Wind of change
“Five, four, three, two, one… Happy New Year!” Fireworks light up the dark sky over the skyline of Frankfurt, the people on the streets are cheering and my family and I drink a toast to the New Year. For a moment, I just pause and watch the hubbub around me. What will 2025 bring? I do not remember a New Year´s Eve that holds so many possibilities, so much uncertain change to my whole life like this one. While looking at the colorful explosions and wrapping my jacket tighter around me, I feel like my dream of traveling the world could come true this year.
Now, one year later, I must smile when I recall this moment. My dream became my life, and I will continue living it for the next months. When the first conversations about New Year´s Eve took place on board, I was somewhat shocked that another whole year would soon be over. Of course, I knew that we would not live in 2025 forever, but it felt like time flew. I started thinking about what had happened in the last 12 months and more and more memories came to my mind. From January the 1st on, 2025 was a big journey to where I am now.
Beginning with my application, the following trial week and the preliminary stage, Classroom under Sails ran through the first months of the year. And of course, my life also consisted of countless experiences with my friends and family, numerous talks, a school trip, holidays, my daily life… In October, the final packing began and way too fast to realize, I stood at the pier in Kiel and hugged my family for one last time in 2025. The next chapter of this year and my life started as we cast off. Everything that happened from this day on seems like it could fill much more than just the past three months: getting to know the ship and our watch systems, forming new friendships, arriving in Tenerife, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, exploring Dominica, celebrating Christmas in the middle of the Caribbean heading towards Panama, visiting the Guna tribe and finally anchoring in front of islands which seem to have rose directly from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Just as unfamiliar as the place was, on New Year’s Eve, we had 30°C on board. Starting with breakfast, the Thor was a hive of activity: our committee for the New Year’s Eve party was all busy decorating the deck and a bunch of other people prepared different things for our finger food buffet in the evening. In the early afternoon, a silent hour took place on board. Often, there are so many things happening each day that there is little time to calm down and to process our experiences. One hour of no talking and no noise was an opportunity for us to realize the ending of the year and to reflect on 2025.
The celebration of New Year’s Eve started at six o’clock p.m. with an iced coconut drink to celebrate the beginning of 2026 in Germany because of the time difference. I became a little melancholic when I thought about my family and our New Year’s Eve traditions at home, but this feeling faded away very quickly. Soon after, the buffet was opened and after everyone had stuffed themselves, our chosen DJs Alander and Marie turned on the music for our small party on the main deck. At 8 o’clock p.m., our dancing was interrupted by a short movie. Most of us know the lines of “Dinner for One” by heart. So instantly, this evening felt much more like New Year’s Eve than before. We continued with party games that we all have not played since the last kid’s birthday that we participated, such as looking for the hidden pot with a wooden spoon. Then, we started dancing again, took funny pictures in spontaneous costumes and were even able to read our future by pouring liquid wax into cold water and interpreting the forms. With only half an hour left until midnight, we all came together at 23:30 pm. Some crew members held a short speech and we sang two songs before our typhoon welcomed the new year. With a loud “Warschau 2026!” we all drank a toast to the New Year, while fireworks exploded over the anchoring yachts and islands around us.
2025. A year full of change and countless first times, full of unforgettable memories. Standing here and looking at the dark sky, I am not the same person as I was last New Year’s Eve. Yet still, the wind of change is blowing further, leading us to new adventures. 2026. A year full of opportunities and uncertainty is ahead of us and I am curious where it will lead me.