Jon's Page

We’ve been working hard over the last few weeks to pull together a special event that opened today and will be happening over this and the next two weekends. Christmas around the World is designed to share the traditions of Christmas from nations of the world represented on board while also sharing the hope we have. It’s also the first time the on board book fair is fully completed and in operation as well as having the International Cafe serving up some special treats.

To show what Christmas is like in our countries, a whole section of the visitor deck has been converted into interactive displays representing the traditions of the countries. Holly ended up leading the effort for the American display and so we have had our hands full pulling that together. We ended up with a great looking little house that has a candy cane theme. The house has a small yard surrounded with a white picket fence and snow on the ground and inside is a cosy living room with fireplace and Christmas tree. We also created a cute snowman that people can put some gloves and a carrot nose on and sitck their face and hands through holes to get a photo with.

There are a number of other displays with some very creative ideas from a real gingerbread house to a live plant miniature forest. See the photos for some of these and we’ll add more as well. We also have a live nativity set up which has a real goat and sheep and actors from the ships company. All in all, it’s been a huge project to pull off but we’re real happy to have had 500 people visit today and we hope we’ll continue to get many more tomorrow and over the next two weekends. We appreciate your prayers for this effort to welcome local people to our home and share some of what we’re all about.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Vegiemite posted a photo:

On friday night last week we got our first snow. It has since snowed again at least once and it has been great fun. The boys are enjoying the opportunity to build snow men and have snowball fights and the view out the windows is really beautiful. We’ve had a lot more going on recently which I’ll write about soon but in the meantime here are a couple of panoramic photos to show you what we’ve been enjoying over the last few days.

Here is a 360 degree view of the harbor here in Koege after it snowed. (Click on the image and use your left and right arrow keys to pan the image).

And another angle showing the ship from the side.

Holly and the boys enjoyed a week off school and got to get out and enjoy a few different things. I was able to join them for one outing when I took a couple of hours off on Wednesday and we went to a pool in a nearby town. It had a water slide, some diving boards and even a climbing wall on the side of one of the pools and so was a fun morning. The boys also got to find out what a sauna is and we ended the morning by walking through the drive through at the nearby McDonalds (where they are renovating the inside).

They also got up to Copenhagen on one day to visit a museum. They went to one first thinking it was the one they were trying to get to but when they couldn’t find the children’s area, they asked and found out the one they were trying to find was next door. So in the end they got to go to two museums and both were really great with a lot of hands-on exhibits which the boys enjoyed.

We received a big parcel this week and it had a lot of goodies in it, including some Star Wars costumes which the boys proceeded to wear for the next two days straight. We even got out to the park yesterday with Zac and Nate dressed up as a bounty hunter and a storm trooper. Then last night, the boys got to go to a sleep over to celebrate one of their friends’ birthday and it was a Star Wars theme party so they were all set. So there’s been a lot of Star Wars in our lives this weekend.

On the not so fun side, we managed to pick up a cold or flu bug and so we’re all feeling a bit less than optimal at the moment. I would appreciate your prayers for a quick recovery for all and some extra strength for myself as I am covering for my boss this week as he’s on a break. Between the congestion, a very full work load currently and this added responsibility I am looking at what could be a long week.

One thing that has added to my work load is an effort to open the ship up in a big way for three weekends starting with the last one in November. We will have a “Christmas around the World” event on board where we will open the onboard book fair (which is just about complete) for the first time and will also have the International Cafe open. In addition, we will have various countries and continents displaying typical Christmas traditions and we’re even hoping to have a live Nativity. It’s a lot of effort from many and my responsibilities lie in the publicity side as well as organizing a press conference to get some media coverage. It’s an exciting time but also a lot of work and I would appreciate your prayers for all the effort that we will see a lot of people come and visit us during the time.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

The boys got some new costumes which they wore non-stop for the next couple of days.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

The boys at a pool near one of the museums.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Nate gives horseriding a go.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

The boys enjoyed the hands-on nature of many of the areas.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Zac with a heavy helmet.

The website was in need of an upgrade for the software that runs it and while I was at it I decided to give it a new look as well. It made good use of a cold afternoon and I hope it doesn’t disorient anyone If you watched the video I linked to last week you will have seen inside the ship is looking new but the outside world is getting a new look as well. With winter seeming to be on its way quickly, the beautiful red and orange leaves are quickly falling to the ground and leaving the branches bare.

It has been a full week at work for me. We have a lot of different projects happening at once and had a new one added recently which seems to be growing bigger in scope every day. We are planning to open the ship for three weekends with a theme of Christmas around the world. This requires we get publicity out to market the event and with only four weeks between now and then, it’s all a bit of a mad rush again. Thankfully a number of people are involved in making it happen so it spreads the load but it is still quite a bit of extra work on top of everything else.

On the school front, the boys are starting out a week break today and so Holly will have some time off her teaching role but will have the boys home all week. With the cold weather, it leaves less options for enjoying the outdoors. While the boys would be pretty happy with just staying onboard all the time, it’s very easy to go for days at a time without getting out for some fresh air. Zac in particular is really into computer games and while the ones he plays help him develop various skills, he tends to get too focused on them and loses sight of his responsibilities. So we’re working on the right balance with him.

We changed over from daylight savings time at 3 this morning. While the extra hour of sleep was nice, the fact that it is dark outside at 5 is a bit depressing. We’ve enjoyed our time in Koege through summer and fall but I’m wondering what a winter this far north is going to look like. We got out yesterday for some fresh air but it got cold pretty quick once the sun was heading down so it’s time to pull out all the warm clothes again.

But even with the shorter days, we have lots of things happening. A little while ago we had a divisional outing to Roskilde and during an afternoon there, we were able to visit the Viking Museum. We enjoyed checking out the longboat Sea Stallion which was tied up near the museum. They used this boat to sail to Ireland earlier this year and inside the museum we watched a video on the expedition. It looked pretty cold and wet most of the time. They have also found 5 sunken Viking boats somewhere in the area and pulled them out and had the remains on display. Then there was an area that featured aspects of life in those days and the kids got to put on some Viking type clothes.

We’ve also taken a couple more opportunities to be part of some of the ministry happening on board. Today Holly did another balloon workshop to teach people how to make balloon animals and the like. Yesterday, I was able to share with a visiting church group about ways they can be involved with the ship through partnering with us. There’s quite a range of ministry going on currently from working alongside a ministry that invests in troubled youth to handing out cookies to local businesses. It’s interesting to see the creative ideas for connecting with the local community.

I was also able to host a reporter from the local newspaper again a couple of weeks ago and we had a positive article about the ship in the paper last Saturday from this. This is an area of my work which I find enjoyable although we really need someone in fulltime before we start sailing to handle this and do it properly. If you or someone you know would be interested to fill this role on board, please get in touch.

We enjoyed a visit from Hans van Baaren who leads the office in Florence this week as well. It’s great to hear about all the progress being made there and for those who are in the area, check out their book fair that is planned to be held near Hobby Lobby soon.

Last but not least, take a look at this new video that was produced to show the visible progress happening on board the ship over the last months. It really is coming together nicely and while it looks like we’ll be here in Denmark into the new year, it’s great to have a ship that is quickly looking finished and ready for service. Feel free to send me some feedback on the content and format of the video if you have any.

Here’s the link.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Gabe enjoying some high flying action at the park nearby.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

Fall/autumn is here and with it has come cooler weather and falling leaves.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

At the Viking Museum, we found a possible inspiration for the jawas in Star Wars.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

At the Viking Museum in Roskilde, we were able to climb aboard the Sea Stallion longboat. Here the boys try out rowing.

Vegiemite posted a photo:

A nice fall/autumn day on the grounds of the nearby castle.