ASIA Day and Super Bowl Monday

Monday, February 8th, 2009:   ASIA Day and Super Bowl Monday!

     After having 9 days of classes in a row, it was nice to have a day off.  Today was the super bowl, and we were able to watch it on the ship.  It was really bad quality though.  Luckily the Colts were wearing blue and the Saints were white because other than that, you couldn't make out the game.  Even watching it on a big screen from a projector, you couldn't see where the ball was until 10 guys were piled on top of each other.  But I'm sure none of us cared about the quality because we got to watch real, LIVE TV, something which seems so foreign to us already.  Seeing the commercials though brought some traces of homesickness.  Everyone on the ship talks about how much we miss going to the movie theaters, and how much we miss our certain shows while we are gone.  And not to mention, every time we sit down and have a meal, as we finish eating the crappy food, we all talk about the certain foods we miss and crave at that moment...after every meal!! So it was painful today seeing the commercials for food, movies, TV shows because it reinstated how much we really miss those things.  But overall, it was a lot of fun.  We all gathered in the union and watched it on the screen.  Definitely the biggest super bowl party I have ever/and will ever perhaps, attend.  It was an exciting game!  Especially having 400 people all crowded around watching and cheering made it that more exciting.

      Today was also Asia Day.  All day was dedicated to the super bowl, and then fun activities planned to celebrate and teach about Japan and China.  This lasted all day and was fun and interesting.  Then we had our pre-port lecture for JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which we will be arriving to in FIVE HOURS!!!!!!!! J It is 12:30am right now in the Pacific Ocean, Southeast of Yokohama, Japan.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to set foot in Yokohama tomorrow after a rough ten days at sea.  When I arrive in Yokohama, a friend will be picking me up and taking me to Tokyo for the day.  Then later we are meeting up with Natuska (a good friend of mine from 2006 TSCA exchange) to have dinner. I am extremely excited about that!!!!!!  Then my second day in Yokohama I will be traveling to Mt. Fuji and Hakone with Semester at Sea people.  The weather is supposed to be cold and rainy the entire time so I am hoping I can see Mt. Fuji.  Last time I went to Japan, I only caught a glimpse of Mt. Fuji because it is usually always cloudy. 

    February 11^th is a holiday in Japan, but I decided to travel on the ship down to Kobe instead of independently.  But the 12^th and 13^th I am hoping to meet up with friends in Nara and stay the night there and then return back to Kobe to get on the ship again. 

    I had my first exam yesterday.  It was for Global Studies, which every student must take.  It was interesting because all 600 students were taking this test at the same time.  We were spread throughout the main dining hall, cafeteria, and union and were still squished.  And it probably didn’t help that at that time the seas were so rough.  The waves were around 20 ft swells from the bad weather, erupting volcano, and earthquake recently in Japan.  So the captain made a detour and luckily avoided the 50 ft swells that could have done damage to our small vessel.  (If you have youtube, search for Semester at Sea 2005- I don’t know what its called, but it is about a 50 ft wave that cracked the window and the entire ship lost power. I haven’t seen it but I want to!)  Anyway, I haven’t gotten sea sick since the first few days on board (knock on wood) although the seas have been the worst I’ve ever seen.  During the exam last night, a wave hit and probably 100 students fell over in their chairs. All you can do when stuck on a ship is laugh.  That is what gets us all through the toughest of times. 

    Ok, I am extremely exhausted. Hopefully I can give updates often.  Happy Monday morning to all of you! Wish you were in Japan with me!