The S.S.Universe Explorer is in transit this week, on our way from the Kamchatka peninsula in eastern Russia to Osaka, Japan. We are traveling along the Marianna trench, which is the deepest part of the world underwater. My sea legs have gotten steadier since the beginning of the trip as I am less affected by seasickness. It has not been that way for everyone; green faces are still prevalent around the ship when we hit choppy waters. It has been a busy week onboard the ship, with classes and activities in full swing. There is a lot of diversity among the shipboard passengers. A large majority are college students, both undergraduates and law students. The faculty and staff on board come from all over the United States that have brought their families so we have the company of young children and teenagers onboard. Some parents and alumni chose to sail with us and participate in classes just as the students do. To top it off, there is a community of senior citizens who take the summer voyage. Our youngest passenger is nine-months old and our oldest is 89 years old. With the wide range of ages, there are also a variety of activities offered to target different age groups and to integrate them. Extracurricular activities range from aerobics and swing dancing to knitting and origami. I, myself am a coordinator for the kids club. Through this I plan daily activities for the young passengers on board and have had quality with them, playing games and exploring the ship. My roommates are involved in different organizations. One is a member of the religious organization on board as well as the adopt-a-grandparent program. Through this, she is paired with a senior passenger for whom she meets to share meals and down time. My other roommate is active in Student of Service which works to collect money and goods to present to people in need in ports we will visit. Currently they are working towards an orphanage visit in a future port. There are also many social events to occupy sea time. There are pub nights and social hours when the bar is open combined with karaoke and an occasional dance. Open mic night is regular, where people have shared talents from karate and interpretive dancing to original music and poetry readings. Movies are shown in the theater and on closed circuit televisions that we have in our rooms. Yesterday we celebrated the Fourth of July with an extravagant poolside barbeque. Each night before we reach a port we have a pre-port meeting where we go through the logistics of travel in the country we are visiting. We go over basic language, mannerism, and conduct information that may range within different cultures. Classes are held every day we are at sea during the 65 day voyage. There are a variety of disciplines being studied, in both areas of graduate and undergraduate work. Each day, all shipboard passengers join for a class we call Core. Core focuses on the cultural, environmental, economic, religious, and artistic aspects of the countries we are visiting. Aside from Core, each student takes two other classes. I am taking Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Theater Production. This last week was particularly busy because we had our first show in which I served as stage manager. It is impossible to have nothing to do onboard. We are occasionally surprised with emergency boat drills where we load safety boats. My favorite part is acknowledging the fact that all life preservers on board were made in St. Cloud, Minnesota (although I am the only one who thinks that is special). Downtime is the best time, when you can step outside onto a deck and watch the passing landscapes or Pacific Ocean water. We have been fortunate to have spotted a lot of wildlife from the deck. Dolphins, sharks, and whales serve as our eye candy. I got my own personal show last week while I was on deck reading alone. I glanced up to catch a whale breaching not far from the ship. Ship life is something I couldn’t definitely get used to. With all of these options, it is easy to say that sea time moves by rapidly. The trick is to not let port time move too fast. This will be my goal in our next port, the highlight of the trip for me: Osaka, Japan. (If you are interested in Semester at Sea, check out the web site at www.semester atsea.com. From here you can get information on the program and future voyages as well as track the voyage I am on and leave messages on the ship message board.)
