Day 9 - The Cultural CV
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Every time Kat and I do anything remotely interesting with ourselves we always joke that we're going to add it to our Cultural CV. This resume is not just jobs and skills; it's things you've accomplished, places you've been, people you've met, and activities you've tried. Essentially, it's all those things that would make you an interesting dinner party guest. Travel is always a good way to beef up your Cultural CV, but we're quickly coming to the realization that we have a long way to go before we're even half as interesting as most of the people on this ship.
To start with, the members of the crew come from a wide variety of fascinating backgrounds. They represent 62 nationalities and a range of employment and educational qualifications. Some people have worked their way up from dishwashers and deck swabbers to positions of greater responsibility. Others have been highly trained in the hospitality industry or in food and beverage service. Still others, like our Captain Constantinos Fafalios, have undertaken both years of schooling and a series of progressively higher positions. He's told us that it took him a total of 15 years to advance from deck officer to captain. Now that's devotion to your job.
In the course of his training Captain Fafalios, like so many other members of his crew, has truly seen the world. So have the passengers. One man we encountered while enjoying a beer at Maltings, the ship's pub, related the story of his life. He's lived and loved all over the world, served as a US Air Force Pilot in Vietnam, started his own airline, lost his money, and then reclaimed his fortune on Wall Street. It's what we in the States call a Horatio Alger story: the tale of a self-made man who "pulls himself up by his own bootstraps" and creates his own destiny. What could possibly be more interesting than that?
You don't even have to venture far from home to add fascinating items to your Cultural CV. Alistair, our driver in the Shetland Islands, used to cut peat for a living. Our tour guide in Iceland, Siggy, was a commercial fisherman. These are both industries that are local to their homelands, but which have provided them with a wealth of stories and experiences. I think we (this is a bit of the royal we, though it could also mean "Kat and myself" or "members of my generation") often forget that every experience you have can be worthwhile or interesting, you just need the perspective to see it. Life isn't a checklist of things you've accomplished or seen. There's more to it than crossing things off of some cosmic list. People who haven't had the same opportunities that we have can still have captivating stories. You don't need to see the world or start an airline or captain a ship to be an interesting person.
But travel certainly has its place, and I'm grateful that I get to keep doing it and adding these items to my Cultural CV. As I write this I can see dolphins jumping in the waters around the ship. I've seen geysers and craters and waterfalls. I've been to the easternmost point in North America. I've stood on the Bridge as the captain and his crew skilfully manoeuvred us out of the port of St. John's. I've sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. I think these are some great stories, and I'm so glad I get to share them all with you.
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Back to Travel Diaries
Read the other articles:
Day 12 - Air vs Sea
Day 12 - Homecoming
Day 10 - Battle of the Brews
Day 10 - Halifax: Ghosts and Breweries
Day 9 - The Cultural CV (you are here)
Day 8 – A Very Special Privilege
Day 8 – Quidi Vidi Brewery – Beer, with a side of history
Day 8 - Signal Hill and the Village of Quidi Vidi
Day 8 - North America's Far East
Day 8 - New Found Land
Day 8 – Land! Land! St. John’s, Newfoundland
Day 7 – You Have Permission to Enter the Bridge
A Peak at the Inner Workings of the Norwegian Jewel
How to Pour Champagne in a Moving Vehicle
Days 5-6 Shetlands to Iceland
Days 0-4 Dover to the Shetlands
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