Experiences you only have at KUS

Date: 8th April 2021
Position: 14°54,6’N 023°29,9’W

The everyday life of a teenager of my age normally includes standing up in the morning, going to school, doing homework, meeting with friends, spending time in front of your smartphone, eating dinner and going to sleep. Only a few days change in your daily routine.

During the last sixth months we experienced so much, that it is hard to write down everything, without leaving anything out. Every day at Classroom under Sail we learn something new, no matter if it is a normal weekday, Sunday or a holiday. At the very first day – the moment we left our family behind and went to Kiel by bus – we already started our learning process. At the very beginning nobody knew anyone, so it was not like at home, where you can always go to your best friend. In the first few days, we learned to live together with many new people and started to become friends with each other. Then it was time to say goodbye to Kiel, because we wanted to sail away. Only a few weeks later we were at the sea. We learned how to sail and all the things that are important when you live on a ship as a community. I think I have never learned so much in such a short time. Furthermore, we as students had the great possibility to lead our watches. We decide someone who is in charge that all the tasks we have to do during the watch are completed. Then there was our first planed stop at land, where we managed to live in small tents and we were supposed to organize everything we needed there like food on our own. That was a nice experience. Then it was time again to go back to our ship. For the first time, the ship was handed over to us. I am very proud that I can say that I know how to wash my clothes. When I think of my friends, I guess, many of them do not know that, because their parents still wash for them. When I am back, I really want to help my mom with washing, because when you grow up, you also have to wash your clothes by yourself. The next great experience we were allowed to have, was climbing up the 2nd highest mountain in the Atlantic Ocean. We accepted the challenge to climb up to 2829 meters. But not only the mountains were high, the waves the Thor sailed up and down were quite impressive as well. Seasickness and the fact that you are on a 50 meters long ship with 50 other people, was a major experience in my life. After we went through the rough sea, we came to the Acores, where we were allowed to organize one whole week at the island of Sao Jorge ourselves. We were supposed to plan our route and search for a stay for the night. We visited interesting sights. We also took care of all the finances. That was a good practice for our life’s, because in normal class you don’t get the chance to do that.

For now, it sounds like we became quite rich in new experiences, but soon a new challenge awaits us all. We will also have to learn how to let go of all the friends we have found here. Today we only have 14 days of our journey left and we all made such good friends at the Thor. It is hard for all of us. Living together for half a year is the strongest experience I ever made. This adventure will not just end with the 24th of April, but it will have a lot of impact on my future life. For sure, I will miss this once in a lifetime – experience.