New York City, USA; September 11, 2014

On September 11, 2001, I was late to work. In line at a post office in mid-town, I overheard someone say that a plane had hit one of the twin towers.  I snuck into my meeting and we were quickly interrupted by news that a second plane had hit.  We ended the meeting and I walked across the hall to a conference room where through the windows, with a clear view of downtown Manhattan, I watched the unspeakable unfold.

My husband lost three of his closest friends that day.

Our world is forever changed.

I wake up each year on this day and find it hard to breathe.  I look over at my husband and worry about how he makes it through another anniversary.

More recently, I find myself wondering how we should explain the whole story to our son.  He had seen references to the planes crashing into the towers in a Manhattan fire department museum, but we hadn't told him everything.  When I think about how to raise a global citizen, perhaps there could be nothing more important than getting this right.

A couple of weeks ago, when out on a bike ride in Westchester, we came across this memorial at the Kensico Reservoir. We had never seen it.  Michael started to figure it out. He said to me, "Mommy, all these people have different birthdays, but they all died on the same day, September 11, 2001."

We reminded him of those planes that hit the buildings in New York City and that the anniversary of the date was approaching.

Last night, James again reminded Michael that the anniversary of September 11th was coming up.  He showed him this photo, which sits on a shelf above our TV, and pointed out the three friends whose lives were lost.

Today, they discussed the "attacks" in Michael's first grade class. After school, I showed him photos of the towers before and after the planes hit.  We talked about the way the attackers felt about America and a bit about why they felt that way. Michael seemed bemused by the idea that those behind the attacks died in order to carry out their plan.  Finally, we talked about ways that Americans can help to show people in other countries that we do care about how life is in their corner of the planet.

I imagine that today marks the first of many conversations we will have with Michael about the true scope of events that occurred on September 11th.  He wants to see the memorial and know more about his daddy's friends who died.  We have been searching for other ways to introduce him to what that day was like and how he can influence the future.  The 9/11 memorial website has a reference guide for talking to children. We have also previewed a book in the "I Survived series" about the attacks of September 11th, which seems to be written on his reading level.

So, today we opened a door for the difficult conversation with our child about the reality of September 11th.  We can continue to share with him the events that transpired that day and the weeks, months and years to follow.  Perhaps more importantly, we can help him to realize how much the individual and collective actions of the American people matter and consider what he can do.  Who knows, maybe one day he will think back to his experience at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo and realize his aspirations to become a nobel laureate "who is brave and helps people."

Brookwood, United Kingdom; August 21-23

For some, the voyage ended in Southampton, but not for our family! We still had one more port to go. First it was great to be reunited with James, who picked us all up in the port of Southampton. As others boarded buses to Heathrow, we got our own personal pick up and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Surrey.

It was the first time that Julie's parents got to see where James grew up! We spent time wandering through the American Military Cemetery in Brookwood and intro Pirbright, a neighboring village, which is home to a wonderful local pub, The White Hart.

We showed Meme and Pop the canal path to the local Sainsburys and fed some ducks along the way and all had a wonderful time with Grandpa and Grandma telling them all about our travels!

Back with Daddy! - Port of Southampton, UK

At the playground; Pirbright, Surrey, UK

Lunch at the White Hart Pub; Pirbright, Surrey, UK

Feeding the Ducks with Grandpa; Brookwood, Surrey, UK

All the grandparents together in Brookwood!

Gdansk, Poland; August 12-15

On our first day in Gdansk, we hit the old town for the St. Dominic's Fair.  Up there with Weihnachtmarkt and Oktoberfest, it's one of the biggest trade and open-air cultural events in Europe.  A prime opportunity to buy anything from local foods such as bread with lard and pickles, fried cheese with cranberry sauce, pierogis, sausages and beer.

Many vendors were also selling jewelry featuring the locally famous amber…there is even an amber museum in Gdansk.  As a medieval town, there were also lots of weapons for sale. Michael learned that while you can't embark the MV Explorer with a wooden sword, you can in fact, get defensive weaponry such as a shield on the ship.

Riding the ferris wheel at St. Dominic's Fair, Gdansk

View of Gdansk from above

Exploring Gdansk with Ryder

Now THAT's a souvenir! And, it did make it on the ship and home to New York.

Next it was off to Torun, about 2 hours south of Gdansk, and home of the Museum of Gingerbread, where learned about how to make this tasty treat!  It was a fun day out with most of the kids from the ship participating.  The town of Torun was fun to explore and we found a Lego store!

"I'll pay attention, but DON'T take my picture"

Making gingerbread

"Can we fit this in our suitcase?"

If there is a LEGO store in town, you can be sure we will find it!

On our third day in Poland, Michael and I adventured on our own to the seaside town of Sopot, home to the longest wooden pier in Europe.  We bypassed the expensive entrance fee for the pier and went straight to the bike rental to explore the coastline.  Of course, we didn't make it that far before we found ice cream….who cares that we hadn't had lunch yet!  After a beautiful ride along the coast and a stop at a playground in Ronald Reagan Park (seriously!) we did finally have lunch on a smaller (free) Brzezno pier.

Ice cream on the beach

Mommy & Michael

We never did figure out why the Pope and Ronald Reagan are featured together, but both seem to be well loved in Poland!

On our final day in Gdansk, I went Kayaking through the downtown in the morning and then met up with Michael, Meme and Pop downtown to cheer on our friends who were running in the Gdansk marathon!

The Gdansk marathon was Mikki Hebl's 66th! Way to go mother of three!

Finally, not to be missed…a ride back to the port on a pirate ship.

The Philippines and beyond

Some of our most special memories on the ship are of the wonderful members of the crew, who hail from all parts of the globe, but predominantly The Philippines.  They work so hard to make the MV Explorer a true home for the students, faculty and staff, but especially the children on board.  From the first day Michael joined the ship in Scotland, these fine men and women welcomed him into the shipboard community, found fruit loops at lunchtime, delivered hamburgers from the 7th deck, made origami animals, and sang, played and loved us around the world.  We owe them a huge thanks for making Michael's experience this summer so fantastic!

Roland singing "Leaving on a Jet Plane" during specialty dining

Jerry & Michael

Roland & Michael

Michael & Frederick

Michael & Ismael

Tallinn, Estonia; August 7

Finland is quick trip across the Baltic from Estonia, so of course we had to take advantage of the opportunity to check another country off our list and possibly get another passport stamp (which they seem to give out sparingly in the EU!) 

Getting there was half the fun. We took a high speed ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. It took about an hour and a half. We had lunch on board - they had the same pancakes that Michael tried in Sweden so it was his lucky day. Pancakes for lunch!  Michael also had a captive audience to share some card tricks that he had learned from one of the big kids on the ship.

On our way from the the ferry into the old town, we stumbled upon the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. It was really the first time on the trip that I felt we were in more of an emerging economy. The museum was made up of a series of detached buildings in what seemed like a shady section of town.  One building was the cafe, one the bookstore, and office and then a three story gallery.  At first, I thought Michael was just interested in the ice cream at the cafe, but once that was down the hatch he wanted to wander through the galleries. He was most intrigued by an exhibit that included a propane tank, ladder, drill, bottle of bubbles and a grill.  I don't remember the title of this work, but let's just call it "pyromania".

We wandered through the gates of the old town and throughout this beautifully kept medieval town and northern European trading city (a UNESCO World Heritage site).  We stopped in a souvenir shop for postcards and magnets and to ask, "what language do you speak in Estonia?"  Well, the answer is Estonian, of course.  A break from a passing rainstorm in a little cafe and then on to the main square, where our excursion was made complete by running into a group of friends from the ship!

Contemporary Art Museum Estonia

Contemporary Art is cool!

Gate to Old Town; Tallinn, Estonia

Old Town Tallinn, Estonia

Friends from the ship in Old Town Tallinn

Helsinki, Finland; August 6-9

Flag of Finland

So, one of the most important things we learned about Finland before arriving is that Angry Birds was invented there!  When Michael found this out, he quickly put a pilgrimage to the Angry Birds store in Helsinki as a must on our list of activities there!

Dining with an Angry Bird at Birgitta Cafe, Helsinki

Before we left on our trip, I met a neighbor in Rye who is an expat from Finland. When discussing children's literature in the various countries we would be going to, she recommended The Moomin series by Tove Jansson.  We downloaded the first book Moomins and the Great Flood onto Michael's ipad and read it together on the ship. A fun filled book of very imaginative adventures!  There is also a Moomin store in Helsinki - and we managed to get out of there with just a magnet.

The Moomin characters

After our shopping trip to the Angry Bird store, we strolled through an international food market downtown. Michael was less excited about this, but sometimes we do things Mommy wants to do!  At the end of the market, we found a group of musicians from Peru performing traditional Andean music.  Michael was really intrigued. One of his favorite things to do when traveling is to stop and listen to street musicians and to support them by dropping whatever change we have into their guitar case.  In this particular situation, he supported them by buying a CD to take home. A bit of a strange souvenir from Finland, but just shows how interconnected our world really is.

Listening to music from Peru

One of our favorite nights on the trip was "Meet the Finns," a field program that connected SAS participants with local people for dinner in their home.  Our host Liisa Urasto treated us to home made mushroom soup (she and her mother picked the mushrooms!) salmon with a cold fish roe sauce called  lämmin mätikastike, potatoes and salad. For dessert, she served blueberry pie (also made from fresh picked ingredients).   It is sometimes difficult for a six year old to try new foods, especially those that are so unfamiliar. Thankfully, Michael loved the salmon and made our host very happy by asking for seconds of both that and the blueberry pie!  Coincidently, Liisa was just packing up to move from Helsinki to the UK to attend business school.

With Meme and Pop in Helsinki

View of the ship in Helsinki

On our final day in Helsinki, we took a ferry to Soumenlinna Island, which was originally built under Swedish rule of the area as a maritime fortress and served in the defense of Sweden, Russia and Finland. Today, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site as a unique example of military architecture…. and a really fun place to climb on cannons and swim at the beach!

Adventures with Liam,  Michael & Shannon on Soumenlinna Island