Day 6: Sun!

Today was the first day, since we embarked on the voyage where we saw sunny skies. That is the first thing that I notice every morning at breakfast; the weather! Everyone at breakfast was talking about how bright it was outside. The sun makes the ocean look even more blue than it already is!

After breakfast, I went up to the Garden Lounge (it also functions as a dining hall during mealtimes) to hopefully get some peace and quiet so I could accomplish some of my homework. Certain lounges and locations on the ship are designated as quiet zones so that students can get some of their homework done. It was just so pretty outside I couldn't help myself but go and see what the it was like outside. It was gorgeous! I sat outside and continued my readings on the back deck of the ship. It was shorts and t-shirt like weather. Many girls were up on the pool deck out in their swimsuits enjoying the weather. Sadly, I had to return inside to attend my Digital Media course. I had lunch with a few Life Long Learners on the ship and then had to scurry off to my next class.

Nap time! Naps have become my best friend on the ship. After my nap, I realized I needed to figure out how to send assignments to my professors into the ship's drop box. I had to have an IT guy help me figure out how to add the drop box to my computer so I could easily drop my paper that was due today in. Here I come, Oswin! On my way to the IT/computer lab I dropped by the Purser's desk. I needed to get a form so that while in Shanghai, my dad could come and see where I have been and will be spending much of my time. The ship is pretty high security place for visitors to come on. So he will need to be approved by the Semester at Sea organization as well as the MV Explorer's crew prior to coming on the ship.

After receiving the paperwork, I went and worked on my readings. I don't remember having so much reading at CU Boulder. Classes on the ship are a little bit different because one of the only ways teachers can provide information to the students is through the textbook. At CU Boulder many professors provide alternative supplemental forms of media to complement their lectures such as YouTube videos. Many professors are forced to make an adjustment to their usual teaching style.

Lauren and I snuck off to dinner shortly after. Lauren is my dinner partner! Afterwards, we had to attend a mandatory pre-port meeting. It is a time that Semester at Sea and the Shipboard Institute teach faculty, staff, students, and the Unreasonable Institute folks what to expect, how to stay safe, and important information about the final departure from the U.S.. Semester at Sea provides students with a green piece of paper with important telephone numbers, suggestions on what to do, and information on getting back on the ship.

 After the meeting, I went to another Unreasonable Institute session. This time they had Deepak, a 24-year-old college dropout from India. He is the founder of the largest offline search engine in the world, known as Innoz. Basically, it is a way for people with "dumb" phones to ask questions just as people with "smart" phones are able to do with search engines such as Google. Innoz, leapfrogs the Internet via SMS (text messages) and allows over 120 million users to submit over five million inquires per day.

Day 5: Classes Again?

We have a stewardess, Hector, who cleans our room and bathroom. Seriously, royal treatment! Hector comes pretty early in the morning; let’s just say 9am, to clean our room. So on the days Hector comes, there is no time to sleep in.

I got up and went to the Piano Lounge to "attempt" to study. "Attempt" is the key word. Everyone was in the Piano Lounge, some people were "attempting" to study while others were talking and carrying on a conversation. Either way, it was difficult to try to focus on actually doing work.

I went to my Digital Media in an International Context class. I think I will find this class pretty interesting but we already have a paper due on B2 (January 14). These classes are going to speed along. Before we get off the ship in Japan, we will already have a round of midterms. I heard the other day that about the time we get off the ship in Japan, we will already be about a third of the way through the semester. Crazy!! It is hard to believe but we have classes every day we are at sea (whether it is the weekend or a holiday) minus study days (I believe we have three scattered the entire semester).

After my Digital Media class I went to the student store to get a lanyard. We are required to have an ID to get around on the ship. We need it to get on and off the ship as well as in and out of our room. If we lose this ID we have to pay $25 to get a new one. I decided investing in a lanyard was so worth it compared to paying that $25.

I attended my Organizational Behavior class, took a nap, and went to dinner. After dinner, we went to another Explorer Seminar. This seminar was called Hot, Wet, and Wild Hawaii's Volcanoes and the Critters that Love Them. It was a really interesting seminar. Now I want to see if we can visit a volcano while we are in Hawaii.

Day 4: I Can Handle This School-at-Sea Thing!

Last night we gained another hour over night. I am so glad that we are going around the world in this direction. If we were going around the world the opposite direction, we would be losing an hour of sleep nearly every other night. That would be so difficult to try and go through the day attending classes and without taking naps. Next week, I believe, we go past the International Dateline! As I understand it, we will pretty much lose an entire day.

Even though I do not have any terribly early classes (like an 8am class) I have been trying to get up and make it to breakfast. I think it will create a good routine. Not to mention, I need to have something in my stomach to take my medicines. At breakfast, I met a Study Abroad adviser and her husband (he was from France) who were just on the ship until we get to Hawaii. She is learning about how Semester at Sea is run, the opportunity it provies and the academic and social roles it plays in everyday life. When she returns home, she is supposed to report back to her home school and tell them about life on the ship. I'm guessing the husband is along for a free vacation!

After breakfast, I went downstairs to drop off my medicine. From what we were told, the clinic/hospital wanted to keep all of our medicines that were not over-the-counter, except for one month's supply. When I got to the clinic, the nurse ended up not keeping any of my medicine. It turns out that she only wanted the medicine that was highly addictive. Go figure!

I attempted to read again and do some homework  Trying to read on this constantly rockin' ship is a challenge in itself. I attended class and then went to lunch. This time at lunch, seated at my table were two guys from New York, a girl from Vanderbilt, and a girl who attends an university in China. Learning about the students on the ship that attend school all over the world is so cool to me. Everyone has such a diverse background!

I attempted to take another stab at my readings for my Diverse Cultures class later in the day. Thinking my odds of staying awake were increased if I wasn't in my room, I decided to hit the Piano Lounge. While there my Diverse Cultures teacher showed up. (I see extra credit in my future! My book is in my lap and teacher shows up! ha ha!) She has a set of 3 1/2 year old twins on the ship. It is so interesting to me to learn about what other groups of people do to fill their day on the ship. Her husband is also on board and his sole role is to take care of their children. He doesn't have another job on the ship. For children who are under five, the ship does not provide any sort of schooling. There are about nine children who are under the age of five. She said that they are trying to get activities together to provide them with something to do for a few hours a day. I think it would be very difficult for a child  let alone as a parent trying to occupy them on the ship. Many children are used to having a DVR at home easily accessible. They can watch whatever they want, whenever they want at home. On the ship, they don't have that option. My teacher needed something for them to do so she went to the library and asked them to run Toy Story 3 on the ship. How cool! this means it would run on all of the televisions on the ship. I think that was her saving grace!

After dinner, I was planning on attending the next Explorer's Seminar. This one was about Hawaii's History and Culture. I thought it would be very interesting and worth attending since we will be immersed into the Hawaiian culture for approximately the next 48 hours. I realized that I needed to write my paper for my Digital Media course. I scrapped going to the Union to listen to the Explorer's Seminar. Instead, I sat in Lauren and Shelley's room and wrote my paper while they did their readings.

Also traveling with us is an organization known as the Unreasonable Institute. I am still a little fuzzy on exactly their purpose and goal as a company while on board. They had a seminar for individuals on the ship to attend. I thought it was worth attending to try to learn more about the program. They have 11 entrepreneur teams who, as I understand it, are working to improve the world and their business. The founder talked to the audience in the Union about his organization. He talked about one of his favorite quotes: "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." I think it is a great quote to describe how an entrepreneur must operate in society. It is also a good quote to describe his company. He then interviewed TIME magazine's Hero of the Plant, Hunter Lovins', live, in front of us. We could hear about her life story, how she got to be the way she is, and why she does what she does. One of Hunter Lovins' big points that struck home for me was living in the moment. She talked about how you never know when your last day on Earth will be. Do what you can do to live in the moment, enjoy every day and moment you have with the people you love. I thought that was a really neat point to make, especially in our day and age and in the context of what I'm currently doing. I think it is easy to forget something as simple as not taking people and the simple things for granted.

Day 3: Classes Already?

Last night we set our clocks back one hour. I think I can handle this gaining time thing; that's extra sleep! My first class: Nutrition Around the World. I was pretty excited about this class. I thought we would learn about food in other countries and the nutrition of other countries. Boy was I wrong. It seems like we will learn about nutrition just like the nutrition class I took at my home school. I could definitely be speaking too soon, hopefully I am.

After lunch, I went back to my room to have a nap. For some reason, it is really difficult to not take a nap on the ship. Next class: Diverse Cultures in Mass Communication. I'm really excited about this class. It sounds like we will learn about how media affects different cultures, genders, races, and classes. Specifically for the countries, such as Japan, we will be visiting. We also have to watch Disney movies to dissect and destroy the film. <Gulp! Biology all over again!> The movies will be aired on the television channels in our rooms on the ship. After class, I went off to the campus store on the ship. I had heard that the ship's sweatshirt supply was quickly selling out and that they would not be ordering any more for the duration of the voyage. If you know me and my love for a good sweatshirt, I decided I needed to take a look at their selection. And, of course I purchased one!

I returned to my room and went down the hall to see if Lauren and Shelley (Lauren's roommate) would want to go to dinner. Luckily, they were interested. Dinner on the ship is far different than dinner at home. Or any meal for that matter. At every meal, people grab their food and sit and socialize and enjoy their company for hours. At home, typically we grab our food, stuff it down our throats, and run off to the next activity. Slowly but surely I'm trying to get used to this meal time ritual. We don't, typically, have other activities to run off to do or partake in. I'm also starting to eat my meals slower.

Instead of having a website like we do at CU Boulder to log on to access our course materials, we have shared folders through the Intranet. Teachers have the ability to drop PowerPoint presentations, readings, or other course materials in the folders and students can access them at any time. Lauren and I figured out how to set up the shared/public folders after dinner on our laptops so that we could access them at anytime from anywhere on the ship.

Later on, we chose to attend a Explorer's Seminar. This seminar was about the oceans. We learned about the animals, mainly birds, which we may encounter on this portion of our voyage. We also learned about the wind patterns and the trash vortex in the ocean that we may pass through.

After the seminar, Lauren and I decided to go play games and talk with other passengers on the ship. A big game that night was Catch Phrase. That game went on for hours!

Day 2: Orientation

Breakfast is served from 7-8:30am. If anyone knows me, I rarely am moving in time for breakfast. If I'm lucky, I "shove something in my gullet" as I'm darting out the door. Believe it or not, I made it to breakfast at 8am. Blessings! I enjoyed my French toast, potatoes, and fresh fruit. At my table were two boys from Chaplin University in Orange County, California and a male Life Long Learner. Along with barely making it to breakfast, I am not used to engaging in conversations early in in the morning, let alone being overly friendly. I prefer to be left to my own, slow, wake up process.

The activities schedule for the day were orientation sessions. We listed to health, safety, and academic sessions to learn about how ship life would be run. Much of the information we had to sit through, we already knew from the required reading of the Voyager's Handbook.

During lunchbreak I thought it would be a good opportunity to see if my dear friend Oswin, in the IT/computer lab, was available to help me with my email again. Score! It's fixed and luckily it has been working quite well since.

I took a nap in between orientation sessions. I don't know what my deal is but I have taken more naps on this ship than I think I ever have. It's probably the combination of the rocking of the ship, my room without a window, and the motion sickness medicine that have made me very sleepy.

I went to dinner with Lauren and seated at our table were two faculty members. After dinner, the ship put on an Involvement Symposium. Basically, it was a time set aside to sign up for activities put on by the ship and student life groups. I signed up for indoor soccer. I certainly cannot picture how the heck that is going to work on the ship so I'm quite intrigued. Stay tuned! Yoga. I'm hoping they have a beginner's class because Lord knows, I will need it. And, an Extended Family Program. Basically, Life Long Learners, faculty members, students, and other living on the ship sign up for the program and are assigned a "family". Each family will go to dinner together before (or after) a port. It is a way to feel more connected and have people to talk to on the ship. Wow, and they say you can't pick your family!

Day 1: Is This Really Happening?!

Location: San Diego

Today, was the beginning of my journey! My mom and I flew from Denver to San Diego this morning. After many days of packing ... and repacking, we arrived at the airport only to learn that my duffel bags were over the airlines' weight limit. Quick thinking allowed us to pull out all the heavy items and stuff in a 3rd duffel that I had packed for all my souvenirs.  Since my mom was flying with me, we had the flexibility to bring an additional bag. After arriving in San Diego, I was really craving a burger and we found an In-N-Out Burger. YUM! We checked in at the hotel, received my luggage tags, and repacked my duffel bags to accommodate the ships standards.

The beach is a must stop in San Diego for us! Del Mar Beach, Del Mar, CA

And a pretty sunset picture! We enjoyed dinner at Poseidon, beach side. Literally, sitting on the beach watching the surfers surf and the locals walk.

Three Weeks To Go!

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." -- Andre Gide

As finals wrap up, the excitement for my trip around the world begins to build. The daunting task of packing for four months is terrifying.

On this adventure, I am responsible for what I do while in port. I decided in countries like Burma or Morocco, where I would have no idea where to even begin to find something to do, it would be best to book trips with Semester at Sea, for safety reasons as well. But realistically, I am one lucky girl! My in-port plans include -- experiencing the Japanese culture while visiting historical World War II sites, mediating in a monastery in Burma just like the Burmese Buddhist culture does, visiting the Taj Mahal and other majestic sites in India, learning about the ecosystem of a tiny island in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, and go on a wild safari adventure near Cape Town. I'm planning to spend time hanging out with the locals and visiting a cocoa plantation in Ghana. Another item on my adventure list is trekking through the Sahara desert on a camel and meeting locals in Morocco. I almost failed to mention that my dad will be meeting me in China where we will get to hang out and explore the locals' favorite spots. I'm meeting one of my mom's friends in Singapore where she lives. This lucky girl gets to do all of that starting in three weeks!

While choosing these amazing trips I tried to keep a few things in mind. For instance, I wanted to absorb and learn as much as I could about each and every culture and country I will visit. I wanted to make an impact on the people I meet. I also wanted to be able to cross a few things off my bucket list! I'm pretty certain, this is my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit some of these remote places.

Trying to decide which trip I'm the most excited about is nearly impossible. I am so excited to learn and anxious about the unknown.

Next step: packing.