Q&A with Concordia from the week ending September 13, 1996
What is the most challenging thing about your voyage? David and Anne Foky, Cary, NC
by Karen May
The most challenging thing about our voyage is adjusting to the ship's lifestyle. We are always very tired because we only get five to six hours of sleep each night. The food is good but different from what we are used to. Our cabins are smaller than our rooms at home and we have to share them with three other people. Classes run from nine in the morning to eight at night and if you have a class at seven at night it is sometimes hard to stay awake. Everything onboard is on a schedule and it is sometimes pretty hard to get up in the middle of the night for watch. These are all challenges but most student are getting accustomed to the schedule and they now are a part of our daily routine.
Nicole Deschenes, Isabelle Roux’s Aunt
Everyone is so nice on board that we just have to do our best when learning English. It is not very hard because people understand us so they try to help us as much as they can. It is just going to take time, but I am sure we will be like everyone else very soon.Note: We have three French speaking Canadians onboard and they (Isabelle, Nicolas and Patrick) are all doing very well. Their English is improving everyday as well as they help many of the other students learn French ! Jane Godbold
Anne Lackman, Middleburg, VA
Our school has a two day schedule. On day one, I will have six-one hour classes and on day two I have five classes. The classes that are offered are physical education, math, journalism, marine biology, social studies, anthropology and behavioral studies. We also have time between classes where we do day watch which in its own way is also like a class. During day watch we learn about the ship by doing various hands-on tasks. Angela, our day watch leader, gives us various jobs around the ship to do during our time. Sometimes, we do rust busting or painting, other times we do sail maneuvers. We have day watch for two hours everyday. From the time we get up to the time we go to bed we are very busy doing school work or working on the ship.
Ocean Challenge / e-mail: ocean@oceanchallenge.com / Class Afloat 1996-97
(c) 1996 Ocean Challenge, Inc.