SHIP LIFE- WEEK ONE

August 18th- 21st, 2019

Day one- August 18th

Our first day was full of rules, procedures, familiarization tours, and introductions. after we left we mustered again and got called, by our numbers into our watch groups. there are 6 watch groups and in each group there are 10 students, except ours, we have nine. Each of the watch groups have a place on ship to stand for muster. there is port, midship and starboard and we will break off into these bigger watches later for activities and stuff later as well as breaking off into our smaller watch groups. 

we motored around the bay just past where we departed because we needed to stay close to shore to bring empty bags, food, and other things back to port. Even being a bit further from shore, it is so cold and windy. I can tell I’ll definitely need all my wool layers I brought. 

Many of the students had found each other through mutual friends, past students, siblings, or their high school so almost all the Norwegians knew each other from the start which made it really hard for me. they had all already had each on social media and had been taking for months. they also had a few meetups and parties and stuff. I am naturally not a very social person when it comes to new people, so having everyone already know each other and not speaking their language was hard. On board, everyone is supposed to speak English, but especially this first week that hasn’t happened at all. I can understand it’s hard not speaking your first language, especially to people that do, but it’s so hard walking up to a conversation and either having everyone look at you, acknowledge you don’t understand and keep speaking Norwegian, or, walking up and having everyone roll their eyes, sigh, and speak English. like I said, I understand it’s not their first language, and I feel bad for being on of the big reasons they have to speak English, but I hope it starts to get better. 

Before now, I don’t think I’ve ever heard harder names to pronounce. My super American accent makes names like, Aschild, Froydis, Solveig, Erlend and others very hard to say… I wonder how long it will take to be able to pronounce the names right, because as of right now, it’s looking pretty hopeless if I’m being honest. 

Day two- August 19th

Last night we slept in our assigned spots for the first time, my number, 34, has a hammock. Ok so I don’t know why but I could not sleep in it. Around two or three in the morning I went onto the floor and slept there which I thought worked just fine but I got yelled at in the morning for it, so, I guess I’ll have to figure out something else for the next 10 months. 

Day four- August 21st 

Today we finally set sail! Well, actually we started the engine, but, we’re still going! Since we’re using the engine and not the wind we’re going against the wind which means we’ve met our worst enemy and new shipmate for the next few days to months. Sea sickness. Wow it hit us all harder than we thought it would snd they’ve said this is the easiest sail of the year. Out on the main deck we have two “puke funnels” literally just two funnels on deck that lead down to the head storage. There have been lines to the funnels a few people long each time I’ve seen it. On the deck instead of the usual laughing, talking, and joking around there usually is, in it’s place there are dozens of students lying flat on the deck and dozens more bundled in their warmest clothes and blankets trying to catch a few minutes of sleep in a place they can see the horizon and try and forget how they feel as the ocean rattles and shakes the boat in every direction. As we eat meals, the chef has been making food that gets thrown up easier. So, I don’t think I’ll ever taste this food the same because nothing we’ve eaten has stayed down. So, to everyone that said this sounded like a cruise, does it still? 

This was supposed to be a post about the first week at sea but everything has been so hectic I haven’t even had time to think about writing. Basically, everyone is seasick now that we’re sailing, we’re all learning the rules (the hardest way possible), none of us have slept more than 3 or 4 hours every night, the food is not at all what I’m used to (and yes, I’m a very picky eater), we’re all having fun but also kind of dying at the same time. As we get more settled I’ll have more time (hopefully) so I’ll be able to write a little more. But, for now, please enjoy this very rushed 2 am typed version of how this week has been. To sum it up, it’s been hard, really hard. Praying for easier weeks ahead!