What do our days on course look like?

By the photos we have posted on Facebook, it may occur to you that it is all zoos, pools and ice cream here. So i thought I might take the time to explain exactly what we are doing.

The Onboarding course here is for four and a half weeks.  Classes go from 8am til 4.30pm with a one hour lunch break.  We also have a 15 minute break for morning and afternoon tea. The topics we have looked at have included:

• Conflict resolution,
• Relief vs development,
• Personal values and motivation for service,
• Cultural viewpoints and worldview issues,
• Working with those we serve,

And a series of bible studies on prayer, faith foundations, kingdom principles and The God we serve.  Everything is based on the Biblical world view of being called to serve, understanding the challenges that go with that and being as prepared as possible for life Onboard. The course can be undertaken as an intellectual or contemplative exercise - since we chose the latter, by 4pm our heads are full as we try and glean every pearl of wisdom from the exercises. Dinner is at 5pm each night. The pool is open til 10 pm so we sometimes swim after dinner too. It's still light until almost 9 o'clock.

 

As well as individual homework each week, we have group exercises most days. We are also preparing for life Onboard by living in dormitories with communal laundry, kitchen, family room and bathrooms. I'm glad we brought our bathrobes for the dash to the showers! Luckily, we are all swept up on conflict resolution as well..

The boys are attending the Kids Onboarding Program (KOB) which is held at the same time as our classes. They are long days for them where they have a lot of fun activities interspersed with ship familiarity. In this area, our prayers have really been answered - they have got on well for the most part (3 boys = lots of testosterone) and it has been a blessing to us to both attend the classes.

KOB Program for this week

We are down to our last week in the classroom now with next week set for basic safety training. I'm looking forward to firefighting again and all those pool activities. Fortunately, it's been really hot in Texas so no freezing exercises that I have experienced in the past.

The best part of the course is getting to know all the other participants. There are people from Holland, Germany, Norway, South Africa, New Zealand, USA and us Australians. Some people are staying to work here at the International Operations Center but most are going to the ship. What is even cooler, is when we arrive Onboard, we'll already know some familiar faces.

Mick and I have been getting up early each weekday to exercise so I'd better get to bed. Another day of drinking from the firehose of information before the weekly run to Walmart - a cultural experience in itself.