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#1: The perfect Chaletian Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:57 pm
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Just what is the perfect Chaletian like? I thought this might be an interesting group thing to do - do we all have different ideas on this, ie did EBD provide us with more than one way to be a perfect Chaletian? What kind of monster might we create from a long list of attributes?
What would ye add?

Good-looking/Attractive Somehow (without brown hair! possibly curls) (but unconcious of her beauty) (bright-eyed) (perfect eyesight & complexion) (slim) (unusual colouring a bonus)
Truthful /Honourable
Mischevious (but only as a Junior/Middle/grown-up; never as a Prefect)
Thoughtful/ Concientious (someone who could go 'deep' about things)
Brave (ready to take risks on mountainside)
Unfussy (accept things she's told, unquestioningly obey rules, eat what she's given, do any punishment set with no quibbling, etc)
Friendly (but not cliquey) (outgoing, not homesick) (always on lookout for younger girls) (specially with staff)
Talented (sports definitely; maybe music or art or something in hobbies) (able to reason from cause to effect)
Unselfish (willing to put school/friends before herself)
Well-spoken (including good at languages)
Sixth-sense(for knowing when the Middles were up to mischief)
Capable (especially for dealing with Middles) (knowing difference between telling tales & reporting misdeeds)
Motherless (or some other missing family-member situation)
Practical/Organised (tidy) (always having clean hanky)(able to cope with school routines) (either a Guide, or wants to be one) (good at keeping in contact with old school friends)
Not overly concerned with opposite sex

Last edited by Róisín on Tue May 16, 2006 1:43 pm; edited 6 times in total

#2: Author: Tiffany, Location: Is this a duck I see behind me?

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:03 pm
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Interesting idea!

I think you've covered the main attributes. She'd also not be fussy - she'd accept things she's told, unquestioningly obey rules, eat what she's given, do any punishment set with no quibbling, etc. She'd be friendly to everybody but not cliquey - always including the new girl etc.

EDIT: oh yes, and she wouldn't have brown hair!

Last edited by Tiffany on Mon May 15, 2006 3:06 pm; edited 1 time in total

#3: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:04 pm
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She would have to be good-looking but unconscious of her beauty! And good at sports and always look out for the younger girls. Would she have curls? Wink

#4: Author: CatherineS, Location: Smalltown, West of Scotland

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:09 pm
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Willing to put others (and the school) before her self; willing to take a risk (but only for the right reasons); bright-eyed.

#5: Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:14 pm
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She would suffer at least one near death illness or accident, like Joey and Mary Lou.

#6: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:12 pm
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She would not wear glasses or make up and would be slim (and neat and trig).
She must be well-spoken and fluent in a dozen languages.

#7: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:14 pm
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I think I'll go and edit the first post so that we have some sort of list Very Happy

ETA: There are exceptions to these though - for example Bride and Rikki both wear glasses but are exemplary Chaletians.

#8: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:30 pm
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And she'd be honourable - owning up to her misdeeds if necessary.
She'd be talented at singing or music or painting on china or something artistic.
She'd also be friendly, especially to new girls.

#9: Author: Caroline OSullivan, Location: Reading, Berkshire, UK

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:31 pm
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She'd have a sixth sense for knowing when Middles were up to mischief

#10: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:39 pm
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Conscientious (sp?) - she would never mess around in prep and make sure that it was done thoruughly

#11: Author: Jools, Location: Sadly Broke

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:46 pm
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She'd get on well with staff (except possibly new and inexperienced matrons and maybe not have a mother or have a mother who was missing during her formative years (eg in India or supporting her husband in the South Seas).

#12: Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:53 pm
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When she was angry, her lips would become a thin straight line, her voice icy, and her eyes (probably blue) would spark. The girls would much prefer to deal with Bill or the Abbess.

#13: Re: The perfect Chaletian Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:58 pm
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Róisín wrote:

Good-looking (without brown hair! possibly curls) (but unconcious of her beauty)

Except for Joey... who is not pretty!

#14: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:00 pm
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But even when they aren't pretty, they are attractive, or they have that 'something' about them that either speaks of a great gift, or a strong personality, etc etc.

How do we interpret the exceptions to the rule? Or are they really exceptions at all - in a lot of cases they are mere variations ie the beauty/attractiveness issue.

#15: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:12 pm
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Rikki is an exceptions but she had to wear the glasses due to an 'adventure' - proper CS. Poor Bride was just born with bad eyes.

#16: Author: jonty, Location: Exeter

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:24 pm
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The perfect Chaletian always has a clean hanky.

#17: Author: Catrin, Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:38 pm
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jonty wrote:

The perfect Chaletian always has a clean hanky.

Or forty . . .

And she ought to be brave (able to pull people up from crevices or carry them down mountains, or follow random Russians through unknown countryside) and horribly organised (therefore able to cope with the alarming early morning routine).

#18: Author: Lindsay, Location: Sheffield/Kidderminster

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:44 pm
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She would have to be a guide, of course, or at least desperately want to be one.

And upon leaving the school she would have to be prepared to fall in love with one of the san's doctors so she can follow in the great tradition & live by the school forever & send her many daughters there.

#19: Author: Mel, Location: UP NORTH

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:58 pm
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She would have lots of friends who would remain close for the rest of their lives. She would write to them all, in fact to every girl she was ever at school with, every week.
NB Bride became pretty in Changes and, I think, it was suggested that she might not need glasses for much longer.

#20: Author: Rob, Location: Currently in a rainstorm

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:10 pm
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Lindsay wrote:

And upon leaving the school she would have to be prepared to fall in love with one of the san's doctors so she can follow in the great tradition & live by the school forever & send her many daughters there.

Alternatively she could return to the school herself as a teacher/secretary/matron for a longer or shorter time.

She would also know exactly where the line between telling tales and reporting misdeeds was drawn.

#21: Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:29 pm
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Mel wrote:

Bride became pretty in Changes

I love that! Smile

If only it would happen in real life!

#22: Re: The perfect Chaletian Author: joyclark,

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:57 pm
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Kate wrote:

Róisín wrote:

Good-looking (without brown hair! possibly curls) (but unconcious of her beauty)

Except for Joey... who is not pretty!

But she has an 'air of distinction'....whatever that means

Joy

#23: Author: JoS, Location: South Africa

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 9:13 pm
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She would have to be logical and be able to reason from cause to effect.
She MUST be tidy.
She should have a healthy respect for Matron - excuse the pun!
And she should never think about boys - problem - what about Len in Prefects???

#24: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 9:20 pm
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I don't think Len qualifies - she was NEVER naughty - she never got into trouble, the only time she ever lost her temper was because she has flu or scarlet fever or something. I think Len is an IMPOSTER! Shocked

#25: Author: champagnedrinker,

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 10:16 pm
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As a Junior though, she has to have some problem that means that she doesn't want to be there, she cheats, or has some other "anti-social" problem. She's then ripe for converting to a "real" CS girl, one who's slated to be head girl (or, poss. Games pre) at the right time.

#26: Re: The perfect Chaletian Author: serendipity, Location: Leeds, UK

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 10:58 pm
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Róisín wrote:

Good-looking (without brown hair! possibly curls) (but unconcious of her beauty) (bright-eyed) (perfect eyesight) (slim)

And don't they all have perfect complexions?

#27: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 11:33 pm
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Peaches and cream IIRC. Or at least rosy cheeks because before they took cold baths every morning they were so pale.

#28: Author: Changnoi, Location: Milwaukee, USA

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 2:15 am
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She must be outgoing. She cannot be shy or homesick, even when she is away from home for the first time.

The BEST Chalet School girls do not like maths. Some fairly good ones are able to do maths, but they are good Chalet girls in spite of this ability and not because of it.

She must prefer French to German. See above--some good Chalet girls do prefer German, but it's difficult.

Unusual coloring is beneficial (black hair and pale blue eyes OR bronze curls and violet eyes OR chestnut hair and eyes the color of English wood violets).

Chang

#29: Author: Lolly, Location: Melbourne

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 11:36 am
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[quote="Katherine"]She would not wear glasses or make up and would be slim (and neat and trig).
quote]

I've always wondered what 'trig' meant....I used to think it was a misprint for 'trim' until I saw it in several of the books.
Does anyone know the origin of the word?

#30: Author: Kate, Location: Ireland

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 11:49 am
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According to Webster:

Pronunciation: 'trig
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, trusty, nimble, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse tryggr faithful; akin to Old English trEowe faithful -- more at TRUE
1 : stylishly or jauntily trim
2 : extremely precise : PRIM
3 dialect chiefly British : FIRM, VIGOROUS

#31: Author: Michelle, Location: Near London

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 1:18 pm
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Katherine wrote:

Rikki is an exceptions but she had to wear the glasses due to an 'adventure' - proper CS. Poor Bride was just born with bad eyes.

Didn't Bride have to wear glasses because of eyestrain? So she probably won't need them for ever, and she probably only got eyestrain because she works so abnormally hard.

Michelle

#32: Author: Róisín, Location: Gaillimh

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 1:44 pm
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Just updated first post & list. Very Happy

#33: Author: Lolly, Location: Melbourne

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 2:17 pm
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Apart from the Robin and some of the very first Chalet girls, aren't the 'perfect Chaletians' nearly always English?

#34: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 2:56 pm
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Lolly wrote:

Apart from the Robin and some of the very first Chalet girls, aren't the 'perfect Chaletians' nearly always English?

It's interesting how that kind of reverses itself. In the early books, the troublemakers are Grizel, Juliet (at first) and even Joey (ice carnival, St Swithin's Day, etc), whilst Gisela is Miss Perfect - and manages to be so without being (to me) at all annoying!

#35: Author: Tiffany, Location: Is this a duck I see behind me?

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:23 pm
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The perfect Chaletian is a devoted and sincere member of the Christian church - this sort of goes with the going-into-things-deeply-thing., but she has unquestioning faith too. The only Chalet non-Christians I can think of are Joan Baker and Naomi Elton.

#36: Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 9:21 pm
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Michelle wrote:

Katherine wrote:

Rikki is an exceptions but she had to wear the glasses due to an 'adventure' - proper CS. Poor Bride was just born with bad eyes.

Didn't Bride have to wear glasses because of eyestrain? So she probably won't need them for ever, and she probably only got eyestrain because she works so abnormally hard.

I'm pretty sure that Bride no longer needs glasses by the time she becomes a prefect.

#37: Author: Mollio, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 1:01 am
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The perfect Chalet Girl must have that French knack of arranging her clothes or accessories 'just so' with a flick of the wrist. She should always be prepared to launch into battle over any injustice to one less able than herself.

#38: Author: Catrin, Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 9:17 am
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And she probably needs to be either petite, barely five foot, or (less likely) standing five feet nine in stockinged feet. None of them seem to be average height!

#39: Author: Mollio, Location: Ireland

Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 12:43 am
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In school productions she must be able to act to a professional standard.

#40: Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 7:10 am
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She chatters prettily in French which she has effortlessly picked up from her mother or aunts or French chambermaid, so that the other girls tell her she will be Mlle's blue-eyed boy.

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