Day 95 –Belly Goo

Nov 30th

After my last developmental economics class, I spent some time running off “stress” at the gym. Goldie and I decided we were working on our ‘Surf Bodies Take 2,’ since we want to go surfing again in Costa Rica. Afterward, we met Sara and Marg for lunch on the back deck. It was such a sunny, beautiful day that we lounged out for a little while. That’s when I discovered this gooey stuff could be squeezed out of my belly button piercing hole (which has not been used in two years). One of the waiter staff came over to see what we were looking at and was totally grossed out to discover my mini geyser. Then I headed to my last global social movements class of the semester, before spending some time studying.

A poem I emailed Goldie today:
“I'm waiting for class to start.
This closet reeks like someone's fart.
There's only one place I want to be
And that is with you in a teepee!”

Goldie’s email response:
“I'm sorry the smell is disturbing your sense.
I'm also waiting for class to commence.
I'd rather be outside with you cutting loose,
Even if it means watching you squeeze belly juice.”

Highs and Lows
My “high” was hearing Chris say “Guys, I think I was the one who deleted the public folder” as soon as he sat down to Lauren, Leah and my global study group. (The public folder is an online “space” that everyone can access and post documents to share. It mysteriously deleted after Japan.) My “low” was realizing my two year old piercing could still shot wades of goo.

Day 94 – Kesho on Oprah

Nov 29th

I had my second to last global studies and psych of food classes today. The rest of the day was mixed in with studying, reading and napping. For dinner, they served our much anticipated Thanksgiving meal. It consisted of turkey with cranberry sauce, purple sweet potatoes, gravy, stuffing, veggie casserole and pumpkin pie. Britney, Sara, Goldie, Becca and I all held hands and said one thing we were thankful for, after I said half the Shabbat candle blessing. Essentially, we were all thankful that we had this experience and that we got to met each other. (Cheesy, I know.) As a study break, Becca, Goldie and I watched my sociology teacher Professor Scott’s tape of when she was on Oprah in the ‘80s to talk about racism in rural Iowa. She was only on for one segment between commercials, but she literally just started talking about racism, her experience and the definition of it, etc. Oprah didn’t even have a chance to get a word in there! It was unbelievable!

Highs and Lows
My “high” was seeing an Arby’s commercial from the ‘80s that used the phrase “Same Same, but Different,” which is how every Vietnamese merchant tried to sell us something. (Now, I see where they got it.) My “low” was reading in the Dean’s Memo about how to deal with the lack of sleep everyone is suffering from: they suggest to not study in bed, and only leave it for sleeping and sex!

Day 93 – Many Moons

Nov 28th

After 12-hours of much needed sleep, I woke up still groggy and tired. I somehow pulled myself out of bed for developmental econ, which was more than half empty. I guess most students were still feeling hung over from their day of sun, sand and mai tais in Hawaii. For lunch, we made banana, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, before Sara, Goldie, Dan and I spent some time relaxing on the back deck. Afterward we all headed straight to work for the day. While I was on the treadmill, the “Voice” came over the loudspeaker alerting us to our monthly safety boat drill. Dripping with sweat, I went downstairs to get my life vest, suit up and line up outside. It took a lot longer than usual for some reason, so I spaced out and wonder about what it would be like to live on the tiny rescue boats with 150 other people for a week. I concluded it would be hell. After a shower and dinner, Sara, Goldie, Britney, Becca and I did some work in one of the classrooms in the sixth floor dining hall. While our studying was mixed in with sporadic games of hangman and gossip, Becca randomly decided to moon me. Now, I’m starting to think there is a conspiracy for everyone to show me their asses? I don’t really get it, but I think it is hilarious.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was raising my count of seeing my friends’ asses to 3 of 5! (Sorry, Becca and Goldie, but I still think mine is the cutest.) My “low” was hearing about all the students that got written up for being really drunk yesterday.

Day 92 – Hawaii Thanksgiving

Nov 27th (Thanksgiving)

Morning Sunrise
I woke up to the head kitchen staff calling to tell “Princess Carolyn” that she has a surprise in the dining hall tonight. (I was too delirious to ask what in the world he was talking about.) A little annoyed he woke me up at 6:35AM to tell me that, I flipped open my window to see the most amazing sun rise over the ocean as we pulled into Honolulu. I immediately called (and woke up) Britney and told her to take a picture, since she L-O-V-E-S sunrise-sunset pictures off the boat. The sunset was absolutely mesmerizing.

Thinking of Home
A few seconds after I pulled myself out of my morning daze and realized that we had just officially entered US TERRIRORY!! That means my cell phone would work! I dashed to our safe box, pulled out my cell phone and immediately dialed home to have a wonderful conversation with Mom, Dad, Jenny, Catherine and Sidney (who sniffed the phone). For the rest of the morning (around breakfast, getting ready and the immigration process), I got to catch up with some people from home and Vandy. I just like to add that about 95% of you answered the phone with “Why/How the hell are you calling me right now?” For the rest of you who I didn’t get a chance to talk to, I’m sorry. My cell phone actually died that morning because I didn’t bring a charger (thinking I would only use it in the Miami Airport). Regardless, it was so wonderful catching up on things even if it made me miss home a little more. I know a bunch of SAS kids would agree that after three months of non-stop traveling, of not one good night’s rest and of being out of touch we are ready to come home! (Especially since we are in the middle of studying for finals.)

The Day with Alan
After the ship was cleared by immigration, Sara, Goldie, Dan, Jonah, Marg and I disembarked to try and find Goldie’s Dad in the crowd that was forming off the boat. Since Alan is a UPS pilot and was lucky enough to trade flights to get out here, he met us at the harbor with his rent-a-car. Goldie and Alan’s reunion was absolutely adorable and almost made Sara and I cry with happiness. All of us were so excited to spend Thanksgiving with an adopted Dad. After we dropped our things off in his hotel room, Alan took us to the supermarket for study snacks to bring back to the boat. Alan caught on quickly that things do not move fast in our group. So, we eventually made it back to the hotel to drop off the food, got in our bathing suits and headed to Alan’s favorite surf shop to rent boards. As a pilot, Alan has spent a lot of time in cities all over the world and is well acquainted with the shops, streets and even store owners in the area. With our boards in hand, we lugged the monsters to the beach and prepared to “catch some waves.” Being the palest of the group, Alan let me don his rash guard to avoid the sun. I looked like a real professional or a huge tourist… I couldn’t decide. Seeing as Goldie surfs at home with her own sponsor in competitions, she gave us an instructional lesson on the beach. Queen’s Bay was crowded with tourists for Thanksgiving, so the water was packed newbies learning to surf. At least, we weren’t going to look like the only idiots. The waves were decent, but they came in random bouts. Scattered between my few hundred attempts, I actually did manage to get up a few times! At one point, while I was remounting my board after a wipe out, Goldie cruised by smiling and showing her white ass in pride. I think mooning is Californian for “sucka.” About two hours later, we were thoroughly exhausted and ready for our big Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving Meal
Alan took us to La Cucaracha for a late lunch and Thanksgiving feast. I got chicken fajitas and a super sized Shirley Temple. It came out as an enormous serving of sizzling chicken, onions, green peppers and cheese with beans, rice and guacamole on the side. We were all stuffed after the spicy meal, just as any Thanksgiving meal requires. To walk off our food babies, we walked along the beach and out to a long pier that had waves crashing against it on both sides. Before we left we caught the most spectacular yellow, orange and red sunset set against sailboats cruising through the water. For dessert, we had Haagen Dazs ice cream, while Alan and Jonah enjoyed milk shakes. Since I had worked at one my senior year of high school, I helped Sara pick out the best flavor combination I had discovered in my months of intense “field study” –‘Belgium chocolate chocolate’ and coffee. I went with something new. But, while sitting outside and chatting about things, we all couldn’t help but feel that impending drudgery of having to get back on the boat soon. Hawaii was so beautiful, and we obviously wanted to post-pone finals as long as possible. Eventually, we made it back to the hotel to watch some football on TV (I ended up falling asleep. Woops.), gathering our things and making it back to the harbor. We all thanked Alan for everything he had done to make our Thanksgiving special and said our “good byes.”

Back on the Boat
Once back on the boat, Sara, Goldie, Dan and I headed to the sixth floor dining hall to see what my surprise was from the phone call I got this morning. We hypothesized it was a birthday cake they were mistakenly delivering too early or a stripper. Well, it turned out to be neither. The waiter came out with a huge chocolate cake that read “Welcome Back to the USA” in dark chocolate frosting. Apparently, my parents had ordered the cake to be delivered as a surprise to welcome me closer to home. I was really thrown for a loop. Everyone else was pretty surprised too and sang their own version of “Welcome Back” using “Happy Birthday” lyrics. The cake was way too big, so I passed out pieces to everyone I knew and a bunch I didn’t really know but who eagerly wanted cake. A lot of people wished me ‘Happy Birthday’ since that is usually the only reason a person gets a cake on the ship. Awkwardly, I explained it wasn’t my birthday. Regardless, everyone was really excited and really enjoyed it.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was seeing not one person inside the boat that night because everyone stayed up to talk to people on their cell phones while we still had service. My “low” was not being able to mail my postcards.

Day 91 – Logistical Pre-port

Nov 26th

I woke up late and sprinted to global studies to hand in my final assignment or ‘Power Journal’ that I have been working on for the last few days. It is essentially a journal about the various types of “power” (military, resource, trade, financial, cultural, etc) we have seen in all the ports. Professor Schoppa must be really good at speed-reading because he collected a journal (min 8 pages) from all the 350 students in that class. Then I napped till gym time with Sara. Since most students were outside in the gorgeous sunshine, we had the gym to ourselves! After feeling like I successfully tighten my gluts into a nice ball of steel, we switched into bathing suits to sunbath by the pool. There we met up with Britney Brit to do some work outside in the wonderfully salty breeze. After that, I pretty much spent the rest of the day working, reading and writing postcards to (hopefully) be mailed in Hawaii tomorrow.

Logistical Pre-port
We had logistical pre-port to find out about getting off the ship tomorrow. Breakfast is earlier than usual, since we will be suffering through a MUCH longer immigration line than even Japan. (Yikes!) They decided to make on-ship time 9PM instead of the usual 6PM to give us some more time in Hawaii. Regardless, they are feeding us incentives to get back on the ship sooner to avoid long lines or consequently ‘dock time.’ We get an hour of FREE internet if we get back before 6PM! In addition, there is some sort of Hawaiian themed dinner with ice cream that they are serving onboard that night. (A Thanksgiving feast will be held the 29th instead.) The medical staff also reiterated that traffic will be on the right side of the road again and that we should get rest so we don’t look “ship faced” from the time changes and loss of sleep.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was being done with my Power Journal. My “low” was hearing them tell us to wash our shoes with old toothbrushes to make sure we weren’t carrying foreign pests into the United States.

Day 90 –Another Sea Day

Nov 25th

I had my econ development presentation this morning. As a group of eight, we had to represent the Asian Development Bank and field questions on trade liberalization, international aid, short-term capital flows (ie, Asian Financial Crisis) and immigration flows. One personal anti-globalizer in the class began ranting to us about how we let FDIs flow all their capital out of the country. I wish I could have started with “shut up and shit down” in Mandarin, but sadly I don’t know Chinese. So, instead I went with the idea that FDIs bring infrastructure (ie, roads, factories, electricity, etc) to countries that don’t have the means to develop them itself and can be used for the benefit of the country later on. Then he really did concede the argument (?)… and that was my most glorious moment of the day. I literally did nothing else exciting after that, just sociology, lunch, gym and work. (Lame. I know.)

Cabin Fever
After getting back from studying in the dining hall, I headed to Britney Brit’s room to see where everyone was for dinner. We usually congregate in there around 5:30-6ish to head up together. To my surprise, I found no one. (They leave their door ajar so anyone can walk in.) I tried calling Goldie, who I thought was asleep, but didn’t get an answer. So, I was faced with two options: 1) go upstairs and sit with anyone I run into OR 2) T-pee Britney and Becca’s room for not inviting me to dinner (Of course, I knew they probably called, but ignored that small fact.). Well, which option do you think I choose!? After finishing my elaborate “decorations” that completely covered their beds, ceiling and meticulously wrapped stuff animals, I headed to dinner to find them and join them for dinner. They told me they had tried calling and knocked on my door, but couldn’t find me. When they asked where I had been, I just shrugged and said, “just studying.” A little later Becca headed back to the room to get something and she came running back through the dining hall screaming: “Britney! Someone T-peed our room!” For some reason, they all turned to me before I could even crack a smile and told me that I had done it! I don’t know how they knew! (Well, actually I do.) But, they seemed to get a real kick out of it, and still keep a piece of the toilet paper hanging in commemoration.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was dragging Goldie and Dan all the way upstairs to look at Venus and Jupiter and finding that we couldn’t see anything at all bc of the lights from the deck. (Sorry, guys.) My “low” was having nothing exciting to report in my blog… maybe I should start making up crazier stories.

Day 89 – Taco Day

Nov 24th

Following global studies and psych of food, I took a much-needed 3 hour nap. As soon as I woke up Julie solemnly turned to me and said, “You slept through taco day!” I was devastated. Regardless, I headed to the pool bar to grab a veggie burger, do some reading and chat with Brian and Sara. We watched the sun set and relaxed in the warm breeze that was floating across the deck. Sara and I then found the perfect oasis for studying: Becca and Britney’s room while they are not there. Fortunately, they tend to leave their door open, so we just crashed on their beds. Since none of the stuff in there is ours, there are really no distractions. Of course, Becca and Britney thought it was hilarious when they walked in on us studying without them there.

Notice in Dean’s Memo:
“Water sports in Hawaii may be postponed due to box jellies. These animals are related to, but different from jellyfish and are among the most toxic animals anywhere. Over 5,000 human deaths have been attributed to them. Unlike jellyfish, which are planktonic (unable to swim against a current), box jellies are active swimmers and hunters. Also unlike jellyfish, box jellies have rudimentary eyes that can not only discriminate between light and dark, some can also see images. But how the images/information is processed is a mystery in this animal that doesn’t have a central nervous system. Both jellyfish and box jellies have toxin they inject after stinging cells fire on contact. If you have the bad fortune to come in contact with either, wash off the area with vinegar even before removing the tentacles from your skin. A bottle of vinegar may save your life.”

Open Mic Night
Dan, Sara, Goldie and I made our way to the Union for some ‘Open Mic Night’ entertainment (and a break from work) hosted by the one-and-only Bobby. (Picture: a New-York-accent, smack-talking guy hosting.) Some of the acts were absolutely amazing. Michelle, a girl I had met on the ship, blew me away with her soulful, jazzy piano solo. Linda (remember the solo interpretive dance from ‘So You Think You Can Dance’?) sang her own song about Thanksgiving, which was actually really good. Some were absolutely horrible, but I’ll leave them nameless. I have to admit some of them were absolutely hilarious despite being shamelessly embarrassing.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was watching our own version of ‘Explorer Idol’ (bc some people were absolutely, blow-me-away amazing… and others just embarrassed themselves)! My “low” was finding out we might not be able to swim in Hawaii because of killer box jellies.

Day 88 – Sea & Seagulls

Nov 23rd

Tropic Birds Attack
After lunch, I spent some time tanning on the seventh deck. While I was leisurely reading about anorexia for my psych of food class, Ginnie (Goldie’s roommate) and friends joined me. We were sitting there relaxing, enjoying the sunshine, when all of a sudden an injured (and very large) white tropicbird flaps down from a higher perch. Ginnie and I jump up just in time for it to fall between our two lounge chairs. A life long learner then proceed to get the bird a piece of bread with peanut butter and a glass of water. Of course, the bird wasn’t used to eating sandwiches and didn’t touch it. Later, Ed Sobey, the on board nature specialist, came by to ID the bird and make sure it was well cared for. The Dean’s Memo the next day highlighted this whole event:
“A Red-tailed Tropicbird landed on the ship Sunday. This beautiful bird is predominately white with a black eye patch and long red tail. Several have followed the ship in recent days (in addition to the large, dark Petrels that have been around). To prevent further injury to the Tropicbird it was moved to a sheltered area in the hope that it would recover and fly off when ready. It did so this morning ☺”
After this traumatic incident (and sadly the most exciting thing that happened all day), I headed inside to recover during sociology.

Location
Currently, we are passing what was the world’s largest marine reserve, the Northwest Hawaiian National Monument. By far the largest US national park, this body of water, coral reefs, and islands contains 70% of the nation’s tropical coral reefs, unspoiled home of the endangered Monk Seal, and nesting homes for millions of sea birds. When President Bush signed this monument into existence it doubled the US National Park system. Recently this reserve was dethroned as the world’s largest by a much larger park in the South Pacific by the nation of Kiribati. (Assholes.)

Divided We Fall
After finishing some work, Dan and I headed to the Union to watch “Divided We Fall,” a documentary made by a 20 year old Stanford student about the anti-turban sentiments following September 11th. It was incredibly long and definitely opened my eyes to the utter stupidity of many Americans, but also just a nice way to avoid doing any more homework.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was eating Julie’s cookies (since she gets about 5 fresh ones a day from the kitchen staff member that has a crush on her). My “low” was finding out there is an epidemic of Mac’s crashing (apparently, the vibrations of the ship are destroying hard drives).

RIP: Britney Brit’s MacBook (November 23rd, 2008 at 23:16PM)

Day 87 – Nov 22nd (Take Two)

Nov 22nd

World Food Summit
After not sleeping late on the one day off from classes (and enjoying a delicious BBQ lunch), I got up to research Namibian imports/exports and trading partners for the mock UN General Assembly. Unfortunately, my developmental econ professor made it extra credit and me being the big nerd that I am decided I had to do it. So, we each had to dress “business casual,” which resulted in most boys wearing their tailor-made suits from Vietnam, or “cultural costumes,” which resulted in most people dressing in exaggeratedly ethnocentric outfits. For example, the U.S. rep wore a suit with a superman costume peaking though his unbuttoned shirt. After presenting our countries basic economic conditions and response to the mock food crisis, we adjourned to classrooms to discuss the problem: a rice crisis has wiped out 75% of world rice production in places like Southeast Asia, the U.S and Brazil. The African nations of South Africa, Namibia (me!) and Nigeria formed a nice little nugget of love in order to solve the world’s problems. From our research, we discovered that new research can make West Africa more efficient in producing rice than the main producers in Southeast Asia. Of course, there wasn’t much else we could do to solve the short-term problems, so we just hung out. My main point stemmed from the legendary Maria Antoinette: “When you don’t have rice, eat oysters!” (One of Namibia’s main exports is oysters.) South Africa crudely shared that they have no real resources to provide, but what they do have is AIDS and that can reduce the world populations that are suffering from hunger. In the end, Germany approached me (Namibia) to offer machinery to develop the rice production that could potentially overtake Japanese rice production (for the cost of control, of course). However, I remembered from Global Studies that during German colonization in the mid 1900s, Germany had massacred over 50% of Namibia’s indigenous people. So, I kindly told them to back off on their neo-colonial principles. After reading proposals and voting, the UN General Assembled adjourned from the Union.

Students for Service Auction
In order to donate money to various charities that we had visited on our trip, Students for Service organized both a silent and live auction to raise money. Some of the items included:
- Sea Olympics du rag worn by Ed Sobey
- Special dinner with the Captain
- Jesus painting from the crew talent show
- Breakfast in bed served by your LLC (resident advisor)
- Photo of the Explorer signed by Desmund Tutu (from his visit)
- Bob “The Voice” ring tone or voicemail recording
- First person off the ship in Miami
The auction was a great success and raised over $16,000 from students, faculty and life long learners. I was very surprised at how much some students paid for various things. One drunk kid won a $450 bid to throw a pie at Professor Schoppa’s face. Other students dished out $100-$200 on pictures of Fidel Castro or to be serenaded by Tien. I don’t think they really understood that it was real money they were bidding, or maybe they just didn’t care that it was their parent’s money.

Solved: The Dying Cow
Julie and I have been hearing this horrible squealing noise outside our cabin window for some time. It mostly only happens when we are at sea, but we have managed to adapt and sleep through it. The only times we ever noticed it was when anyone would come in the room and say “OMG! What is that!?” Today, Julie came in the room and off handedly told me the Security Officer was in the hall. Determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious sound, I jumped up, grabbed her and we headed out to chat with him. He asked if the “noise” sounded like a crying dog and then chuckled while explaining it was the stabilizers under the ship that keep it from tipping over. Apparently, the officers that sleep on the second floor have it much worse, since they sleep right on the other wall from it and have to sleep with ear plugs to get through the night. Reassuringly, he told us the problem was being fixed by mechanics as we spoke.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was watching Sex and the City with Julie before bed. My “low” was finding out the mysterious dying cow sound was nothing more than ship stabilizers. (When people come in the room, I might still tell them it’s the kitchen staff killing dinner.)

Day 86 – Nov 22nd (Take One)

Nov 22nd

After global studies and psych of food, I had a five-hour marathon of being productive and getting work done. I spent the rest of the day goofing around by watching Lost with the girls, having a long drawn out dinner and then stealing pictures and sharing music with Goldie for the rest of the night.

International Date Line
Today we passed the International Date Line, so we are actually going to have the same day (Nov 22nd) twice. The International Date Line was discovered when Magellan’s crew had kept precise logs so they knew what the day and date were, but their logs differed from the calendars they discovered when reaching a port after their circumnavigation. In general the date line lies along the 180 degree of longitude, but each country is allowed to set its own time standards. Hence, why all of India is on one time zone that is 30 mins different from al other countries in the world.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was going to Shabbat with Sara and Goldie, thus continuing my legacy of being a Jew observer overseas! My “low” was realizing I have to live the same day over again.

Day 85 – Work

Nov 21st

It was extraordinarily peaceful today at sea. We are now making our way into the Pacific, which is the largest ocean in the world since it covers 32% of the earth’s surface. The Pacific Ocean is larger than all of the land areas and it is just as beautiful as all the other oceans that we have passed through. I have never seen water such a deep blue before! As Sara described: “It’s like deep whale blue.”

Today, I had development econ and global social movements. In econ my class discussed the intricacies of the definitions of “global” and “earth.” But in soc, my group presented on Hong Kong and China’s human rights violations. I explained the controversy behind the One Child Policy that has led to a rise in a black market of “extra” or unwanted children. (Sadly, they most turn out to be girls, since the Chinese prize male children over females.) Unfortunately, it struck me a little too late what I could have taken home as a souvenir.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was having a dance work out with Sara and Goldie on the seventh side-deck since we were tired of the elliptical. My “low” was finding out we have only 25% of the semester remaining and 90% of it will be spent working.

Day 84 – Back to Routine

Nov 20th

After Global Studies and Psy of Food in the morning, Sara, Goldie and I headed to our designated “gym time” to work our little asses into shape after all that culinary tourism we really embraced over the last month. After lunch, a bunch of us headed to the 5th floor dining hall to deal with some of the piles of work that built up during our journey through Asia.

Kurt’s Memorial Service
Students filled the Union tonight at 7 o’clock to pay respects to Kurt Leswing, a SAS student who had been struck by a car and passed away in Hong Kong two weeks ago. Kurt’s roommate Vince reminisced about how they had first met and became inseparable friends along their travels. Other students made a moving montage of Kurt’s pictures and video commentaries from his friends on the boat. The whole Union was in tears by the end, as everyone proceeded to the fourth floor aft where Vince released flowers into the ocean in honor of Kurt’s life.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was getting back some semblance of a sleep routine. My “low” was realizing how close to home Kurt’s death was for everyone on the ship.

Day 83 – Back on the Boat

Nov 19th

Back to Routines
After developmental economics in the morning, I started to realize how sad it is we are stuck on a ship for the next 8 days straight until Thanksgiving. Most students have fallen behind on work, including myself, because we tried so desperately to catch up on sleep while between ports. After lunch, a group meeting and global social movements class, I finally had time to go to the gym. It was packed with girls trying to slim down before we reach Hawaii and Costa Rica. Dan informed me that he bought protein powder with the boys, so they could all bulk up. Inevitably, I feel like I’m trapped on a Weight Watchers cruise, but on the bright side now there is more dessert for me to pick from.

Video Vixen
Within seconds of me getting back to my room from the library, Spencer pounded on my door. I opened the door to find him breathlessly explaining that he needs “sexy bitches” for a Sea TV music video. He was all dressed up in a pin strip suit he had had made in Vietnam that I just couldn’t say no. (And when anyone calls you a ‘sexy bitch’ how could you possible resist?) So, I recruited Sara to dance and Goldie to be the strobe light technician, and we headed to 3102 to make our video debut. We didn’t really feel like changing since it was getting late so we showed up in tanks and baggy sweat pants, but our wild hair flips and jumping around the cabin beds made the video. I can’t wait to see the results (even if it has to be broadcast on all the ship’s TVs).

Highs and Lows
My “high” was crossing off one of the things on my ‘100 Things To Do Before I Die’ list (ie. dance my heart out for the camera). My “low” was realizing, along with the rest of the student body, that the rest of the cruise would be spent studying and sleeping.

Day 82 – Yokahama

Nov 18th

Naked Time!
Falyn and I headed to the Minato Mirai district of Yokahama to track down the Manyo Club for our very own onsen experience. Onsens are public hot spring bathhouses that use water from specific water sources that are thought to cure certain types of aliments and diseases. Since Falyn had tattoos (and tattoos are a sign of gang violence in Japan), she wasn’t allowed in the facility and had to set off on her own adventures. Undaunted that I should face the establishment myself, I paid my entrance fee, removed my shoes and headed inside. (Of course, it took me about 30 mins to try and figure out what the cashier was saying first.) Then, I selected my yukata (robe). I selected a beautiful, flowery pink design off the nearby picture board and nodded a “domo agrigato” to the woman. Then, I headed inside the women’s changing room to stripe down and lock my things in my locker. As the only foreigner, I clearly stuck out like a “fish out of water.” I did my best not to follow what others were doing, but I definitely took a peak to see if I looked crazy. Afterward, I headed bare-ass to the communal bathhouse, which was just passed some small, sit-down shower stalls stocked with shampoo, conditioner, face wash and soup. Since I was running out of conditioner on the ship, I took my time to shampoo and deeply condition a few times. Fully satisfied that I was squeaky clean, I made my way further into the bathhouse to find groups of Japanese (naked) women chatting in various pools and baths around the complex. I settled myself into a nice, quiet spot in the far right corner of the outside rock garden. I had a steaming, flowing pool all to myself along with a beautiful view of the Yokahama skyline (since the onsen was in a high rise building). After nearly falling asleep in the warm comfortable surrounding, I decided to try the saunas since a women passed along a free coupon when I initially walked in. There was quiet a selection, including an herbal sauna, steam sauna and salt sauna. Since the herbal sauna burned my nose and the steam sauna was too normal, I spent some time in the salt sauna. When I walked in there was a big pile of salt sitting in the middle of the room, which had tiled seats and shower hoses surrounding the outside. Even though the sign on the wall clearly said “refrain from following,” I just had to take a peak to figure out what to do in there! The women were scrubbing down with the salt, sitting around and rinsing it off a few minuets later. I had a blast scrubbing myself down from head to toe, but my sweat nearly washed myself clean it so was hot. A little scared I was sweating away too much water, I rinsed off then showered again and got into my pink yukata (robe).

Yukata Time!
This place turned out to be the most fun playground for a pampered girl. After getting into my yukata, I headed to an area near the exit of the women’s changing room where I had seen hair brushes, hair dryers and products galore. Well, it turned out you could use whatever you wanted. Each vanity was stocked with mouse, jell, hair dryers, lotions, stylers, creams, everything! I had so much fun playing with all of it and beautifying myself in the process. The next are had all these face treatments and make up to use. I gave myself a glycolic face peal before moisturizing and realizing I needed to stop before I walked out of there looking like Japanese Barbie. (I made sure to stay far away from the make up.) After re-dressing in my “street” clothes, I wandered around the onsen complex a little more to discover the place was like Disneyland for old people. There was a restaurant, multiple drink bars, a top-deck garden, an arcade, an internet room, a room filled with lazy boys that had TV monitors you could watch movies on, in additional to spa and healing services. The place had treatments from color therapy to finger pressure therapy. I was in heaven, but pulled myself back to reality around 1:30 when I knew I just had to get out before I could do any more damage.

Lunch, Mochi & Cosmoworld
Totally invigorated, I headed across the street to the World Porters, which was a five-story mall with a massive selection of restaurants on the first floor. I sat down in Sario, a casual Japanese place, and munched on a bao it (white steamy dumpling) and gyoza (pan-fried shrimp dumplings). I stopped in the supermarket to read up on celeb gossip (which was unfortunately in Japanese) before finding an ice cream mochi stall! I had been hearing about this stuff the whole trip, and finally could find out what all the hype was about. I had one banana-chocolate and one honey cranberry mochi wrapped, so I could take them out to Cosmoland, an amusement park that boasts a clock ferris wheel that can be seen all over the city. Since it was a Tuesday, the park was a little quiet, but it was still a nice place to find a bench and enjoy some wonderfully softened ice cream. I walked back toward the harbor, only to run into Spencer, Dan and Friend relaxing with some noodles at an outside shop. I stopped to hear their stories of Japan, before reboarding the Explorer to contemplate the best day I had in Japan.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was naked time! My “low” was when Goldie and I watched us pull away from Yokahama via the gym windows.

Day 81 – Tokyo

Nov 17th

Grossness
We got up at 6AM to make “bath time” when we had to shower in the communal showers. Luckily, I got in there when no one else was. After making it to the train station, we picked up some beacon wrapped asparagus pastries and juice before boarding the bullet train for Tokyo. Once on the train, we found seats in the third car and settled in for a nice nap. I sat next to a old man in a business suit, who was reading manga (comic books), which almost everyone reads in Japan. They are ubiquitous on the trains, seen in hands of salarymen, housewives, college, high school and elementary school children. But this guy was reading anime porn, which was totally awkward. He spent most of his time in a perpetual cycle of reading, heading to the bathroom and falling asleep. I tried to shift closer in my seat to Sara, who had passed out for most of the time. Honestly, I was a little scared he might touch me if I feel asleep, so I vigilantly stayed awake through the trip.

Tokyo!
After pulling into Tokyo station and locking our things in a station locker, we hoped on the subway to the Shibuya district in Western Tokyo where we began our walking tour north to Shinjuku. During our walking tour we admired the business industrial streets of Tokyo. It looks remarkably like NYC, and had all the ritzy shops that you can find anywhere but we were in Japan! While making our way into the Harajuku district (famous for the teens that dress crazy like in Gwen Steffani’s music videos), we stoped for lunch. We ordered steamy bowls of udon or soba noodles with green tea. Once filled up, we continued walking along Harajuku to find Kiddie World, a massive six story toy store that had every Japanese cartoon character under the sun. We spent a good deal of time looking around and playing with the toys. Brit and Sara got leather bracelets engraved, while Goldie and I had a photo shoot on the floor devoted to Snoopy. We peaked into a few more shops, before finding We Go (a popular used clothing store) where everyone went wild with the selection of flannels, boots and wool hats. Finally, we took a break at Starbucks. While sitting and chatting outside, we someone dressed up as Santa Clause walk in. Jokingly, we guessed it was another Semester at Sea students… and low-and-behold we were right. Following Santa, marched in a rein deer and the red Power Ranger. Dominico, the Power Ranger, explained they just felt like dressing up for no reason. It really didn’t surprise us, since SAS students kinda do and wear whatever the hell they want on this trip. After feeling refreshed, we headed further into the Harajuku district toward Yoyogi park and fund the H&M that had a line outside that was three blocks long! I hope it was worth getting inside because it was about eight-stories high. We just admired the people and headed through the Harajuku alley streets where we came upon some of Gewn’s Harajuku girls. That’s where we came across the small eclectic shops that I could have spent all day in. Unfortunately, I had to make it back to Yokahama to visit the Ramen Museum for my Psych of Food class.

Ramen Museum
Once in the Shin Yokahama station, we headed straight for the Museum, which was just a few blocks from the station. Staged as the streets of 1950s Tokyo, the museum takes visitors back in time to when ramen was first transforming with new flavors and distinct tastes. Furthermore, visitors can sample a range of ramen shops from areas across Japan, including places like Sapporo, Asahikawa, Tokyo, Yokahama, Wakayama, Hakata and Kumamoto. Each of the restaurants had their own unique taste, ambiance and aroma based on the chef’s specifications for their ramen. We had a great time walking around just looking at the Museum itself, but also got captivated by a game of bingo that erupted in the center. With the help of two staff members, we were able to translate our bingo board into English versions of the various sea animals that made up the simple, 3-by-3 bingo board. I actually won bingo during the second round, and got a free lollipop that is currently sitting beside my bed in all its glory. Afterward, we settled down in the Fukuchan Ramen Shop to taste the steamy noodles sprinkled lightly with crushed garlic. Full of ramen and dirty from a day of traveling, we made our way back to the boat to get some rest from seeing 6 cities in 4 days.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was seeing Santa, a rein deer and a Power Ranger walk into Starbucks. My “low” was having to head back to Yokahama sooner because of my FDP requirement (the Ramen Museum).

Day 80 – Kyoto

Nov 16th

Todaji + Buddha
Despite the rain, we decided to spend the morning in Nara to see the impressive Todaji Temple and Great Buddha. After a breakfast spread that consisted of tuna inside rica balls, Coco Puffs, yogurt, fruit, hot tea and assorted pastries, we borrowed umbrellas from reception and started our day. Upon Sara’s request, we took a nice walk through what looked like Harry Potter’s enchanted forest to get a closer look at some of the “friendly” beasts (deer). We got tons of spooky pictures with them, before heading on to the main event: the Todaji Temple. The temple was built in the Nara Period (710- 794 AD) under the rule of Emperor Shomu, but the current structure has undergone repair making it 2/3rds its original size. Regardless it is still one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The statue of the Virocana Buddha was made of cast iron and plated in gold in the 8th century. Amazingly, it stands 53 feet high (and weights 500 tons) leaving just enough room under the ceiling of the magnificent vaulted Hall of the Great Buddha. The whole place had a wonderful smell of “rich mahogany” as Ron Burgundy would say in Anchorman. We spent a good deal of time aligning ourselves with the peacefulness of the place before heading back through the rain to our hotel for check out. On the way out, we noticed the deer finally got up from their comfortable resting places to stand directly in the middle of the walkway. Tourists had to weave in, around and between these guys just to get through the park. Very nice strategy for getting food though.

JR to Kyoto
After checking out and hoping on the JR railway to Kyoto, we passed the time sharing tunes on our playlists and watching more and more Asians fall asleep. Miraculously, they always sprung awake when it was their stop. We couldn’t really figure it out. The train ride also gave us a nice view of Japan’s countryside that was covered by more and more of the same traditional, clean and square houses. Once in Kyoto, which was the ancient capital of Japan from 794 until 1868, we stopped for lunch at an unmarked Japanese restaurant where you could even sit on pillows on the floor. Even though they didn’t speak any English, Falyn knew enough about Japanese food to communicate that we wanted chicken. I got chicken katsu, which is essentially cooked chicken in a sweet teriyaki sauce, pickled cucumbers, white rice, miso soup and green tea. It was a wonderful meal.

Kyoto
As the center of Japanese culture, the city has 14 UNESCO World Heritage sites, so it was particularly hard to get to see all the important temples and shrines in the area. But then again, everywhere you look you see something beautiful and architectural. Since the city attractions were more widely spread out (it was a city not a town, like Nara) we had to pick and choose our priorities. So, we hoped a cab to the Higashiyama Youth Hostel where we would be staying for the night. From there, we wandered North to find the Chion-in Temple.

Chion-in Temple
The temple complex is clearly marked by a colossal main gate, called the San-mon Gatewas, which was built in 1619 and is the largest surviving structure of its kind in Japan. Although the original temple was built in 1234 by Hōnen's disciple, it burnt down in 1633 and was entirely rebuilt by the third Tokugawa Shogun Iemitsu with the structures that stand today. The Chion-in garden is dotted by large and small guest houses in a style called Ohojo and Kohojo. One interesting feature is the umbrella found stashed in the rafters outside the main temple. One of the architects who helped rebuild the temple placed the umbrella in the rafters to help bring rain (and thereby ward off fire). Additionally, the wooden boards on the floor where actually intentionally built to squeak when walked on, so that the Tokugawa family could hear unwanted intruders at night. After exploring the bamboo jungle and fish ponds, we tour ourselves away from the beauty of it all to continue walking to the Maruyama Park.

Maruyama Park
Just outside the park, we found street stalls that strung up offering tastes of various sweets. We split a stick of these white gooey balls roasted and coated in sugary soy sauce. After, we taste teseted some free mochi samples and rice chocolate bars. Before heading into the bright yellow and red park (from the autum leaves), we grabbed some green tea ice cream. After finding a nice spot near a magician street performer, we settled in to enjoy the scenery (and our ice cream). We met some really cute dogs, and admired the beauty of Japan in autum, before heading back to our hostel to check in.

Gei-shas! Gei-shas!
We checked in after 4PM, to find out that our hostel was low-and-behold had a 10:30 curfew. We asked the warden about 6 times whether this meant we had to be home by 10:30, and he kept reassuring us that it just meant we couldn’t leave after 10:30. Pacified, we went upstairs to claim bunk beds, drop our things and went off to see the city. We weaved our way through the Kyoto city streets to familiarize ourselves with the area and get to know more of Kyoto culture. The city was lively and bustling with people, even though the streets were a little smaller than other cities we had seen. There were shops and eateries everywhere filled with everything from Chinese to Italian. We took a brief tour of the Gion district, which is most exclusive and well-known geisha district in Japan. During our walking tour, we played a game of “spot the Geisha” and had some success. The area consisted of narrow, dark alleys made up of closed restaurants, residences and guesthouses. Every once in a while you could find a Geisha popping out of a building and shuffling into another.

Gion Corner
After a 45 min nap back at the hostel, we headed to the Gion Corner Theatre to get seats for the night’s performance. The theatre holds a nightly performance of traditional Japanese arts, including flower arranging, tea ceremony, geisha dance, 13-string harp music, puppet show, comic performance and royal samari dance. When they asked for a tea ceremony participant, I gladly volunteered. They took me to a table off to the side of the main stage where a woman would serve me prepared matcha, which is powdered green tea leaves. I had a little instruction card to read the proper etiquette for the ceremony, but I think I still looked like a deer in headlights. When the hostess began cleaning and inspecting the utensils, I was allowed to start eating the sweet tea cakes placed in front of me. She then proceeded to ladle hot water over the matcha in a bowl the size of a soup bowl. With a whisk in hand, she beat the mixture together into a frothy and bright-green drink. Then I was brought the bowl, bowed in acceptance and drank the milky spinach with the bowl cupped between my hands. I actually really enjoyed the taste even though it was very different from the sweet teas you find at home. Once the hostess stood, I was allowed to return to my seat and enjoy the rest of the performance. One of my favorite parts was the geisha dance that made up one of the acts. They were remarkably beautiful even if they looked like human dolls.

Nighttme
After the performance, we wandered across the bridge to Kyoto Central for dinner. We found a quaint little restaurant called Kathuya down an alley near the main road. They placed a flavorful sauce on our table, and encouraged us to buy as many sticks of cooked meat as we wanted. Goldie and I split a selection of chicken, beef, sausage, asparagus and gyoza. Each piece was enjoyed with a pleasant dunk in the sweet-salty sauce on our table, and washed down with some warm sake. Afterward, we wandered down the streets of Kyoto to find a more developed and colorful side of the city. We found the gambling center where they play with silver balls that drop through machines. I really didn’t understand how dropping balls down a machine was gambling, but apparently it is really popular there. We found more karaoke spots, before coming across Round 1 Bowling! With nothing else to do, we enthusiastically walked in for a game. While Sara, Brit and Falyn figured out how to pay, Goldie and I snuck away to take full advantage of the Japanese purikura phenomenon. Purikura, which means print club, is a photo booth that can be seen all over Japan. You go into the booth with a friend and pose for the camera. That pastes colorful designs in the background. After retrieving our souvenir from the machine, we met up with the others to excitedly show them the results of our impromptu photo shoot. Then we headed up stairs to our lane, grabbed some beers and began to bowl. After finding a bowling pin outfit lying around, I checked no one was watching, slipped it on and headed back to the group. While dancing around the lanes in my new suit, a staff member approached me… and to our surprise offered us all free key chains. He said he liked that I enjoyed wearing the suit, and even asked to get a picture of all of us. In the end, my bowling was not as exciting. I scored a 69 (no joke) out of 100, and Sara came in last after me. While we were walking back, we came across the Karafunya Café. We wouldn’t have stopped, but we saw this enormous $100 sundae in the window and had to check the place out. The entrance was covered with a selection of sundaes in every different color, flavor and size. Without hesitation, we asked for a table upstairs to be seated. We grabbed a table next to a group of Japanese students, who looked our age. Falyn, who had somehow acquired a giant blow-up bowling pin placed it on the extra chair. Somehow we caught the students attention and began chatting with them about Kyoto and school, among other things. We split two sundaes that we selected under three requirements: bananas, waffle pieces and ice cream. After a while of sitting around indulging and chatting with our new friends, we headed outside to grab a taxi to our hostel.

Taxi + Hostel
Seeing as there were five of us, we had to give it a few tries before finding a taxi that would take us all without making us split into two cabs. Of course, it took Sara’s suggestion that Falyn deflate her enormous bowling pin before we were at all successful. When we finally made it back to the hostel at around 12:30AM, we found (to our disappointment) the doors were locked and no one was answering the doorbell. Apparently, the warden did not understand what we were asking about the 10:30 curfew before. Being the annoying foreign tourists that we were, we kept knocking on the door and ringing the door bell until an extremely grumpy Grandma opened the door and started yelling at us in Japanese. We just ducked our heads, removed our shoes and sprinted upstairs to fall asleep.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was transforming myself into an American Geisha after the Gion Corner performance. My “low” was seeing what an angry Japanese Grandma looks like.

Day 79 – Himeji & Nara

Nov 15th

Himeji = Castles
Sara, Britney, Goldie, Falyn and I had breakfast on the ship before hoping on the JR train to Himeji, which is a small city south of Kobe about 1 hour. We passed the time watching a kid’s baseball team fall asleep on each other (baseball is HUGE in Japan) and sharing music on our iPods. Once we arrived in Himeji, we set off down Otemae Street, which runs straight through town to the main attraction: the Himeji Castle. The central element to the town is the Himeji Castle, which is referred to as the White Heron Castle and is one of the most magnificent castles in Japan. Ikeda Terumasa spent 8 years from 1601 building this castle. Its main towers and eight smaller towers are registered as national treasures, and the castle itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The adjacent Koko-en garden is a specious 33,000 sq meter garden that was covered with fiery red and yellow trees. We began our self-tour through the West Baileys, which were the women’s quarters, before heading around the castle’s storage buildings, municipal buildings and finally the Main Tower itself. Once at the top of the five-story tower we found the Osakabe Shinto Shrine, which is haunted by a dead samari.

“Saucy Noodles”
While wandering the Himeji streets, we finally found somewhere decent to eat that fit all our needs. Tucked away in the far corner of the Shinki Bus Terminal, we found a purely Japanese noodle lunch place. Since you paid via a machine that had pictures of each dish, it was pretty simple to pick something that looked good. I got soba noodles with pork slices and scallions. It came quickly, so we settled down with large, steaming bowls of noodles and slurped away (since that is a sign of respect in Japan).

Nara = Deer
After lunch, we took the train to Nara, a town North of Kobe about 2 hrs. It is famous for the Great Buddha statue found inside the impressive Todaji Temple, which are both listed as World Heritage sites. Since we arrived in the late afternoon, we decided to visit the Haurshika Sake Brewery for a $5 sake tasting of five local varieties. It was extremely awkward because we spoke no other Japanese except “domo arigato” (for some reason I also kept saying “obrigado” which is Portuguese) or thank you. Regardless, we had a wonderful time describing the flavors as airy, sparkly, musky and whatever other random adjective we could come up with. Then they made us try this “interesting” brown, pickled cucumber that probably tastes better the more you eat it. At the end of our visit, they gave us our glass tasting cups, which were marked with the characteristic deer symbol, for free. We headed out to wander around the deer park and town streets just as the lights began to illuminate the streets. Nara itself is a small town that is centered around the numerous shrines, pagodas and temples that cover the area. It is also characteristically marked by the wild deer that roam freely over the area looking for deer biscuits that are sold to tourists at every corner. Most of them are harmless except the one male deer that rammed Britney. Luckily, local authorities were smart enough to cut off all their antlers to protect the tourists. Along our journey, we found ourselves at the Kofuku-ji Pagoda, which was beautifully light up at night, before heading to the central streets of the town to look in shops. We admired the various kites, toys and deer paranonalia that appeared consistently in every shop. We even passed an open door shop that was demonstrating how to make mochi (a soft, doughy dumpling filled with sweet red bean paste). Of course, we admired in awe as the men took huge wooden hammers to the dough over and over again, before splitting one between the five of us.

Modern Sushi
After working up an appetite from the taste of mochi, Falyn corralled us to the nearest conveyor belt sushi restaurant also known as “modern sushi.” The ancient looking man next to me was kind enough to show me how the whole process worked, since you make your own tea at your seat. He made me a delicious cut of powdered green tea leaf with scalding hot water. Each plate had a different color indicating the price of the dish, but you were encouraged to eat as much as you wanted. The man next to me had a pile of 20 plates! I sadly walked away with only 5, which included mostly corn sushi, tuna sushi, edamame and a special role they made for us with crab and tuna. I just wasn’t feeling the raw fish sashimi. After dinner, I decided to use the bathroom and discovered the high-tech toilet that are all over Japan. Once I sat down and felt the warmth of the seat warmer, I knew I was in for some fun. I looked down to my right and found a huge panel of buttons to test out! I pushed the first one that came to mind (they were all in Japanese), and felt a thick, warm shot of water hit my ass. Utterly caught off guard, I started to scream for help about how to turn it off. All I heard was Goldie laughing hysterically, while managing to ask: “Carolyn, are you okay in there?” All I could do was hope the entire restaurant couldn’t hear me as I screamed in delight with the mystery each new button brought. I left that place with a delightfully full belly and perfectly clear rectum.

Karaoke
After sushi, we couldn’t resist the HUGE smiley face Karaoke bar sign across the street and headed straight for some sweet show tunes. A trip to Japan is simply not complete without a visit to one of the many karaoke bars, since it is considered a national past time. You rent rooms by the hour and its all you can drink, so we headed right up to 2115, our own little soundproof oasis to begin. We belted our hearts out to Estelle’s “American Boy”, Duffy’s “Mercy”, Eminem’s “Loose Yourself”, Miley Cyrus, Backstreet Boys, Jason Mraz, Michael Jackson and anything else under the sun. My favorite part was introducing everyone to something slightly country, like Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long.” (They had never heard of it. Figures.) A few hours later, we stumbled out of that place content as could be, so we wandered back to the Comfort Inn to get some rest for the night. Unfortunately, I was illegally snuck into the hotel, so we didn’t have to pay more, so we didn’t have enough pillows. However, Goldie and I are excellent at “sharsies” even when we’re sleeping, so it wasn’t a problem.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was discovering Japanese high-tech toilets include a bidet, butt shower, music, deodorizer and seat warmer all in one! My “low” was getting a shot to the ass while testing out the buttons I couldn’t read.

Day 78 – Hiroshima

Nov 14th

Immigration
We woke up at 7AM for breakfast, so we could be ready for our temperature readings at 7:45. Unfortunately, all we had to do was read our name and walk by a thermal camera, and we didn’t have passport processing until everyone was done. I finally got to the passport terminal by 11 with Becca and Annie to entertain me in line. They took our finger prints via a high tech scanning device, and we had our pictures taken. Of course, I made sure to ask if I looked cute in mine as I peered over the counter. That just made the customs officer smile (and yes he did think I was very cute).

Kobe Meat!
After immigration, Becca, Annie and I took the portliner (monorail) to Sannomiya Station, which is the heart of Kobe city. We walked around the streets to check out the place and found the whole atmosphere incredibly enjoying. All the infrastructure was well maintained, it was perfectly clear of trash, everything was super quiet (people, cars, etc) and everyone obeyed the street signs. I almost felt like we had to whisper at points because it was so quit. We stopped for lunch at the Saporro Beer Restaurant for the sole reason that it had English in its title. We chowed down on marbled-beef fried rice. Delicious! Then I headed back to the Explorer to catch the bus to the Shin-Kobe Station.

Hiroshima
We took the bullet train south of Kobe to Hiroshima, which is another port town that was once a hot spot of activity for the Japanese military. Of course, it is most well known for when the Enola Gay dropped the very first atomic bomb on it in 1945. Over 200,000 people were killed that day, and the area was completely wiped clean of all buildings (except for one iconic dome-shaped one) and people. When we reached the Hiroshima Peace Park, which is located at the “hotspot” of the bomb, we found a variety of memorials to commemorate that piece of history. A tall, twisted clock tower chimes every day at 8:15AM to signal the time the bomb dropped. A peace bell can be rung to express the need for peace throughout the world. A dome-shaped mound marks the pile of cremated ashes of victims from that day. A tranquil water pool surrounds a large flame that will remain light until all the nuclear weapons are taken off the earth. Finally, a children’s monument with thousands of paper cranes marks the remembrance of the children that suffered from the aftermath of the explosion. The park wasn’t really what I expected, since I somehow had the idea we would see more of the actual destruction of the bomb. The only remaining piece was a dome-topped building standing across the river. Next, we toured the Peace Museum, where we studied exhibits containing charred clothing, melted bottles, black fingernails, collected melted skin and tarnished building pieces. Walls showed the radioactive black rain that fell 30 mins after the bomb’s explosion from a collection of dust, debris and radiation in the sky. Stones steps showed the shadow where humans sat after the bomb’s explosion, which turned the rest of the stone white. All the pictures looked like the apocalypse. People had skin hanging off their bodies, clothing tattered and missing body parts. On the second floor, we found Sadako’s paper cranes that originated the story I read as a child about a young girl with leukemia who believed making 1,000 cranes will allow her one wish to live to come true. After absorbing all the somber material from the museum, we made our way back to the bullet train to spend the night in Kobe.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was finding a civilization that is my height! My “low” was watching Jake eat the most disgusting brick of fish on the train ride home form Hiroshima.

Day 77 – Logistical Pre-Port

Nov 13th

Logistical Pre-port
The ship docks on Port Island, which is connected to Kobe by railway called the Portliner. It runs directly into the Sannomiya area of central Kobe, so they reassured us it would be very easy to get from the ship to the center of town easily. Phil, the conduct officer, explained how Japanese society is highly ordered, thus making violent crime and thievery rare. Then, Bob played a video explaining the immigration process upon entering Japan. It includes having our finger prints taken and are headshots taken. (I love posing for pictures, so I got pretty excited.) Apparently, some kids smuggled a person on in China, so we heavily warned against trying anything again. (Later, Julie and I found out that the culprits were the two girls next door who smuggled a guy friend who was studying abroad in Shanghai.) Bob also shared that there have been no terrorists attacks on foreigners since 1995, and Japan has a lower rate of crime than the US. There also could be minor tremors from earthquakes while we’re there.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was hearing Dan’s reason for why he is likes Japan: “Nobody is rich. Nobody is poor. And everyone has talking toilets.”

Day 76 – Cultural Pre-Port

Nov 12th

Julie’s Birthday
Julie turned 22 today! After she left for breakfast in the morning, I made a big sign for our door to wish her “Happy Birthday” and then proceeded to hide tons of little notes all over the room in her things. (I got the idea from Dad, who used to hide post-its all over my elementary school classroom after parent-teacher conferences. Thanks, Dad!) Some notes I just attached to her pictures hanging on the wall, others were in her pill jars or open M&M bags, but the best one was hidden in the cap of her shaving cream. I could hear her chuckling in the shower that afternoon when she found it. I still know that she hasn’t found half of them, but I think she really enjoys finding little surprises randomly. I also brought home this jasmine grass ball from Shanghai that is not only cool looking, but also dispenses a delicious smell. It works especially well when a guy friend of ours comes to our room and leaves “butt sweat” on her bed.

Cultural Pre-port
The population of Japan is approximately 127 million, which is about 99% percent ethnically homogenous. Most practice Shinto and Buddhism, while Confucianism, Christianity and Islam are also practiced. Because of this uniformity, they generally all follow the same ethical and cultural mannerisms. Below I listed a few just to give you a taste:
- Don’t walk and eat at the same time… you will look like a sloppy American.
- Do appreciate Hello Kitty, which is the national icon of the Sanrio Company
- Do not forget to slurp your noodles... it means you like them.
- Try to avoid with chopsticks: spearing the food, rummaging around in a dish, using the other end the other of your chopsticks to take food from communal plates, passing food with them, waving them above a dish while trying to decide what to take next, standing your chopsticks vertically in your rice,
- Do bow and smile to greet someone.
- Wait until everyone’s glass if full before saying cheers: ‘kampai’!
- When sitting on the floor, either tuck your legs underneath you or sit cross-legged. Don’t stretch your legs out in front of you.
Otherwise, they basically told us that we are all going to stick out like sour thumbs being as we are European looking and mostly too boisterous for their culture. We all promised we would behave ourselves.

Registration Daze
So, I signed up for four hours of free internet on the ship to register for spring classes and housing at Vandy. The time slot was from 3AM to 7AM, since that is when students are not burdening the internet. It was pretty creepy being awake at that time especially since everyone was asleep trying to rest up for Japan. The boat has been especially rocky through the South China Sea, so things were creaking and banging all over the place last night. To bask in my isolation, I played that song “All By Myself” a few times, while I spent about 15 mins dealing with administrative things and the rest of the time on iChat, Facebook and Japan travel sites.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was finding the seasickness bags randomly scattered around the ship again, marking the ominous return of rocky waters. My “low” was realizing the Japanese have so many rules to eating with chopsticks.

Day 75 – Shanghai

Nov 11th

Shanghai is the seventh largest city in the world with a population over 20 million, however, the government considers only 13.5 million permanent residents. Since 1986, contemporary metal and glass hotels and office towers have sprung up, replacing solid grey granite buildings and transforming the waterfront skyline. It is an absolutely beautiful city that is fully modernized and developed beyond anything I expected, but I guess it is a financial center of the world.

Jade Buddha Temple
To start our day, Brit, Goldie, Jonah and I headed to the Jade Buddha Temple, which is a famous monastery in the area south of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River. The temple was founded in 1882 in the southern outskirts of Shanghai and was literally moved to a more central point in the city. The temple is famous for two rare statues of Buddha, each carved out of a single piece of white Burmese jade. One depicts Buddha at the moment of his enlightenment, and the other as he is passing into Nirvana. The complex had various alter rooms and galleries to visit. It almost looked like it was snowing outside, since the ashes of incense floated down form tall dings. On our way out we noticed a Chinese couple throwing dollar coins into the large ding at the center of the square. Of course, we all had a go at it. And, what to all tourists do when they see other tourists doing things? They do it too! So, by the end we had this large group of Europeans gathered around the ding throwing coins at it and hitting each other. Not one of them (or us) knew why we were doing it.

Cheng Huang Mio “Temple”
Just a few minuets away, we found the Cheng Huang Mio “Temple,” which isn’t really a temple at all, but a large shopping area also known as the Yu Yuan Bazaar. The present Yu Yuan Bazaar has been gradually formed through reorganizing and merging of stalls and small stores that existed in the "City of God Temple" area before 1949. Comprising 122 stores, the bazaar receives on the average some 100,000 customers a day. The stores had everything ranging form silk scarves, woven bags, chopsticks, various teas, make-your-own stamps and calligraphy. We spent a great deal of time wandering from store to store. A few men held up pictures of bags, shoes and clothes and asked if we wanted Gucci, Prada or Chanel. Britney wanted some Polos, so we obliged one of them who proceeded to bring us to a back alley shop that was triple bolted from the inside. A few other European couples were there shopping for goods. After realizing the prices, we more than double what Polos are in Malaysia, we left empty handed. While walking back to the main streets, Jonah stopped to get some unmarked fresh noodles from a street stall. The men were literally kneading the dough and stretching it by hand right in front of it. When we finally got a bite, it was the most amazing soft, doughy noodles I have ever have. Clearly, when they are freshly cooked noodles take on a whole new idea of delicious.

Lunch Buffet
We wandered about some more looking at the Chinese architecture of the Bazaar and admiring various shops, before heading to lunch at buffet shop. All you had to do was walk down this line, pulling plates of dished you wanted to try and then pay on the way out. Seeing as we wanted to try everything, we each grabbed three or four dished to split. We tried pork dim sum, whole fried crabs, veggie dumplings, steamed bok choy, veggie strewn noodles, pork dumplings, seasoned edamame and about two other dumpling like things that we didn’t know what they were. Some things were good, some were not so good, but we really got to try a whole selection of dishes. We had so much food left over, that we gave it all to a group of SAS girls who walked in after us. They didn’t even have to pay for a meal because we had so much left over.

Yu Yuan Gardens
In order to escape into a tranquil oasis, we headed to the Yu Yuan Gardens that is dotted by teahouses, pavilions, rockeries, koi fish ponds and knolls. This famous classical garden was laid out between 1559 and 1577 during the Ming Dynasty and is hidden behind high, carved brick walls decorated with huge stone dragons. Inside there is a small lake spanned by a magnificent zigzag bridge and the gardens around it. It is one of the most famous gardens in South China and is especially popular with the people of Shanghai which makes it very crowded. About 100 years ago, a part of the garden was sold to merchants and is now the 98-shop Yu Yuan Market. We found shops selling dress-making patterns and novelties, while vendors hand made Chinese dumplings and pastries. The area was absolutely beautiful. Jonah and I stopped to visit the Feng Hui Pearls Museum and wholesale pearl market. We got to touch raw oysters that still had pearls lodged in their gooeyness. The owner explained how pearls are made, the difference between pink and white and how you can tell what a real pearl is. We looked over their beautiful selection of rings, necklaces and bracelets, before thanking them and heading downstairs. There Jonah and I found Goldie and Brit exchanging emails with a new friend. Together again, we grabbed Dairy Queen blizzards and sat in the nearby park to enjoy our snack.

The Bund
Goldie, Brit and I decided to walk down the Bund, which is a wide avenue that curves along the western bank of the Huangpu River, toward the ship that was docked in the harbor. Originally, called the Waitan by the Chinese, the Bund began life as a muddy tow-path, but later became the focal point of the city. It was both a hectic waterfront and one of Shanghai's main streets. As we walked along we watched kites flying in the sky, smelled the aromas of fresh street food and boat watched as they sailed down the river. I bought a pair of what can best be described as “heel blades” since they are not full rollerblades. I practiced shooting down the Bund on them, and caused a little bit of a commotion as I ended up wiping out quite a few times. While in the process of practicing (with Goldie and Brit laughing hysterically at me), three Chinese University students approached us to chat. Toby, Fiona and another quiet kid told us they were art students and wanted to show us their gallery, so we went with them to see what they had. They showed us their professor’s work and their own, all of which was done in a very traditional style of Chinese artwork. They explained the meaning behind all the symbolism and why different marks are made on the paper. In the end, Goldie and Brit both bought paintings for their ship rooms. Toby and Fiona also presented us with intricate paper cut outs of a peacock and a roster as gifts for coming to see them. After that, we went back to the boat to relax before dinner when we could share our Chinese adventures with others.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was being the reason for the “coin rain” at the Jade Buddha Temple. My “low” was only getting one day in Shanghai.

Day 74 – Beijing

Nov 10th

Beijing 2008 Olympics
After the ‘use’ for breakfast, we headed to a tour of the Bird’s Nest and Water cube before heading back to the airport for out flight. First, we toured the Water Cube, which is surrounded by airy cushions all around the outside that represent water. We were so excited to try and bounce off the walls of it, but it turns out a small moot (and security personnel) actually prevents you from getting close to it. Because of the haze and pollution of the city, the plastic outside was already a dingy grey rather than the clear color it was a few months earlier. The inside was just like the pictures on TV. We all went totally crazy when we saw the water that the MICHAEL PHELPS swam in (well, Cassidy and I did at least). We took tons of pictures all over that place. Afterward, we headed to the National Stadium or the “Birds Nest.” It was amazing to see up close. Located on the Olympic Green, the stadium cost $423 million to make and is currently the largest steel structure in the world. All of the monitors inside were playing scenes of glorious victories and the spectacular opening ceremony. It was pretty moving. Cass, Kyle and I even squeezed out fingers under the rubber floors they placed down to protect the track, just so we could feel the glory of it all.

Flight to Shanghai
After a quick transfer to the airport, we hoped on China Eastern flight #5122 to make our way to Shanghai. Since we had three hours to kill, a bunch of us found a noodle shop, where we split bowls of noodles with veggies with beers. After boarding, I met two fellow passengers one from Hong Kong and the other from Shanghai. I enthusiastically told them about our journeys (and showed them pictures on my laptop), while they shared details on what to see or do in Shanghai. They even proved a very helpful hand-drawn map and good restaurants and sight-seeing in English and Chinese. By the time we landed, I have all the information I needed for a packed day the next day in Shanghai.

VIP bitches?
Once we made it back to the ship, we wait in a terribly long security line before boarding. Cassidy, Whitney, Kelley and I went to “Shin Tien Dee” a street with bars that my flight friends had written down to find a happening spot called Baby Face. After dancing around in a sea of locals, we decided to try another spot. Since our cab driver couldn’t speak any English, we asked a man passing by the cab if he could tell the driver where to take us. He ended up hoping in the cab and taking us to Zapata’s on Heng Shan Road. The first thing we saw was a group of guys dancing on the wooden bar. A little leery of what we might find, we headed deeper in to find the place filled with Europeans and expats from the area. While wandering upstairs, we peeked our heads into the VIP area to see… Christina, Barbara, Tierney and Becca dancing away. Of all the places to find these girls, its VIP in some random club! Of course, we crashed and had fun dancing the night away with them. Afterward, we took a 30 min ride back to the ship with this crazy cab driver who would repeat anything we said in English. We started screaming crazy sounds and he would too! Since Cass and Becca wanted some McD’s (but you can’t take open food on the ship), we headed up hanging out in the Chinese security guard box across from the ship. Even though he didn’t speak any English, we offered him some fries and he let us right in out of the cold.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was chatting with the two gentleman on the plane. My “low” was not getting enough pictures of the night.

Day 73 – Beijing

Nov 9th

Communism at its Best
We all woke up early and cranky from lack of sleep. I hustled down to grab a dough ball form breakfast, which I was so unfortunately not excited for, before jumping on the bus last minute. The bus filled with snoring and “zzz’s” on the way to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. After our guide Bella finally coerced everyone awake, we all headed for a little hike across the huge expanse of stone that makes up the Tian-‘anmen Square, which is the largest square in the world. Mao Zedong, the leader who united the country under the PRC in 1949, built it to impress and inspire awe. The square is surrounded by Soviet-style monuments and government buildings, and houses Mao’s mausoleum (where is body is chemically preserved) at the end opposite the entrance to the Forbidden City. There are also four marble lions in front of the Tiananmen gate. The northwest one has a bullet hole on its stomach from the 1989 Tianamen Square massacre, but it is fenced off and nearly impossible to get up close to. As we made our way across the square, we approached the Forbidden City entrance that is marked by a HUGE portrait of Mao’s face. Numerous street vendors tries to sell us Mao watches with his arms waving in the background, but we weren’t fully Commies yet.

The Forbidden City
This is truly the spot to appreciate the might and grandeur of the Imperial Chinese court during the height of its power in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Despite the transformation of the city around it, the Forbidden City remains mercifully relatively untouched. Surrounding the Forbidden City are several former imperial gardens and parks, all of which are accessible for tourists except Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the Communist Party of China. It was a truly impressive structure that never seemed to end. Cassidy, Angela, Cory and I started to worry we were heading in circles since all the architecture is the same on every building, but eventually we somehow stumbled upon the exit.

Temple of Heaven
Before heading to the Temple of Heaven, we stopped for lunch at the Shan Shui Jian Royal Restaurant in the Chongwen District. They served a delicious, but similar variation of the foods we had been sharing family style. We got tiny plates again! It really made me feel like we were at a six year old’s tea party again! Afterward, we were unleashed at the Temple of Heaven, which is located in southeastern Beijing, and is where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties made visits for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. We got to run around and take pictures of:

• Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests: a magnificent, circular wooden building, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. The most impressive part was that it was built without nails.
• Imperial Vault of Heaven: a circular building, built on a single level of marble stone base. While there, we tested out the Echo Wall by yelling things to each other across the smooth, circular wall.
• Circular Mound Altar: is an empty circular platform on three levels of marble stones, where the Emperor prayed for favorable weather. We each took turns taking pictures, while mashed between other tourists standing at the very center where the emperor stands to make prayers.

Along our leisurely journey through the complex, I found a Chinese girl playing with a beautiful, long rainbow ribbon. Of course, I ran up to ask for a turn and she happily obliged. While I was gleefully dancing around with this ribbon, Greg the SAS camera guy snuck up behind me and got it all on film. I looked like a giddy five year old, so I’m really hoping it doesn’t end up in the final SAS video. Along the long walk out of the area toward the bus, we got to enjoy a variety of Chinese music groups that had gathered under the cover of a walkway to practice their tunes. Apparently, the Temple of Heaven is a great place to have choir or band practice, because the place was packed with old people just hanging out and singing.

Silk Street Market
To our delight, the final “site” before the Chinese Acrobatics show, was an eight-story market that sold everything under the sky from designer bags and shoes to pearls, silk and pirated DVDs. You could even get crystal engraved, stamps made or mini clay statues of yourself made. Seeing as you could buy high quality Ugs for $20 and Burbeery coats for $15, all the girls were going crazy. It seemed a little ridiculous that we had just experienced all the poverty in the world, and yet students were still dazed by the labels hanging cheaply in front of them. I can’t really complain though, since the Ugs I got fit snuggly (and warmly) on my feet for the rest of China. Mid-shopping we stopped to re-fuel quickly with Subway sandwiches, since that is the one food we actually miss the most from home. Sandwiches of all things? While sitting outside Subway, a man approached us and asked if we wanted DVDs. Cory, Angela and I were interested in what he had to offer, so we followed him to his “store.” After following down a crowded alley and into an outdoor restaurant, he opened an old refrigerator and pulled out a suitcase of pirated DVDs. We knew right there, not to buy and thanked him for showing us his “store” before heading back to the shopping mecca we had just left.

Chinese Acrobatics show
Once we all stuffed ourselves back into the bus that was no filled with shopping bags of goodies and gifts, we headed to the Chinese Acrobatics show. The show was put on by a school that trained impoverished rural children in the arts of juggling, balance and gymnastics so they can perform to make money. Honestly, I thought it would end up being a little lame, but we were all in awe of the way they could bend their bodies. No joke this woman could have literally shoved her head up her ass. Some of them held the weight of four people on their heads! They did tricks jumping through hoops and onto polls. They used bicycles to flip around. The men also did this hilarious running man pose before exiting off stage each time. I would have loved to touch one of the guy’s bodies just to see how much they feel like steel. After that performance, I can say with full confidence that Ninjas do actually exist.

Nighttime
Cassidy, Kyle and I made it to the only WalMart in the area just in time for closing. We literally sprinted into the place, so we could grab things we needed. Cassidy and I got $3 enormous duffel bags to get things not only back to the ship but also home from Miami. Afterward, we headed back to the guesthouse to hang out and relax for a bit. I ended up passing out early while Kyle watched Prison Break on my laptop.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was finding out that things may be bigger in Texas, but they are f-ing HUGE in Beijing. My “low” was finding out Chinese authorities will seized documents, literature and letters that they deem to be pornographic, including People Magazine!

Day 72 – Beijing

Nov 8th

Tragedy
We woke up early for breakfast at the guesthouse. To everyone’s disappointment it was purely Chinese: bok choy, warm milk, fish soup, sliced meats, doughy balls, breads and noodles. I ordered “apple vinegar” which I assumed was a mistranslation for apple juice, but it really turned out to be apple flavored vinegar. Pretty gross! We then all boarded the bus to be meet by a somber faced Neil (our trip leader) holding a disheartening letter from the Dean of Students. He asked for everyone’s silence as he shared that Kurt Leswing, a fellow SAS student, was struck by a car in Hong Kong yesterday and died at the scene. Some students burst out in tears, since they knew him well. Others sat with puzzled faces as they tried to scan their memories for any recognition of his name. This sounds so pathetic, but without Facebook we are a lot worse at IDing names with faces than at home. The rest of the bus ride was spent in near silence as everyone contemplated this huge tragedy to the shipboard community.

The Great Wall
We pulled up to the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall to find it weaving and wining up the country hills. My first thought was: “This was built for tourists.” The Wall itself was in nearly perfect condition (except for etched graffiti) and cement, which I’m pretty sure they didn’t have back then, securely held the blocks together. While it was definitely a big wall, I have no doubt that the Monguhals could have easily climbed over it (since we did later on). The entire process of climbing it was like being on a giant stair stepper. Perhaps the ninjas were a better defense, since the wall seemed to do not much more than keep the rabbits out. Cassidy and I had a great time running around taking pictures: of us with 20 Asians (who all jumped into our picture simultaneously), of us in a sombrero and Russian hat that they sell on the wall (?) and of us shot gunning a beer in celebration when we made it to the top. With little time to make the bus on the way down, I once again demonstrated the ingenuity of the human race by finding my way off the wall and around a huge bottleneck of people to climb back up the wall farther down. People were truly freaked out when they saw my hands clawing over the top of the wall as I pulled myself up. “I’m just testing the Great Defense theory,” I announced and started sprinting for the bus. Cassidy had a little more trouble, as she dropped her camera and saw it roll a few yards down the hill. (John leaped to the rescue to save it.) Before boarding the bus, Cas and I took a picture of our tight gluts to commemorate the climb.

Si We Restaurant
We stopped for lunch at the Si We Restaurant. Once again we eat on the smallest plates I have ever seen along with chalices the size of my finger. We had a nice family style selection in front of us that included mostly fish dishes, like shrimp cakes, crab meat and fish ball soup. We also had green veggie shoots, spicy beef strips, something we think was chicken and more veggies. Afterwards, Cory and I got the tiniest scoop of gelato outside before walking around the Friendship store to check out their goodies. While browsing a collection of vibrant Chinese vases, Corrine approached us to ask about our gelato. We went on to tell her where we got it and how it was made of Panda extract. She actually believed us and thought it was super cool, but weird that they would make things from endangered animals. From a distance, we saw her enthusiastically buy and enjoy some real Panda extract gelato! (I still don’t know if she knows the truth.)

Giant Pandas!
For the afternoon, we visited the Giant Pandas at the Beijing Botanical Gardens and Zoo. They were huge and adorable. All I wanted to do was snuggle them. There were tons of them too--many more than I expected. I even found one sleeping upside down the way Sidney sleeps at home. On the way out there was a gift shop (obviously). Most students emerged with one or two items of panda gear. Cassidy, on the other hand, emerged with slippers, gloves, a hat and an umbrella. She looked completely consumed in her things. I almost thought one of the pandas escaped from their cages.

Awkward Encounters
Afterward we headed to the Tsinghua University park to awkwardly walk up to basketball and volleyball games to play with students. We played from volleyball then went for campus tour. Cassidy, Kyle, Julie and I decided to head off on our own to explore the nearby buildings. We found a bowling alley, a hair salon, the campus store and various dorms. Unfortunately, we never found where they play beer pong, but I don’t really think they do that in China. After reconvening with the group, we headed to the university cafeteria for dinner with other students. It was a large buffet style meal of mostly unmarked items. I headed up sampling the white rice, chicken in gooey sauce, corn/carrots with scrimp, bok choy and meat dumplings. I sat with another Chinese student, who was a financial engineer and wanted to eventually go to the US to study for his masters. He had never been outside his hometown besides studying in Beijing. It was really interesting talking to him, and I helped him with any questions I could about studying in America. Before heading back to the bus, we each tried “cream” ice cream that really tasted like a popcorn jelly belly, but he really seemed to enjoy them.

Out for the Night
We all made it back to the guesthouse for a quick power nap, refreshing shower and prep time for the night. A bunch of us girls congregated in Cassidy’s room 112 to enjoy “Great Wall” wine and gussy up for the night. Of course, the boys, headed by Spencer and Cory, ended up crashing the party and tearing us away from our vanity to take us out to the Banana Club in the Chaoyang District. The Club was a spectacular feature in itself. The architecture and walls were creatively twisted in different was. Lights covered every possible surface from ceilings and walls to table tops and the floor. Even the dance floor was a large mechanical stage that bounced up and down. The best part of the night, however, was when a male transvestite emerged from a hole in the floor in stilettos shoes I could never be woman enough to pull off.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was convincing Corrine gelato can be made of Panda extract. My “low” was feeling like I was in middle school gym class again.

Day 71 – Ni Hao (hello) Hong Kong

Nov 7th

To Beijing
We took a mototcoach to the Hong Kong International airport to catch a China Southern flight to Beijing. The SAS leaders put stickers on us with our flight #309 on it as if we were children who someone would come across and steer in the right direction. I half expected them to pull out a rope that we would have to hold in a line to stay together. Once we got through the three or four security lines (which I got all my liquids through), we were set free to explore the enormous airport. Cory, Julie and I found a nice table where we could set up wireless and have lunch. We marveled at the sheer size of terminals. The airport seemed to have everything, including a movie theatre and a Krispy Kream. While Cory lunched on a McDonald’s hamburger, I found Pak Loh Chiu Chow, which had some fabulous vegetable and pork dum sim (like dumplings) and tried mango bubble tea (which seems to be everywhere in Asia). We made it on the plane just in time for the three-hour flight to Beijing.

Beijing 2008
Upon arriving at the Beijing International airport, we were scanned by infrared cameras that took our internal body temperatures to make sure we didn’t have a fever. Several security guards also walked the quarantine check point to make sure we didn’t look sick. The only problem was that the check point was at the top of a long flight of stairs, so I think some of us looked like we were glistening more than we should have. One thing I also noticed about the airport is they for some reason like to make it a game about finding the bathroom, since they aren’t marked on any maps. I have a feeling there is a higher UTI rate in Asia for that reason. Bella, our tour guide, collected us all and brought us to the buses outside, where we had our first view of the city’s smog and pollution. Even though it looked like hazy weather for the trip, we would learn that it was just pollution. (Hence the reason many Asians wear surgical masks daily.) On the way to Tsinghua University where we were staying, we passed the Olympic “Birds Nest” stadium and glowing, indigo Water Cube. Both are breathtaking structures regardless of the mystic they have for recently holding the 2008 Olympics. A short while later, we arrived at a Tsinghua University lecture hall to hear about the sites we would be visiting over the next few days.

Dinner and (Mis)adventures
For dinner, we had peking duck, chicken-veggie dishes, tofu dishes, beef dishes, fried noodles, fish ball soup, steamed veggies and whole shrimp. They served us on these microscopic plates that were about the size of an American tea cup dish. We also only had chopsticks and no napkins. After the meal, we all knew quite well why they are so freaking skinny! After dinner, we were given free rein to be on our own for the rest of the night. A group of us decided to walk to the Lotus Center, which is a supermarket-slash-Walmart store on the other side of the campus. The walk really introduced us to the fridge cold of Beijing’s Fall, but we also got a nice view of the campus at night. There were beautiful pond with architectural bridges and walkways. Large Trees covered the campus and drooped down over the sidewalks. When we finally made it to the Lotus Center, we spent a good few hours looking at Asian products and buying weird snacks. I ended up trying corn juice, which tastes remarkably like sweet corn. When we finally went to pay, the check out process was a bit of a disaster. First, Angela thought she got the wrong change back from the cashier who only spoke Mandarin, so communicating with him just made him angry. Then, Cassidy didn’t understand that you had to pay for plastic bags and ended up just taking one from him because she didn’t understand. Then, Julie and Todd tried to buy a lemon but never put a sticker on it like they were supposed to (it just made them more upset). When Julie tries to buy a reusable bag at the counter the woman started screaming at her because she couldn’t get one down. Needless to say, we caused quiet a commotion and I think they were very happy to see us leave. We all never realized how hard it would be to travel in Beijing without speaking Mandarin. On the way out, Cassidy and I bought these strawberry-cherry like fruits on a stick covered in warm sugar syrup. Reeling from a sugar high, we headed with some girls to hang out in the Pizza Company (since they did not like the peking duck served earlier). That’s where we met the most adorable young man who explained that eating cheese pizza was the weirdest thing he had ever heard. Apparently, they only eat pizza with toppings in China. Afterward, we just headed back to the guesthouse to hang out and play beer pong in Cory’s room.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was getting extra breakfast tickets because my roommate never made it. My “low” was witnessing our group become the laughing stock of the Lotus Center.