Tuesday, December 13

End of Shiplife ~ South Africa

Indeed, I've given up ship life! I had an amazing third and last contract with Royal Caribbean and I'm so grateful for this experience, having had a job I really enjoyed, working with people from all over the world (guests as well as crew), seeing places other people go on vacation for, speaking different languages, and being motivated to learn even more.


Boston as we sailed away

Bar Harbour in the fall ~ simply beautiful

I was home for 10 days and enjoyed the fall nature in my home town. Then I flew to....


Cape Town, South Africa


On my second day in South Africa, we climbed Lions Head from where you have a nice view on Cape Town as well as on Table Mountain, if it's not too cloudy. Here I'm just enjoying the view and trying to take it all in.

It didn't take me long to find out that 'it's beautiful here'...

And of course many crazy poses wherever we went...here taking a break from driving along the coast of the cape.

On one of the many wine farms by Stellenbosch, here with a friend from my second contract on the Explorer of the Seas. It was so nice to see Lauren again and stay with her for a few days.

We went to quite a few wine farms to do some wine tasting....yum! On this particular one we also had some cheese. Perfect combination. Anytime again. And as much as possible!

What is a trip to South Africa if you don't get in contact with wild animals? I wanted to do it right - and got to play with cheetahs for a few minutes.

We never got to swim in the ocean, partly because the water was too cold, partly because we had so many other things on the agenda. Here at Jeffrey's Bay.

One of the highlights was going to Adél's farm in Somerset East to go horse back riding. But oh the flies that come with the horse and the heat...here you can see me trying to keep them away from my face and especially my lips. You can imagine how annoying that was...

We went to the Addo Elephant National Park where we saw so many elephants you could only imagine! Here we almost drove into this small herd that is walking around the baby elephant. They were following us for a while and we got to watch and enjoy as they trotted their way back into the greener parts of the park, waving their big ears almost choreographically...

I am also intrigued by South African history and so we made our way to Robben Island. Here I'm standing by the cell where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for many years. Touring the island and hearing about the political movements in very recent history has made a deep impact on me. So often we take freedom and peace for granted.

I had such an amazing time. Three weeks filled with adventure and spending time with friends I wouldn't want to miss in a lifetime. I couldn't have planned it better, I couldn't have asked for anything else. Thank you Adél. Thank you Lauren. Thank you God.

Monday, September 5

Faith

Faith makes us do things, say things, pray things that we couldn't do if we didn't have faith. So when Jesus says to the blind beggar, receive your sight, for your faith has healed you!, he refers to the beggar's call for help. The beggar believed that Jesus was able to heal him when he screamed, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! And when Jesus asked him, what do you want me to do for you?, he was able to say with confidence, Lord, I want to see. If the beggar had doubted in the least, he would have either given up after the people told him to shut up, or he wouldn't have shouted at all. How important it is to have faith in Jesus and his power! Not only in theory, but also to expect this power in my life on a daily basis. Based on Luke 18:35-43

Tuesday, August 30

End of the Baltic

We've come to the end of the Baltic cruises and are getting ready for the transatlantic! I'm really excited to see new things. Leaving on September 3rd, we are first going to France and Ireland, then we'll enjoy an overnight in Iceland, one day in Newfoundland in Canada, and after a few sea days we are in Boston where this particular cruise ends.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months which have gone by so quickly!!


Russia
in front of one of the many churches just outside of St. Petersburg


Denmark
in front of the famous Little Mermaid (which apparently has legs...) in Copenhagen with my friend Adél


Sweden
in the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg with friends Marko and Adél


Estonia
Nicki, Adél and I met Shrek and Donkey in Tallinn



My sister and her family came on board for a few hours when we were docked in Copenhagen. We even managed to take a picture with Captain James.


Sweden
I got to go to an Icebar in Stockholm which was very cool. Literally. -5°C air temperature and everything in the bar was made out of ice, including the glasses we drank from.



I have had a blast working with teens for a few cruises now.


Finland
Somehow almost every time we went to Helsinki, the sky was either gray or it was pouring rain. I went on a speed boat tour and got to see the down town area from the water view.

If I had to choose the port I enjoyed most I think it would be Tallinn in Estonia. The down town area looks a lot like my home town Höxter, and there is a hotel really close to where the ship always docks which has good food AND provides free WiFi. Everyone who has ever worked on a ship knows how important this combination is :-)

Sunday, June 19

Welcome to Scandinavia

This cruise is the forth cruise for me going through the Baltic. The ports are simply amazing and I really enjoy the Jewel of the Seas now. It took me a while to adapt and to feel at home here. But now I have found really good friends and I feel so blessed for having such an awesome job. I'm happy to be where I am!


Adel and I in Cherbourg, France


The Swedish mascot being abused for our silly moments in Stockholm, Sweden.


White Nights in St. Petersburg, Russia. The sun doesn't set for a couple of months and though it's the middle of the night, it feels like the evening til it's morning again!


These kind of hats you can buy in Estonia. It was pretty cold there the first time we visited Tallinn. Now the weather is a lot nicer but I thought the hat was just fantastic!

I know this update is a little short but somehow it takes way too long to upload pictures here. I tried a few times to upload a beautiful video of the White Nights but it just won't work. I'll try again later...

Tuesday, April 19

Home?

Coming home to Germany this time was very different for me than any time before. I wasn't sure what to do next. Also I had caught a bad cold before my return which didn't let me think clearly for at least two weeks. Royal Caribbean had offered me a very nice ship to go to next but I was really unsure about whether or not to take the offer. I took a lot of time sleeping and relaxing and praying.



enjoying the first rays of sunshine


I also took time to visit friends I hadn't seen in a long time. Here with long time friend Lina and her little daughter, "beautiful" Marburg in the background...




It was so nice to see my nieces and nephews again. They grow so fast when you're not watching. Here Salome and I are enjoying the swing, one of our most favourite things to do.

So what is coming next? At the end of this month I will be joining the Jewel of the Seas which will take me to Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Finland) and Russia (Estonia, St. Petersburg). Homeport will be Harwich in England.


The following quote became really important to me in the midst of not knowing where to go next: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you." (Saint Augustine)
The last couple of weeks have been a journey for me. One would think I only travel when I'm on the road ;-). I'm excited to see whatever is ahead of me, expecting only the best...

Ha! I knew it...

Friday, March 4

I saw a whale today

It's incredible how time flies because I'm going home already in a few days. Almost seems like the past five months went by like the blink of an eye. A lot has happened though and I've learned a lot and seen quite a few nice places. Here are some pictures.

Labadee, Haiti (private destination of Royal Caribbean)

Labadee

getting into San Juan, Puerto Rico

looking at the port from old downtown San Juan

I wish I had some pictures from when I work but we are not allowed to pose with the kids so to you it might seem I just go from place to place...not true! Last cruise we had over 1000 (!) kids and it was quite a challenge, let me tell you that. This is my last cruise and I can actually relax a little before coming home. I'm looking forward to good german food, real coffee (no offense, but Americans just don't know what that is), my big bed, and waking up to the rising sun. Here in our little cabins we don't have port holes and that makes me miss my big window right next to my bed A LOT. I hope you enjoyed my few updates during my travels here in the Caribbean. We'll see what's next for me.

Tuesday, January 11

Christmas on the Explorer and other interesting things

I know, I know, it's been over a month now that I've updated my blog. But believe it or not, I really do work once in a while and the last couple of weeks were pretty busy here with lots of kids and even more activities.

Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day seemed so fake to me because I didn't sing a single Christmas song! The weather was fabulous (we were in St. Thomas for Christmas Eve and at sea for Christmas Day) and I had great friends around but it felt more like a show than the Christmas celebrations I'm used to.

For Christmas Day all the Youth Staff got dressed up as elves in order to help Santa distribute all his presents to the kids ages 0-17.

Laura and I as eager Santa helpers

Santa surrounded by all the presents waiting for the kids big and small to sit on his lap

here in action

A few days later Laura and I went on a catamaran to go snorkeling in St. John, Antigua.

here on the catamaran all excited to go snorkeling

Did you know that Antigua has 365 (!) beaches? So you could spend a whole entire year going to a different beach every day without getting bored...how does that sound?

this is one of the 365 beaches

here in Barbados next to a german boat

sea turtles not afraid to swim with us and be touched

That was it for the last month. I hope everyone had a good start into the new year. God bless you all, my friends. Hope to hear from you.