told any news or important information.

Back there behind those doors, are the living quarters for the senior house master and the two deputy masters, which is off limits unless invited directly by one of those three. Now lets head upstairs… There are two wings, East - which is for the Year 9 & 10 students, and West – for the Year 11 & 12 Students.

The East wing consists of 8 four bed – rooms, with a bathroom between each of two rooms, and 4 two bed – rooms, we are lucky to have one of the smaller bedrooms, where we share a bathroom with just one other two bed – room, while the West wing has a total of 12 two – bed rooms, for the two senior years,” Giles informed me.

“So, there are 68 boys in total in the boarding house?” I asked for confirmation, “Yes that is correct, 40 in the East Wing, 24 in the West wing and 4 on the ground floor.

Plus, the senior master and his family and the two single duty masters,” Giles responded, as he opened a door and walked in, with me following. “This is it, your home away from home, I will let you get settled in and I will be back in half an hour to get you and show you around the grounds outside,” Giles said, as he placed my bags on the empty bed and left the room.

I closed my eyes and listened to the noises in and around the building, there was a lot of it, and I knew it would be hard to find a place to meditate in a quiet location. “Hey new boy, what’s your name,” a voice said breaking my moment alone, and making me jump in shock, as I looked in the direction of the bathroom, where a by about my height but a little stocky in build was standing.

“Hamilton, Christopher Hamilton,” I replied, “I see, and what’s that strange accent that you have, it sounds weird,” the boy asked, not bothering to tell me his name. “I have been living overseas for quite a few years, as that is where my parents live and work,” I replied.

“Give the lad a change to settle in will you Chad, he has only just arrived,” another voice said from beyond the first boy in the other room, and a few moments later another face appeared from the bathroom, “Hey, I am Daniel Jacobs, and this rude lout is Chad Morrison, your neighbours,” the other lad said.

“Hey, nice to meet you both,” I replied, as I opened the suitcase and began to unpack, when I didn’t hear any notice from the direction of the bathroom, I looked up and found it to be empty, so I walked into the bathroom to have a look around.

The bathroom had a toilet cubicle, a small urinal, and two showers, with a dividing wall between them and a curtain on the front, as well as a double basin sink, and shelving, which was already mostly full of toiletry items. The door into the other room was open, and the two guys I had just met were sitting at their desks chatting about something while playing computer games.

Returning to the room that I share with Giles, the room has a king single bed in each corner, with drawers underneath and small shelves at the end of each bed, and between the two beds are two desks, with a chair each, and two shelves for books and other items, and a light on the top to help with reading, and in the opposite corners, is a wardrobe each, with the door to the hallway in the middle, and the door between Giles’s bed and the wardrobe goes into the bathroom.

Once I had finished unpacking everything, and with a good fifteen minutes before Giles was due back, I closed and locked the main door, and closed the bathroom door, before sitting on my bed cross legged, so as to begin some relaxation meditation.

“What do you think he is doing?” I heard a voice say in a whisper, from the direction of the bathroom, “Looks like he is meditating, Goofball. Now leave him alone, and go and annoy someone else,” I heard in reply that sounded like Giles, as I heard the bathroom door slide close.

I smiled, as I kept my eyes closed, and resumed my meditation for another ten minutes, before opening my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. “I don’t know how you do it, but I never heard the door open both times,” I commented, and Giles chuckled from the seat at his deck.

“I’ve had plenty of practice, and it is nice to have a quiet room mate for a change, the last two… well they were quite loud on a regular basis. Goofball, I mean Adam is one of them,” Giles replied, and I smiled when he said this. “Thanks mate, I appreciate you understanding,” I responded.

“I would like to hear more about you former home if you would allow it, I bet you miss it very much,” Giles asked me, “Maybe, just give me a bit of time to get settled, it isn’t easy to get used to a place like this, when my home of the past twelve years is amongst the mountains with very little traffic,” I answered, and Giles nodded his head in understanding.

“Will you teach me some of that relaxation stuff? I would really like to find a way to get through this year, I struggled a bit last year,” Giles asked me, “Sure mate, just give me some time to get used to the new surroundings, plus I have only been back in Australia for two weeks, and I am still finding it difficult with the heavier air,” I answered.

“Oh yeah, the higher you go up the lighter the air is, I remember that now. Anyway, changing subjects, here is a timetable of life as a boarder, what sports have you chosen to do this term?” Giles said to me, “Badminton and Tennis,” I replied, “Wow, I wouldn’t have picked you as a Badminton player, I have watched some of the games, it is very fast, and you need real fast reflexes, I’ve noticed,” Giles said.

“Yes, it is a fast game, but it keeps me fit, which is one reason that I do it,” I responded, as I was handed the sheet of paper with the timetable of events that happens for Boarders. Morning;7.00 to 7.45 - Breakfast, 8.10 - Room Check, 8.20 - Leave for School. Afternoon; 4.00 to 5.30 - Co Curricular Activities, 5.50 - Prepare for Dinner, 6.00 - Dinner, 6.45 - Study Prep, 9.00 Lights Out.

“You will work out the rest as we go, and for tonight with it been the first night, we have to wear uniforms for dinner, and any special events, on other times we just wear neat casuals,” Giles said to me, as I put the sheet of paper on my desk, and I glanced at my watch to see that it was nearly half past five in the afternoon.

Lets go for a short walk before dinner?” Giles suggested and I nodded my head and followed him out the door, down the hall and downstairs to the ground floor. “Hey, its Hamilton, isn’t it?” an older boy said to me, as we neared the front door of the boarding house.

“Yes, that is correct,” I replied, “Lenn Princeton, here is the senior house prefect, so if you have any issues and I am not around to bitch to someone about it, speak to him, you can trust him,” Giles said to me, “Thanks for your confidence, Kent. Anyway, welcome to the boarding house and to the school, and as Kent said, if you have any problems just call me, that’s if you can find me, with my busy schedule,” the House Prefect said to me, before heading further into the boarding house.

“Ok, so since this is the first house assembly, it will be nice and short. Welcome to all of the new students this year, we hope that you settle in quickly and enjoy your time at our school. I see that everyone is properly attired for dinner tonight, which is good to see, enjoy your first dinner, and remember to walk not run to the dining hall. That is all for now,” the Senior house master announced to us, before we were dismissed to go and have dinner.

The food was surprisingly good, and I ate every bit of it, even thou I have not eaten meat very often, I made a point of trying to get accustomed to it, and just tried to not think about the innocent fish that had given up its life to feed me and at first, I was hesitant to eat it, but eventually willed myself to eat some of it, as did Aunty Grace every time she served a meal to me, although she did give me a lot more vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, nuts, rice, fruits and dairy products, and a very small serve of meat each time.

“Anything wrong with your dinner, Hamilton?” a voice behind me said, and looking back, I saw that it was the Prefect, Lenn Princeton, who had spoken to me. “No, its fine thanks, it’s just…” I started to say, “He is a practicing Buddhist, so they don’t usually eat meat,” Giles said to explain.

“Oh, I see, well we will just speak to the Chef and get that sorted for you then, I am sure they won’t mind adjusting the menu slightly for you,” Princeton responded, before he headed off in the direction of the kitchen. After dinner, while most of the boarders returned to the boarding house to just relax, before it was time to get ready for bed, I decided that I needed to take a walk, so back at our room, I changed into some casual clothes and told Giles that I was going outside to just take a walk.

After a short walk, I found a place where there is a large tree and it was well away from any noises coming from around the school or the streets surrounding it, and I sat down and crossed my legs, and started my breathing exercises, to try and get into a good frame of mind for some peaceful meditation.