Teacher Aboard Logs

Slashing Rain and Thunderous Waves...the North Sea

Yesterday was my first day out in this famous body of water, and I had a full encounter with Mal De Mer (seasickness). I stayed in my bunk most of the day and ate almost nothing which left me with no energy. Yikes! I tried my best to help the crew but wound up "chumming" most of the evening. It was not a pretty sight! This is what the weather looked like the next morning when it calmed down.

Our best "guestimate" is that the largest waves approached 15 feet. I've never been out on such large waves. Most of the sailing I have done has been in multi-hull boats such as catamarans and trimarans, and they don't roll as much as this ship does, so my stomach is really giving me grief! The crew has been very gracious and understanding (one or two mentioned that even they felt queasy early on), and I guess I'm harder on myself than anybody. I just don't like the thought of letting someone down. So, I got up this morning and forced myself to eat breakfast and plenty of juice. I figure that if I go "chumming" again, I may as well do it on a full stomach! Well, enough of that for now; let's talk about Oslo, Norway!

Goodbye, Sweden!

When you last heard from me, we were in Göteborg, Sweden. What a great city! The final fun was a conference call set up by Jerome Bird, the Director of Education at the Pride office in Baltimore, Maryland, who met the boat in Sweden as the ship's "advance man." Jerome, Captain Jan Miles, and I called from Sweden. At the other end, students from Brunswick Middle and High Schools assembled in my Theater classroom at B.H.S. What a great time! The students prepared questions for us, and it went very well. I understand that a television crew was there from the local cable educational channel, and pictures appeared in the newspaper afterward. What a huge success! Another call is scheduled between Baltimore, Ireland, and Baltimore, Maryland. Thanks to everybody who made this possible, and a special thanks to the students for the impromptu birthday song!

As has been our good fortune in every port thus far, we had great weather for leaving Sweden. Due to the many rocks and islands in the fiord, we motored a good deal of the way. I took the opportunity to climb out onto the headrig to take some pictures. The headrig is where we fly the staysail (pronounced stays'l), the jib, and the jibtopsail (pronounced jibtops'l).

Here's a shot of the beautiful coastline that set the scene for our departure.

I also couldn't resist a shot of "Old Glory" with the coastline in the distance. I always have been an avid supporter of patriotism. I feel an even stronger attachment to our country when I see our flag waving above the boat as we travel throughout countries that, for one reason or another, sometimes have negative things to say about the U.S.

I'm proud to be an American. Where else would I have the opportunity to sail aboard a beautiful ship like Pride II, visit foreign countries to exchange ideas, and share it all with you?! Go U.S.A.!!

Oslo Arrival

Our arrival was interesting, to say the least! First, we encountered several German submarines out on maneuvers.

Here's a structure that greeted us as we came up to the port where we docked. Can you tell its purpose? You should know by now!

Jerome from the Pride home office in Maryland had taken the train to Oslo to meet us, and he took this picture as we approached the dock. I'm in the center making sure the fenders and fender board were where the first mate wanted them.

After we docked, the entire crew assembled outside for a picture with the guest crew, Teacher Aboard, and Captain. Here we are in all our glory!

Oslo: The Treider School and Haugenstua Skole

Tuesday, September 19, was my day for visiting schools and sightseeing in the town. Jerome and I left first thing in the morning for the Treider School. The Treider School is unusual in Norway because it is private, although it receives some state funding.

We met two classes filled with delightful students. They were interested to hear about the differences in our educational systems and especially about our four period day.

One interesting fact about the Treider School is that they make allowances within the schedule for students who receive "specialized training" in classes or sports. A number of the students attend the dance studio near the school, and it's a part of their curriculum. I mentioned the Theater program at my school, and several students stayed after to ask about the possibility of an exchange program with a Maryland school where Drama is offered. The school staff included members from Britain and Canada and was very hospitable. Thank you for a wonderful visit!

We were also able to arrange a scrapbook exchange between Haugenstua Skole, a middle school in the suburbs of Oslo, and Stevensville Middle School on Kent Island in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. The staff at Haugenstua show off the burgee and scrapbook from Stevensville.

As at Treider, we found some of the classes here unusual - like cooking! The headmistress said that the staff felt it was especially good for boys to take the cooking class. Although we usually think of the Scandinavian countries as homogeneous (people from the same ethnic background), in recent years Norway has receive a large immigrant population.

So this typical neighborhood Norwegian school had lots of students from many different backgrounds.

Go to Part 2 of the September 17, 2000 Log