Same same…but different

Lesson 1: whenever you do something major and then pack lots of bags with stuff worth a lot, both monetarily and personally, count your bags and make sure you have them all.

                I’m writing out this blog on a legal pad because I left a bag at the pier and Matt ended up taking it b/c it was mixed in with his stuff and that bag happened to have my laptop in it. Fortunately, we were able to meet up and I was able to get the bag back.

Lesson 2: Numbering the lessons I’ve learned from this voyage is impossible.

109 days, 12 countries, 1 world

Just under four months ago, I set out on a journey, a voyage on a ship, not a cruise on a boat. When I left home, I had no expectations. I had no true knowledge about the places I would be going, I wasn’t sure how I would communicate with people both at home, on the ship, and in the countries, I didn’t know if I’d make friends, how I’d fit in, how to deal with time changes, what it was like to not have constant internet for three and a half months, how to tell friends from home you’d talk to them about once a month and if could only be five minutes, how to barter, what it was like to see an active volcano, how wealth and poverty are the strangest of bedfellows, what love means, what seeing someone from home in the middle of my voyage would feel like, what stepping off the gangway of what had become home for the final time in four months, what it would mean to go around the world.

How do you tell someone what it felt like to sail around the world? Truth is, you can’t. Unless you have been that and done it, the words won’t sound right, the smells won’t be there, the pictures won’t do it justice. But, we try. That’s what I am going to do. The voyage isn’t over, the voyage is just beginning.  Sure, I may not be on the MV Explorer anymore, but I still have work to do. This blog won’t simply come to an end b/c I am home. I’ll do my updates on Asia and finish up loose ends (something to do with my boredom.) I want to teach and show people what I did. I’m also going to keep the blog going so that everyone will know what I’m up to. I’m going to be getting involved in the non-for-profits soon which will be an interesting learning experience. I’m also thinking of trying to get involved with student government at my school as well as with the local government to start change. Changes need to be made not just around the world, but also in our own backyard and we can be that change. As a great, yet very humble man once told us during a talk on the ship, “Continue to be idealistic, dream, dream, dream the craziest dreams.” Thanks Archbishop Tutu, I plan on doing just that.

“I fell out of a plane…”

Seriously, I did, on Dec. 3rd. I went skydiving, I know, I know, why on earth would anyone do anything like that? Truth be told, I have no idea. Either way it was one of the most exhilarating, scary, magnificent, beautiful, terrifying, i could go on…things I’ve ever done. I honestly can’t say what compelled me to do it, I didn’t really decide to do it until about two weeks before following a conversation I had had with Maricel who had just gone right by the Mount. She was telling me about her experience and for some reason I decided that I might as well do it in Hawaii. Yes…it is against policy, and yes insurance doesn’t cover it and yes you basically are signing your life away (have you ever seen one of those contracts? I don’t think I’ve ever initialed so many things) but it was worth it and I had permission from the parentals (weird right?).

Most people think that when you’re skydiving, you jump out of the plane, ya don’t, you fall from 14,000 feet and free fall for about 2 ½ miles towards the earth at speeds of upwards of 250mph for over a minute until the instructor pulls a cord that releases a parachute that will bring you to an abrupt slowdown and you come back to earth, hoping you land well (I didn’t…oops, it’s all good though, I’m not hurt that badly). This will become the way I describe Semester at Sea. There’s a little more confidence to something when you jump, when you fall, who knows what can happen. Things can be perfect, or things can be unexpected and you may blow off course or things just might go other than planned. I’m leaving Semester at Sea a different person, yet still the same. My view of the world is different, my values altered but not changed. I look through others eyes, not just my own. I can say, “this is how it is in India” because I didn’t read about it, I saw it and I lived it. Life isn’t all peaches and roses, but if we learn to see things a little differently, things will change. We need to dream and to live, to understand and to love. When I landed skydiving, I crashed, I’m not injured all that bad, just a cut up knee, a skinned/road burned arm and a strained ankle. It sounds much worse than it is, believe me.

Before leaving for the trip I spent months preparing and waiting to see what was out there. When I set out, I was who I was from home, the Angela that everyone knew and was used to see around. Then I started traveling, things were rapidly different and new. I struggled to grasp everything that could and to take it all in and to be in the moment. After a while, I slowed down and really took everything in. I took notice of certain details and people instead of simply flying through it all. now, we’re almost home, still the same, but different. When I get home, there will be the things that people notice immediately, and things that I will remember at first but over time, won’t be as important or poignant. However, there will be the things that will be with me forever, the people that have helped me to get here, the people that have I have met and the things I have seen and done. The preparation, the fall, the parachute, the landing, the healing of the knee, the healing of the ankle, the scar from the elbow…full circle. Same same, but different.

Auction Day!

Today is Nov. 27^th…tomorrow will be Nov. 27^th. We cross the international dateline tonight and even though we gain a day, we’ll still be losing sleep…yay! 

Today we have our shipboard auction.  Basically, it gives people the chance to bid on items and give back to the shipboard community.  Items donated range from magnets to houses in Mexico.  I am involved in the auction by helping be a spotter in the actual auction as well as being there during the silent auction to answer questions and keep an eye on things.  It’s amazing to see the number of items that were donated and will be really excited to see how much money we are able to raise for the drive.

It’s also crunch time on the ship, classes are ending and finals are coming up.  Everyone is working on papers and projects and getting things organized and figuring out how the hell we’re going to get the stuff we’ve bought home.  It’s hard to believe that we’re all going to be home so soon. I’m excited to go home but also a little apprehensive.  It’s going to be weird not having the feeling that you’re always walking up or down hill because of the movement of the waves.  Running up the stairs and going to grab the railing but missing because you took an extra step or two the other direction because a wave made you misstep…I think I might miss that a little bit. Not to mention having to time going up and down stairs so you don’t either face plant or end up feeling like you’re climbing a mountain.  

We have about 6 days until Hawaii, 4 days in Hawaii and then 6 and a half days until San Diego. I can’t believe it’s all coming to an end so quickly! However, I am excited to keep up all the connections that I have made and to visit people.  Hawaii will also be a fun port because of everything that people are planning.  The first day I am planning on going skydiving which should be exciting and scary as hell. We get to go tandem; well we have to go tandem which is a bit of a relief. 

It’s going to be odd going to Hawaii because it’s not an international port. It was odd to think that after Japan we wouldn’t be going to another international port.  Going to Hawaii will be fun, there are a lot of people on the ship that have already been there, and I’ll be hanging out with a mixture of them. Some people that have and others that haven’t.  I’m excited about the people I’ll be spending my time with, especially because it is my last port and I want to be able to spend some time with them before I go home.  It’s going to be odd going to a tropical island after having fall in Japan and winter in China.  It will be nice to have one final warm spell before going back to winter, although I can’t wait to go skiing! We watched Warren Miller’s Wintervention Movie which is a documentary about skiing and boarding in different parts of the world. It was even cooler because one of the girls on the ship is in the movie and she goes skiing in Alaska and New Zealand, and has gone all over the world.  It was cool to sit and talk with her about what she’s done and what she has coming up.  I am looking forward to seeing snow and the movie got me super pumped up.  It’s going to be nice to experience seasons since we’ve basically had just summer for the past few months with the exception of 6 days of winter in China and 4 of fall in Japan. 

Now, it’s time to write papers and eat lunch and work at the auction and classes…o yay!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So it’s technically not thanksgiving yet in the U.S. but right now on the ship it is. Yay! I know I have not posted in a while. Asia was amazing. I had so much fun there and just learned a lot.  China and Japan were both so different. I got to meet many new people from around the world while in the countries. I will be posting more about them soon. It’s crunch time on the ship right now. This is our last week of  classes and then Hawaii, then finals, then home!!! It’s a weird feeling to think that this journey will be over in just a few short weeks. As we reach the end, and it is Thanksgiving, here’s a list of a few things I’m thankful for:

My family-without them, I wouldn’t be here. Thanks to their support, this journey is something that I have truly enjoyed and because of how my parents raised me, it’s not difficult to say that I have a greater appreciation for this trip than some of the people that I have met and that I have learned a whole lot more about the importance of family.

My friends from home-many of my friends have made conscious efforts to keep in touch with me; it’s nice to know that they will still be there when I get home and that I can always count on them for support. Also, for Corri and Maricel, the two of them have helped me out so much when it comes to keeping in touch with people at home.  They have posted blogs, passed on messages and even given me messages.  This has proven helpful especially when the internet is slow, or I have no way of getting in touch with others from home except through them. 

Everyone from home that has given me support in anyway- I’ve said this several times before, but I love hearing about how people are reading the blog and enjoy what they are reading.  This voyage would not be possible were it not for many of you.  The support you have shown me is absolutely fantastic.  Every time I go to a new place, or have a new experience, I think of how excited I am to share my pictures and stories (and believe me, there’re a lot). 

My ship family- this includes so many people.  From the friends I’ve made on the ship, to my ship mom and brothers/sisters, to everyone from work, to professors.  Its amazing the people that I’ve met in just a few short months and making plans already to visit.  With friends planning on coming to NY to visit to us planning visits to New Orleans, California, New Hampshire, a return trip to Singapore and even a visit to Nepal.  It’s going to be tough going back to “real life” and not seeing people from the ship every day.  

the life that I have been blessed with- When he speaks to us, Desmond Tutu reminds us that we are young and we have a whole life ahead of us and to take advantage of every opportunity we can.  In one instance he told us to “Dream! Dream the impossible dreams!” He forced us to think of everything we have been given and the opportunities that are right in front of us.  From him, I have learned to put things into perspective.  I have been building up a sort of ladder throughout my life of who I am and how I see things.  This voyage has increased it many times.  I have understood just how small the world is and that we need to realize our responsibility to others and ourselves.  True happiness comes from within and we need to be sure that we let ourselves show to others.  Hiding will only get us so far and the truth will win out.  A shirt I bought in South Africa says, “History depends on who wrote it.” This is such a true statement.  We read about certain things in history, but until we stop and listen to those that lived it and saw it, what we see will be a sort of opaque version.  This has occurred in many forms for me on this voyage.  One of the most prominent ways was when I went to Robben Island and spent that time with Coach. I learned that Robben Island is not simply the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned but that so much more occurred there. Other times, this occurred was when I have with a group of people both from the ship and the topic of 9/11 has come up.  Many people on the ship are from other parts of the U.S. and even other parts of the world.  A lot of what these people have learned has come from the media or friends of friends in a sense.  When I have talked to them about how I was affected by 9/11 especially being so close to Manhattan, they often ask what it was like being a 6^th grader and what I felt and went though.  I am grateful that I live in a country where we are encouraged to be open about our experiences and what we feel and our opinions and we can speak our minds.  In some of the countries I have gone to, this is not allowed to happen and there are strict restrictions places on the media and freedom of speech.  

This voyage has been out of this world. I am so grateful for every opportunity that I have been given and it has taught me to have no regrets and to take risks.  I have learned to “do something that scares me every day”… well almost every day. I have done so much that I don’t think I would normally have done at home, I have a greater sense of resolve and I am stronger than I was before.  I am excited to try new things and take greater opportunities and really go for it.  I am working on business plans to work with companies in South Africa and around the world and I have made friends from around the world.  i am so thankful for everyone that I have met and everything that I have had the chance to do and am excited to see what else is in store in the future and have learned to “Dream!!! Dream the impossible dreams!!!”

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!! Love you all!!! Can’t wait to see everyone in just a few weeks!!!!

Hi Everyone!!!

So right now I am in Cambodia. I know I am behind on blogging, we are actually sitting in the airport waiting for our plane to board so I am going to keep it short. I have finished part 2 of Singapore and I am working on Viet Nam. India will be put up soon as well. I can't post them for some reason from my laptop...i guess Corri knows how to do it better than I do.

This journey is awesome and cool(just for you dad...just for you). I am learning so much about myself and about others and the world. We're over halfway done with the voyage which is crazy to think about. None of us can figure out if we're happy or sad about it. I think it's a mix of both. We're ready to be home but also want to just keep going.  It's hard to believe that we've been on the ship for over two months and that we'll be back to the U.S. soon. I can't wait to share my stories and pictures with everyone and to tell you all about the amazing people that I've met. It's been a wild ride and there are many more adventures to come.

Just a quick thank you note to everyone. First, again to the Golon's for taking me out to dinner in Singapore. I have known them since I was really little and it was nice to see people that treat me as one of their children. Getting to spend time with them was just what I needed to keep my spirits up.  Second, to Corri, she's been posting all my blogs for me because we have practically no internet time and it's so hard to access internet. Also, to my parents for everything they've done for me. And lastly to everyone reading this blog, including those that I don't know, like Ryan's mom. I met Ryan on the ship and he told me that his mom has been reading my blog which was so neat to hear. I love hearing from everyone about it. Thanks again!

Time to board the plane!!!

The end of WWII

Day two of Singapore was a little nutty. On ship time was 17:00 which was an hour earlier than normal b/c immigration likes to be really annoying and demanding and take forever. Especially Singapore, every time we went to the ship we had to pass through immigration and security. It was time consuming and frustrating. Going through immigration could take 5min or 25min…it all depended on the people working and how long the line was. This could really get in the way of things because you had to make sure you gauged your time correctly especially so you wouldn’t get dock time.

I had no plans for that day so I just showed up at breakfast and figured I would see people I knew and take it from there which ended up being perfect. I met up with some friends and we talked about our plans. A few people were planning on going to the zoo or the aquarium and others were just going to tour around. I ended up hanging out with Wes for the day and we made plans to go to Santos, the island that is right next to Singapore. Wes and I had some tentative plans from the information that we had picked up the day before in the mall. Once we got to the mall, we went to the Sentosa Info/Ticket Place and picked out some things to do. We decided to get a package of things to do. The ones we chose were the Segway, Fort Sentosa, a 4D movie, and Tyger Tower. Getting to Sentosa was pretty easy because they had a monorail right next to where we were that you could take back and forth for S$3 for the whole day, which was about $2USD. It was also possible to take a taxi, or a bus, or a cable car. The cable car would have been cool, but we would have had to go to another building and spend a bunch more money.

First we made our way to Tyger Tower, which was closed due to wind, so we went to the movie instead, except they weren’t going to be starting shows for another half hour or so. We knew we wanted to do the Segway’s last so we decided to go to the fort and figured that by the time we got there it would be open. We went to the fort and took a cool little tram thing to the main part of the fort. Fort Sentosa is one of three forts that were in Singapore and the only one that is still in good shape. It was remarkable how much history actually took place there. In 1942, the Japanese took over and the British were forced to surrender and the in 1945, the reverse happened. It was actually at Fort Sentosa that the treaties officially ending WWII were signed. The whole fort was full of interesting things that I would never have expected from a place as small as Singapore. Next we made our way to the 4D movie, which was a cute movie about pirates and they sprayed water on you and wind blew and it was interesting and in 3D too, but nothing terribly exciting. Before we did the segways we went up Tyger Tower. It’s called Tyger after an Asian beer and they say that it’s the “tallest glass of beer.” It went 300+ meters up in the air and you could see most of Singapore, all of Sentosa, and parts of Malaysia and Thailand. It was spectacular to look at all of it at once especially because you were seated and the top part simply spun so you could see everything. Last we wandered over to the Segway which was cool. We learned how to ride the Segway’s and then got to ride them around a course that they had set up. It was fun and funny riding them because it is a lot more difficult at first than one would think. After Wes and I had finished our adventures we headed back to the monorail to get back to mainland Singapore. We were starving and couldn’t pick a place to eat and eventually decided to go to Pizza Hut. It was really yummy…eating food from home is so weird in these other countries and often seems to taste much better too. Then Wes got Wi-Fi and I got Starbucks which was sooo delicious. I haven’t really had any sort of coffee throughout the voyage so getting Starbucks was awesome. We hung out in the mall for a while and I eventually headed back to the ship because I had nothing to do in the mall and I didn’t have my laptop with me. I went back to the ship and decided to send out some postcards (if you want one send me your address!!!). That night we all hung out and discussed what we had done in Singapore and what we were going to be doing in Viet Nam.

Malls…and malls…and more malls

That’s basically Singapore in a nutshell. We get off our ship, we enter a mall and then we walk through a passageway and there’s another part of the mall. It’s crazy how big this mall was. In the morning we had another diplomatic briefing and then for class I stayed after the briefing where we had a sort of Q&A session with them.  It was cool b/c it was an open forum where we could pretty much ask anything. It’s normally hard to do this during diplomatic briefings simply b/c everyone there is antsy and just wants to leave and get out and explore the port. There were only about 20 people so we were actually able to ask questions and they could take some time answering them and didn’t feel a lot of pressure to answer quickly.

 

After the briefing, my friend Kirsten and I walked around the first mall b/c we were meeting friends at about 12 to go out and explore a little bit. First we walked through a forest thing which was weird but we left there and went to Orchard Street…which was another mall. Except this one was even bigger than the first. It was 4 maybe 5 floors and had 3 or 4 basement floors.  It was never ending, which of course meant we had to go up every lever. We didn’t go down all the levels, but it was still amazing to see all the floors. The intent was to get ice cream too…which was on the top floor. It was a good adventure though. We had to come back to the ship b/c Kirsten and Wes were going on the Night Safari and had to be back to meet up with the trip and I also had to get ready to go out to meet up with Mr. and Mrs. Golon and Chris.

Meeting up with them was wonderful.  We’re getting to the point on the voyage where everyone is getting sick of each other somewhat and people need space and are hitting that slump where they miss home.  Having the chance to see some people from home, especially a little over exactly halfway through was amazing.  It’s funny in a way b/c you don’t realize how much you miss home until the little things happen.  It was nice to get to go to dinner with them and completely let my guard down.  I’m not sure if I’ve relaxed like that in a long time. Other than dinner with Chloe in South Africa, it can prove to be a challenge to completely open up.  It’s a lot different being with people you’ve known all your life and people that you’ve known just over two months.  Getting to go to dinner and then dessert somewhere else was a perfect remedy.  After dessert, Chris and I wandered around Clarke Quay for a few hours which was really good. I was able to talk and not worry about watching what I said b/c someone on the ship might find out.  It was also funny seeing people from the ship and having them do a double take b/c they were really confused seeing as they had never seen Chris on the ship before and didn’t quite get why he had an American accent at first.  It was equally as nice to be able to end the conversation and just walk away and not feel obligated to have a full on conversation with them. It was a few easy but also hard hours.  Letting my guard down and just being myself was just what I needed to feel sane again. On the flipside, knowing that I was only going to be able to spend a few hours was hard.  I don’t know if I ever consciously thought about not being at home for so long until now.  The other part was that came on to the ship not knowing anyone which was a little different since Chris is there with a best friend.  And yet, all that taken into consideration, I have no regrets.  I am happy with everything I’ve done and ok with not doing some other things.  It was nice to be able to see home in a sense and also to get to be re-energized and ready for the other half. I’m more excited than ever for the rest of Asia and all that is to come.