England Musings #1

originally sent 3 April 2005
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hello!

Well, I made it here to England this past Tuesday and have finally gotten to a point where I feel settled in (as much as is possible at this point). The flights coming over were a bit confused with some poor weather trying to fly out of New York, but still made it - just about five hours later then scheduled. Traveling here wasn't too bad it's the jet lag that is a kick in the butt. I am still trying to get adjusted to the time zone.

It appears that here in Jarrow (think of it as a community near Newcastle, south of the River Tyne) the clocks are nine hours ahead of Alaska and eight hours ahead of Washington/Oregon. The apartment or rather the "flat" where I stay is small by US standards. (one large block spanning building of upstairs/downstairs aparements - will have to send a picture.)

There are four guys that stay here including me. I share a room with two guys from the Philipennes (sp?) who are right near my age and the single room in the flat is taken by a 60 year old pipefitter from the Netherlands. We all get a long fine and can communicate efficiently, however, there is a notable communication gap when it comes to trying to get to in depth in conversation.

I have been to work for two whole days now. The folks here refer to the time on the ship as "work" and rightly so. The day starts at a quarter to seven when the minibus picks us up at our residences and ends at around 4 pm when we are dropped off. We start the morning in the mess with a devotional that runs from around 7 am to 720 or 730. Tea break is at 9 am for fifeteen minutes and lunch is at noon for a half hour. We actually stop work at around 3pm or so to catch the bus at 3:30 pm. The bus ride to the ship yard is not long - the residences of most of the crew are within a five-ten minute drive. In fact, many of the folks live within a block or two of here.

Life is certainly different here and I probably won't feel adjusted until around time to return back to the US. Even understanding the "English" is diffucult at times. There is a local dialect that decended, I am told, from the invading Vikings and northern peoples, that has developed into what the locals call Geordie (sp?). Anyway, it is a very diffucult dialect to understand and I find I have to concentrate very hard to understand what I think is being said. Nonetheless, I don't think I will tire of the novelty of hearing a British accent daily.

In any case I have been helping out on the ship as best as possible. There is still quite a bit of work to go, however, the newly announced (revised) sailing date for the Africa Mercy is February 2006. The ship has been undergoing work now for either five or six years by the end of this week. Many of the people here have been around for years helping out - there are few even who have been here since the ship sailed into the port. I think that is rather incredible. There always seems to be a audible need for additional help though. It looks as though I will be part of the engine crew and have already gotten my feet wet, so to speak. Actually, it is more like I have gotten my hands dirty as the engine room is a place where such work is necessary - something that I had been hoping to have an opprotunity to be involved with. However, the learning curve appears to be very steep indeed.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I made it here in one piece looking forward to the coming weeks!

love

matt