It should be Thursday…

September 8, 2006

Hi everyone! We’re crossing the international dateline so today should be Thursday but it doesn’t actually exist and it’s now Friday instead. It’s a little weird but we’ve been gaining an hour almost every other night, which has been really nice to get that extra sleep in. So technically I guess we get that day back somehow. The weather has started getting rainy but it’s still pretty warm and humid outside. We had a barbeque last night up on the top deck around the pool. It was nice to have hamburgers and fries since the dinner food is getting a little repetitive. Classes are going along fine, we all have tests and quizzes coming up soon before we get to Japan. So a lot of the day is spent reading and going to classes instead of laying out by the pool, since the weather has changed. We’ve had a few more “pub nights” and they are a lot of fun especially since nobody really knows what to do with themselves at night on the ship. Besides meals and class there isn’t much to do so we’ve been watching a lot of movies (Stefanie brought a ton of movies, lucky me) and just reading and hanging out. It’s pretty different to be in college without a town and real campus or frats and bars to go to. But it’s a nice change even though sometimes it feels like summer camp. The ship seems smaller and smaller every day and I’m sure we will all be ecstatic to get off in Kobe, Japan on Tuesday. I’ve been planning out my trip there, trying to organize my excursions with friends so that we can all spend some time together in Port.
When we arrive Tuesday I am signed up to go to a baseball game in Kobe, and I’ve talked to a lot of other people who are going. James and Jerry have already mentioned that they wanted Japanese baseball caps, so hopefully I can find some good ones. I want to get some good souvenirs but I’ve heard that Japan is one of the most expensive of our ports and places in the world. I am also going on an overnight trip to Nara and Kyoto from Wednesday to Thursday and when I return on Thursday night Stefanie and I were going to try and take the train to Tokyo, where a lot of the SAS kids are going for the last day and night before we come back to the ship on Saturday. A few people have 21st birthdays to celebrate in Japan so we all want to go to dinner and karaoke. We’ve been getting lectures about Japanese life and culture everyday in Global Studies. We have a test tomorrow and nobody really knows what we are going to be tested on, so that should be interesting.
I’m trying to stay off the internet but it’s hard! Life without a cell phone is interesting, but we can call each other’s rooms directly so that’s how we all get a hold of each other. Also meals are served at very specific times so everyone sees each other then or at pub night. I’ve met so many people from California and the Bay Area and most people from other places in the country have a friend, or a friend of a friend who I know or they know through school and other things. It’s a pretty small world on the ship. But it’s nice being the only person from Vanderbilt, there are a ton of kids from Boulder and the UC schools. I even met a guy who goes to Menlo College and a lot of Stanford kids who surprisingly know nothing about Menlo Park, they say nobody ever leaves campus. It will be nice to have so many friends from all around the country when I get home. And since we are all living in such close quarters and will be traveling together we are becoming close friends very fast. I have a lot of SAS lead trips planned in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Myanmar, and India. After those ports Corrine (from Walnut Creek, goes to UCSD, youngest of 9 kids!) and I are traveling together with a few other guys and girls through Egypt, Turkey, Croatia, and Spain. They encourage doing independent travel which will be a totally new experience but well worth it. A lot of times it’s cheaper to travel in independent groups instead of paying for the SAS trips and then we can go to the places we want to without doing the extensive tours. It’s a little hard to believe that in a few days I’ll be getting off of the ship and besides a few trips planned basically be traveling on my own (with groups of people of course, don’t worry Dad I would NEVER go anywhere alone!). I can’t wait to see all of these countries and I’ll be sure to write down as much as I can and take tons of pictures to send back home. Send me your addresses if you want a postcard from Port!