It's a Wonderful World

Hi everyone!

I’m off at sea. It’s a really strange feeling to look outside and only see water and know that is the only thing you will see for the next seven days. Its even weirder when you are sitting in class and your pen consistently slides from one side of your desk to the other. It’s freaking hilarious when you see people fall out of their chairs during class and professors run into walls as the ship rocks back and forth. Yes, I think I’m going to like semester at sea.

The ship is really great. It has everything a student needs, a library with over 9000 books, a variety of cool classrooms that overlook the ocean, two dining halls, two snack bars complete with espressos and lattes, intramural basketball and volleyball teams on the decks a spa with facial, massage, and steam room services, a maid staff that cleans your rooms everyday, a pool with a tanning deck….wait this doesn’t sound like school?? However, it is and I’m living this life for the next 3 and a half months, it is amazing.

So beyond my daily tanning while looking over the beautiful Pacific Ocean on the way to Hawaii, I have also started my classes. My teachers are extremely intelligent, cultured and engaging. I am really looking forward to the curriculum. On the first day of orientation my teacher wore a suit jacket with a shirt underneath that read SPAM and said he is geographically dyslexic (this one took me a couple minutes). I think I’m going to like him.

I’ve met a lot of really interesting people from across the country and internationally. One of the great things about Semester at Sea is that you are basically roommates and neighbors with not only other students, but professors and their families, as well as the life long learners. Its really great to be able to sit down and have lunch with your professor or talk to the photographer of the trip in line at the dining hall. I think I will learn a lot from conversing with all of the people on board.

I can’t load any pictures yet but they will be up next Monday when I get to Hawaii. I am so thankful for the trip, it is absolutely beautiful and going to be an incredible experience. I walked into my Global Studies class this morning and It’s a Wonderful World was playing through the loudspeakers. I couldn’t put it into better words myself.