Part Two: Chapter I, On The American Farmer Summary and Analysis

In September 1938, the family boards the American Farmer in London. Most of the seventy passengers are Americans returning home. The Trapp family gathers at supper to recall how they got permission to travel and left Austria in their usual clothes to go "mountain climbing". They recall how they waited anxiously for tickets from an American who wants them to perform, and how the day after they left, all borders in Austria are closed.

Choppy waters have everyone seasick except Maria, in spite of her pregnancy. It is obvious that they have to learn English. Maria goes around the boat with paper and pen. She points to and gets the name for everything on the ship from the kind Americans they befriend. For "Watch", she writes down "Votsch...