The American Ship

The children were not only hungry; they were also boisterous. They voiced their unbelief about where the ship was taking them. Mike easily quieted them.

"I hear your excitement about the surprise you are going to live in America. I've been hiding that secret too. I'm prepared to share with you a few things about my country. First you need a good breakfast. The chef probably has your meal waiting for you."

He was correct; the chef had most everything prepared. He already had plates of food containing buttered toast, strips of crispy fired bacon, and a serving of crispy fried potatoes waiting for them under the heating lamps. The chef would add fried eggs to each plate at the end of the buffet table; one egg for the two little girls, everyone else received two.

Once seated at the tables, Mike heard Gretl, who was sitting by Isabel, ask her. "What is this food?" Spoken as she pointed to the fried potatoes.

"Isabel, I'll tell everyone what they are. Everyone you have on your plate a serving of fried potatoes. I think if you will taste them you will find they taste really good."

He had barely finished speaking, when Kurt announced. "They are good; they're crispy too."

Everyone took Kurt as his word; each ate a bite of potato and found it to be very good. All but the little girls consumed all their food. And Mike heard nothing but complements. He got their attention by standing where most could see him.

"I'm taking you to the ship's map room. All of you, adults and children, will find it to be very interesting."

He wasn't asked any questions. Everyone stood and waited for him to lead them there. This room wasn't far from the ship's bridge. It needed to be close to it so the ship's captain could consult a map when he needed to.

Inside the room everyone saw the walls were covered with maps. But they also found long tables with chairs only on one side. And Mike heard Maria.

"This looks like a classroom."

"And today I'm going to use it for a classroom."

Friedrich spoke first. "I know I want to know about America. Mother told us about the big statute the French gave America."

"Her name is the Statute of Liberty. I'll tell you more about her later. First I'm going to tell you how America was discovered. Are you ready to get started?"

Georg answered for the group. "We are."

"Good, I'll begin with a question. Who knows that the early people on the earth thought it was flat?"

"I see only the adults raised their hands. Well it's true. Some men were skeptical; they noticed the horizon seemed round to them. One of these men was Christopher Columbus.

"He was an Italian explorer. He made a decision to sail west to find out. He sailed under the flag of Catholic Monarchs of Spain. You children will learn more about his ships and his travels on the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa Maria when you attend American schools.

"I can tell you he did find land."

Mike held a long piece of wood in his hand. "I'll use my pointing stick to point to the map showing the land he found."

Mike pointed to a map with the words, Western Hemisphere, printed at the top in bold letters. And Liesl exclaimed.

"It's huge, Mike."

"Yes, Liesl it is. But Columbus had no idea how big the land mass was. When he stepped on to its soil he was actually on an island which is south of the boundaries we recognize as the United States."

Mike used his pointer to show them these islands. "When Columbus left his boat, he was greeted by people. But the important thing was that he was able to return to Europe and prove the earth was not flat.

"Since this was the fifteenth century when countries were still conquering other nations to expand their own, Columbus convinced the King he could easily conquer the people of these islands and make them his own.

"The King agreed. Columbus made several more voyages. He eventually established an outpost by leaving over forty men there. But he died not knowing what he had discovered. Years passed before other people from Europe arrived in America.

"Despite the fact that Columbus sailed under the Spanish flag, none of the American settlements, or colonies were founded by them. The British were responsible for all of them. Spain was more interested in the land in what is now called Central America and South America."

Mike pointed them out on a wall map.

"Now I will use the machine on this small table to make a picture appear on the wall."

When Mike did and they saw a list of the thirteen original colonies appear on the wall. Maria immediately asked.

"Do teachers in America have one of these machines?"

"Are you a teacher?"

"I am."

"Most do. They were used in my classrooms to show us famous paintings and sometimes lists like this one."

"That's much easier than writing everything on a chalk board."

"My teachers would have agreed with you. The colonies are listed in the order in which they were founded.

"I'm not going to talk about each of them but I will tell you one thing they all had in common were Indians; even I don't know the names of all the tribes in America. But I do know none of them were very happy to see these people from Europe including the Indians of Jamestown."

Mike now changed the picture to a map of the first colonies. Again he used his pointing stick.

"Jamestown is located here, in the colony of Virginia. And like many of the other colonies, the people who arrived here had a very difficult time just staying alive. Finally a man named Captain John Smith arrived. He was able to help them after he became friends with an Indian Squaw or female Indian named Pocahontas. And she helped the Captain establish friendly relations with her fellow Indians. And soon the colony of Jamestown began to prosper.

"I will also tell you about the colony in Massachusetts and their association with the Indians living there. It's located here in the north."

Mike pointed to it.

"Every child in America learns about this one even before they begin school. We Americans have a holiday in November which celebrates how the Indians in the northern colony of Massachusetts helped those people survive by teaching them how to grow food. They ate a meal together. That day became what we call Thanksgiving Day. Most families meet together to celebrate that day by eating together."

Liesl asked her father. "Will we celebrate this holiday?"

"I suppose we will. But we must find a place to live first."

Father Wasner added. "I've been told the people of America are very friendly. We may be invited to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with them."

Maria added. "What a wonderful thought."

Everyone had more question about America. Mike took time to answer each of them. He made them all laugh when he told them.

"My stomach is making noise; it must be lunch time."

"Kurt's our timekeeper for meals." Louisa announced.

"Then Kurt can be the leader. I'm sure he knows how to get back to the mess-hall."

"I do and I'm hungry. Follow me everyone."

And Maria and Georg held similar facial expressions; they had to hold back their laugh. Georg put his arm around Maria's waist as they walked together behind Kurt.

Kurt did know how to find the mess-hall. And their meal was waiting for them when they arrived. The aroma in the room caused Katia to ask.

"Mike, what do I smell?"

"It's best described as a meal pie. It uses special kind of dough which has been rolled out like you would a pie crust. It's baked in a very hot oven. And then it's covered by a sauce. Our chef has used a tomato based sauce. That's then covered with a variety of foods like, onions, thinly sliced bacon or ham, cooked ground beef or green peppers.

"Adults enjoy it with a glass of wine; children usually drink a carbonated beverage."

It wasn't only Katia who heard his explanation; everyone did. The meal-pies were being kept warm on the buffet table by the heat lamps. The pies had been cut into slices. Each could pick the ones they thought they would like. And the beverages served were the ones Mike had mentioned.

And Mike never heard so many complements. He brought out the chef so the family could thank him personally. He also brought Katia directions on how to make these pies.

After lunch Mike then took them topside to get some fresh air. That's where Captain Davy joined them.

"Mike, what do you have planned for this afternoon?"

"I'm going to tell them about the Pennsylvania colony."

"Be sure and mention the significance of Philadelphia."

"I will sir."

And everyone was eager to learn more about America. They followed Mike back to the map room where they immediately took their seats and became quiet. And Mike began.

"I picked the colony of Pennsylvania because the ship is arriving in a port there."

"This was the twelfth colony the British founded. It contains the city Captain Davy asked me to tell you about, Philadelphia.

"Who can tell me about the American Revolution?"

Friedrich raised his hand. "Tell us."

"I don't know a lot. Mother only told us that the Americans revolted because they had to pay taxes to the King of England."

"That's it in a nut shell." Mike heard them laugh.

"That phase means you gave a concise answer. A simple thing as not wanting to pay taxes triggered a revolution.

"What started in 1765 as talk among the Americans became a full-fledge war. The first act of defiance was to board British ships in American harbors and to dump all the crates of tea into the water.

"The British weren't going to give up their colonies without a fight. At first there were protests, arguments and small skirmishes between the Americans and the British army. The Americans hoped to have the British officials succumb to their demands.

"They talked about those demands when each colony sent an official to what became known as First Continental Congress; their first effort to unite and form a single government to rule them. It didn't happen until they tried again.

"In September of 1774, representatives of all the colonies met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

Brigitta interjected. "So that's why Captain Davy specifically mentioned Philadelphia."

"That's one reason; the other reason is because this ship is going to arrive in the Port of Philadelphia."

Maria whispered so only Georg could hear. "Did you know this?"

"No."

"Now let me tell you about Philadelphia and that it is in the state of Pennsylvania."

Mike used his pointer stick to be sure everyone located it on the map.

"As you can see from the map that state sits almost in the middle of the country's east coast. And it doesn't border the Atlantic Ocean."

"Then how do ships get to the port?" Friedrich asked.

"The ship will travel along the Coast of another state, New Jersey, and sail up the Delaware river to the Port of Philadelphia."

Mike again used his pointer to show them the river and the exact location of the port.

And Georg was thinking. It so hidden it's very safe.

And everyone heard. "I'll continue your history lesson tomorrow. You've sat long enough today. There's a big room down below where you can play a game of Freeze Tag."

"You know that game too. Mother taught us on a rainy day using our ballroom."

"That's good, Kurt. I won't have to teach you. Adults you can come too. There's plenty of room to walk around."

They had only about an hour to play before the dinner meal was served. It was another more than satisfactory meal. Dessert of chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream pleased everyone.

And afterwards, Father Wasner once again led them in Evening Vespers. And Mike heard them sing again.