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JOURNAL ENTRY
September 3rd, 2004
Jackson Buckle
Forgotten Memories
Alas, the adventure ends while the journey has barely begun. With time this particular moment will fade, old friends forgotten as time steadily marches onward. Though we may resist it, time does not stand still forever and memories will be lost within the quagmire that is our mind. This is not made to symbolize one thing, one event or even one person. This voyage was a chapter and this but a footnote in the tome of life, a reminder of times gone by. Use it to recall the people you have met and the experiences you have shared. Or you can chose to let it collect dust in a forgotten corner like the fate of a tacky souvenir you never really wanted. It matters naught how you remember me; being remembered is enough. When we leave this earth, be it for heaven, hell or otherwise, all that's left is a decaying corpse and others memory of you. Be it genetic, written or digital we live on through these memories. This is a written memory of you, me and all aboard this ship. Cherish or ignore it, this memory will eventually be forgotten as well. But for the moment it is unsoiled by times grubby hands. If only it could stay that way.
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JOURNAL ENTRY
September 3rd, 2004
Sarah Boteler
The trip is over. I'm writing this down before all the memories and feelings I have from the trip leave and I return back to reality. The trip has been a wonderful experience and anyone considering a Students on Ice trip should definitely go, it's so worth it.
There is nothing like being away from everything in your own little bubble like we had on the Sedna with the coolest people you'll ever meet. I loved everyone on that trip and we cried so much when we had to leave but first I'll talk about the last few days we had.
August 29 was our last full day on the Sedna, it was also Alexis' 18th birthday. For the day we split up into 2 groups. My group was first to climb the ship's mast while the other group went kayaking. We had to be in two groups since there weren't enough kayaks. Well I clinbed the mast (that is a much bigger accomplishment then it sounds, that thing is high). I was shaking the whole way despite the fact that I had a harness on and Michel our sails master with me. Once I got up though it was amazing! The view was unbelievable but I was then left with one problem, getting down. I think climbing down was the longest 5 minutes of my life, I had already achieved getting up there and I just wanted to be back on the deck as quickly as possible. I even have a picture of me kissing the ship when I finally got down.
Once those of us on board had all gone up and the kayakers had come back went out on Musculus to look at the seals that had made a home on one of the islands nearby. They were so cute and funny trying to move around, and all around us we could see these little seal heads popping out of the water looking at us. It was pretty sweet!
After lunch was my turn to go kayaking. We were out on the water for about two hours and it rained! By the time I got back onto the ship I was soaked, frozen and I literally had puddles in my pockets but it was worth it. The scenery was beautiful, we had some fun conversations out on the water and then on the way back to Sedna we started having seals come towards us. They would look at us and when you turned around you could see their body as they ducked under water. It was like they were playing hide and seek with us! It was really nice. Unfortunatly my camera that I had taken kayaking was sitting in a puddle in my pocket from the rain and by the time I got back on the ship it was in a coma. I gave it to Benoit to see if he could fix it but the next day he handed me a book with a cross drawn on it that said "RIP Sarah's camera died on August 29 2004".
Luckily my picture card was all right so I still have all the pictures from the trip. Well that evening was our last evening on the ship and that meant a talent show. First at dinner we had presents and birthday cake for our two birthday girls (Alexis's birthday was the 29 and Lindsay's was the 31st). We had made them cards and bought them gifts, the crew had gotten them gifts too. After the birthday celebration we had our talent show. We put on a fashion show, showing of all our SOI style and Lindsay and I did an unrehearsed song medley of all the songs we had invented on the trip mixed with songs we just like to sing, but the funniest stuff was done by the crew and the chaperones.
Barb, Carol and Denise did their own songs they had written about each of the crew and they were based on songs like "Help" and the "I'm to sexy for your shirt" song (that one was about the captain). The funny thing was each one of them dressed up like exaggerated versions of a student. Denise was me, Carol was Lindsay and Barb was Alexis. We were I guess the loudest ones (I think Richard can attest to that seeing as he gave the three of us names to relate to sugar foods, I was nutella, Lindsay was marshmallow and Alexis was Oreo). Richard's dad also did this really funny poem about his son. He was really cool. Then came Michel and Benoit's dance, cooking with Arny (a la who's line is it anyway when someone else was Geoff's arms as he cooked) and the "Whaley Boys" our very own singing group.
By the end of the night I was laughing so hard I was crying. The next day, however we had to leave. That morning I woke up to find the ship rocking. I had left packing to the last minute but I felt too sick to stay down in my room and pack so I went up on the bridge, listened to Richard tell stories while the ship rolled around and tried not to hurl. Lindsay and I got a call from our friend Duncan (an SOI alumni) who is working at Richard's center as an intern, which was exciting for us!
Then once the ship settled down I had about half an hour to frantically cram all my stuff into my bag (mostly using the pack and whack technique were you hit your stuff in there so tightly there is no way you will ever be able to find anything).
We had our final lunch together and had to say goodbye to the crew. That was too much for us and most of us were crying hysterically by the time we boarded the van to drive back to Quebec. We finished our novel Fluke and ate at yet another Subway, but then we got to Quebec City and the shopping began! We then went to a really fancy restaurant where we got the works - appetizers, elaborate meals, sparkling apple juice and one of the best chocolate desserts I have ever had. That night some of us wanted to stay up all night but at 2 in the morning we decided to sleep.
The first group of people (Alexis, Heather and Jeff) left at 5am and the rest of us wanted to be up to say goodbye. We had a sad farewell, cried a lot more and then went back to sleep not knowing really what else to do. We got up just in time for breakfast and then it was time to drive back to Ottawa. We said goodbye to Alex and Carol who had an afternoon flight and then began the drive back to Ottawa. In Montreal we lost Barb who had to go back to Quebec City because the plane to Labrador with Jeff and Heather was cancelled, and then between Montreal and Ottawa we dropped of Philip. The four of us left went back to Geoff's house, Jackson went home and I stayed over with Lindsay and Denise who flew out the next day. We celebrated Lindsay's birthday and then went to bed. My dad met me at Ottawa airport where we had said goodbye to Lindsay and Denise.
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The trip is now officially over, which makes me sad. I would love to have stayed on the Sedna (believe me we tried to but it didn't work). I am so glad I got to be on this trip it was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I hope you all found it exciting and have a new appreciation for the world in which we live and the whales we share it with, I know I do. As Arnold would say "Asta la vista", and as we like to say "this trip totally rocked dude!" |
