It took a lot of courage and negotiation, and many tears when parting with my dear coworkers, but now I am free of my office duties, and ready to embark in my next adventure.
Back in my student days, around March 2011, a friend casually mentioned this ship that sails around the world promoting "peace", under the cheesy yet simple name of "Peace Boat". The voyage through more than 95 ports sounded very tempting, however, my status as a scholarship-awarded student did not give me freedom to schedule a trip that lasted more than a couple of weeks.
Years later, in the Yokohama Red-Brick Warehouse's Ice Rink, befriending a stranger gave me an insight of what life aboard this ship was. She was the sub-commander in charge of operating the ship, a lovely intern from Panama who briefly shared her merry experience on this world-touring cruise. This was on the not so cold night of December 7th, 2016.
And only two months and two weeks after, at my first "Pub Quiz" event, I befriended a very friendly and diverse team of experts, who happen to be involved in organizing the activities in which this ship engages. One business card, one email, and the idea of boarding once I change jobs became surrealy closer to my reality than what I ever imagined it would be.
ABOUT PEACE BOAT
平和は旅を可能にする"
It was 1983 and Japan's policies on international travelling were changing, when a student of Waseda University was ambitious enough to imagine a cruise that besides doing tourism, adds a meaningful to the trip by incorporating "learning" from history and culture diversity as well. After a successful voyage, the project started growing, with new and more ambitious goals every year. The next step was to do a trip around the world, of about 100 days, which came true in 1990, being a pioneer in providing this service in the Japanese market. Later on, the goal became to have the ship going around the world continuously, and the frequency of voyages reached the current number of 3 per year. The next goal? To own a specially designed eco-friendly ship with reduced use of oil and incorporation of green energy generating technologies... coming up soon!
Onboard, as well as at the ports-of-call, a series of activities and workshops are held, aimed at raising awareness of the world's diversity; promoting international understanding and peace through cultural exchanges. To do this possible, the organizers of the voyage connect with different local NGOs, activists on human rights and experts on diverse areas, known on-and-off board as "Guest Educators".
Since Guest Educators have all sort of backgrounds, a special team denominated the "Communication Coordinators" is formed to accompany them through their lectures, and help bridge their message accross to the passangers, whichever language it is expressed in.
"Travelling makes peace,
peace makes travelling possible"
Is it the zeal for adventure and learning? Is it the thrill to challenge my language skills? In fact, these and a long list of different other reasons is what has brought me to apply for a position in this team. After a selection process, many study sessions and a pre-boarding orientation, the team is almost ready to board the biggest ship I have ever been on.
I am thrilled to share with all of you the news that, from tomorrow, for 100 days, as part of the Communication Coordinator team on the 95th voyage of Peace boat, I will call the "Ocean Dream" my home.
As for the curious, the schedule of the ports to visit is in the following link
http://peaceboat.org/english/?page=view&nr=123&type=4&menu=64
Above is the estimated arrival time (as of local time) to each of the ports.
I am looking forward to meeting anybody at the destinations I will be hopping off ! If you will be available when I am in town, please contact me by email at cami.scout@gmail.com (be sure to include "Peace Boat" in the subject)
At last, I share a "body" encoded message I made a couple of months ago, wishing this is a great opportunity for the passengers, my fellow communication coordinators and everybody who is involved with Peace Boat.
