Mountaineering Log – Japan Expedition – May 2015

May 06, 2015
Expedition Japan
Course = 272 Degrees True

Dear Odyssey Community Members,

I am writing this short note to inform you that I have asked Jon Hale to keep an eye on the “Good Ship Odyssey” while I am with our third-year students on Expedition Nihon. I consider Jon to be multi-talented as well as a tireless worker and I trust that he will be exceptional while performing the duties of Acting Head of School. Should you have any questions or concerns about Odyssey during the next 3 weeks, feel free to contact Jon directly by phone or email.

As I write this note, our flight GPS indicates that we are passing directly west of Kodiak, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Who knows, we might even be flying over some of the same California Gray Whales that we encountered about a month ago during Odyssey’s spectacular Channel Islands Expedition. Those magnificent marine mammals are returning home after an extended voyage and, in the great sense, so are our third-year students. They are embarking on their own individual Hero’s and Heroine’s Journey of self-discovery, a necessary event in their transition from childhood to young adulthood. Their final Odyssey quest will punctuate a 3-year school experience and take them to Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Sendai before delivering them to the base of Mt. Fuji where they will tackle one last summit together as a team. I consider this journey to be an important inflection point in the lives of our students. If plotted on graph paper, the slope of both the learning line and independence line would angle up sharply for all of our sempai pupils during the next 3 weeks.

I am observing students reading the rather informative course book that Doug and Madeleine carefully prepared. The flight is going smoothly and the students are quietly excited and uncharacteristically reflective. At the deepest level, they all intuit that their days at Odyssey are quickly coming to an end. Simply put, it is time for them to move on to the next stage in their lives. That said, each student wants to prove to themselves, their parents, and their teachers that they are truly ready for the challenges ahead. I sincerely think that they are. In a month’s time, the Odyssey community will celebrate each student’s Rite of Passage. However, before we get there, all students have to succeed on the Road of Trials that the Japan quest will present. From my vantage point, I predict that this journey will be an outstanding learning adventure for all while also leaving positive indelible imprints in Odyssey’s historical book of accounts.

A paramount and fundamental ingredient in the alchemy of real expedition work is the element of removal. Most schools take their students on trips, not expeditions. Therefore, kids and parents email, Skype, and phone each other every 30 minutes. In order for our kids to grow and succeed in life, they sometimes have to leave their parents. Consequently, during the next 3 weeks, our third-year parents will be tested perhaps even more than our students because communication will be thin by design. I encourage any Odyssey parents to invite our third-year parents out for a glass of wine (or something stronger), as they just might need it. Expedition Japan is as much about parent growth as it is about student development. Stay safe in the coming weeks – and so will we!

Namaste,

Steveo
Climbing Sirdar

Doug-sensai
Lead Guide

Madeleine-sensai
Lead Guide

Odyssey Sempai Mountaineering Team – Daniel, Jared, Madeleine, Mack, Quinn, Dylan, Harrison, Ryan, Addison, Mina, Taran, and Madison