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

Beijing - Great Wall - Shanghai

Beijing Day 1 (April 3)

We woke up and took a bus to Tymitz Square. We got off at a street with a lot of shops and restaurants. We booked a hotel for the evening and poked around here for awhile. We got Beijing Roast Duck and shopped at the markets. We went to Tymitz later in the day, but unfortunately, the Forbidden City was closed (Forbidden to Us?). We went out to dinner with a group we had met and later we went to an internet bar to look at some flight information for heading back to our ship in Shanghai.

Beijing Day 2 (April 4)

We purchased a tour to visit the Great Wall and boarded a bus to get to the rendezvous spot. We first visited the tombs where the emperor was buried. The building we entered was a model of the Forbidden City so that the emperor can continue to live there in his next life. The emperor had 3000 wives or concubines and normally would have several of them poison themselves so that they can serve him in the next life.

We then stopped at a Jade Market where they showed us how to carve and shape the jade. Following this, we had dim sum lunch, which is when you pass the bowls around on a turning shelf.

We took a cable car up to see the Great Wall and got a chance to walk around there for awhile. The part of the Great Wall we were at was packed. Everyone was shoving and pushing and stopping for pictures. It was still awesome to be there nonetheless.

Following our Great Wall visit, we went to a tea house and got to sample a lot of different teas. That night, we went to the airport and flew out the next morning. The language barrier was so strong in Beijing that we had to draw an airplane to get to the airport.

This summary of China would not be complete without sharing my airport experience. We are still not sure what we got but Everett and I were very sick with food poisoning while we were at the airport. It put a damper on my impression of the Chinese people and my travels for the rest of the week. Because the Chinese culture puts a negative emphasis on shame, I found that the people there had a tendency to turn their heads to avoid looking at me instead of offering assistance. Ev and I did not eat any more Chinese food for the rest of the week.


Shanghai (April 5-7)

Shanghai is a very new city that has grown rapidly over the last couple decades. The name means “above the water” in Mandarin and it has the highest population density in China. I felt as if everything our tour guides talked about either meant lucky, happy, money or unlucky. She explained that the license plates with lucky numbers were more expensive than ones without or especially with unlucky numbers. These superstitions however are primarily held by the older generation.

The entire city is almost apartments because it has to house so many people. There are 2 types of apartments in Shanghai. The modern ones that we are accustomed to and the more traditional ones that are smaller, have less floors and do not have a bathroom available at night. During the night they use “honey pots” which are kept in their room.
I learned that if two only children get married they are permitted to have another child. Otherwise they would have to pay 30 thousand to have another baby.

Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong Day 1 (April 1)

Everett and his roommate, John and I (Cassie) boarded the ferry to mainland Hong Kong and explored the area. Later in the afternoon, I went to a park that was five minutes from the ship. The park was complete with a rose garden, jungle gym, pool, kung fu corner, and many other cool sites. At night, we went walking around the town again and watched the lightshow.

The ship arrived in Hong Kong on April 1 and was leaving late on April 2 to Shanghai, arriving there on April 5. Most students, us included, were making travel plans to see other parts of China including the Great Wall. We would leave the ship in Hong Kong, see the sites of China and then rejoin the ship in Shanghai.

Some people who stayed on the ship got their own adventure. Here is an expert from Patrick’s Blog who did stay behind.

The next two days were EXTREMELY uneventful while I was on the ship from Hong Kong to Shanghai. There were only about 100 of the normal 700 people on board, and so it really felt like I had the ship to myself. I used most of the time to catch up on sleep, watch movies on the TV (I must have watched the movie Ratatouille 7 times, Bridesmaids 4 times, and a documentary on China 3 times), and to also catch up on a little homework. The only perk of doing this transit is that the food that they served to us was REALLY good. For dinner, rather than the usual buffet service, they had full waiter service where we were served very nice 5-course meals. The food was REALLY good, which makes me sad since I know the same people are also cooking the usual food that we eat which is not as good. This was really enjoyable, but I was excited to go to Shanghai.

Hong Kong Day 2 (April 2)

We explored the town, looking for internet access, and walked around mainland Hong Kong some more. We ate at a Pizza Hut for lunch.

This was our travel day as we made our way to the Great Wall of China through Beijing. I am so excited that I am going to see this ancient wonder. In the evening, we followed our friend who is from Hong Kong to Shenzhen where we took our flight from Hong Kong to Beijing (he was also on the same flight). We got in really late at night and had to eat at McDonalds. We crashed at our friends Hostel for the night.

Happy Birthday Aunt Diane - Happy Easter All!!

I just want to give a SPECIAL shout out to Aunt Diane and wish her a Happy Birthday! I heard there was a surprise party and you were really surprised.

I was not able to attend the second party at Brazi's. At one point, Nathan said "It's too bad Cassie not here", and everyone toasted me - that's so sweet.

I really missed everyone at Easter. Easter has more meaning when you are with family. I hope Sparkie enjoys his Easter too!! The ship served ham today..... luckily they had pasta also.

Pictures From the Great Wall of China