Welcome Home, Cassie!!

San Diego, California - Wed May 2

This blog is written by Cassie’s Dad.

We started a very emotional week as we prepared to pick up our “World Traveler”. We arrived in San Diego on Sunday April 29 and packed Extra Light so we would be able to accommodate all of Cassie’s new possessions.

We spent Monday at the SD Zoo and it was quite the adventure. This is a world class zoo with plenty to see.

On Tuesday, we went to Cabrillo National Park. On the way, we saw the Rosecrans Military Cemetery, nicknamed Arlington West. This cemetery has 100,000 military men and women buried there. It is a very emotional sight to see. We then scoped out the dock to see where the MV Explorer would be arriving from and trying to anticipate the best place to watch. Tuesday night, the tension started to build.

For some reason, we had no contact with Cassie since Hawaii. We wanted to tell her we were here, patiently waiting for her arrival, but there was no response from her. We heard from other parents that there were a lot of “all night” goodbye parties because everyone was having trouble believing the adventure was ending.

Wed morning, May 2. We learn from last night’s parent debriefing that the boat is already near the coast so no chance of being late. The ship will arrive and dock at 8:00 am but you should be able to start to see it between 7:00 and 7:15 as it comes into view.

We get up early to make sure we leave our hotel by 6:45am. It is a 15-17 minute walk from the hotel to the dock along the harbor. Deb goes ahead of me and tells me there is a good spot by the sailor kissing statute.

Before I arrive, she and other parents move to a different spot. More parents are doing the same walk as us and we all converge at the dock. The crowd is now starting to brew like a rock concert waiting for the main event. Somebody spots the ship - - and everyone yells and starts to position themselves at the far end of the dock.

The ship slowly comes into view.

Parents are holding up signs, balloons, tee shirts, towels and flags.

We are calling Cassie constantly from 7:00 on but still no answer, and no text. We can now see people on the bridge, closer and closer. Do you see Cassie? I asked Deb. Hundreds of kids are on the deck and bridge and we are trying to see if Cassie is there. We spot a few who may be her, but we are not sure.

The ship now passes us as it docks. We are on the opposite dock with a good view. After the ship docks, it will take a minimum of 2 hours for the first person to come out. Based on a list, Cassie’s group will depart near the end and her estimated time of departure would be 1:00-2:00pm. We are just about to leave and return later but I want to take one last picture. I had been filming and taking pictures on our camera, but I wanted to take one picture on my cell phone. I take out the phone to take a picture and was suprised to see that Cassie is calling me. It is now 8:00.

“Cassie. We have trying to contact you! Are you ok? Are you on Deck? Can you see us? What? YOU JUST GOT UP! (All the other parents standing near me and listening to the conversion just start laughing!) We took a week off from work, traveled 3,000 miles, woke up VERY early to be at the dock by 7 and YOU JUST GOT UP! I LOVE YOU CASSIE!"

Our Last Stop - Hawaii

Wed April 25 - Hilo, Hawaii

We have 18 days at sea from Japan until we reach San Diego with only one – one day stop in Hilo, Hawaii. Because of all the stops in China and Japan, we had a lot of school papers and reports that were due. We were all really looking forward to our stop in Hilo. We also had full cell phone service because Hawaii is part of our cell phone plan-no restrictions or surcharges. We were able to call family and friends.

Everett and I were signed up for a trip to the National Volcano Park and Hike. We drove out to the park while our driver talked about what life is like on the islands.

We first walked through a volcano tube which was a tunnel created by the lava. The plants were all a beautiful green. There was a strange plant that looks really curled up when it is growing, which was amusing to see it everywhere.

We walked along the edge of the volcano and then on to the lava bed which was a dried up lake of lava. The rocks formed were frail and could break easily with little pressure. Lifelike surprisingly sprung up around us as we jumped over cracks in the bed and looked under the rocks where steam came from. The black rock attracted the heat to the back of our necks; yet Mother Nature cooled us as we walked out with a sprinkling of rain.

Following the hike around the edge of the volcano, we stopped and ate our first bagged chips in weeks along with sandwiches filled with lettuce and carrots. We then hiked to the biggest and tallest volcano and from the huge bed of steam streamed into the sky making it hard to distinguish the steam from the clouds. We looked around at the formation of the rocks and lava and soaked it all in.

We were then left at Hilo Hadie’s near the center of town to shop in any of the nearby stores in the plaza. Ev and I picked up snacks in Walmart and met Chelsea and Steven at Starbucks. After grabbing a quick meal at KFC, we grabbed a van heading back to the ship and embarked on the MV Explorer for the last time.

April 20, The Second One

April 20, The First One.

Have you ever seen the movie Ground Hog Day? It is a story about an obnoxious weatherman who has to repeat the same day (Ground Hog Day) until he gets its right. We have our own version of Ground Hog Day when we will live through April 20 twice. In order for us to adjust our clocks from being 13 hours ahead to 6 hours behind New York Time and crossing over the International Date Line, we will repeat April 20.

The crew is having fun with this as well. In the movie, you knew it was the same day because the radio plays “ I Got You Babe” every day when the morning alarm went off. The crew was playing this song over our ships intercom.
Our Dean’s Memo which tell us our days schedule, now states April 20, the second one.

April 23

I just wanted to try and describe what things have been like on the ship more in depth. My parents may not like this, especially my grammy!

Time has become lucid for us and we no longer are preoccupied about what time it is or what we should be doing at any hour. Essentially from the time changes and the huge amount of work, many people have become nocturnal. There are four others with me in the computer lab at 4 am and many others spread around the ship.

We all simply sleep when we are tired because it is hard to sleep during regular sleep time. I have found for my papers that I need a large block of uninterrupted time to make any steady progress. So I stayed up the night before a reading day to get my research done and slept during the day.

I have never seen so many people up for breakfast when it opened. People are pulling all nighters to get the intense amount of work done for each class. We have lost so many hours since Japan that I cannot keep track. For me, it is just insanity to see everyone up and about so early and it makes me feel a lot closer to everyone too because we have no idea what our bodies are doing!

I am doing really well though. My school work is fine and I’m getting a good amount of sleep so don’t worry!!

Japan, April 10-14

We arrived in Kobe, Japan on April 10. We made arrangements to travel across Japan and meet the ship in Yokohama on Friday April 13. We stayed on land as the ship traveled between Kobe and Yokohama.

Kobe was in full bloom with cherry blossoms throughout the city. Everett got a chance to visit Kyoto which apparently is the city known for cherry blossoms. It rained two days out of the five that we were there but temperatures were in the 60s. I enjoyed Japan a lot. It was very clean and organized and the people were friendlier than in China. Japanese people tend to be more robotic especially when we were in Disney. Everyone seems to follow a protocol as well. For example when I would order food, they had certain lines and were just very professional almost in each activity.

On April 11, we had to travel from Kobe to Tokyo and were considering the bullet train. We then decided to take an overnight bus which would get in to Tokyo at 7am. The bus was really nice. I was uncomfortable for a while but I slept really well. (Imagine me sleeping on a bus!). The bus provided blankets and slippers.

On April 12 we arrived in Tokyo. We walked around the city and went to a baseball game.

On April 13, we went to Tokyo Disneyland. One of the attractions is Theme park Tokyo DisneySea which we visited and had a fantastic time. One of the attractions was a Cape Cod village. I have visited Cape Cod every year since I was born. To be half way around the world and see an attraction that was very personal to me was emotional.

The language barrier was interesting. There was a lot more English than I expected but the shows and attractions were lost to us, since they were in Japanese.

We spent a long day into the evening seeing attractions and going on rides at Disneyland. The ship, now in Yokohama, was about ½ hour from Disneyland and we arrived back on the ship at 2:00 a.m. Even though we had one more day in port at Yokohama, we did not get off the ship. The weather was raining and our legs were sore and by the time we got ready, it was too late to do anything. Overall, we really enjoyed our visit in Japan.

Disney World, Tokyo Japan

April


Everett and I had a great time in Disney World

Here are a few of the pictures.

Entrance Area into the park.

Indiana Jones Adventure - 2012

Big Mountain is in the center- Journey to the Center of the Earth ride is located there.

Tower of Terror

Tower of Terror picture.
We found our friends randomly and here we were trying to fit in!

Can you guess which part of the US is featured here?

Cape Cod Village. I have been traveling to Cape Cod every year since I was born. It was real neat to be half way around the world in a theme park in Japan and finding "The Cape".

Dean's Memo April 15-16

A few weeks ago, April 1 to be exact, I published a "spoof" of the Dean's Memo. Here is a real one that is published re ship's activity.



Deans Memo

Sunday April 15 & Monday April 16, 2012 Issue # 45

Sunday, April 15 Agenda

2000-2130 – Asia Reflection. Join students and faculty in discussions of their reflections on way the four Asian countries we visited connect and contrast with each other and with our home countries. (Union)

¡¤ 2130-2230 – Non-Denominational Christian Worship Service. (Classroom 3)
Monday, April 16 Agenda
¡¤ 1700-1800 – Add Power to your PowerPoint! Alex Nalbach. Learn the secrets behind the razzle and dazzle of those Global Studies slides (for PC users). (Union)
¡¤ 1700-1900 – Knitting Circle for obstetrical fistula patients. (Classroom 3)
¡¤ 1900-2000 – To Everything, There is a Season: Seasonal Influences on Behavior and Reproduction in Chimpanzees. Janette Wallis. This talk is about some of her research in two field locations in Tanzania and Uganda. (Classroom 3)

¡¤ 1900-2000 – Careers Seminar. Topic TBA.(Classroom 4)
¡¤ 1900-1930 – 120-Hour Film Contest Mandatory Meeting for all teams and interested participants. (Union)
2000-2100 – Becoming a SAS Global Ambassador. Christy Drescher. Do you want to stay connected with Semester at Sea and continue sharing your experience with perspective students of this unique program? If you envision yourself as someone that can make an impact, mentor others, or simply share stories back at your home institution or city then please come to discuss the opportunity to apply to be a Global Ambassador and what you can do to share about SAS when you return home. (Classroom 5)

¡¤ 2000-2100 – Boat Birds. Professors Robin Doughty and Jeanette Wallace present and discuss selections from the hundreds of birds photographed during the voyage. (Union)

2100-2200 – Semester at Sea's Greek Social Networking Event. Gather with other Semester at Sea students who belong to the Greek system and begin creating a network across the nation. (Garden Lounge)

2100-2200 – Explorer Seminar: Dreams. Kelly Gerstbacher. Ever wonder what it means when you dream about turtles? Or your old childhood friend? This seminar will focus on common dream images and how to work with them (with some repeated info from the first seminar). If you have a dream you want the group to help you interpret, bring it with you! (Union)

Announcements

Happy Easter! Today is Easter for over 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians all over the world.

Campus Store Sale. Purchase any sale item and get a 50% discount on any Spring 2012 Voyage Itinerary t-shirt. Sale starts April 15!

Spring 2012 Shipboard Live and Silent Auction Donations. If you have a donation for the Auction, you may drop it off in Tymitz Square on Sunday or Monday from 1300–1900 with the Student Alumni Council members. Please fill out an Auction Donation Form in advance or at the drop off (found on bulletin boards throughout ship and on the Public Drive). Thank you to all students, faculty, staff and Lifelong Learners who have already made donations!

It's still not too late to create a team for the 120 Hour Film Contest!
If you're interested in signing up (as a team or as an individual) please email Kyle at kyle.sirowy.s12@semesteratsea.org. Teams can have
3-8 members. If you have no film experience but still want to participate, still email and we will get you on a team! There will be a mandatory meeting at 1900 in the Union on April 16th to kick off the competition!
Information from the Captain and Crew

Please dispose of any trash correctly in the bins provided and do not throw it overboard or place it in other waste streams like sinks, toilet bowls, drains or scuppers. It should not enter the Gray and Black Waters.
Please do not dispose of any unused soaps, detergents, toiletries, pharmaceuticals, medicines, chemicals or oily or greasy substances in the Gray and Black water streams. Should you need to dispose of such items and materials, please kindly request the Housekeeping staff and they will ensure their further correct disposal.

Today¡¯s Quote
¡°Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.¡±
– Miriam Beard

Laundry Service
A19: Deck 3 STBD
B19: Deck 3 PS

Happy Belated Birthday!
Shelley Greenspan
Alisa Kashdan
Cole Korsh
Aline Menendez
Cameron Buriani
Sephora Findling
Rowan Moody
Anneliese Ripley
David Hawley
Dustin Morris
Mariel Rubin
Amanda Mc Caffrey
Elizabeth Fowler
Emma Zavala

Question of the Day
What is the modern name of the town of Edo?

Last question: Where and in what year did the Great Hanshin Earthquake occur?

Answer: 1995 in Kobe, Japan

Television Programming

Ch. 2: Nuclear Aftershocks: Fukushima a Year Later (2012, 60min, NR) – for Air pollution and Chemester
Ch. 3: Childhood: Among Equals (1991, 57min, NR) – for Social Psychology
Ch. 5: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001, 120min, PG-13) – for Global Cinema
Ch. 6: Raise the Red Lantern (1991, 125min, PG) – for Women & Film

Other
field office hours – tymitz sq.
At Sea 1130-1300
In Port CLOSED

Dining Hours
Breakfast 0700 – 0830
Lunch 1130 – 1330
Dinner 1730 – 1930

Medical Clinic – Deck 2
Hours:
At Sea 0800–0900 and 1630–1730
In Port 0730–0800 and for 1 hour following ¡°on ship¡± time
Counseling Center – Deck 2
Hours:
1500-1700 and by appointment

Dependent Children¡¯s Program– Main Dining Room
Hours:
0845-1145 Home Schooling
1345-1545 Afternoon Activity

Exerpts from the noon bridge report (as of April 15)

Latitude: 34¢ª 36¡± N
Longitude: 142¢ª 44¡± E

Distance to go: 3243 nautical miles

Reflections on the War Remnants Museum

Ho Chi Minh City, back when it was known as Saigon, served as the base for American troops and other anti-communist forces during the Vietnam War. The decades-long conflict ended when North Vietnamese troops swept all the way south, overtaking the city with tanks as the last of the Americans departed via helicopter on April 30th, 1975. Ho Chi Minh City is now a welcoming destination in a unified country, but no trip to Viet Nam is complete without a stop at the War Remnants Museum-- a collection of American military equipment, propaganda posters, and journalist photos covering everything from the conflict's origins to its lingering after-effects. Watch the video below to hear students reflect on their experience at the powerful museum