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(1907) Edith Off to Chefoo School

Johan Alfred brought little Edith hand in hand to the docks in Tsingtao to catch the steamer. Johan Alfred was a tall man and Edith's arm stretched upward to hold her father's hand. She was going to the Chefoo Preparatory boarding school for the first time. This was September 1907 and little Edith was seven years old.

The steamer journey lasted 24 hours. Upon docking someone, perhaps a teacher, picked the children up for the thirty minute rickshaw journey to the school, Margaret and Edith (probably) riding in one rickshaw and the boys in the other because they were going to different schools.

The school was more or less in an un-walled compound: with class rooms, houses for the teachers, etc.

Edith journeyed to Sweden when when she five years old, turned six when in Sweden, and returned too late to China to begin school. She entered school now for the first time at age seven. She was put in the kindergarten class, and was bored for the entire year. The next year they skipped her a grade putting her in second grade, but neglected to give her any help to catch up with the other students in all her subjects. As a result she was always wondering what was going on during class.

Oscar had preceded her five years before and Margaret ??? years.

Upon arriving and for some time after Edith felt terribly homesick and lonely, crying to be back home. It was hard to get used to being away from home. After a while she found companionship with other kids she had her sister Margaret though they were not in the same class and did not always have a chance to see each other. In any case they were always always good friends and enjoyed each other's company when possible.

Prepatory School

In the Prepatory or 'Prep' school were perhaps seventy students from kindergarten age up to the age of ten. The average class size was about ten, though Edith's kindergarten class was even smaller. Perhaps this was because the missionary parents would keep their children one more year before sending them off to school. Along with the teacher for each class the prep school included a principle and a woman who took care of the housekeeping.

Language

The language was not difficult for Edith. Johan Alfred and Hedvig spoke English to them at home, and Swedish to each other. The kids understood the Swedish their parent's were speaking, but didn't speak it themselves. For a time the Rinells had two single Swedish women living with them, and they taught the children a lot of Swedish. The children picked up Chinese from the household help who often took care of them, and of course used Chinese in their neighborhood. Only Chinese was spoken at church. The family often spoke in English with a Swedish or Chinese word thrown in if it fit. For Edith it wasn't much of language or cultural transition coming from a Swedish home in China and going to a British school.

Dorms

Eight children to a bedroom. Always two older students, and two medium age kids, and four younger kids. The two older girls at each end of the room were behind curtains which gave them a little privacy. The younger students had their beds in the middle of the room. Teachers had rooms at the end of the hall. When you got to the senior class, you became a prefect who helped take care of the younger kids.

Meals

The kids lined up for everything including for meals in the dining room. The prefect was in charge. The kids had their assigned tables, so the sat with the same kids everyday. Though the school was in China only English food was ever served, and this with little variety. Edith, and probably the other Rinell and Vingren [Lindgren???] kids thought the food terribly dull. After all, at home they had a Chinese cook who prepared many or most of the meals. Chinese food was known for its variety and complexity of taste. Breakfast consisted of butter sandwiches or peanut butter sandwiches or marmalade sandwiches and porridge. The mid-day dinner was the big meal, and included vegetables. For evening supper the kids had about the same thing as they had for breakfast minus the porridge.

[Later the diet was changed and it became better, but not when Edith was there. There were no fresh vegetables. Since there was no refrigeration shopping had to be done nearly every day.]

Classes

Classes were arithmetic (not math), English, and history. For physical activity the girls did a lot of team running, and went for walks. Any sports-type activity for the girls included swimming in the summer, field polo, running, and small games the children made up themselves. Edith was not taught to swim in the rude way her older brother Oscar had been taught. For Edith it was just a matter of splashing around in the ocean and developing her own unique stroke. Later on in the girls school there was a raft [floating platform?], but you couldn't use it unless you could swim a distance. Edith didn't remember organized sports for the girls. The boys did have organized sport, cricket and tennis. But, these were considered sports to be played by girls.

Away from Home

Being away from home certainly had its affect on the kids in the school. Their parents were not nearby, and often their parents were so devoted to their work, which was the most important thing to them. In reading her mother's diary years later, Edith saw that her mother was really missing her children, but there wasn't much demonstration of that love when the kids were home. Part of it was the age, the stoic Victorian age where feelings were not so readily shown. Even when the kids were young and at home, Johan Alfred was frequently away visiting outstations. After about the age of five the children really didn't grow up with their parents because they were off to boarding school. And being away to school, they tended to grow away from your parents. They couldn't get to know them as well.

Only when Edith returned to China in 1937 when she and he were at home and Hedvig was teaching class elsewhere.did she feel she got to know her father a little. She got to know more about him, spent more time with him, and discovered he was quite a person compared to what she had known before, which was a more distant relationship.

But she remembered years later that at school they were always in the back of her mind, and she knew there were those back home who cared for her. Though she had her friends at school who kept her going, she was still lacking was the close any real affection she wanted and needed. Teachers were nice but not warm. Fortunately, Edith felt some closeness to her kindergarten teacher, Miss _____________ a sweet woman, German-type though she was English.

And then there was the one boy lived off campus. His father was a bishop or something. He took a liking to Edith while they attended Prep school, which Edith thought was most unusual to suddenly be the object of a boy's attention. She didn't seem interested in him. One day he even gave her a bottle of sweets. At Chefoo School sweets were a controlled substance. Any sweets owned by a child was put into a cupboard by the administration.On Saturday afternoon the students with owned sweets in the cupboard lined up, and the teacher would give out one or two sweets. The child had to say thank you, even though the sweets were theirs in the first place, before being given the candy. Called tuck shop[???] One boy, Patterson by name, coming away from the line saying, "She wouldn't give me my sweet. I said "thank" but I hadn't gotten out the "Q" yet!"

Girls School

Chefoo Girls School, 1908 ¹ Photograph
found online on November 17, 2007 at: http://www.soas.ac.uk/archivesfiles/gallery/images/chefoo.jpg

SOAS is the 'The School of Oriental and African Studies' University of London.

Email sent to the school enquiring about a higher resolution image and permission to print the image in a book. See email: 'Chefoo School Photograph 1908'.

Girls school was age ten to sixteen or seventeen. So at about age ten or possibly eleven, Edith left the Prep school for the girls school. By this time being at school wasn't so bad really because she already knew the kids and had friends. No doubt many of these were long term friendships. After all many of the kids were growing up together at school in Chefoo.

The big difference between the girls school and Prep school was that she and the other girls were separated from the boys. This fact wasn't thought of much when the girls were younger. Of course it made more of a difference when the girls got older. And then the contact between the boys and the girls were strictly controlled.

Edith thought they had school Saturday morning too. In any case part of Saturday was taken up working alone. Chairs were put around the dining room with name tags on the chairs, clothes with their names on them would be distributed. Socks and other clothes would be mend if needed. Saturday afternoon the children were on your own unless a girl had a brother who came to walk back and forth together on the tennis courts. Sunday morning they all went to Union Church walking two by two. Walking back a girls may walk with her brother.

Summer Break

When school was over the Rinell children returned by steamer to Tsingtao. The family would usually be vacationing in or near Tsingtao, escaping the heat of the interior. Typhoons also came during this period which brought a little excitement to a summer holiday. In the early days they rented a place for the summer. Later they had a small house built a few blocks from the ocean at nearby Iltis Huk.⁵² 'The Iltis Huuk property was handled by a German called Buerter.' Lally Rinell. Note: This is probably in regards to acquiring it and not for property management and the like. LJH.

Faber Krankenhaus

Faber Krankenhaus located between Anhui and Kaungsi roads in Tsingtao was completed in 1907 by German residents in connection with the Weimer Mission. This three story hospital, later claimed to be the the best hospital in the Far East was to figure significantly into the history of the Rinell family.

An Addional Missionary

In 1907 Ando Leander arrives in China.

Death in Family

In Sweden, Hedvig's mother passes away. Now both her parents are gone.

---------- Footnotes ----------

1. The Chinese area in Chefoo made up the bulk of the town. The students never visited this part of town. At the other end the foreigner's area where some foreign businessmen lived and the lighthouse and the customs house.

2. This point uncertain. Tape unclear.

3.

4. Mom, did the typhoons come during the summer?

5. Far East Magazine. Chefoo & Shantung, 1935.

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