Leaving to a new world

„Borders. I have never seen one, but I have heard they exist in people’s minds.“ ~ Thor Heyerdahl

Thus began the journey of our lifetime.

On Sunday morning, 13th of October, we were woken up by the sound of Hannah’s voice. Everyone had slept very well during the first night at our new home, the ship Thor Heyerdahl. The night was very special for us, because in the last days we had taken every chance to just be on it, as we did all the work to prepare the trip on land.

And in order for us to get the chance of having enough sleep at least once this tour, some Ex-KUSis did the harbour watch for us during the night and prepared breakfast, which was very nice of them. Thank you!

After our first breakfast aboard we made the last preparations for our departure, like testing the music boxes and taking out the trash, and we also deep cleaned the mess and the deck. At 9 o’clock Ruth, the project manager, informed us of the schedule of the day.

Half an hour later we hugged our families the last time for six months at the pier. Some shed a few tears, but every one of us was excited for the big journey. I had to shed a few tears, too, as my youngest brother was very sad he had to wave goodbye to me, but I was looking forward with great excitement to the next half a year. Even the skipper and some of our friends from the try-out turn (‘Probetörn’) were there and said goodbye. At 10 the typhon (the ship’s horn to communicate specific signals or to warn other ships) told us with a loud noise to get back on board. The last hug, the last kiss and the last wise words of our parents.

Every KUSi made their way across the gangway to the deck.

There we stood, organised in groups of our watches, except the people of the music project who prepared themselves for the songs they would perform.

Then the farewell ceremony started.

First, we sang Conquest of Paradise, where everyone drummed the rhythm on their thighs. We hummed the melody to the sound of the piano, the saxophone, the French horn and the trumpet. We even had a “shisha-piano” (melodica). After that, Ruth said a few words and we sang Wind of Change accompanied by the rest of the music instruments. In the following every crew member (‘Stammi’) and every KUSi introduced themselves with their name, how old they were and where they came from. The ‘Stammis’ also had to say what their job during the turn was going to be. Due to this short presentation the parents got a glimpse of the other people with whom their children were going to spend the next six months. Two people from Alumni-KUS (the community of former KUSis) held a speech. They talked about their experiences during their turn and prepared us with their words for our tour. I am in watch 2 and they said we would have the most wonderful night skies and should enjoy the stargazing. Lia and Leon, two new KUSis, also held a very good speech which they started with a quote from Thor Heyerdahl (after whom our ship is named): „Borders. I have never seen one, but I have heard they exist in people’s minds“. In my opinion, this is a good motto for our journey and Lia und Leon spoke not only from their but also from our hearts. They talked about our hopes and expectations, our worries and fears, gathering adjectives of how we would describe our feelings towards the journey like adventurous and unexpected.

In addition, we sang A Million Dreams, the song text really fitted to our mood and the way we see the journey. In the following the parents took the first group photo of us. For the photo some stood on deck and some sat on the deckhouse, everyone wanted a place on top of it. The parents were allowed to come on the poop deck to take pictures and to hold a short speech, too. They wished us luck and happiness and reminded us to brush our teeth. Their self-written version of “An Tagen wie diesen” followed us out of the harbour as we finally set sails. I liked the song and the lyrics with which they wished us a good journey and hoped that we would come back safely.

Three people had to pull one of the ropes to set our sail from watch 2, the schooner (the big gaff sail on the first mast). Altogether we needed nine people to set our sail. This was the time when everyone realized that we were really going to sail this ship on our own.

After the sails were set, we waved our families and friends one last time until we couldn´t see them anymore.

The Ex-KUSis had a boom box and played songs to stir up enthusiasm and danced to their “Partybus” song. Now all the new KUSis want to learn the dance.

Then we were among us. Just the ship and our new family.

The wind and our most important lady on board, Olga, the main engine, brought us away from Kiel, our old lives and into a new, wonderful world.