Q&A with Concordia
From the week ending May 23, 1997
How do you celebrate birthdays onboard Concordia?
...Grant K., Carmel, IN
by Karen May
Birthdays onboard are the most unique birthdays any of us will ever experience. It is highly unlikely that our future birthdays will be spent in the middle of some ocean or sea. In the morning at Colors, everyone sings happy birthday to the birthday boy/girl. If it is a boy’s birthday, four people pick him up by the arms and legs and give him bumps (bumps means bumping the person on the deck the same number of times as his age). At dinner time, we get cake for dessert. Everyone loves birthdays because it is the only time we get dessert.
...Vanessa E., Calgary, Alberta, CanadaSailing around the world definitely helps me see things from a different angle. Every port we’ve been to has brought new experiences and more knowledge to guide me through choices and decisions I will make in the future. First and foremost, this experience is mind-opening. Once you’ve visited all these places, met different people, your lifestyle is put—whether you like it or not—into perspective. Which was one of the reasons I came here, although I didn’t know it at the time. When you are young and the only environment you know is the one you live in, it has a strong impact on your feelings and on your behavior. If you see a lot of new things, your ability to adapt to the new is much better. So I see the world and life without any roots, open-minded, and flexible. I look at the larger side of the world and want to touch and try a little bit of everything.