Day 17: Gilligan, I am NOT!

Location: Not nearly close enough to Japan.

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.

Day 16: Pistachio Ice Cream!

We gained another hour of sleep last night. We are officially in Japan time (+16 hours ahead of Mountain time). I don't know what the heck I would do if we were going the other direction, especially because it is getting harder to sleep through the rough seas. I heard that a few days ago the ship was going with the waves so it was really quite smooth. Now we are going against the waves, making it quite rough on the ship. 

Eating the earlier breakfast is going to quickly become a routine. Those muffins are just too good not to pass up. So much for the girlie figure! 

I studied for my Nutrition "quiz". An evaluation that is 50 multiple choice questions and worth 20% of my grade I consider more of an exam, midterm, or test, but that's just me!  Sara, my roommate, and her friend Derek joined me. 

The Japanese government requires everyone who plans on getting off the ship to get their temperature checked. We had to go up to the faculty lounge to have the nurse take our temperature and report it to the doctor. I'm not sure why this is necessary, but I will update you if I hear what they are trying to avoid. I got that chore done on the way to my Nutrition "quiz". 

My Digital Media class spent today bringing us up to speed on the Japan. Mainly we learned about the Anime and Manga culture in Japan. I will be going on a field lab with my Digital Media class to Tokyo to see what is trending in the Japanese culture. I'm pretty excited about this field lab!

After class, I thought a very deserved study break was in store. What's better than watching Cars 2?? Yep, not much. Especially since Mater and Lightening McQueen go to Tokyo in Cars 2. Mater quickly learns about "pistachio ice cream." That is probably my favorite part of the movie! It's a great way to learn about the Japanese culture right? I thought so too. Many of these Disney movies that we are able to watch are for my Diverse Cultures in Mass Communication class.  

After dinner tonight, my Organizational Behavior professor was having a study session to prepare for the upcoming midterm. She was very, very helpful in providing us with key tips to help us prepare for the exam. With that being said, much of the night was devoted to studying for this exam. On the bright side, I won't need to worry about this class while I'm strolling through Japan. And, oh...how I long for LAND.  

My blog will be silent for a couple days when I lose access to the internet while we are in Japan. We debark in Yokohama on Sunday and will meet the ship in Kobe later in the week. 

Day 15: Grampa, Get a Load of THIS!

Location: Nearing Japan.

We gained another hour of sleep last night. We are 17 hours ahead of Colorado time. It is quite confusing talking to people back home.

 After talking with other students on the ship I learned I was going to breakfast at the wrong time. Apparently, if you get to breakfast earlier the fruit is less picked over, there are more cereals to pick from, and there are actually appetizing pastries. Today, my alarm went off at 6:45. Yes, I too cannot believe that I am getting up at 6:45 am, especially for breakfast! I did snooze my alarm twice but I made it to breakfast shortly after 7:00 am. I actually had pineapples in my fruit and, believe it or not, they have muffins on the ship. My mom was right...the early bird does get the worm!!

While sitting at breakfast this morning, the Archbishop Desmund Tutu walked in and chose to sit at the table right next to me. Yep, that's right! {Are you reading this Grampa?!} The Arch is sailing around the world with us until we arrive in Cape Town, South Africa. We were told that he would like us to refer to him as Arch (or something else, but I forgot it). It is always a very exciting moment for most people on the ship when he walks into the room. Goal: before the Arch gets off the ship have a conversation with him; probably at breakfast, lunch, or dinner or pass him in the halls. I know he's also lecturing in some of the classes on ship. My mom's friend Laurie gave me a journal before I left on this journey. Her intent was for me to use it and "journal" my days but since I'm blogging, I decided it's a great place to capture other sacred tidbits. I'm thinking it's a great place to have him give me his autograph...unless I chicken out and decide that's a little nerdy! 

Desmond Tutu speaking to the Global Management class on board the ship.

The next two days are going to be rough ones. Between two group projects and three exams I'm going to be ready for Japan. My group met tonight to dissect our Disney movie and learned that our presentation had been postponed for a few weeks. Yay! We get more time to prepare for the presentation -- which leaves me with more time to prepare for these midterms. 

We started mapping out our time in Japan. We grabbed some maps and a few travel books and spread out on the floor in the library trying to understand the train systems. We only have two hours of Internet access for the entire semester. Those two hours include accessing the internet for class assignments, preparing for the fall semester and registering for classes when we return to our home school or any other reason. Most teachers are pretty understanding and don't require going on the internet for class. That means we have to get pretty creative with how we are going to plan our time in ports. I sent an email to my mom, looking for help. Thankfully, her friend Jackie, who is a travel agent, was able to short-cut our efforts. 

{Slightly off topic, but worth mentioning. As I'm sure you can guess, blogging from the ship has its challenges. I'm going to add some photos from Hawaii to Day 8. Go back and check them out, if you're so inclined.}

Tonight's Unreasonable at Sea "fireside" chat was with Daniel Epstein. Usually Daniel Epstein is the man doing the interviewing of the entrepreneurs on the ship. Tonight it was his turn to be interviewed. He has been featured in Inc. Magazine and in Forbes  as one of the 30 Most Impactful Entrepreneurs and the man isn't even 30 yet!  He is a Semester at Sea alum and his goal is to solve problems that are worth caring about in this world. He has found that entrepreneurship is the most powerful tool in his belt that he has to affect change. His organization has teamed up with George Kembel's (founder of Stanford's D School, remember?) entrepreneur class on the ship. This allows the student's in that class to learn about global entrepreneurship by working with the entrepreneurs that he brought on the ship on real problems. Heck, I wish I would have taken that class!

Day 14: Boy, It's Getting Bumpy!!

Location: Somewhere between the International Date Line and Japan.

Last night was the first night where I was really able to notice the roughness of the seas while I slept. I woke up in the middle of the night and panicked about my computer. We are told not to leave our computer on the floor of our room. They say that the vibrations of the ship may ruin the hard drives. My laptop was not on the floor, don't worry. Rather, it was on the little desk in our room, not the most stable of places. I  panicked because I could hear things in our room clanking and shifting around from the rocking of the ship and I thought maybe my laptop was going to leap to its demise. Luckily, it was just fine.

I have been continually taking Meclizine (the sea sickness candy) and wearing my sea bands. Sea bands are precious designer bracelets that are supposed to help with motion sickness. I don't understand the science behind the pressure points on these bracelets, but I'm a believer! At times, I only feel a little sea sick and then it goes away. At breakfast this morning, one of the crew members asked me how I was doing with the seas. I said I was doing okay. He said, "that's good. It will get better as soon as we get to Japan." Thank goodness!

My fancy designer sea band! NOT!

The announcements at lunch time included a warning to bunker down. The rocking of the ship is only going to get worse. We are hitting multiple different swells from storms around us. Everyone on the ship, it seems, had just got there sea legs back and were walking normal. Now that the ship is rocking so much people are having trouble walking again, myself included. Losing your balance and being thrown into walls is all a part of the fun. When the ship hits one of those swells, the whole ship rattles. I'd be curious to know, if you're reading this blog, what kind of weather do you get in the next week or so that would be the same storm.

After lunch, I was supposed to meet up with my group from my Diverse Cultures class. We had chosen to watch the movie Mulan for our Disney assignment. We have to dissect the film and pull out gender, race, class and other problematic situations or words in the film and present it. My group decided that we could just watch this in our rooms on our own time today and we would meet to discuss our presentation tomorrow. So I went and found Lauren and we watched Mulan together. Sans popcorn. We will probably watch Mulan six or seven times just like The Little Mermaid.

Tonight was taco night!! This is one of the most exciting things in the past few days. Eating salad, pasta, potatoes, rice, and steamed veggies for lunch and dinner everyday gets old pretty dang fast. So when taco night comes around (I hear only two or three times the entire semester) people get excited. They served hard shell tacos, rice, a bean pasta salad, lettuce, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. It was delicious!

I've eaten my share of peanut butter sandwiches! Whew!

After a little bit of studying for my upcoming exams I went to the next Unreasonable "fireside" chat. Tonight's guests of honor were the Senior Design Manager and Creative Director of the Nike Foundation. I mentioned in a previous blog about their pen pal program. Another way they are reaching out to girls in third world countries is by creating a magazine. This magazine is run mainly by women and has information that expresses topics to girls that they may/may not otherwise learn about or have the opportunity to experience in their community. They are working to change the lives of girls through education, health, literacy, and self-confidence.

Day 13: Lost Day

Location: Just past the International Date Line

Ever wanted to just skip Monday? I have. And Monday, January 21, 2013 is a day that we, passengers on the MV Explorer, never experienced. Overnight we crossed the International Date Line. We changed our calendars but not our clocks. We moved our calendars one day forward. I will only experience 364 days this year.

On the ship, today, January 22, 2013 was designated as a study day. Basically that just means that we do not have any scheduled classes to attend.

I had decided that heck, this will be my day to sleep in! I will just skip breakfast and wake up when I wake up. Then the thought passed through my head that I have to have food in order to take my medicine. Crap! I have to get up early for breakfast. I had breakfast this morning with Sara's friends on the ship.

After breakfast, I trotted on down the hall to Shelley and Lauren's room. They were watching The Little Mermaid for about the sixth time in a matter of 24 hours. I haven't seen the movie in a long time but it is so much fun to get to watch these movies! I also had to watch it (on my own time, in my room on the ship) for my Diverse Cultures class.

We decided that we ought to try and be real productive today. Lauren and I went up to the Garden Lounge (dining hall) to study. I think trying to do homework or study there is similar to going to Starbucks. There are kids running around playing games, people chatting, people drinking their coffees, and then people actually trying to get work done.

During lunch, the Assistant Dean made an announcement over the intercom telling everyone on the ship that they need to go down to the Purser's office and pick up a packet. Enclosed in the packet were 10 immigration forms necessary for each of the countries that we will be visiting. The Assistant Dean told us that these forms would take a generous amount of time to complete. Boy was he right! It took us almost three hours to fill out the forms properly. There went our plan to be good little children today.

Tonight's Explorer's Seminar was about Asia. It was an overview of what we might expect as we approach Asia –everything from the culture to the religion to the food, etc. It was a pretty neat seminar. The lecturers made the seminar interactive allowing the audience to answer questions and win candy bars.

Tonight's Unreasonable at Sea presenter is George Kemble, one of the founders of Stanford's D-School. He is teaching the Sustainable Global Entrepreneurship course. At this Unreasonable "fireside" chat he talked about how he got to where he is in his life as well as how he came about creating the D-School. He said that the D School is not really a school nor is it really design. He said that students and faculty come to the building on campus to work on their particular focus or emphasis. The D School has created a different kind of learning environment for people to innovate and enhance their creativity. He said throughout all of his triumphs and tribulations in his career and life, he learned to do what he loves and that he needs to take care of himself. He sees himself as a reservoir to help others succeed.

Day 12: Happy Birthday, you say??

Today is my roommate Sara's twentieth birthday!! As I pondered what it would be like to have a birthday on this ship – somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, nonetheless -- I decided that it wasn't my cup of tea! She didn't get to call home or talk to any of her family, besides email, of course. There was no “pick where you want to go out to eat” type conversations. It was just as if it was a normal day. I suppose this goes along with the growing up concept. Growing old stinks! The upside? The crew graced her dinner meal with an ice cream cake! Such a lucky duck!

Wonder what it's like to have breakfast at sea? Well for me at least when my alarm goes off I have no idea whether it is 1200 or 0700. It is pitch dark in my room at all hours. At every breakfast that I have been to (that's all but one) they serve fresh fruit such as watermelon, pineapple, and melons, a different form of potatoes (mainly just potatoes that have been chopped up in bite size pieces seasoned), French toast or pancakes, eggs (hard boiled or scrambled), meat (primarily linked or pattied sausage), yogurt, cereal and a pastry. By the time I skid in, the pastries have been picked over and they aren't that great. Oh, and they have grits or oatmeal.

Remember how I signed up for the extended family program on the ship? Today is the day that I get to meet my family! Last night, my "mom" sent out an email to all of her six children setting up a meeting time. And she left a Twix bar outside my room for me! "Mom" had decided that we were going to have lunch together today. Coincidentally  Shelley is one of my "sisters!" “B” day lunches for me are always quick ones. I get out of class and to the dining hall just after 1200 and my next class starts at 1250. I have to pick up my laptop that I leave in my room charging before my second class starts, too. So lunch with the fam was a bit rushed for me but our family agreed that we will meet and have lunch after every port.

After dinner tonight, the activity scheduled was trivia. We needed a team of five to participate. Shelley recruited the other two people in our group. It consisted of Lauren, Shelley, Mike (he actually won on his last voyage) and Andrew. The prize was a free smoothie from the snack bar. Epic fail! We lost the trivia night but we walked away with a few fun facts as consolation. 

1. There have been five ships Semester at Sea has sailed on: MS Seven Seas, SS Ryndam, SS Universe, SS Universe Explorer, MV Explorer.
2. Did you know that the Statue of Liberty's index finger is eight feet long? 
3. Pineapple originated from Brazil? 
4. We learned that the leftover food on the ship is ground up and pumped into the ocean. Gross! 
5. There are 418 cabins on the MV Explorer. 
6. Did you know that there are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet (the five vowels and seven consonants: h, k, l, m, n, p, w)? 
7. We learned that the first domesticated animal was a dog or a wolf. 
8. Of all of the Hawaiian Islands, only eight are inhabited. 
9. Can you think of five NHL, NBA, NFL, or MLB teams that do not end in an s? Tricky right?! 

Day 11: This Is Going to Be a Long Stretch at Sea!

Location: About half way between Honolulu and the International Date Line.

We gained another hour of sleep last night. On the ship, everything is communicated in 24-hour time or military time. I think they do this so that it is consistent with everyone and they minimize mix ups. I have my watch set to 24-hour time. My phone and computer, however, are still set on 12-hour time. On occasion, I change my phone to 24-hour time. It is nice though to have one clock saying 24-hour time and the other clock saying 12-hour time so that I can cross check for accuracy. Many of the students are quite stubborn about switching over to 24-hour time. Students will refer to 8:00pm and most of the crew members, staff, and faculty refer to it as 20:00. 

Today is pretty similar to my other “A” days with breakfast, study/do some homework, go to my Nutrition course, have lunch at my leisure, study/do some homework, go to my Diverse Cultures class and then head off to dinner.

People are starting to get frantic. Before we get to Japan (in six days) I have midterms in most of my classes. I think that is just crazy! One of my professors said this morning that after the next time we meet (in three days) we will already be 1/4 of the way through the semester. This semester is seriously flying by!

A few days ago, the sign-up sheets for intramural teams were released. We weren't very organized in putting an indoor soccer team together. So we (Lauren, Shelley, and I) opted to be free agents. After dinner, there was an intramural team meeting in the Union. This was a time for people who were free agents to get on teams. Lauren, Shelley, and I are all on separate teams! The games will be in a 3v3 format. They will be played in the basketball court area on the ship. I'll let you know how that really works! The schedule for the teams will be released in the next day or so.

Tonight I was all excited to attend the Unreasonable "fireside" chat. It has become a standard part of my everyday routine to attend. At the "fireside" chat, the Executive Dean and the Captain were speaking to discuss water conservation on the ship. One of the Entrepreneur classes is making it their project to try and conserve water usage on the ship. Today, for example, 68 gallons of fresh water per person was used on the ship. The Captain said that it costs two cents for every ten liters to convert salt water to fresh water. I also learned that it is easier for the ship to convert water while we are at sea than when we are in a port. By the way, it turned out, I was sitting in on the Entrepreneur's classes' meeting rather than the Unreasonable chat. Whoopsies!

If my blogs are getting monotonous or you simply have a question about how something works on the ship, feel free to reply on the comments or shoot me an email. I’ll include the explanation in an upcoming blog.