(1902) Oscar to Boarding School

When the Rinell children were of school age, they had to leave home for the China Inland Mission boarding school in Chefoo¹ See link to Chefoo School at:
http://www.mundus.ac.uk/search/corps/az.htm where classes were held in English. There were no Swedish schools in China, and no schools near their mission station except for a Catholic school in Tsingtao. Being Protestant missionaries this was, apparently, not a viable option. [For more information see email from Edward Hunt of the SOAS Archives and Special Collections in the UK].

Boarding the Ship for Chefoo

In 1902 Johan Alfred took the children of school age from Kiaohsien to the port at Tsingtao, put them on a small German steamer, and said good-bye. This was the way the Rinell and Lindbergs kids almost always traveled to and from Chefoo, on some nationality's small smelly coastal steamer. The journey around the Shantung peninsula was often rough. If the rocking of the boat was not enough to make them completely sick, the smell of burning fuel rising black from the smoke stack managed to complete the job. Oscar, especially, would get sick. It was not a journey any of the kids ever looked forward to unless they were heading home for the summer. The journey north around the Shantung peninsula would last for 24 hours. There wasn't much to do on board the ship.The children spent waking hours just trying to keep themselves occupied.

Their cabins were small, with narrow wooden bunk beds. Ships did not hold many other passengers, and in any case the kids normally would not spend any time with them.

This was little Oscar's first time away to school. Nobody looked after Oscar and the children on the steamer though the crew probably kept an eye on them. They couldn't get into too much trouble unless they fell overboard. The crew kept them from going to places on the ship that they shouldn't go. Anyway, they were seasick the whole time sailing around the Shantung promontory from Tsingtao passing Hiayang, Weihai-wei until reaching the port of Chefoo. Edith believes that the Rinell and Lindberg kids were the only ones making the trip to school in Chefoo during these years.

In Chefoo a teacher met the boat, bundled the children into rickshaws and for the roughly thirty minute ride to the school with the rickshaws pulled by Chinese men running, their feet slapping the road in regular cadence, pulling their young passengers behind them. The rickshaws pulled up to the school where the kids lived the next several months. It wasn't easy being away from home for Oscar the first time, but eventually he made friends, and he and the other kids settled into boarding school life. To keep in touch with their busy parents in the various mission fields the school required all children to write a letter home once a week. Besides getting used to new surroundings and people, the Rinell children also had to learn more English. Chinese was spoken in the home as well as some English, and sometimes Swedish. Most of the students in Chefoo spoke English, and all classes were in English.Chinese-speaking Swedish kids were at some disadvantage until they picked up more English. Eventually, they all spoke English fluently, a 'proper-sounding' Oxford [was it an Oxford accent? LJH] or to be more precise and north China coast British accent.

The British Schools in Chefoo

Over a thousand missionaries lived and worked in China and many of the children of these missionaries attended one of the three Chefoo schools of the China Inland Mission (CIM), the Preparatory School, and the Girls School or Boys School at one time or another. The Swedish Baptist Mission paid for the tuition of the Rinell children, Egron, Oscar, Margaret, Edith and Erik.

Oscar's first school as with the other Rinell children was the Preparatory School, housed in a building which used to be an old hotel. Boys and girls attended classes together. It was the nearest building to the beach on which the children often played.

At about age ten the boys and girls were separated and attended different schools. This was really for the sake of the Chinese who thought it improper for boys and girls pass a certain age to attend school together. The Boy's School and the Girl's School were in buildings on the China Inland Mission compound.

Mashing Row

The only way that older boys and girls could meet each other after their early school years was by going to the "mashing row" for an hour or so on Saturday. Mashing row was established so that sisters and brothers could see each other at least once a week. What it eventually turned out to be was an opportunity to meet a young person of the opposite sex that you happened to like, or got to like by going to the mashing row.

On Saturday afternoon the boys who had sisters would walk to the girls' school and stand [in] the veranda. It wasn't a question of them coming to the door and, say, asking for Edith. Each girl would be watching for her brother or brothers. If you didn't spot him right way, someone might say, "Hey, your bother's come!" Then the sister of the boy would leave with her brother and walk to the tennis courts.

Brother and sister would walk up and down the court. They could not walk overtly with anyone else. If there was someone the boy or the girl fancied, they tried to walk close to them or sit by one of the few arbors with their sibling next to where the one they liked also sat. Having a chance to talk to someone you liked other than your sibling was not easy. The mashing row was strictly chaperoned.

The only other way to see someone of the opposite sex was on Sunday at the Union Church,No photos found on web for Union Church as of 11/17/07. Check if the the name of this church was the 'English Union Church' or the 'Union English Church' LJH. which was quite far from the schools. The students would walk two by two from the prep school, girls school or boys school. In church they sat segregated according to school. After church the students walked home together though again only brothers and sisters were to talk with one another. Outside of these carefully guarded times mingling of the sexes was strictly forbidden. If a boy did not have a sister or a girl not have a brother they were absolutely out of luck except perhaps for casting furtive glances during church or a few quick words on the way home.

Sports

Being away from home for so many months of the year was, of course, difficult for the students. To occupy their time, the students had various activities, such as cricket, swimming, rowing, tennis and soccer. Soccer was compulsory and was played in the winter. They would play for the cake. When the weather got warmer, students played cricket. Egron may have won [the title?] once. Oscar was captain one year of the soccer club. Oscar liked sports best at school. He preferred soccer to cricket.

Also, when the weather was warmer, there was swimming. Across the road from the school was the ocean with a lovely sand beach. All students at the schools eventually learned to swim.

"Can you swim?" a teacher would ask a new student.

"No," a student would usually reply.

"Jump in the boat here then."

The rowboat would be taken out to where the child could no longer touch bottom.

"Jump in."

The young student would splash around and perhaps go down a few times, struggling to keep head above water. If the child got into too much trouble or panicked the teacher would be there to help. After becoming comfortable with the water and being able to stay afloat, the student would be taught strokes on subsequent outings.

Conduct Prize

School was very strict and very religious, which sometimes got in the way of fun. It was a Victorian school really, with Victorian morals and Victorian rules. Oscar himself thought that many of the rules were silly. Further, upon entering the school you didn't have any outside contact at all. Edith called it a nunnery.

Each year the school choose one student for the Conduct Prize, which naturally was for good conduct.The winner got a nice silver watch. Oscar saw himself as being far from getting the conduct prize. However, on year his brother Egron was chosen as the winnter. Then one year they started with another prize, the "All Round Prize" for body, soul, spirit or in other words, athletics, studies, and conduct. A good friend of Oscar's in school was Hugo Thor. Hugo and Oscar both got the prize, both Swedes in a British school. It was quiet surprising apparently, because Oscar was known sometimes for breaking the rules according to his own admonition. There were apparently a lot of rules to break in a mission school, often silly rules. One could just imagine the assorted rules a religious school could have. Oscar must have been good at getting away with breaking the rules without always being caught.

Dorms

The students lived in dorms. They were frightfully cold in the winter, having no heat. It was required that the windows be kept open a few inches even in the bitter cold. Fresh air though cold was thought to be healthy. Ten minuets to 10:00 in the evening the warning was given that the lights would be turned in ten minutes.

Drawing

Oscar took an art class. Once Oscar drew a picture of the head of David using a picture of a marble statue of David. [Perhaps this is the David sculpt by Michelangelo? LJH] He did quite well in drawing. He signed the work OH Rinell after his name Oscar Henry Rinell. A gentleman that Oscar new would have Oscar come over and work at his home on the grounds preparing soil or other small jobs. One day Oscar had his picture of David with him and this gentleman saw it. The gentleman, changed the signature to read OH!? Rinell. He was only kidding though, because the drawing was not all that bad.

Vacation

Vacation times were in December and January, and in August in the summer. Students whose home was close enough to the school went home during these vacation times. Other students lived all year round at the school having infrequent visits from their parents. If their parents lived in distant western China, it might be three or four years before they saw their children. This was hard on the parent and the child, a real sacrifice for the gospel, and probably not an altogether healthy thing for some children or some parents. A letter, even a loving letter, never could take the place of a loving touch.

Staying in Chefoo for the summer was not all that bad though if a child had to stay. The weather was pleasant and not too hot as in inland regions, the sand beach and ocean were across the road, and the children had sports to play. Swimming was good and refreshing. You could go down to Bottle Rock down by the beach and sail your toy boat if you had one.

Come summer it was time to go home. The children waited in excited anticipation for the sound of the steamer coming into Chefoo harbor. The journey back to Tsingtao to 24 hours, rounding the Shantung peninsula. Often the Rinell children would travel with the Lindberg or the Sears children. The weather in Tsingtao for the summer was pleasant, not so hot as the interior. Many missionaries would go to Tsingtao for summer vacation. The Lindberg children after arriving in Tsingtao would continue on their journey train for Gaomi where they would be met by their father and a mule and cart with two large wood wheels shod in iron for the forty mile journey over rough roads or paths, between fields, through the mud and deep ruts, across rivers with no bridges to Chucheng.

Poisoning in Chefoo School

On Sunday, July 2 the boys who had stayed at the school for the summer were having their midday meal. This day it was chicken pie. The chicken pies had been prepared the previous day. Some time after the meal some of the boys started feeling nauseous. In eating one of the pies they had been stricken with ptomaine poisoning. By the next Saturday twelve boys had died. [One may guess that all these boys sat at one table and all ate the same pie - though not necessarily].

Lindbergs return from Sweden

The Lindbergs returned to China from Sweden in 1902.

Chuch'eng

A new mission station was opened in Chuch'eng 140 li south-west of Kiaochow by Lindberg and Anna. The city had been visited by missionaries of the Swedish Baptist Mission regularly since 1896. In that same year Mr. and Mrs. Eden joined the Lindbergs but had to return home because of Mr. Eden's ill health.

Edén Family in China circa 1905

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

1.

2. This was probably September.

3.

4.

5. These two names taken from atlas dated 1937.

6. In 1910 (and perhaps other years) all the children were attending the schools according to a photo in Oscar's album.

7. Sten noted this in his memoirs and Oscar said he had to do the same thing.

8.

9. Oscar taught Dollan how to swim the same way. That was the only way he knew how. Years later Oscar swam with a friend (also the postmaster) by the name of Nordstrum(?) from Iltis Huk to Strand Beach. A sampan accompanied them if the got into trouble. Nordstrum developed cramps and had to go aboard the boat. Oscar swam the entire way through waters that was known for its sharks. Afterwards Nordström invited Oscar for coffee or something at the Strand Hotel. He was in Tsingtao only a short time, originally for Tsinan. Dollan went out with his son, Ulf, who later died of tuberculosis.

10. Story also mentioned in radio speech. Also, perhaps, in book Min Far var Missionär. Also, check speech on 90th birthday that may have been added to info from book.

11.

12. See From My Diary,by Sten Lindberg, page 9.

13. "Sad Fatality at Chefoo," North-China Daily News. July 8, 1902. Oscar would have probably started school some weeks after this sad event.

14. See From My Diary, by Sten Lindberg, page 4.

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