I remember when I first saw our ship – the glorious Akademik Fedorov.

It was after our outreach talk in the planetarium. We could see it arriving in the harbour.
It looked tiny making its way through the water.

How wrong I was.

Suddenly the whole Arctic expedition thing seemed less like a fantasy.
It slowly started taking shape in the real world.

The Research Vessel Akademik Fedorov – my home for six weeks in the Arctic Ocean.

The next day we got to try our polar clothing. The people in charge were two German guys:
an elderly white haired man, who seemed to be annoyed by the pure sight of us and a tall guy
with a kind smile. They really tried their best to provide fitting suits, jackets and boots
for us, but they weren’t always successful. It felt like an eternity to go through all the
things that we were provided with, but you could feel a wave of excitement being triggered
for all the adventures to come.

I ended up with a slightly too tight suit – bigger sizes weren’t available anymore,
but I made sure the pants and jacket would fit. So that I wouldn’t be cold on the ice. There was only one moment when I really regretted not getting a suit that fits.

Guess who is me in the group picture on the right…

Being the only person on a group photo in orange, while everybody is wearing red, makes you stick out quite a bit.

Not really my thing.

I look ridicoulosly enough like the teacher of the class. The upside of this? I was never cold, not once, on this whole trip into the Arctic.

The fitting happened in the harbour and gave us the opportunity to see both ships up close, Polarstern and Akademik Fedorov. I remember me thinking how incredibly big it was.

It made me feel both impressed and a little intimidated.

On Friday the 20th of September we got to say Goodbye to Polarstern and the expedition members of the
first part of the expedition at the Farewell event. But even though it was planned as a joined farewell,
we did not leave until the next day. Still, we got to board our vessel, our new home for the upcoming weeks.

Our first lesson onboard: Things never turn out the way you expect!

Check @the.answer.is.north for more photos on Instagram.

This was all possible thanks to:

Everything I write here reflects only my personal experiences, opinions and beliefs. You can find the official website of the MOSAiC expedition via the following link: https://www.mosaic-expedition.org.