After I finish breakfast I have been grabbing my laptop and working on homework in the Garden Lounge. Attempting to study for these upcoming tests was quite the challenge with Japan approaching and knowing we could finally see land!
Digital Media is typically held at the front of the ship near the Union. When I arrived, a few minutes early, the teacher was directing us to the back of the ship in the main dining hall. If attending class near the back of the ship was supposed to be an improvement, I would hate to have been near the front. The seas were so rocky, by the end of the class less than half the students were still sitting there. The rest were terribly sea sick.
I had lunch today with my family. Our mom wanted to meet so we could discuss our plans while in Japan. She reminded us that she we had her cell phone number in case we needed to call her for any reason while we there. My real mom would be so glad to know that someone is still looking out for us!
My Organizational Behavior exam was today. I cannot remember, ever, being more distracted during an exam than during this one. The seas were so rough that the door to the classroom was slamming open and closed. On top of that, I was seated next to the window. Watching the waves go up and down and splash the ship was spectacular. Not spectacular in a good way. Spectacular in an "unreal" way. The classroom was up on the fifth deck and the waves were going higher than the ships window.
I staggered off to Lauren and Shelley's room to finalize our plans for the next few days in Japan. We were trying to decide which ryokans would be the best one to stay at as well as the price. A ryokan is a type of Japanese Inn, similar to a bed-and-breakfast. I'll have to let you know how that turns out...
By afternoon, all academic and fitness classes for the rest of the day were cancelled. All access to the outside were closed off as well. The weather had grown bad, far beyond what the Captain, crew, and faculty had predicted and we were told only expect it to get worse. There is absolutely no way to clearly articulate with justice the magnitude of the seas. Walking while intoxicated doesn't compare. The railings on the walls around the ship were a must to essentially drag yourself along. It was hard to tell whether you were walking at some points. At other points your walk quickly transformed into a run.
I went to Shelley and Lauren's room for the pre-port meeting. The pre-port meetings are designed to inform the students about what to expect in port, the field labs/programs, the health precautions for the local country, and their expectations of the students while in port. Because of the terrible weather, we were allowed to watch the meeting in our rooms.
With the weather being poor, I gave up on the day and went to sleep a little earlier than usual. Around 11:30 pm, I woke to the drawers in our room slamming open and closed, the chairs were dancing and items on the counters were flying off. Not to mention the feeling of lying in bed feeling like you are on a roller coaster ride. There was very little sleep that night just wondering if I was going to get hit by flying shrapnel. There was conversation in the morning that the crew thought that storm was the worst storm the MV Explorer has encountered since 2005.
I found a video from Spring 2005 Voyage. Understand that our storm was not this bad and our engines didn't fail. The video depicts what the rough seas feel like on board a floating classroom. Sarah, my roommate, shot a video which I will also try to post.
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