May – 2005
"Crew"
mate Lida and Amy Renes enjoy the last day on the boat as it sails
the Ijsselmeer.
This
picture taken from the room with the bunk beds, looking up at the
deck of the boat, the Neerlandia, and Amy Renes' "crew"
mates Christopher, Sarah and Ginny.
The sailor’s life for me. Last weekend,
I sailed off into the sunrise for a relaxing trip on the Neerlandia.
The location was the Ijsselmeer. The date was “Pinksterweekend”
or the weekend of White Sunday.
As I pulled into the harbor with my host father, I was probably capable of containing my excitement; however, I was much too excited to be worried about letting it show. My whole weekend was going to be spent on the sweet water of Holland’s Ijsselmeer, on a genuine boat, with all my fellow YFU Holland exchange students.
My excitement became even more elevated as I lugged my luggage to the boat, finding the rest of the exchange students. We are a cozy group of forty students from more than 10 different countries. I have seen most of the exchange students one time, during a meeting called “Mid-Year” in January. I have seen others more often because they live in my region, or because we have become closer and have planned outings together. The others were all together in their first month in the Netherlands during a week-long orientation camp.
These are the people with whom I spent my weekend. Our sailing trip was organized by our exchange program, YFU, and was called “Re-entry” because it comes near the close of our year. Every year, Holland exchange students are treated to this trip. For many of us, it was our first experience on a sailboat, lasting three whole days.
We started our maritime adventure by a necessary splitting of the group. With so many people, there was not enough room on one boat. I opted for the smaller boat, which was almost 100 years old.
After everyone got settled into the tiny rooms on the Neerlandia, with bunk beds and all, we were addressed by the captain and his mate. We learned all the rules from the “schipper,” or captain, and were ready for the schedule and rigors of sailing.
We were off and floating by 10:00 Saturday morning. Each morning, everybody was needed on deck to help pull the sails up. It was extremely heavy work, but it lasted only twenty minutes. The work was mostly muscular and proved the embarassing feminity of a few boys on our boat. For the most part, though, we all pitched in and were pretty proud to see the sails of our little ship lifted high in the air, along with our YFU flag. The rest of the day, usually till about 3 o’clock, was spent lounging around the deck of the boat or seeking warmth below deck.
The
Neerlandia ports in the harbor in the city of Hoorn on a spectacular
day.
It was not only exchange students on our boat. We were accompanyed by three YFU returnees, volunteers who went on a foreign exchange during their teenage years. With them, we spent a part of our afternoons discussing our experience throughout the year.
We read a letter that we had written to ourselves in the fall. The letter gave us the chance to reflect on the goals that we had made, what was harder/easier than we first had thought, and how sloppy our handwriting was at the beginning of the year.
We also talked about what we were planning for our last few months in the Netherlands. Everyone is going back to his/her home country sometime in July. My departure date is July 2, meaning my days here in the Netherlands are very limited. A year seemed insurmountable in the beginning of the year. On our boat trip, I was pretty shocked to be talking about saying goodbye already. Goodbye has become the insurmountable.
As difficult as starting the process of goodbye seems, the YFU volunteers talked us through what was going to be the hardest part and gave some ideas for making the transition as smooth as possible.
I am not really worried about saying goodbye. Not yet anyway. I have some experience with saying goodbye to friends and family, but it does not get any easier. I do know that it does not make a difference what kind of goodbye it is. It does not have to be something extremely special or extravagant. The year was special, but because life is life, it has to end sometime.
What is most important to me is to tell my host family and friends how much they mean to me. Unfortunately, I can not pack these people in my suitcase and introduce them to the Fourth of July. That is not extremely practical.
Inevitably, the days will come closer and closer to July 2nd. I just hope I can enjoy my last months and end the year on the right foot. In any case, I have the sea legs to support me.