Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 06:05
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Oden Antarctic Expedition 08

We have been reading all of your journal entries.  The most exciting part was to here about the Albatross and the dolphins.  We can't wait for pictures.  Our flag was not up yet.  We would like to know how you are faring with the rough seas?  Are you seasick?  Do the Swedish have a remedy for sea sickness?  What is the prevalent language is on the ship?  If it is Swedish, do you have trouble understanding what is going on?    Angotti's 4th grade at MRE

Tue, 12/02/2008 - 09:44

Mr. Becerra

Hi Jeff. I was going to ask the seasick question already posed by Mrs. Angotti's class. How steady is the ride on such a large vessel, and is seasickness an issue?PS- You may also be getting some questions from my son Alex, an LBE 4th grader. I just recently found out that you visited his class!

Wed, 12/03/2008 - 10:10

Jeff Peneston

Wow! What great questions.In fact, I will copy some of the response below into one of my upcoming journal entries.
First, Seasickness…
At this moment the sea is so calm that although I can see 18 miles in every direction from the ship’s bridge, I can’t see a single wave that breaks into a whitecap. However, two days ago, the 10-foot waves pounded the ship and many people were taking seasickness medication like Dramamine. Seasickness is your body’s confused response to motion. If you are riding your bike and you are looking at the road with turns and bumps, then your brain understands and anticipates the motion. But, if I am inside the ship, sitting down, trying to focus my eyes and brain on something like reading or typing but my body is telling my brain that we are rolling and bumping, my body, eyes and brain get confused. For some reason this makes my stomach feel funny. I have not used any medication so far but my trick is to pay close attention to my body. When I am typing at my computer or reading inside the ship, and I start to feel a little funny, I take a break and look out the windows for a while. When I look at the horizon of the sea my eyes tell my brain that the rolling motion makes sense and it calm. I have never been seasick but this voyage will be the true test.
Laguages….
For most of the people on board the Oden, Swedish is their first language and most of the Swedes speak it among themselves. There is also at least one person from Denmark and one person from China. However, everyone speaks some English and most of the Swedes are very good at it. Almost everyone in Sweden speaks English as a second language and they generally switch to English if there is anyone in the room who does not understand Swedish. This is their way of being polite. What is interesting to me is that I can usually get some understanding of the conversations I hear in Swedish based on the tone of their voice and their body language.
Keep those great questions coming!
Jeff Peneston