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Co-workers: life lessons at sea

Working at sea is a unique experience, full of challenges and personal enrichment. For almost
20 years, I have been lucky enough to live with people of all kinds: different religions, cultures, languages... A true melting ground of experiences that not only teach you to be more tolerant, but also to learn from others in a way that is not always possible on dry land.

One of the most valuable lessons of all these years is that, no matter how diverse the people you work with are, there is always something to learn. And not only from good people. Of course, in the sea I have met wonderful people, people who have taught me a lot about life, about camaraderie and about teamwork. However, as in any place, there are also the "black sheep", those people who seem to be always looking for conflicts or creating bad environments. Despite that, I try to stay with the good, with people who really contribute something positive.

At first, the language issue was a major obstacle for me. Being sociable, I couldn't stand the idea of not being able to communicate properly. That's when I decided to get my act together and learn English quickly. It wasn't easy, but with the help of my old translator Casio, I began to understand the basics. The first, of course, were the insults in English. Wow, that helped me! But, little by little, I improved and found myself much more comfortable working with people from other countries than with the Spaniards themselves. Here, at times, I felt that the atmosphere was more marked by envy than by cooperation.

Not everything has been easy, of course. I have been involved in incredible situations, which sometimes not even I myself could believe. Those times when you meet a partner who shakes your hand on one side, but when you turn around, he is criticizing you behind your back. Despite those bad experiences, I have learned to surround myself with good people, those who really care about you.

And it is that, throughout all these years, I have been lucky enough to find people who, when they found out what had happened to me with Mr. Park, did not hesitate to call me to know how I was. Those are the people I stay with. Because, in the end, what I value most about all this is not the work itself, but the personal enrichment that having worked with so many different nationalities, cultures and religions has given me. I have learned a lot, not only about other cultures, but about myself and how to interact with the world.

In short, the sea is not only a workplace, but a school of life. And although there is always a little bit of everything on the way, the important thing is to move forward with the people who are really worth it.