DTS

Chapter Twelve - DTS

Soon after I got to Hamburg, I decided to go with a group from the ship that was going to check out Berlin. It was cool to see and snag a piece of the infamous Berlin Wall that had finally been opened just the year before and to be able to go through the famous Brandenburg gate into East Berlin.

Back on the ship, I had two cases of mistaken wife identity. There was a special outreach going on in Hamburg and one of my female friends from King’s Kids, New York was on a dance team performing in town. I went to see one of their performances with another female friend of Laura’s and mine.

After the performance, my friend on the team came to say hello and thought the friend with me was my wife. The next day she came to see me on the ship. We were sitting in one of the lounges talking and one of the girls from the DTS came up and asked if she was my wife. Laura came soon thereafter and everyone was set straight on who was who.

As with any DTS, we had some “interesting" students. Laura and I had a cabin next door to an older couple from England who would wake us up screaming at each other. I believe she had some kind of mental illness. One of the single guys declared himself to be a devil-worshipper. He had already failed one DTS but despite his antics, they were trying to bend over backwards to help him survive this one.

The ship sailed to Copenhagen, Denmark and they needed someone to drive one of the vehicles there. Robyn and Perry volunteered so we decided to go with them. On the way, we spent a few hours in the town of Lubeck, known for its brick Gothic architecture and its marzipan industry. We also got to see the ship sail through the Kiel Canal, the busiest artificial waterway in the world. It cuts across northern Germany, saving ships 250 miles from the North Sea to the Baltic. 

Although I had been to Denmark with Procla-Media, I had not visited Copenhagen. It’s a cool city. There’s a famous statue in town of the little mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. Laura had done a school report about Denmark when she was young so she was excited to see the statue in person. The American consular invited some of us to his house to hang out and eat and play some games. As the weather was beautiful, we also went to a local park to play some softball, which led to an embarrassing incident.

European women are notorious for topless sunbathing, even in parks. While we were playing softball, one of the batters struck a ball foul over toward a young lady who was bending over. It took one bounce and hit her square on the bottom. When she swung around, we realized that she was engaged in some European sunbathing. She wasn’t very happy and no one wanted to go ask her for the ball. Someone finally got up the courage but it embarrassed us all.

Foursquare was a big hit on the ship. There was an old square pool on the aft deck that had been cemented over that was a perfect size to divide into the four spaces. But this wasn’t just your innocent playground fun kind of foursquare. We were serious. Whenever a game got started, a huge line would form.

One other guy and I in particular would team up. If people were nice to us, we would go easy on them. But if people brought it to us, we were merciless. We would get into the top two spots and just strategize how to handle each new person that came along.

Even though I could mix it up with others, I was still an introvert by nature. I really like the game of Risk but it’s hard to get enough people together who want to play by the rules I like and are committed to taking the extended time it takes to finish. That didn’t stop me. I would play by myself…all six colors. I would try to be impartial but black or red usually won. There were days when, despite me trying to roll quietly, Laura would wake up to the sound of red putting the beat down on yellow. 

Our next port was Gothenburg, Sweden. Scandanavian countries are notoriously expensive. Yet, despite even McDonalds being a budget buster, we decided to treat ourselves. We also got to enjoy a day at the popular Liseberg amusement park in town. 

Next up was Gdynia, Poland. Gdynia is just down the coast from where Lech Walesa help start the Polish revolution against the communists in Gdansk. Our friends, the Wallets had moved to Poland and they came to take us to dinner in nearby Sopot. While some people took a day trip to see the Polish Nazi concentration camps, I still regret that we did not.

We sailed on to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Ships have to go into dry dock every year and when we were in Rotterdam, it was time for the Anastasis. Everyone had to get off. Our D.T.S. went back to Amsterdam to stay at the YWAM property, De Poort. During that time, Laura had to return to London to start the school year.

Sailing through the Kiel canal

Foursquare

Laura and the Little Mermaid

Copenhavn


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