Atlantic Ocean Baptism – by Leonie

schueler.Leonie-Hello, my name is Fisherfish. Maybe you wonder about this name, that´s why I´ll tell you the story behind it.
The story started on Friday, 4th December, when someone of watch four controlled the fisher line. He felt pressure and pulled it in, but it wasn’t a fish! It was a letter in a bottle from Neptune himself, the king of the ocean, the lakes, the streams and the ponds.

Before lunch we read the letter from his majesty. He had written that he was going to visit our ship, when would pass the 40th degree of longitude. We, the dust-born-air-breathers, that´s what we were called in this letter, had to pass a test, the Atlantic Ocean Baptism, before we would be allowed to enter his kingdom.

The next day, Saturday, we finally crossed the 40th degree of longitude at one o’clock pm. We had to put on our swimsuits and stay downstairs in the mess-room. Waiting there was like sitting in a sauna, because we were about 40 people, sitting in a closed room for nearly two hours. While we were waiting, we were able to hear Neptune and his entourage which consisted of his doctor, his personal hairstylist, two servants and his wife Tethys. They were all acted out by the adults, who had already crossed the Atlantic Ocean. They were screaming, jumping and making more noise on the main deck in order to give us a little shock.
So we were all sitting in the mess, sweating. Besides we were a little bit afraid for our hair, because, they told us, they would cut a good piece of it. And one of them really threw some real blond hair down into the mess room! But I won’t tell you more details about what happened at the baptism, because I want the next generations of KUSis to be as surprised as we were, when we came upstairs.

Then one after the other had to go upstairs. We all thought about what was happening on the main deck and wondered why it took such a long time until everybody was done. We came up with very crazy theories, like for example having to eat some stinky fish, that our biology teacher had collected during the last days. Some of us even had to wait downstairs for nearly two hours, but we used the time well, discussed and played some games.
Finally everyone passed the test and was accepted as a member of Neptune’s court. Every student received a fitting name from the world of Neptune, like for example my name, Fisherfish, or Seastar, Golden Mackerel, Spanish Dancer and so on. The whole day was very cool and a little bit crazy, but the long time we had to wait in our sauna was totally worth it.

And that’s the mysterious story of how I got my funny name.

Menu