First of all I would like to apologize for not updating more frequently. While we are at sea, life can get very repetitive around here and I don't always think of things that would make good updates. However, I realize people are (hopefully) following this, and I'm going to do a better job of posting more frequently. It might be just a line or two though during the less eventful times.
So in the last week we have had class pretty much everyday and it has really started to grind on everyone. It's tough not having any weekends to speak of, and to have nearly 100 pages of reading a day. Despite that I've managed to keep caught up because of all the free time we get here, so that's good. My classes are all alright. They can get pretty dry at times, but that is more a result of the waves lulling me to sleep as opposed to the teaching style. We had our first global studies exam last night which was an adventure. For the past 3 days we have been going roughly 7 knots, which is VERY slow (I think 10 mph or so), and the waves have been intense. There have been some earthquakes and storms in Japan which we were avoiding. As a result the rocking was ridiculous! It was way worse than before, but less stuff flew around because we were going into the waves instead of beside them. Regardless, studying, eating, and taking a test with 13 foot waves was not something I would like to do again. This morning, things cleared up and the ocean calmed down, allowing us to get back up to 15 knots or so. As a result, we are only going to be like 2 hours late to Japan instead of a whole day like some rumors suggested.
We have a program called extended family where the older folks on the ship adopt students in a family and we eat together and play games or whatever. My family is the ship's doctor and his wife. His wife Ketsy might literally be the nicest woman I have ever met, so that has been great. We've only met twice, but I know I will enjoy that aspect of ship life.
Today was Asia Day, which basically means no classes and a ton of seminars about all things Asia. I first woke up and watched the first half of the super bowl at 8:30 am here, which they managed to stream for us, but bailed at 10 to go to a seminar. I went to one that was advice on what to do in the ports by a family who had been on SAS before, and then one on etiquette in Japan. Neither was particularly eventful, but I learned some stuff I suppose. We are having an asian themed dinner which I hope is good. The food has gotten dreadfully repetitive. On the whole it isn't that bad, but we have Salad, pasta, potatoes, fish, meat, and rice for every single meal without fail. There is no variation, and it really gets old. More than half of the meals I end up being like a pretend vegetarian because the meat looks terrible, so I am REALLY excited to get some real food in Japan.
So Japan...
Here are my tentative plans which no doubt will change. We are there for 5 days, and have nothing booked or set in stone, so it should be an adventure.
The first day we are going to Tokyo by train from Yokohama where the ship stops. It is like 30 minutes away at most. While there I don't know what we are doing other than spending the night as cheap as possible and seeing the sights. The next day will be in Tokyo too and we might go see the famous fish market there, take a city tour, or something else. Either that night or the next morning we are going to hop on a train to Kyoto, which is a large city that has retained much of its history, and spend the day there. I assume we will see temples, gardens, etc. The fourth day, a couple of us are breaking off from the larger group and going down to see Hiroshima. A girl on the ship has folded 1000 paper cranes and I believe we are going with her to deliver them to the memorial. It should be a really awesome experience. I don't know what the plans are that night, but we will make our way back to Kobe, where the ship will be for the last 2 days, and meet it there. I'm really excited about the whole thing, it is my first time in a culture that is 100% different than America and it will be fun to see. Plus I've been on the ship for 11 days, so it's time to get off!
The only thing I'm really nervous about is how expensive things are in Japan, but I'm sure I'll be fine. When else will I have the chance to be in Japan for 5 days? Probably not for a while :)
I think that's it for now. If anyone has any specific questions about ship life, classes, what we are doing in port, or ANYTHING, please email me. I do the best I can to summarize everything, but I'm sure I leave out so much. I love hearing from everyone who reads this and love answering questions about it.
My next update probably won't be until after Japan. I'm going to find somewhere with internet to upload some pictures, either to Facebook or to Photobucket which should be a box on this blog. I'll be sure to let you know when I've done that.
Until next time!
Thomas
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