Q&A with Concordia
From the week ending June 20, 1997
What are you doing for the summer?
...Neal S., Weymouth, MA
by Chris O'Neil
This summer, I plan to rest and relax. After ten months of sailing, I need a bed that doesn’t move and a nice big bath tub. That’s just for a while though, then I will have to find some work. I may teach sailing for the month of July. In August, I have decided I would really like to explore Canada. This will hopefully include a road trip across Canada. It might seem strange to want to go traveling after this year, but I have realized that once you have the traveling bug, it never goes away.
...Megan C., Evergreen High School, Redmond, WAAt this point in our voyage, we are one day away from Belgium. There are only three ports left and things are really starting to wind down. Review classes are going on and students are organizing their plans for the summer. But what is most evident onboard is that the students are all experiencing what we call the "channels."
The "channels" is a word we made up and it means the time when students get excited about going home. We had the channels before our return home for Christmas, but this time it is very different. When we say goodbye to each other, we won’t return to the ship. This has been our home for ten months and we all have grown quite attached to the ship and everyone onboard. It will undoubtedly be a sad goodbye. However, it will also be exciting because it will mark our achievement of sailing around the world.
The main thought going through my mind is how much I have changed and how I look at life much differently now. This is an exciting aspect of Class Afloat, realizing that you are not the same person as you were in the beginning of the voyage.
Last August, leaving everyone I love at home was a big step in my life. The fact that I have learned to be independent from them all is a big change and affects the way I look at things. I am more open-minded when meeting new people now after visiting so many different countries. Also, I am more tolerant of others after living in such a confined area all year.
One of the main topics of conversation on the ship now is the difference in everyone from the beginning of the year when we all met in San Diego. How can we not be different? We sailed around the world!