PEOPLE TO PEOPLE - STUDENTS

Plymouth student samples the wild side of Antarctica

By Belia Ortega
Sheboygan Press staff

Eric Altman had a lot to talk about during his first week back in school from winter break.

That's because the 14-year-old Plymouth student spent more than two weeks on an Antarctic expedition through the People to People student ambassadors program.

Eric left for the trip on Dec. 18 to meet up with 53 other students from all over the U.S. and a few from Canada. He was one of two Wisconsin students on the trip.

"There's a big wide world out there," Eric said about traveling abroad. "I feel that it's not just (me) and Plymouth and Sheboygan County in Wisconsin. … There's everywhere else in between."

Eric Altman wears a hat he brought back from his trip to Antarctica. Press photo/ Bruce Halmo

After several plane changes, students and expedition team leaders met in Ushuaia, Argentina, the most southern city in the world. After some sightseeing in Ushuaia, the group loaded onto an MV Polar Star boat and headed down the Beagle Channel towards the Drake Passage.

"Basically it was bumpy the whole time," Eric said about the trip down to Antarctica.

They slept on the Polar Star and took a smaller boat called a Zodiac on their expedition to the islands.

On the trip he learned about and watched wildlife in its most natural state. Eric saw elephant, fur, leopard and crab-eater seals and thinks he saw the spout of a whale on his way back to Argentina.

He also saw Adelie, Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins and at one point a penguin approached him as he was sitting on a rock about three feet away.

The MV Polar Star carried Eric Altman of Plymouth and 52 other students from across the country and Canada to an Antarctic expedition in December. Submitted photo

The group also visited research bases and were treated to presentations by experts in the field. The kept a daily journal, which can be seen on line at www.studentsonice.com//antarctic06.

Eric got the traveling bug after a trip to Australia in July 2005 with People to People. The People to People Student Ambassador program was founded by President Eisenhower in 1956 to promote world peace by using U.S. citizens to communicate directly with other nations.

Student ambassadors are usually nominated by teachers or students that participated in previous trips and are chosen after an interview process.

"One of the mottoes (of People to People) is to enhance international understanding and friendships through the educational and cultural activities that go on in an exchange," said Tom Riemann, Sheboygan chapter president of People to People. "It's a direct people to people contact. It's kind of a mutual understanding."

He said that through the exchanges, students are developing a long-term understanding and friendship.

Some of the animal life Eric saw in Antarctca.

Eric's dad, Michael Altman, 45, said the trips have enhanced his son's self-confidence.

"Around here he's pretty shy, but he's really open when he goes on these trips," he said. "He doesn't let (small things) bother him as much as he used to. It must be that he sees them differently since he's been (traveling)."

Eric said next on his list of places to visit are the Brazilian Amazon, Europe and the Arctic region.

"It's a great experience and you get to expand your world view," Eric said. "If I can do it, anybody can."

Reach Belia Ortega at bortega@sheboygan-press.com and 453-5169.