Jan6

Friday, January 06
Drake Passage

Drake Passage - We spend the day at sea reflecting on the experiences and adventures behind us. Our lecture series continues and we'll begin the Student Forum activities.

This morning, (after our first sleep-in in over a week!) we awoke to find ourselves sailing along in a relatively calm Drake Passage with blue sky and sunshine! I guess our good karma is continuing. As a result, we have had a great day today at sea filled with lectures and workshops. Diz, Amber, Jason and Christina started off the day with a discussion about the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP11) that took place in Montreal a month ago. In particular the discussion focused on the youth involvement at COP11 and the resulting International Youth Declaration (please see the copy on the SOI website) which was produced. Diz, Amber, Jason and Christina each participated in different ways at the COP11 meetings, so it was great to have them share their experiences. Amber was a member of the official youth delegation and thanks to the generous support of the Stephen R. Bronfman Foundation, a key partner of Students on Ice, she is here on the SOI expedition to help engage and educate our youth about this international process. Both Jason and Christina attended the COP11 meetings as observers for NGO's, and Diz was there in her capacity as a facilitator for the Youth Summit, and she led a group of Students on Ice youth and staff that attended the conference for 4 days! SOI was thrilled and honoured as an environmental education organization to be so involved in the COP11 youth activities, and could not have done if without the support of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and the Stephen R. Bronfman Foundation.

The morning workshop (on the upper deck sailing through the Drake Passage) really showed the students how the youth voice can and does make a difference. Amber really tried to emphasize the challenges inherent in trying to get countries from around the world to agree on things. Ah yes, the world of international politics. A simple exercise asking everyone in our group of 52 to agree on a favorite colour reiterated how difficult reaching a consensus can be. However, the message of hope is that progress is being made and that this new youth generation has the right to demand a better, cleaner, sustainable planet.

Our day has also included a presentation by Fred on the Antarctic Treaty System, a workshop led by Diz on Youth Action, a talk about the Arctic Youth Network, and the showing of the NFB documentary "Being Caribou". Fred pointed out how the Being Caribou film project is a wonderful example of two people (Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison) making a huge difference since there is no question their film raised the awareness that helped to recently defeat the bill in the USt Senate to drill in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. Yeehoo!! This afternoon we also had a workshop on our Ecological Footprint, showing the students how all of our actions have consequences. For example, coming on this expedition burns alot of fossil fuels. So the students have been asked to each calculate the amount of Carbon Dioxide that have created by coming on the SOI expedition. We are going to add all this up and then together with our partners The Tree Canada Foundation and Telus, we will planet the equivalent number of trees required to offset the carbon we have burned, thus making us a Carbon-Neutral expedition. Although this is far from a perfect solution, it is a step in the right direction and a symbolic act that shows we need to think about the consequences of all our activities and lifestyle choices.

Now that we have bid farewell to the Antarctic, our next few days are really focused on getting the youth to reflect on the experience they have just had and also look ahead to what actions and decisions they might take. How has this expedition changed their perspectives, motivated, inspired, given new ideas? Its hard to say right now, but time will certainly tell.

Tonight, Fritz is going to share the story of his epic British Trans-Arctic Expedition, when he and three colleagues skied and dog-sledded across this North Pole and wintered-over on the Arctic Ocean. One of the greatest Polar Journeys of all time.

Stay tuned this evening for more journals and photos...

Homeward bound,

Geoff

A long way from home yet home is right here
A continent afar but the globe's in its mirrorAntarctica tells us about ourselves and the world
Science and art and our soul it unfurlsWhere does one start when the worry appears
Where does one begin when the earth has its fears
Racing changes are happening - the world pays its price
Does man hope for the best and the throw of the dice?
We know better than that - we owe the lives that have paid
For this understanding and the knowledge they gave

Then suddenly I hear boisterous laughter with smiles
Around me the Youth that have come all these miles
Of course! An answer is clear as they study this landThe world's future generation with new answers at hand
Teaching Youth is the chance to help pay the sum
And insure our best chance in the long years to come

Upper deck workshop on the Drake Passage!

I have been doing an awful lot of thinking the past couple days. People keep mentioning that "you can make a difference" and, I know that people, no matter the age do have the ability to get their message across. I know that there are those of us who are passionate and are strong willed, and will stand behind our beliefs, no matter the cause.

This could be a conflict of interests however, because not everyone believes in the exact same things..

This is not a matter of whether we can make a difference; it is a matter if we recognize ourselves as people who really do make a difference. Sometimes, most of the time, it takes someone to "get the ball rolling."

Major efforts, such as fighting to protect our planet and struggling for world peace, are really one in the same.

For people to realize the enormity of the problems in our world and that we all need everyone to take a stand, we first must take the step in recognizing the difference that all individuals make already.

People must know from personal recognition, that they already make a difference, and all we are asking is for them to stand up and recognize it, themselves.

I have been sitting through these lessons and hearing these stories about COP 11 and so forth, and I too have been in similar situations. Girl Scouts, is a major organization focused in building girls to be able to make a difference in our world, and educate girls about our world and what we can do to make it a better place.

Being a National Delegate, I know first hand just how hard diplomacy is, but somehow it manages to work. There are a lot of people in this world who believe in the same mission, even though they are not part of the same organizations, or for some, not part of any organizations.

Just because a country ratifies something, does not mean that the individuals that make up the country ratify it. The first step in accomplishing something is to make normal individuals aware, to educate, to persuade them that they are important and that they need to join the fight by, helping others realizes their importance and encouraging them to do the same.It starts with you.

It starts with me.It starts with us, taking a stand, holding a hand for world peace.for our world.for life.

Comme vous le savez déjà, nous avons entrepris notre retour vers Ushuaia, et nous sommes donc en plein milieu du passage Drake. Encore une fois, l'entrée dans ces eaux tumultueuses a été accompagnée de multiples "maux de mer". C'est le festival des gravol!! Les journées sont tout de même bien remplies, nous avons des conférences et des "workshops" sur plusieurs sujets, tels que la "politique de l'Antarctique" ou encore les changements climatiques. Des personnages impressionnants sont à bord du bateau, et chacun de nous veut en tirer le maximum. Prenez seulement quelques minutes pour aller voir sur internet les accomplissements de Bill (William) Lishman ou encore Fred Roots. Ça vous donnera une idée des membres qui composent l' équipe d'éducateurs qui sont à bord de l'Akademic Shokalskiy!

Sinon, je sens la fin du voyage qui approche, et j'avouerai franchement que quelques jours de plus par ici n'auraient pas été de trop. Tout s'est passé tellement rapidement, trop de choses en peu de temps. et je sais très bien que les occasions pour l'Antarctique sont rares! Par contre, je sais aussi que dès que j'aurai mis le pied au Québec, je volerai telle superwoman vers ma famille et mes ami(e)s pour partager cette experience inoubliable!

Today is our 3rd day in the Drake Passage and without a doubt it brought Fred reading to the students about the Antarctic Treaty.

upon seasickness. Surprisingly enough though, these waters are considered calm in comparison to how rough the Drake Passage can be. After yesterday, we officially started are way back North, to the Beagle Channel, to Ushuaia, then the flights back home. It was funny because yesterday we made a stop at a former British research station, called Port Lockroy and it was there that it hit me that it was the last time I would get to land and walk the lands of Antarctica with the Penguins. I grew kind of sad, but soon grew content again when Geoff let me drive the zodiac in Antarctica! That was so exciting and it really made the last day in Antarctica all the more worthwhile.

The days are growing longer now because I'm looking forward to going home and there are no more landings, just sailing North. I really am looking forward to having my spectacular amazing Spanish food, maybe some bistec encebollado con arroz blanco y habichuelas rosada. I just truly miss the comforts home, but I will also miss the friends I made here, lessons I learned and the main event itself, Antarctica.

Well, we're slowly winding our way up the Drake. Earlier today, Quinn, Andy and I were feeling quite queasy, so we skipped lunch and wrote a letter to the Drake Passage. I spent most of my spare moments lying in bed today trying not to be sick and carefully evaluating what I ate to make sure that I wouldn't be seeing it again.

I think this entire experience is really starting to hit home. The last few days, hearing about Bill leading birds on migration routes, Fred surveying the Antarctic and today, watching a video about Fritz's crossing the Arctic, I cannot help but feel inspired. I have to admit that at times, I have often been cynical about the future, even as a young person myself, but this expedition has given me new hope. After speaking to several of the students and hearing how passionate and motivated they are about making a difference in this world, I think that we're headed in a good direction.

Today's journal entry is going to end with one of my favourite quotations that was used by Apple during one of their advertising campaigns many years
ago:

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes, the ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who'll do it."

Here's to the students of this year's Antarctic expedition, a new generation who see the world differently and will change the world.

As usual, miss all the family back home. Mom and Yee-Yee, I tried to call, but got the answering machine, hope you got the message. Mwa to Jenners.

We meet again. You are an ugly and bad, bad passage. We think you're probably the worst passage in the whole world. Let me check. Yes. Yes you are. If only we had a giant blow dryer, we would evaporate you to oblivion and set up dams on both sides of South, create a void and people could simply walk to Antarctica. It would be a lovely hike. We think it would do well for the tourists that get sick such as ourselves. It would also be good for Ushuaia, as there could simply be a monorail going straight to the Antarctic continent. Of course, you may scoff and think that all of this is an engineering impossibility, but believe you me, monorails are quite simple to build. This shall happen and when it does, we will laugh. Ha ha. Like that.

You are so terrible that we have contemplated ingesting guano so that we either get sick or people think we're insane and we'd have to be airlifted back home because everyone would be fearing for their lives. We knew there was a good reason to purchase the travel insurance.

In no uncertain terms, let us say this- Mr. Drake, we dislike you very, very much. This isn't even one of those, "well, you're a bad passage, but still a great body of water." No, that is not the case at all. You are both a bad passage AND a bad body of water. In fact, I hope National Geographic never covers you ever again. I don't know if they have even covered you. I bet you're not good enough. I mean, how are people supposed to take pictures of you IF YOU WON'T STAY STILL?!?! You are like a giant drunk body of water. I mean, it's all well and good if you do your own thing, but why did you have to get us involved?

It didn't used to be this way. You used to be cool, y'know, like before you had millions of tonnes of water flowing through you. Sir Francis Drake would be rolling in his grave to know you've changed. After you became famous, you let it get to you and now you're just a huge frothing mass of insanely undulating salty water. We hate you.

We are in the Drake Passage with good seas and clear skies. We will not be arriving in Ushuaia until Sunday morning (January 8) where we will be taking 4 wheel drive jeeps into the mountains for the day---sounds exciting!!!! We will be traveling all day January 9 and all night.with arrival into Miami about 5:30 am on Tuesday. Then I head home arriving in Houston Tuesday, January 10, around 9 am. This has been a great trip with great kids and staff!!!! As we are approaching the end here, I can feel myself becoming a bit anxious.we have had no contact with the outside world (except by these
journals) since we started---we have no knowledge as to what has been happening in the world around us during our trip.while we have been here---this ship and the people on it have been our world. This trip has been absolutely fantastic---to experience and see Antarctica is a dream come true. Going with Students On Ice is such a phenomenal learning experience. If I don't get time to write again.see you when I get home!!!!