Boo...

Hey, bet I scared you!

So honestly this time I swear I'm less of an anti-social nincompoop and more just an exceptionally thick-headed one. When I got to China I ran into the same problem as Nora did, not being able to access Blogspot.com, so I figured my blog-reading days were over... I even remember having read Nora's post about how to read the posts, but I couldn't remember how she did it.

Anyway, lucky thing Harbin came into the trouble they did--I'll let Nora retell it if she dares, but basically Nora's program has ended up in Beijing for a week or so, so yesterday we went and had roast duck (celebrating a late Thanksgiving) with some people from Stanford and then wandered quite aimlessly for the rest of the night. It was really good to see her, in short. Yay.

China has been a good time; I've done most of the tourist stuff in Beijing like Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc. as well as getting out to Shanghai and Chengdu.

I'm reading through the posts as I write this. Sheesh, guys, stop living so much! Especially you, Lauren. I guess reading them all at once back to the start of school I might not have time affecting my perceptions as much as more regular readers. Still, don't have heart attacks, please. :-)

Nora and I talked about our impressions of China last night, she talked about the eternally dieting girls and other sometimes aggravating things... I think I had one of my biggest "culture shocks" (speaking facetiously) just this morning when I had to wake up at 7:00 to make a rendezvous with a family who teaches some of us to cook. A visit to the Summer Palace, beginning promptly at 8:30. Most of the Chinese students at Beida get breakfast in the morning, which at the cafeterias starts at 6:30 and goes untill 9:00, barely enough for me to make most days (I've taken to waking at 8:00 and then napping at 11:00 or so--definitely still narcoleptic). "Early to bed, early to rise" was born here.

When my classmate was making the arrangements for the visit, she originally asked if we could start at 10:00, which is fairly early for most of the Stanford students. The daughter of the family responded "So late! Why do you want to sleep in so much?" She tried 30 minutes earlier, earning herself a "So lazy! Too late!" Eventually she was forced to set the time for 8:30, even though most of us who went don't normally wake up until long after that time, especially on Saturday!

Well, I'm living in Crothers Memorial, as is Hammad, though not in the same room, I think (we'll see what happens). Congratulations/condolences to the rest of you coming back from away. Danny, maybe we can set up some official Non-Boring/Non-Frightening Time away from our respective residences (probably to make trips to FloMo, Roble, or elsewhere together)!

Obviously there's a lot more, but I'll spare you and call back when something interesting comes up. I am definitely ready to get back to Colorado, and then onto Stanford. Hee.

Happy (belated) Turkey Day

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Did ya'll do anything Turkey related in your foreign countries? Like do you have beer flavored poultry in Berlin on Thanksgiving? Just wondering. I went with Duchess to her aunt's house for Thanksgiving. So yeah, if you didn't know we were serious before, that should pretty much tip you off. It was good though. I like food.

Other than that, I did finish my Shakespeare paper over this lovely week long break. I got little to nothing accomplished on my Comm paper which is a bad thing I suppose. I'm getting nervous about going home in 2 weeks. I haven't been there since the hurricane hit and I don't really know what to expect. Like I see pictures or hear about how bad it is and it's very surreal to me. I feel so removed. I don't know. We'll see.

Until then I'm just hanging around trying to get through finals and all that good stuff. I hope everyone is doing well. What are ya'll doing over winter break?

Miss ya'll and love ya'll!

JAPAN

JAPAN

DAY 1

It’s only the first day, and I can already tell you that the Japanese people are some of the most caring, generous human beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. With a culture that is based on giving more than receiving this observation is not much of a surprise. Coming into port we were welcomed with a band, and after our diplomatic briefing we were given a Taiko performance. Prior to the Taiko performance the city of Kobe, Japan presented our Dean with two traditional Japanese swords, our Captain with a Japanese flower vase, our student representatives with crystal Kobe plates, and everyone on the ship with Kobe postcards. It was honestly the warmest welcome we have experienced so far on this voyage. The Taiko performance was awesome too. For those of you who don’t know about Taiko: it’s a Japanese style of drumming. I can’t really explain it, but I did take video and some photos. Stanford has their own Taiko group, so some of you know what I’m talking about. This Taiko group was made up of primarily women and they had smiles on their faces the entire time, unlike the straight faces of Stanford’s group.

Today I had a SAS field trip to The National Bunraku Theatre of Japan in Osaka. Bunraku theatre dates way back (can’t remember exactly how far, but FAR). It’s a type of puppet theatre. Puppeteers starting training at the age of 15. On stage you can see the puppeteers, but most of them are dressed in all black and their faces are even covered. Only the master puppeteers show their faces. Usually, three puppeteers control one puppet. The master controls the head and right arm, and the next experienced puppeteer controls the left arm, while the third controls the legs. Many of the puppets movement are pretty lifelike for a puppet. The show lasted quite a while. It began at 4:30 and went until almost 9:00. We had a half hour break for dinner and two other 10 minute intermissions. Yeah, I admit I struggled to stay awake during some parts, but I managed. Some other students weren’t so lucky. All in all the performance was pretty enjoyable. It lagged at some parts, but I’m definitely glad I went.

We took four different trains back to Kobe and got back to the ship around 10:30. Tomorrow is my only free day without a SAS field trip, so we’ll see what happens. Good night for now.

DAY 2

Today was quite a long day. We started off by going into downtown Kobe to go on the internet. We don’t get internet on the ship in this port because of satellite issues, so Ashley and I, after a little bit of searching, found an internet café to kill an hour or so in. We walked around a little bit and before heading back to the ship we took a quick look inside a GAP that we were told about. I’ll probably go back tomorrow after my trip and try to find some deals.

In the afternoon Nicole, Ashley, Bailey and I decided to head into Kyoto to check out the Café du Monde in the train station there. The beignets were a little different than what I’m used to, but they still had the same great taste. They were smaller and came in a box. It was pretty small, but cute because they set up a mini French Quarters and had the street name signs on the corners of the eating area. There was a Mister Donuts right next to it. Needless to say they were experiencing fewer customers than their neighbor.

After beignets we walked around the shopping area in the terminal and then took a bus to downtown Kyoto. We found a movie theater and saw In Her Shoes, the new movie with Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz, and Shirley MacClaine. It was actually quite good, and I would recommend it. Keep in mind that I am movie starved and I could just be attributing the great feeling of finally being in a theater to the film, itself.

After all this, we ended up getting back to the ship around 11:30pm or so, and now I really must get some rest and try to beat this insomnia thing I’ve been plagued with the past couple of nights. Wish me luck!

DAY 3

Good news is I slept better last night than I have in a long time. I only woke up once and that was to Nicole’s alarm clock because she was leaving for Hiroshima at 6am. The bad news, however, is that my original trip to a tea ceremony was nixed. Well, I’m assuming it was anyway. The guy who was supposed to be meeting us never sent a final fax and he wasn’t there by 9:00am when the trip was supposed to leave, so instead of waiting to see if he was ever going to show many of us decided to hop on another SAS trip that just happened to have space available and was also leaving at 9:00am. This trip was scheduled to go to Kobe University in the morning and then to Himeiji Castle in the afternoon.

We met our guide at the train station and then continued on public transportation to Kobe University. Kobe University is the 11^th ranked National university in Japan. This means that it is extremely hard to get into. The Japanese school system is actually pretty interesting. In high school, Japanese students study super super super hard in order to get accepted to college. You think it’s stressful for American students to apply to college. Well, it’s 10 times more stressful (at least!) for the Japanese. Almost each college has their own entrance exam, and if you don’t pass this exam you aren’t allowed in. High school doesn’t really prepare you well enough for the exam, so there are Cram Schools. Cram schools are popular among Japanese students because they cover all the material on the exams that isn’t covered in the high schools. Japanese students have to pay to attend Cram school, so some students must study on their own for their university’s entrance exam. Some even work odd hour jobs just to be able to go to Cram School and when they aren’t working they are studying. The time before college, as you can see, is extremely intense. However, once you get accepted, the hard part is essentially over. Japanese students rarely study during their 4 years. The main focus is usually on the different clubs students join. Japanese college students usually take about 12 classes. Each class only meets once a week, but they still have 12 separate final exams. We toured the university a little, watched the Ballroom Dancing Club for about 10 minutes and then proceeded to our guide’s class. He is actually from Costa Rica, but has been living in Japan for 12 years. He teaches English, so for his class we just sat and had conversations with his students. I spoke with 2 girls. We talked about everything from Green Day to their majors in Economics and International Law. After class some of the students joined us for lunch in their cafeteria where more conversations were had about beer and movies. All the students were extremely welcoming and it was really just awesome to talk with them.

After lunch we took a bus and train to Himeiji and walked about 15 minutes to the castle. Himeiji Castle, built in the early 17^th Century, is the most famous castle in all of Japan. It is often used in Samurai movies made in Japan and it was even featured in exterior shots of The Last Samurai. It definitely does not disappoint. I don’t think I could’ve come at a better time. Autumn in Japan is absolutely beautiful. I can’t even describe it! I took so many pictures. To see the fall season at Himeiji Castle makes up for missing it in NC for the past 2 years. It was a perfect day to visit. Even though I really wanted to go to a tea ceremony, the whole day turned out to be a great alternative.

Once we got back to Kobe I went to the Gap and picked up a couple of inexpensive shirts and then headed back to the ship for dinner. After dinner Bailey, Nicole and I headed to the internet café and then called it a night.

DAY 4

I spent my last day in Kobe, Japan on the Highlights of Kobe City Government sponsored trip. We started off the day by going to the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. This museum began as a result of the January 17, 1995 earthquake that occurred in Kobe. The earthquake started at 5:46am, lasted for approximately 10 seconds, and killed over 6,000 people. It was a truly devastating event. We watched two films while in the museum. The first was a simulation type of film. He had to stand up and watch the screen which was a jagged wall. They showed different parts of the city at the time the earthquake hit and the picture would shake to try and make us get a small sense as to what it was like. It was interesting because on the trip with us was Goodwill volunteers who vividly remember where they were when the earthquake occurred. The second film was a documentary about a young girl who was 15 when the earthquake happened and lost her sister that night. We also visited an area of the museum dedicated to developing ideas for building safer earthquake ready structures. The entire country of Japan is in a danger zone for earthquake, so the next time there’s a huge earthquake they will be more prepared. One of the main concerns, as you may have already guessed, are the tsunamis that result from the earthquakes right off Japan’s coastline.

After the museum we went to a tradition Japanese restaurant where we sat on the floor and ate unidentifiable foods. Haha. No, they explained to us what everything was. I ate some fried oysters and eel. Let’s just say I think I want to stick to the Americanized Japanese food like Kanki.

Once we finished eating we visited a sake factory. In case some of you don’t know sake is the traditional Japanese rice wine. We saw how it is made and then had a chance to taste some. You can usually get it cold or hot, but they only had cold sake to taste test. I’ve heard the hot sake is better. The cold sake was pretty strong and I can see how they say it is good for keeping you alert and awake.

Our next stop was the famous Mt. Rokko in Kobe. The drive up to the observation deck was absolutely gorgeous. I know I wrote about how beautiful the autumn is here, but it deserves to be mentioned again, and yes, I’ll say it: It’s pretty ridiculous. I took more pictures, so no worries you’ll get to see a little of what I’m talking about.

The last stop on our trip was a place where we made Japanese paper fans. It’s was like tie dying a fan. I felt like I was 7 years old again doing arts & crafts. In the same building were little specialty stores. I bought some amazing chocolate from this one store. You know it was good because I’m not really even a chocolate person, so for me to say that it must have been yummy.

So, Japan is over, and thus concludes the main part of my Semester at Sea journey. Now, all that is left is papers, presentations, finals, 4 hours in Hawaii (which I’m excited about), a Thanksgiving that may leave something to be desired, and packing. I’ll be home in 2 weeks to your bright and shining faces (I’m most excited about this!). I’ll email after Hawaii. Bye for now!

Terra!!!

I'm so psyched (but sorry to break up the Flomo love, and also pissed about Danny being in Okada. Fuckers).

But first of all, let me tell you guys - I just about had a heart attack about half an hour ago. First of all, I haven't had internet access for about 3 weeks because of fun technical difficulties (it's very complicated, but it basically boils down to that I'm in China, so I can go piss up a rope). So I get online to check my email and check our blog (I haven't even started to put up stuff on my own blog... that will definitely be a fun project...), and I see you all posted where you're living.

Now, I am completely flipping out. I don't remember applying for housing, let alone having already found out where I live. Then I check the housing website and they say that the application for winter quarter housing was due on October 28. When did this all happen? Why didn't anyone tell me? AHHHHHHHH, I'm in fucking China, how I am supposed to know what's going on? Aren't I supposed to be the responsible one?!?!?... so on and so forth. So I'm in the middle of a nervous breakdown, downloading proxy forms to fill out and give to Julia so that I can get her to attend a walk-in meeting for me to see if there are any spaces. Then I check the housing office's online list of open spaces, and in all of the dorms on campus the open spaces amount to zero, zip, nada, zilch. Shit! Next I'm thinking who will let me crash on their couch for the entire quarter, and figuring that maybe I'll have to buy a futon and move into Stern basement...

Then, hey, I think, maybe I applied for housing and just don't remember. So I go onto Axess, spend 10 minutes trying to remember where the frikkin' housing section is, and then finally reach the climactic moment (after the 5 minute wait because of being in China).... and....I apparently applied for housing in June before I left, and there it was: Terra. I about started crying. And then I decided I was too emotionally strung up to do homework, so I wrote this blog entry.

Anyway, I hope you guys are doing well - I'm OK, but I want to get the fuck out of this country. It was alright for a while, but I think the -15 degree weather and the sun setting at 4pm started to get to me. Then there's the greasy food (you know things are bad when McDonald's starts to seem like a healthy alternative), the annoying gender-stereotyping everywhere (I just want to meet a Chinese woman who says "fuck it" and stops dieting), the having to be super-closeted, and all of my classes consisting mainly of rote memorization (that's what learning language is all about, in the end). Then we also just found out that apparently there was an explosion at a petrochemical plant in a town upstream from us, so there will be no running water for about a week as the government "cleans up" the river. Yay for development! OK, OK, I'll stop whining. China really has been a learning experience, but I just want some regular food and to speak English now. Is that too much to ask?

p.s. If anybody responds, I can't actually see the comments on this blog (I can only even see your guys' posts from the "edit posts" page of blogger rather than the actual blog site, because the chinese government has banned the blogspot URL where our page is hosted. Yay!)

Lauren's housing assignment is...

Cardenal. She asked me to post it cause everything is in Japanese. So all you guys will be in FloMo together. Except Danny, and by the way, I am so sorry and totally willing to start shit for you to get that changed. Maybe they'll change it to FloMo and then I can travel to one place to see everybody. Roble has been quite fun though. I like having Freshmen around again. My hallmates are cool.

It's Thanksgiving break and I'm so excited to have the whole week off. Sleeping like it's my job. And I have some papers to write. Other than that, I will be sleeping. Oh I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the other night and oh my gosh it was sooooo good. I loved it. I've heard that a lot from the book was left out, but I honestly don't remember the book that well, so to me, it was amazing. Loved it.

That is all. Miss you guys! Oh and if anyone finds out about Dina and Nora's assignments post them.

LORO LIKE WOAH!

first, my condolensces to danny for his housing assignment. that really sucks, and i REALLY hope you can get that changed right away. if housing doesn't reassign you, you should fight it to the bitter end. we can have a demonstration outside of the administrative office when we get back with fire and signs and everything.

I'M GOING TO LIVE WITH NADYA! and i'm going to eat at your houses every day of the week because flomo food... no. i'm a SO JAZZED. i can't wait to be back on campus. i'm just going to lie in the grass outside of the coho, speak english and eat the american soil.

love *manda

"we love to see you smile."

today i felt that warm feeling you get when you know that you've made an excellent impression on someone. i'’d almost forgotten how that feels, living in this city where no one understands what i'’m trying to say to impress them.

i was walking down shoenhauser allee, shopping by myself, when i decided to stop by mcdonald's (oh! the horror!) to get a quick burger because i'm lazy. i didn't feeling riding the subway all the way back to the center to cook and i had to pee like a russian racehorse. when i reached the front of the line i'd been concentrating so hard on trying to say my order in perfect german that i hadn'’t noticed the cashier'’s friendly greeting. embarrassed at my lack of manners toward a guy who has the same job as my mother and therefore probably gets a million unfriendly german versions of the consumer asshole a day, i smiled the biggest, warmest smile i've given all week and beamed "“royal hamburger mit kaese, bitte"” to show that i'm not like the rest of them. as if to say, in america we do it right.

he was attractive enough to not be pathetically affected by a girl smiling at him, but he was obviously taken aback by having so much non-glaring eye contact and positive emotion come his way in germany in the winter. when i returned from the restroom to get my burger he told me he'’d bring it to my table, and once again i was so smug about having understood him that i walked off and didn't notice him talking to his friends about me behind that little shoot that they slide your burger down. when he came with my food i said "danke shoen" and he responded, "“thank you for smiling."

it made me both happy and sad at the same time. happy, because it feels good to have made someone's day by impressing upon them that they deserve a smile from a random American girl, and to be seen as the sort of person kind enough to lend that smile. it didn't have to be romantic or sexual, and in this case it was neither; in fact, that would have cheapened the exchange. it was only important that he knew that i didn'’t see him as just another face, or an inferior one at that, and that he accepted the gesture generously. sad, maybe, because i think that'’s all i'’ve been wanting from berlin, which can be racist and distant outside of the Stanford group: a friendly face that looks at me with more recognition than it would a purple, polka-dotted elephant amid a circus of purple, polka-dotted elephants.

HONG KONG

HONG KONG

DAY 1

Coming into the Ocean Terminal of Hong Kong was completely different than every other port we’ve been to, and I know I say that in every blog/email that I write, but it’s true. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas of the world, and after seeing all the skyscrapers situated right on top of each other and exploring the city surrounded by 7 million residents plus other tourists it’s easy to understand why. So in case any of you don’t know Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the New Territories (linked with mainland China), and other small islands in the South China Sea. A huge part of Hong Kong native’s lives is shopping. I’m not kidding. Just to prove it, when we walk off the ship we have to go through a short terminal and when we exit the terminal we enter a shopping mall! It’s very strange, very dangerous, and very smart of the Hong Kong people. However, it’s a pretty expensive kind of mall, so I think I’ll be doing my shopping out in the city.

Today I took the city orientation just to get, I don’t know, oriented I guess. We visited a number of places. First, we went to Victoria’s Peak which is the highest point on Hong Kong Island. It was pretty commercialized. There were lookout points, but there also was a shopping mall (surprise, surprise) and several restaurants located at the Peak as well. We took the tram down the mountain which is like a cable car. It is one of Hong Kong’s oldest forms of transportation. Afterwards we walked by Hong Kong Park. Right near the park is a marriage registry, so we saw probably 3 brides. We visited St. John’s Cathedral, but because of a wedding ceremony we couldn’t enter. Hong Kong weddings seem to be a pretty big deal. They usually have a traditional Western style wedding and then afterwards change into the traditional red dress of Chinese style weddings. Today Stella was getting married. Congrats Stella. Sorry, I can’t remember the name of the groom. From there we proceeded onto a Taoist temple. In this temple there was more incense than on Haight St. and San Francisco. It was a little overwhelming. Many Taoist followers were offering fruits and meats along with the incense. Right next door you could get your fortune told for $80 (US dollars, not HK). So, needless to say I chose to be surprised and decided to pass on the fortune telling. Our last stop was at Aberdeen Harbor where we took a sampan ride around, sailing between the fishing boats and million dollar yachts before heading back to the ship.

For dinner we decided it would be interesting to go to the California Pizza Kitchen that was located in the terminal mall. Yeah, I know we are branching out a lot. ;o) Then we walked around and took about 40 minutes trying to find the movie theater. The mall is so confusing. You try to use the map and you still end up where you don’t want to be. Hopefully we will get the hang of it soon. We ended up being too late for a movie, so we decided to spend some time at the Pacific Coffee Company, drinking coffee and checking email.

We headed back to the ship because Nicole had to wake up sort of early to leave for her Beijing trip. Out of about 700 of us students, about 590 are going to Beijing for four days. So, the ship is going to be pretty quiet until Wednesday. It’ll be nice though. Sometimes quiet is a good thing.

DAY 2

This morning Nicole and I woke up early to go sit at one of the three Starbucks in the mall and send some emails and what not. However, after reaching the Starbucks we quickly learned that it wasn’t the $5/3hrs wireless deal that we thought. It was in fact much more expensive and they didn’t start serving coffee until 9:00am. So, we turned around and headed back to the ship. Nicole finished packing and headed off to Beijing, while myself and a couple of others (Ashley and Bailey) headed to Stanley Market. Stanley Market is about a 20 min. bus ride to another island. We heard that they had cheap knock offs and some stores actually had the real thing (sort of like a TJ Max type deal). I got some J Crew pants and them hemmed for only about $10. We walked around the market for a while, and then headed back to the bus stop to come back to Harbor City (the city the ship is docked at). We grabbed a bite to eat at the food court in the mall, and then went back to the ship to rest up before going back out around 8:00pm. It was a weekend and the market crowds took a lot out of us.

Around 8:00 we took about a 15 min. walk to the Temple Street Night Market. Once again, lots of cheap stuff. I think I’ve had enough markets for a while though. Now, it’s almost midnight and I’m beat. I have to get some sleep if I’m going to be good for anything tomorrow.

DAY 3

This morning I got to sleep in and it was glorious. Around noon Bailey and I headed to Starbucks for internet and coffee. There, I got to talk to some of you wonderful people on AIM. It truly was a highlight of my day. :o) After Starbucks we did some shopping. I purchased some long sleeve shirts because I doubt it’ll be short sleeve weather at home, some inexpensive DVDs, and some body cream from The Body Shop. We then grabbed a bite to eat at the Hard Rock Café where we listened to some American music (haha). It was great.

Tonight Ashley, Bailey, and I went to dinner at The Spaghetti House. We tried to go see a movie again, but they were only showing scary Asian films. No thank you very much. So, we continued on to the Pacific Coffee Co. for coffee (duh) and more internet. Now we about to watch a movie and get ready for…dun dun dun…DISNEYLAND Hong Kong tomorrow!!!!!!! YAY!!! I bet you can’t wait to read about that!

DAY 4 (aka DISNEY DAY!)

Wow, today was quite a day. I’ll try to stay awake long enough to write to you all what happened. The day began Ashley, Bailey and I taking the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and then another ferry to Lantau Island. Once we arrived at Lantau Island we took a bus to go see the Big Buddha. This Buddha is the largest outside sitting Buddha in the world. The weather wasn’t the greatest at the Big Buddha. It was pretty misty and foggy, but we were fortunate not to get completely rain down upon. We hiked up the 200 plus steps to the base of Big Buddha, saw the relic of Buddha’s tooth (or sort of did, I don’t know there was so much decoration in the glass box I couldn’t really see the actual tooth), and then walked back down to have a vegetarian meal at the monastery located at the bottom.

Once we finished eating we took at taxi to the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH: DISNEYLAND! Disneyland was great! Since it is located at a lower elevation it wasn’t misty or raining at all, but nicely overcast for the whole day. It was a completely different experience than what I had earlier last summer in the hot Florida heat. We never stood in a line that lasted for more than 15 minutes. We rode Buzz Lightyear, The Tomorrowland spaceships, Space Mountain, Cinderella’s Carousel, Dumbo, Jungle River Cruise, and watched part of the parade and Mickey’s Philhar Magic 3D show. It was a great Disney Day!! Before the fireworks we went on Space Mountain again 3 times in a row without having to wait. The fireworks were amazing as expected. Disney always has good fireworks. We danced and sang and treasured a day where we could be kids again. It was a wonderful cultural experience that was different than anything we have encountered in any other country on this voyage. I took video and pictures, so you will get to see them in a few weeks!

Once the park closed we took the Disney Subway (yep, equipped with Mickey hand rings to hold on to and Mickey shaped windows) to the main Hong Kong subway station. Two subway transfers later we were back at Harbour City and completely exhausted.

Tomorrow is our last day in Hong Kong. I have a field trip that should be interesting, but you’ll have to read on to find out about that. Then, our next and last country is Japan in 3 days. This semester has flown by. I can’t believe I’ll be home in 3 weeks. Crazy! Ridiculous, even!

DAY 5

So, today was the pink dolphins day. I went on a dolphin watching cruise. We saw several pink dolphins that are unique to the Hong Kong and South Africa area. It was quite a relaxing time. I tried to get pictures, but it was difficult to time it right. The dolphins are pink because of blushing, their blood rushes to the surface of their skin. They are born dark gray, but as they age they start to lose more and more of the gray and become white and light pink. It’s pretty interesting to see.

After the cruise was over I went to Starbucks to finish using my internet minutes, then I headed back to the ship for a nap before Nicole got back from Beijing. She was suppose to get back at 5:45, but her flight was delayed 2 hours. So, Bailey and I decided to go out and get ice cream without her before they closed the gangway. Now, they don’t allow you to bring any food onto the ship. I really don’t like this rule, as most people on the ship don’t for good reason. Bailey and I decided to rebel against this rule and managed to sneak our ice cream onto the ship without getting caught. We used my sweatshirt pocket and hood. We were quite proud of our accomplishment, I must say. Don’t worry, we aren’t so confident now that we will try to push our luck too often. ;o)

Alright, so we leave for Japan tonight. I have two days of classes and a no class day which I plan on using as a stay in bed as long as I can day. It’ll be glorious!

Exactly 3 weeks until I am home. I can’t wait to see everyone, and to those who I will not see in 3 weeks hopefully it won’t be too long until we meet up again. Love and miss you all!

VIETNAM

VIETNAM

DAY 1

Coming into Ho Chi Minh City was pretty incredible. I could even say it was ridiculous, but some of you might be sick of that word by now. Once again we had to head up a river to get into the port, only this time the river was narrower and windier than the one in Myanmar. We entered the mouth of the Saigon River around 8:30am and sailed up the river until about 12:30pm. If you imagine what you think Vietnam looks like, it’s probably pretty close. It was hot and sticky and there were Vietnamese fisherman all along the river. There were people who lived right on the river in traditional Vietnamese houses that saw our huge ship and started waving to us. There were shades of green that you’ve probably never seen and a way of living that you would think could only exist long ago before globalization ever impacted the area.

Our stay at Vietnam coincides with the Semester at Sea Parent Trip that goes to Thailand and meets up with us in Ho Chi Minh City, so we couldn’t disembark the ship until the parents had a chance to come on and find their kids. This took forever it seemed, and those of us whose parents did not come to Vietnam had to wait until around 3:00pm to get off the ship.

Once we did get off we took about a 5 minute shuttle ride into downtown Ho Chi Minh. My main objective for the day, as well as Nicole’s, was to find a tailor to have dresses made for us. We had heard that many SAS students got clothes made while in Vietnam on former voyages, so we figured it wouldn’t be too hard. We were right too. There are tailors EVERYWHERE. We checked out a few stores before deciding on one. We found designs we liked in catalogs, picked our fabric, and got our measurements taken. It was very inexpensive too. Hopefully, when we go back on Wednesday to pick them up they will meet our expectations. I’ll let you know how it goes. You could probably cheat and scroll down if you just can’t wait, but for those of you with more patience I’ll continue.

After walking around Ho Chi Minh for a while we met up with a few friends (Yukari, Ashley and Kirstyn) at a well known restaurant called Mandarine Restaurant. Yukari had heard about it from a former SAS student and it was highly recommended. The food turned out to be very good and we definitely ordered enough of it. They kept bringing plates of food for about 2 hours. They even gave us a short intermission.

After dinner we took a taxi back to the ship, looked around at the souvenir stands right outside our ship and called it a night. Tomorrow I’m going on a SAS field trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Cao Dai Temple, so if you want to hear more about that go on to Day 2…

DAY 2

What an interesting day! There was a lot of riding, but we also saw some pretty interesting things. My day started fairly early. My trip left at 8:00am. It took about 3 hours to reach our first destination, the Cao Dai Temple. Cao Dai is a religion unique to Vietnam. It incorporates just about all of the main religions that exist today. Its three most prominent influences are Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Cao Dai temples are insane. It’s like a religion carnival or something. I can’t really explain it all that well, but let’s just say it involves a third eye, Victor Hugo, Jesus Christ, dragon-like sculptures, Buddhist lotus flowers, and tons of other stuff. I took some pretty cool pictures and I even have to video of part of their 12:00pm service. It’s really a sight to see.

After we left the Cao Dai temple we took in lunch at a local restaurant, and then drove for another hour or so to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels were tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (or as they call it here, the American War). There are about 3 different levels of tunnels. As you go down further the tunnels get much smaller. They were made for tiny Vietnamese men and women (there were actually quite a few women in the Viet Cong) were quite successful in trapping larger American soldiers. I went through the first level only. I didn’t think my black butt would fit through the smaller ones. But even these tunnels were widened for tourists. It’s pretty crazy once you get inside the tunnel. They are only one way, so there’s no turning around even if you want to. You spend most of it crouched over or crawling on your knees. If you are claustrophobic you definitely would not like these tunnels at all. Throughout the tunnels you climb up through wholes and down wholes, and for the most part it’s pitch black. Most of us brought flashlights to see where we were going. Besides the tunnels we got to see the trenches and traps used by the Viet Cong. These were serious traps. I have pictures to share, so you all will be able to see some of these. There was also a shooting range set up on the Cu Chi Tunnel site, so as you walked through the woods you would here guns shots. I sure it wasn’t anything like what the war really was, but it was a nice touristy effect anyways.

We’ve spent the last week learning about the Vietnam War, and being here in Vietnam seeing where this war took place and the effect (or in some places lack thereof) it has had here is truly interesting. I definitely understand it a little better, even though I don’t necessarily agree with everything that took place there on either side.

Tomorrow seems as if it’ll be a market/shopping day and I might go to a museum. I’m not sure. You can just continue to read through Day 3 to find out what actually happened. I’m going to go to sleep, myself. :o)

DAY 3

Well, today was definitely a shopping day! I think, so far, Vietnam has been the best place for shopping. I think I got more for my money here than anywhere else. It was pretty amazing. They have cheap knock offs of good brands like North Face and Puma, and only slightly more expensive real brands. If they aren’t real, then it’s a pretty darn good fake. Bargaining is huge here too. Sometimes if you just walk away they drop down the price 50% than what they originally asked for it. It’s great!

Between shopping I also managed to find an internet café. This place had the best rate: 1hr for $1. It was amazing. Too bad everyone back home was sleeping, so all I got were away messages on AIM. Oh well. I’ll be home soon. We only have 30 more days as of today. This voyage has gone by so fast! I can’t believe it! I also went to a café while I was out today. Vietnam has great coffee! Shopping has never been as relaxing as it was today. I got a lot done, but I’m not worn out.

Tonight I’m just going to relax. Maybe I’ll watch a movie. DVDs were $1 each. It’s funny, a lot of the covers have the actor’s names spelled wrong or the cover has a random picture of someone not even in the movie. I bought the sixth season of Friends today and the back summary is completely wrong. It talks about some French film I think. Haha. Hopefully, they all work and if not it’s not like I’m out of a lot of money.

Anyways, tomorrow I go on another SAS field trip, so continue reading if you would like to hear about that!

DAY 4

Today I got out of the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City and went to the Mekong Delta for the day. We took a boat ride to different islands on the Mekong River, tasted exotic fruits, jasmine tea and homemade honey, and freshly made coconut candy. One of the boat rides went took was down a narrow channel of the river in a row boat. That was my favorite part of the whole trip. You just get to sit back and admire just how beautiful Vietnam really is. I can’t even describe it to you. However, despite its beauty it still managed to be pretty hot and for another day on this voyage I sweated like a man. It’s become a daily thing when we are in port. I’m not excited about this and I hope that Hong Kong will prove to be cooler. I know Japan will be.

Anyways, after we finished to the Mekong River trip we headed to a local restaurant in My Tho for lunch. They say that you haven’t been to the Mekong Delta until you have tried their local beer Bai Bai Bai (333 – the #3 is very important to Vietnamese) and the fried elephant ear fish, so I opened my tastebuds. You had to wrap the fish in rice paper along with vegetable and noodles. It was alright, but probably nothing I would care to try again. The beer was beer. I don’t know. I still can’t acquire a taste for the stuff. Sorry Dad. Maybe, one day.

Now, I’m back on the ship and extremely exhausted so I’m going to get some rest before my last day in Vietnam.

DAY 5

Today is our last day in Vietnam. :o( I spent it in Ho Chi Minh City. I picked up my dress that I had made. It turned out well, and I’m sure most of you will see it eventually. I also spent some time at the internet café where I talked with some of you on AIM, drank some more Vietnamese coffee and visited the War Remnants Museum.

The museum was pretty disturbing. Seeing the pictures from the Vietnam War really put things into perspective. I can’t really explain it, but as we know war is never a good thing, and this museum was a great illustration of that fact. Many of the things that happened during the war (as well as other wars) have no justification, and they seriously make me sick to stomach to even think about.

Ok, well I obviously can’t end the blog/email on a note like that. My final impression of Vietnam? Vietnam is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve been to with some of the most kind and entertaining people I’ve had the pleasure to meet. It is a country that I will hopefully get a chance to visit again and a country that I will miss. However, as much as I liked Vietnam, I am excited to be in Hong Kong in two days. I’m sure Hong Kong will bring more interesting experiences to write about. :o)

I hope all is well with all of you. I love you and miss you!

To be or not to be?

What's up people? Things have kind have come to a stand still on this blog, and it makes me a bit sad. I'm supposed to be reading about crazy adventures in Berlin and Aussie and so forth. Lauren has been doing a good job though, must give credit where it is due.

Anyway, midterms have passed. I had my last one yesterday, and I think it went well. This quarter is going by quite quickly, but it's been good thus far.

Have you had your daily dose of random? If not, you've come to the right place.
1. Wan Xing lives in Roble. I've seen her and her 45 year old boyfriend a few times. Just in case you were wondering if they're still together and if he is still sketchy/creepy. The answer is yes.
2. Andrew and I are "friends" again. Friends might be an overstatement, but I apologized to him for all the drama. Yes, I know. Why would I do such a thing? He's annoying, and it was his fault we stopped talking in the first place. But ya know after everything that's happened I just didn't want to be on bad terms with him or anybody anymore. And I did provide my fair share of drama in that situation.
3. Josh is staying at my house in Louisiana. He had some issues with his parents and asked my mom if he could stay there for a few days and she said yes, so he has been. But he's also not been keeping up with the stuff he has to do for probation, so it's back to rehab. He's checking himself in. The alternative is jail, so I guess it's better that way.

That is all.

Ok, I'm going to go read Hamlet before class. I miss you guys!