Leading the Tour to Puppies

A few nights ago I discovered a new type of sea day. The grey day. It’s when the clouds, water and sky blend together to create this monotonous piece of scenery. Not my favorite day by any means, but last night was a silk night, which made up for it.

Alesund was a rainy day, so my roommate and I found a little café in town and had some of the best lunch I’ve had in a while. Maybe it was because it wasn’t ship food, maybe it was just that good, I’ll never know. The camembert was fantastic. I hadn’t had camembert that good in a long time.

Yesterday was mom’s 50^th birthday. She’s going to hate me for putting her age on my blog, but there it is. It was so wonderful to call home. After a good half hour chat with mom I tried to get a hold of a few other people, but no one seemed to be picking up that Saturday morning. Oh well, maybe next time. At least I got to talk to mom and wish her a happy birthday. That’s all I really wanted, anyway.

Before I called mom, though, I got to do something that really reminded me that my job is not like any other job. Our ship crossed into the Arctic Circle yesterday. So to commemorate this, the Cruise Director and Activity Staff staged a Viking take over of the Century. It was hilarious. All of a sudden Rich, the Cruise Director, comes storming on to the top deck where all of the guests are, in a horned hat carrying a shield. He was yelling that he and his Vikings had taken over the ship. The Activity Staff and dancers followed behind him, one picking up the Activity Manager and throwing her over his shoulder. They then began to baptize the guests as Vikings. First, Rich dumped ice water over their heads and then they had to kiss a dead fish before taking a shot of vodka. God, it was funny. So my afternoon’s work? Filming my boss wear a Viking helmet and shoving a dead fish in people’s faces. Most of my work that evening? Editing it into a video I dubbed “The Tale of Richard the Great,” which is currently airing on every television on the ship. I’m pretty pleased with it. Plus, I got to see the globe monument that marked the entrance to the Arctic Circle. That was really worth it.

Today I got to be a tour escort for the first time. Basically I hold a sign in the air that tells the guests which bus we’re getting on, I help the tour guide if he needs anything, and I get to go on the tour for free. So in Tromso, Norway I took a bus to the Polar Museum, and then to the Wilderness Center. I wasn’t so much a fan of the Polar Museum. It was full of artifacts from explorers of Svalbard and the North Pole, so it was cool to see a real ship’s crow’s nest, but I was really turned off by the sections on whale, seal, and polar bear hunting. It was all too graphic and sad for me.

After the museum was the whole reason I signed up for this tour. The Wilderness Center in Tromso is where they raise huskie sled dogs. I think these are possibly the world’s friendliest dogs. They had over 300 at the center and I fell in love with all of them. Some had striking blue eyes, others dark, and a few of them had one blue eye and one dark eye. The best part, though, was holding the puppies. There were three little girls on my tour and nothing warms your heart more than seeing a little girl holding a puppy. I grew particularly fond of the little French girl who was really surprised when I spoke to her in French. She held one pup for so long I thought she was going to try and keep it. I loved it. It reminded me of going to the Burlington Animal Shelter for stress relief at Elon. I didn’t care that I smelled like dog the rest of the afternoon, it was worth it to just be around man’s best friend.

So now I’m here sailing away from Tromso, off to Honningsvag. My work is mostly done until I go shoot some bands playing. I have shot the Daily Announcements with Rich, who pulled me on screen today. (I never realize just how short I am until I see myself next to other people) I shot the international daily announcements with my favorite International Hostesses. We read our horoscopes between takes, which got me thinking of Tiff. And on this smooth, silky sea night I anxiously await getting off work to go see my ship friends.