Mt. Fuji, Hiroshima, and Kyoto

The last few day have been pretty hectic with my travels in Japan and then hopping back on the ship. After my day in Tokyo, I spent the next three days on field programs that are run through Semester at Sea. They are open for faculty, staff, students, and lifelong learners, so there was a good mix of everyone on the trips and I got to meet a lot of new people. 

The first trip took me to Mt. Fuji and Hakone. The mountain is closed in the winter, but we went to the national park surrounding it. We were so lucky that it was such a clear day with pretty views of the mountain. We also visited the Hakone Open Air Museum, where there were hot springs to soak my toes in and a very large Pablo Picasso collection. The day was rushed, but it was nice to have a good amount of time to explore the museum. 
The third day in Japan, I started another trip that was overnight to Hiroshima and Kyoto. First, we went to Hiroshima to see the memorial park and the museum, which was very humbling. I also was able to see the floating shrine in Miyajima Island. Fun fact: Miyajima is inhabited by a ton of deer, and they're very friendly with people. They just wandered around. But if you had food, they would track you down. The last day in Japan, I visited Kyoto, the old capital that was full of temples and other touristy sights to see. We visited the golden pavilion, Nijo castle, and another temple on the eastern side of the city (I don't remember the name because I was really hungry so my thoughts were elsewhere). Kyoto was cool, but touristy. Check that off my list! I enjoyed my day in Hiroshima much more and would love to go back and explore a little more. 

It's been really busy in the last few days since we got back into the swing of classes yesterday, and tomorrow we're in China! We really only had a two-day turnaround between countries, and that'll happen again from Hong Kong to Vietnam. After that, the gaps at sea will hopefully be a little bit bigger. 

I'm getting ready to spend the day in Shanghai tomorrow. I signed up for an Impact trip, which is more of an experience and less of a touristy trip. After the trip to Hiroshima and Kyoto, I’m excited to really get more out of the culture than just seeing the popular temples and castles. We're going to a local market to see where people buy food every day, then going on a home visit to learn how to cook a meal. I'm really excited to see what we make, since I know it'll be fresh. Hopefully it's yummy. Towards the end of the day, we’re going to the equivalent of a retirement home to spend some time with the elderly. I’m really looking forward to meeting them. Supposedly they’re going to dance and sing for us! 

The day after, I'm flying to HK to spend four days there. My friend Maddie is meeting me there the day after, as she's heading to the Great Wall first. I know the next week is going to fly by! 

Waka Waka Takes on Japan

The first day, my friends and I weren't signed up for any field programs, so we spent it exploring by ourselves. We were ported in Yokohama, Japan, but woke up early to take the train to Tokyo. The machines at the JR train station had an English option, but that didn't prove to be very helpful. We ended up having to ask a lady in a bookstore who pointed us to the ticket office where another lady helped us out in very broken English. About an hour later, we found ourselves walking the mile to the imperial palace in the center of the city.

After walking around the gardens of the palace, we found a metro station. There are three different types of trains in Japan - the JR system is a normal train that takes you city to city, the bullet train does the same as the JR but is faster, and the metro which is the subway within the city. The metro is the cheapest and easiest option for getting around Tokyo. We bought a day pass so that we could get on and off as much as we pleased.

Our second stop in the city was Tokyo Tower, which is essentially a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was awesome to go to the top and be able to see the city from above. We could even see Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Disney.

By this point, it was about noon, and my friends and I were all hungry. We wandered down the street until we found ourselves surrounded by police officers in riot gear. I'm still not sure what had happened, but we ran fast. A few streets over, we stumbled into a tiny little restaurant playing Shakira's Waka Waka. Nothing was in English, but there were a bunch of pictures so we just pointed to a picture and hoped for the best. I ended up with beef curry and rice, which I loved. Indian curry is one of my favorite foods, but this wasn't as spicy as I liked it. We also had rice tea to drink, which looks like water, but had a bitter aftertaste and wasn't my favorite.

After lunch, we made our way on the metro to Harijuku, a shopping district of the city. It's aimed towards a younger audience and the teen culture, so there was a lot of bright colors, strange clothing, and yummy treats. I ended up with a cotton candy larger than my head. Don't worry. We shared.

It was really crowed, so it was difficult for my group of friends to stick together as we dodged in and out of shops. I didn't end up buying anything in Harijuku because it was a little pricey, but it was interesting to see all of the clothes. A lot of places looked like thrift stores in the states, but were expensive. One store we ventured in had a lot of old tshirts and sweatshirts, and we picked through to find some from colleges around the US including Clemson, Northwestern, and Texas A&M to name a few. They were all more expensive than it would be to just buy a new shirt, but I guess that came with the character of it.

Our final sightseeing stop of the day was the Senso Ji Temple complex on the other side of the city. It took a few interchanges on the metro and about 45 minutes to get out there, but it was worth it. In the temples, you could make a 100 yen donation (about 80 cents in the US) then grab a prayer/fortune and tie it to the racks set up around the temple. This was my favorite stop of the day because we ended up seeing the temples, then walking through the markets that surrounded it. The market stalls sold pretty much everything.

My last event of the night was dinner. My family has friends who live in Tokyo, so my friend Maddie and my roommate Eleanor and I met up with them for a traditional Japanese dinner. We had sukiyaki, which is a hot pot of food cooked in soy sauce. We each had our own hot pot full of beef, noodles, vegetables, and tofu. I loved it. Our tray also had miso soup, a small salad of Japanese radish and cabbage, raw crab as an appetizer, and a large bowl of rice. At that point, dessert wasn't necessary. (Plus the cotton candy was probably enough sugar for days)

After we stuffed ourselves at dinner, Maddie, Eleanor, and I navigated back to the ship in Yokohama for the night. I was awake for almost 20 hours straight, because we had gotten up so early, but it was definitely worth it.

Today We Got TACOS

That's right. Today was Taco Day. Trust me, after weeks of pasta and potatoes at every meal, it deserves the capitalization. They were delicious, but I'm not sure if it's because I've been taco-deprived for weeks or if it really was delicious. La Piedad will be my first stop when I get back to Indy. 

In other news, it was also a study day today. We don't get exactly weekends on the ship, and honestly, I have no idea what day of the week it is. All I know is that today was basically our equivalent of a weekend. Occasionally we'll get days off of class on the longer stretches at sea, but when we're in port for an extended time, that's our weekend. I spent my day outside on the back deck watching a movie about sushi for my Travel Writing class and watching people play chess on the life-size chess board. 
We have midterms this week, but in a few days I'll finally be in Japan! Only four more days at sea! We also crossed the international date line the other day, so we're officially 17 hours ahead of eastern standard time. BUT we get another hour of sleep tonight. This trip is like fall back daylight savings every other day because we're going west. So we'll be 16 hours ahead of the east coast starting tomorrow. 

Another exciting update - I started tutoring two boys whose dad is a faculty member on the ship. Every other morning, my friend Maddie and I meet up with the boys and help them out with the material they're learning since they're homeschooling this semester. She's a nursing major, so she does all of the science and I do all of the math. Tim is in 9th grade and working on Algebra II, which is perfect for my major. Ben is in 6th grade, but he doesn't need as much help with math and usually Maddie's able to help him since he's just multiplying fractions. We've gotten to know their family over the past week and their mom Jen even invited us to go to dinner with them one night! It's really cool to be in an environment where the faculty and staff and lifelong learners really get to interact and get to know each other. 

Other than that, things are pretty normal - at least for living on a ship! Feel free to email me at lauren.wiley.sp16@semesteratsea.org. I get lonely! 

Hawaii Field Lab

Yesterday, my Intercultural Communications class spent our only day in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Pa'i Arts and Culture Center. The Pa'i Foundation works to maintain and promote the native culture of Hawaii through hula, music, art, and language. Vicky, the leader of the foundation, is a native culture activist. 

After going through immigration and finally getting off the boat (woohoo!), we boarded the bus that would take us to the Pa'i foundation. We were welcomed by Vicky, who immediately had us out on the mats to start our lesson in hula. For native Hawaiians, hula dancing was the way of passing down their stories and history of the islands, because years ago, they didn't have a written language. 

She taught us the dance and chant, step by step, and believe me, it was harder than it looked. I'm proud of myself for trying my hardest, but I know that the dancers you see at luaus must work so hard. Every single move has a different meaning or way of interpreting it, so it has to be just right. Also, my hands and feet were moving at the same time, and I definitely didn't have the coordination for that. 

After running through the dance one last time, we set up tables for lunch. Vicky prepared her famous Kalua pork on taro buns, sweet potato and taro chips, fruits (strawberries - yum) and a salad. Everything I ate was delicious. The taro is purple, so the buns for our sandwiches was purple. It was strange, but I tried it and it was awesome. Purple bread should be an everyday thing. 

After second and third helpings of lunch, we cleaned up and got ready to listen to Dr. Jon Osorio, who is a professor at U Hawaii, a musician, and like Vicky, a native culture activist. He told us stories of the social and political struggles that native Hawaiians have been facing for the past two centuries. The biggest lesson I got out of it was that the native community is united through a respect for each other and a respect for their land. They're going to do whatever it takes to preserve their community, culture, and islands. 

Shortly after, we made leis. It was quite a process that I initially almost gave up on. But mine turned out pretty good, so I'm glad I didn't. We used tea leaves and flowers and wrapped the flowers onto the leaves. I took some pictures, so here they are! 

On the left, its my friend Emily and I! The middle is a closer picture of the lei. I was pretty proud. And the right is a picture of the class making them. 

All in all, I had a great day. A lot of people in my class were complaining that they didn't get to see Hawaii, but I think they're wrong. They maybe didn't see the beach or go snorkeling, but they did see the passion of the Pa'i foundation, and for a few hours they were immersed in something much more important than sitting out to get a tan or going shopping. 

Photo Update!

I haven't had the internet to upload all my pictures, so here we go! 

This is part of my ship that I took in San Diego while I was visiting the USS Midway. You can really only see part of it. 

Here's part of the USS Midway. It's pretty much the only picture I took the entire two hours we were there. Whoops. 

Here's another picture of my ship at the dock in San Diego.

On a typical morning, I sit out on the Lido deck reading my emails and doing homework. No one seems to be up at 8am. Weird. 

Here's a picture of the Lido deck! You can kinda see the tiny pool behind all the chairs. 

Here's a better picture of the pool! 

Here's my room! And my bear! 

 And then finally, some pictures from Hawaii! We stopped here today, and I went on a class trip with my Intercultural Communications class. I'll give you an update on that trip later!

A picture from the bus ride today. 

The Kings Palace in Honolulu! 

One More Day to Hawaii!!

We stop in Hawaii tomorrow and I have a field trip with one of my classes. It's intercultural communications and so in the class, we're learning how to hula dance and make leis, and they're serving us a traditional luau lunch (thank god cause the food here doesn't suck, but it's basically the same thing every day). Then we're attending a lecture about Hawaiian culture and language. So I'm excited for tomorrow. I'm making friends in that class, but hopefully this'll help. 
After Hawaii, we have a 12 day stretch until Japan. I think people might go a bit stir crazy. We do the same thing every single day basically. It's in the 80s today, so a ton of people are sitting out upstairs by the pool. I might do the same after my class at 2:40. We've been lucky with the weather. No storms or anything so far! 
Also, I've been getting to know the crew in one of the restaurants, the Berlin restaurant. I met Bravo, who loves meeting the students. They all take really good care of us. The other day, Bravo asked if I had a water bottle, then took it and washed it and filled it up with ice water. Let me tell ya, ice is a hot commodity on the boat. Can't find it anywhere. 
Other than that, I'm finishing up homework assignments so I don't have to do anything tomorrow when I'm in Hawaii. Today's a pretty typical day!

Sea Days

Hi Everyone!
Today marks my fourth day at sea and my third day of classes. I've adjusted fairly well and I have a routine now! I usually get up pretty early and grab some breakfast. This morning, I sat down with a Lifelong Learner. Lifelong Learners are adults, usually retired, that go on the voyage. Many of them take classes and sign up for the field programs. From what I've seen, they all have really interesting backgrounds. I shared my breakfast with a lady named Patricia this morning. She used to work for the government, and she told us fascinating stories about all of her travels. When she was a teenager, she attended a boarding school in Northern Italy, so she grew up abroad. She also told us that now she travels about 45% of the year, and when she gets back in the spring, she's planning on selling her house to move abroad for a few more months. 
Patricia previously went on the spring 2009 SAS voyage, so she's a pro at this. We were asking her about the field programs and whether they were worth it. She said that the worst part of a trip is planning the logistics, and with SAS it's all taken care of. Also, she said that the programs were deeper than the touristy excursions that many cruise lines offer. That definitely helped me get excited for my programs that I've signed up for. I was worried that I'd miss out on a lot of independent travel that people were doing, but after talking to Patricia, I'm definitely more excited. 
 

Classes Begin!

Classes start today, which is really exciting! I got up around 6:30 this morning and got breakfast around 7:30. I went up there alone because my roommate Eleanor was still asleep, but there's always people to sit with. I've met so many new people, but I don't remember a lot of their names. I think it'll help when I meet people in class who I'll see pretty regularly.
Now I'm sitting on the top deck just hanging out. It's really nice out. A little windy, but not so chilly. Probably in the 70's. Not quite pool weather but we're getting there. There's no one else up here right now so it's super peaceful. I think this might be my new spot, especially in the morning when no one else is around. It's sunny here and all you can see is the ocean around us. In a few more days we'll reach Hawaii! 
Last night I got to sign up for a bunch of clubs, so I signed up for yoga, trivia, dependent children tutors, and the extended family club. The dependent children club is for the kids of the faculty, staff, and lifelong learners that are keeping up with their studies. It would let me tutor and/or mentor some of them. I spoke to the lady in charge and she said they needed math and stats help, both of which I told her I was able to do! So that's hopefully going to workout well. The extended family club pairs 8-10 students up with a member of faculty/staff or a lifelong learner to be a family. We'll eat meals together, get to know them, and hopefully they'll spoil us a little! 
Also, some important guy from Microsoft is on board with his family. Supposedly he's the VP of Marketing and Sales or something, but I don't know and I don't remember his name. He bleached his hair, which looks a little funky and kinda walks around like a nerd, but it's pretty cool. 
I've also been one of the lucky few to not get seasick. I took some of the free medicine they handed out the first day, but one of the side effects is a sore throat, which I got. So I haven't taken anything since. The waves have been decently big, but it's almost comforting. Every once in a while, there's a really big wave that I feel. But other than that, I'm pretty used to it. At least, if I'm sitting down. Walking is another story. It kinda looks like a drunk walk, but when everyone's doing it, it's funny. 

Embarkation Day Has Come

I've spent the last few days in San Diego exploring the city and enjoying the food with my Dad. It's a pretty walkable city. We only really took a taxi twice, one of those times being from the airport. On Sunday, we got to explore the historic Gaslamp District. There were a ton of touristy shops down there and lots of cool restaurants. The entire district is huge - over 16 blocks. And we wandered around a lot of it before finally deciding on a fish shack for lunch. We also found a mall that had a Macys where I purchased a money belt, and the Hard Rock Cafe where I was able to pick out a t-shirt. After wandering back to the hotel, we watched football at the sports bar and that night, we ended up having dinner at the hotel because neither of us were up to exploring much more after a long day of travel. 
Yesterday, we visited the USS Midway Museum on the bay. For those who don't know, the USS Midway is a retired aircraft carrier turned museum, and was also conveniently parked next to my ship. It took us two hours to venture through the museum with the audio tour and we could have spent much longer in there. It was really cool to see how sailors lived in the navy during WWII. I definitely left the museum with an appreciation of the history of the carrier and the sacrifice of those who lived and worked on it. 
Today, I got on my ship. That's right everyone! My ship! I left on the 7:40 bus from San Diego only to pull up to my ship two hours later in Ensenada, Mexico. Parked (docked?) next to a Carnival cruise ship, the MV World Odyssey looked like a baby. But still, it was mine. After going through the line to board the ship and check in, I found my room and eventually met my roommate Eleanor. She's from Seattle but goes to Seton Hall in New Jersey. We spent the day unpacking all of our luggage, organizing our stuff, meeting a ton of new people, and taking naps. Both of us have been running on very little sleep and I think it's finally catching up. I'm still jet-lagged from the three hour time difference, but I'm sure I'll adjust soon. Our room is a decent size and we have space for everything. I pushed both my duffles under my bed and put all of my clothes away in the closet and a few drawers. We also have a decent amount of storage in the bathroom. It's smaller than both Resco and Schwitzer back at Butler, but it's perfect for my trip. 
There's not much going on tonight and tomorrow. Lots of orientation and welcome meetings. I'm sure I'll be busy! I'll be sure to add another post with some pictures of the boat soon!

Getting Ready to Leave

This last week has been awesome and crazy. I celebrated my 20th birthday two days ago. My mom and dad surprised me with a "Bon Voyage" party and invited family and friends from high school over to celebrate. We had some great food and lots of fun hanging in the basement, playing pool, and catching up.

My friends spent that night at my house and we were able to go to downtown Indianapolis to shop and walk around monument circle and then to see a movie. Because it was my birthday, I roped the entire group into going to see Sisters, the new Tina Fey and Amy Poehler movie. The next day, they stayed long enough to see Butler's rival Xavier lose their basketball game (woohoo!) and then loaded in the car for the trip back to Cincinnati.

Casey, Me, and Annalise. Saying goodbye and taking pictures!

Downtown Indy in front of the lights at Monument Circle. It was very cold, but very pretty. We wanted to ask someone to take our picture while we were there, but there weren't many people around and we're all awkward anyway, so we gave in and took a selfie instead. 

My boyfriend, Nick, and I. This was the last time I'd see him before my trip!!

To get ready for the party, I hung up a huge map in our basement and put flags in all the ports that the ship will be stopping in. It was pretty exciting, but there are a bunch of holes in the wall now... whoops. 

The last few days, I've been focused on getting everything ready for my trip. I'm going to load all my favorite music on spotify, back up my computer, and buy some books for my kindle. I went shopping to pick up some last minute things this week, but I'm going to have to finish up the rest of the shopping tomorrow. I've finalized my packing list, but I'm procrastinating packing it all up with this post instead. :)

In two days, I leave for San Diego. Two days later, I'll be in Mexico boarding the ship. I'll be sure to keep you all posted with all the exciting details! Feel free to contact me at lauren.wiley.sp16@semesteratsea.org
I'll have unlimited email access, so that will be the best way to stay in touch!