With P, floating home.

Kiwis are well represented on the 59th voyage. We rock! On the South Seas to Auckland, I noticed familiar changes: the sun’s light was sharper, the weather became changeable, and the Southern Cross appeared in the night sky.Risa, P and I woke early before dawn. The Peace Boat silently passed by Rangitoto and the first shards of morning light began to emanate over Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs. This was a special sunrise (ok, the only sunrise), that we woke for on the voyage. I was coming home for Christmas.

I’d organised for family to come on the boat, check it out and join me for a typical Peace Boat buffet breakfast on the deck. It’s hardly haute cuisine, but it does the job. We did a little tour of the floating village and then headed into town. Where were the all decorations? Only the famous Whicoulls Santa stood out. I picked up a few Christmas presents and then split my time for the rest of the day with family. It’s an easy feeling coming home. Nothing has changed as much as you have. It’s comfortable, familiar. My dog remembers me and doesn’t hold any grudges. We opened some Christmas presents together, and I announced that the money in my card is going towards my next diving trip in Papua New Guinea. Dinner was especially nice down on St Heliers beach. Before boarding I made sure I stocked up on assorted kiwi goodies - Jaffas, Pineapple lumps, Hubbards cereal, and a few bottles of Lindaur for Christmas and New Years. That was my day, but I knew I’d be back in a few weeks for my sisters wedding.

In Japan, Christmas Eve is celebrated more than Christmas day. For a first, I joined a carolling group led by the sweet voice of Bethan to bring out my Christmas spirit. We performed Come o ye Faithful, Joy to the World and The 12 days of Christmas at the Topaz restaurant on board. Then most of us partied into the late hours of the morning at Sports Bar. The GETs nursed hangovers together on Christmas day and enjoyed doing a whole lot of nothing, other than exchanging Secret Santa gifts, eating lollies and watching movies.

Classes have finished! The on board teaching program we’d set up was a great success, judged by feedback from students. Without a doubt, my students have grown in confidence, expanded their vocabularies and learned how to use new language structures. I’d say my Japanese has also improved along the way. But we’re far from finished - coming up is a GET challenge program around Sydney, a speech contest, graduation ceremony and of course a final party!

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 7:00 pm and is filed under Peace Boat, New Zealand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.