Reflecting On What Just Happened

CLEVELAND - I arrived back home in Cleveland last night after spending a few days out in California. Here are a few reflection pieces that you might want to see to help understand more about this experince.

I didn't write this but this is a reflection piece written by someone on our voyage that everybody envied. This might give a little bit of an idea of how this felt and having to leave on Wednesday...

~ There is a Singapore rail pass, a receipt from a Vietnamese dressmaker, and a Kingfisher bottle cap on the bottom of my purse. I have been to Dominica, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Singapore, Vietnam, China and Japan. My trusty anti-theft money belt is now the home of rupees, rand, cedi, reals, dong, yuan, and yen… and I don’t plan on cleaning it out anytime soon. I have done more and seen more than most people will in their entire lives.  This is how it feels to have a dream come true.

Where I used to see shapes on a map I now see people; beggars, politicians, drug dealers, philanthropist, thieves, travelers, parents, children and in many countries, angels. Everyday I have seen the best and worst that humanity has to offer. I have been ripped off, misguided, threatened, spit on and cursed out more times than I can count. I have also been brought to tears by the generosity of a complete stranger. We have all had to trust, especially in the taxi, tuk tuk, tro tro, rickshaw, and moto drivers- but above all, we have had to trust each other. We have experienced each other’s good, bad and ugly, like really ugly…like day five of the Amazon ugly. Though we were strangers three months ago, we have shared moments of intense fear, hopelessness, bliss and inexpressible gratitude. We have supported each other through meltdowns, travel group drama and of course- missed FDPs. We have watched each other come of age, overcome fears and forge new identities…sometimes in the form of a nose ring or a panda hat.

I have gained an extreme amount of weight- or as I like to see it now- I have gained baby weight of my cultural and intellectual rebirth. But really – it’s not like I was going to skip the Nan in India, the pho in Vietnam or the fan ice in Ghana (or the birthday cake on deck five). Although I won’t miss the pasta and potatoes, I will always long for one more long dinner on deck 5. This ship must be the only place on earth where five college kids can have a three-hour dinner without being interrupted by text messages or Facebook notifications. Those long dinners will forever be among my most precious memories. Whether we were planning our weddings or trying to process India, I always felt most at home during dinnertime. May we always remember the freedom of being unplugged and out of touch and the magic of living in the moment with the people sitting around us.

I finally have the lingo down. I use words like deck, swell, port, berth, tymitz, green sheet, and quarantine. I know that breakfast means deck 6 and dinner means deck 5, unless it’s inedible then its up to deck 7. I no longer worry about the pub night schedule or whether or not my clothes match when I run to global studies. I still don’t know the last names of the majority of my friends - even though I can probably name their school, major, hometown and how they handle stressful situations. Like all SAS kids, I too have spent my fair share of time wondering if the peanut butter is actually soy butter or if the mythical stabilizers are out. I tell time by ports, using phrases like “We became friends after Ghana” or “I haven’t been to the gym since Singapore.” Even though I know there are 367 days in our SAS year, I haven’t actually known the day of the week since we left the Bahamas. My closet is now an eclectic showcase of all the latest trends in tourist couture- I realize as I am writing this I am wearing pants from India, a shirt from China and bracelet from Brazil. I can’t wait until I accidently pull out a Rand to pay for a cup of coffee or find a Family Mart receipt for five Japanese Strongs in my coat pocket.

Though I will miss this ship- the garden lounge, the union and the cove. It’s the people I will miss the most. I can’t imagine life without the eggrolls, the SASholes, the shipsters, the pastels, Mizaram, Nalbach, Takada and of course the amazing crew- especially Achilles. I can already hear Stuart’s voice in the back of my head before all major life events… “Graduation tomorrow- Graduation tomorrow.”

It is funny to look back now- at photos of our old selves, before our dreams came true and the world changed us. We looked so put-together, wondering the ship with our nametags on… now we look like day three of a Grateful Dead festival.  However you describe it- backpacker chic, pirate swag - this scraggily bunch of college kids is now a force to be reckoned with …and I am proud to be among them.

As emerald shellbacks we have gone on safari in Africa, tried yoga in India, and enjoyed a few drinks in Mauritius. We have accidently hung out at a prostitute bar in Ghana and caused a 300% revenue increase for that 7/11 in Hong Kong (the same goes for the Krazy Koconut in Dominica and Captain’s in Shanghai).  We understand the frustration of being lost in a cruise ship terminal, a subway station and of course, Makola market. We have built houses, fed the hungry, meditated with monks and stood breathless as we visited 3 of the 7 wonders of the world. We now know that no public restroom in the US could ever match the horror of an Indian squatter… and we always know – no matter where we go, there will always be Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pitbull on the radio, and convenient store liquor. We have survived Brazilian rum, Ghanaian gin, South African wine, Vietnamese beer, and Japanese sake…and we have the stories to prove it. We will never forget the theme songs: “I Love my Life” in Dominica, “TIA” in Ghana, “Waka Waka” in Cape Town- and if you traveled with me in India, you will never forget dancing on the bus to “Chaiyya Chaiyya.”

We are professionals now. We have learned the tricks of travel and how to walk with absolute confidence-- no matter how lost we actually are. We have slept with out wallets, tied ourselves to our backpacks and carried index cards with “please take me to my hotel” written in various languages. We know now it’s best not to admit it is your first day in a country, especially when bargaining. We are now masters at the “walk away” technique and know that if the shopkeeper is happy- we definitely paid too much. We can spot a fake swatch or Prada bag from a mile away and all the while we wonder if the Tom’s in Africa are fake or stolen. Red flags shoot up every time we hear phrases like “I give you good price”, “Come meet my friend” or “Here brother, sister- have a look.”  We now know that asking about people's children and hobbies is the fastest way to drive down a price (and turn a greedy shopkeeper into an honest friend).

We have learned the importance of pronouncing people's names correctly and even more importantly learning the words "please and thank you" in every language. We have mastered the art of the discrete picture taking, whether we were trying to capture the serenity of a monk or the desperation of a child, we have captured moments that exist beyond description. Even if we took 1,000 photos- images can’t convey the smells, tastes and sounds that made each moment real- and maybe now we realize that the magic really begins when we stop experiencing life from behind the lens and fully immerse ourselves in the moment.

We could have done a million other things this semester- stayed at home, studied in one country… but we didn’t. At this exact moment in time we came together- to learn and grow and to forever be the kids of Spring 12. Although we were a special breed before the MV (lets be honest- it takes a special person to drop everything and sail around the world with complete strangers…without any real plans)- now we are just bizarre. We lived on a cruise ship. We sailed around the world. We went to a university that had a gangway and a pool deck. We must be the only people on Earth who had classes canceled so we could cross the equator or watch our friends in a synchronized swimming competition. Our lives are epic and we are epic… and I know it is just the beginning.

Although we are a pretty confident bunch, we still have our fears. Fears like getting off the ship, losing touch, or getting that first text message. We worry that we will be strangers to our family and friends and that no one will ever understand us again. We will lie awake at night wondering what we will do with our lives to top this experience or how to make this semester count. Deep down we all really have one fear- that we haven’t changed, that we haven’t grown enough and that we will settle back into our old ways of being. We will walk off the gangway in San Diego wondering: “now how do I make this the beginning not the pinnacle?” It seems daunting now, figuring out a way to make our new selves function in our old lives- and not bark at our friends when they complain about traffic, class or being hungry. After Ghana, I will never complain about having to read for class again. I get now how lucky I am just to be able to.

As alum, we will be a hard bunch to overwhelm, to scare or discourage. After waking up to a tarantula in Brazil or walking through a row of beggars in India, nothing really fazes us now. Things that once seemed "difficult" months ago are no longer remotely intimidating. We did this… now we can do anything.

Although we may be unfazed, may we never be “unimpressed.” May we always be delighted by the wonders of world and find magic in every place and person- not just in the monuments or celebrities- but in everywhere we go. May we always see the world though these eyes- the eyes of youth and hope. May we stay optimistic and stay positive… and may we always stay a little naïve-for no other reason besides being young rocks. May we remember the things we said we would do- the people we promised we would help… and may we never forget the moments when we felt anything was possible….may we always remember the person we wanted to become. May we always see the world as an opportunity and a challenge- and may we wake up every morning ready to conquer it.

So as the moments slip away and we try to pack the last three months into two suitcases… may we smile bigger, breath deeper and soak it all in.  However you want to say it- You Only Live Once, Love Life, Capre Diem, or Life is short… do it big and do it now… because this is all we have and we are the luckiest people alive. Of course we are lucky because we just sailed around the world and had 1,000 eye-opening experiences, but the luckiest because we have each other… and may we always have each other. ~

This is a video shown to us on the last night. More than anything the message is really powerful:

Finally, here is a link to a cool video that some people put together to, "The Show Goes On." http://vimeo.com/41524822

Back to the U.S.A.

This is it, I've made it all the way around the world! Tomorrow morning, 8 a.m. PST or 11 a.m. EST, the Explorer will be docking in San Diego. Out of the past two and a half weeks, except for one day for our stop in Hilo, Hawaii, I have been on the ship crossing the Pacific Ocean. The time has been filled finishing up classes and final exams. It’s really hard to believe that it is all over. SAS is definitely the best and hardest thing that I have done in my life. Currently, there are a lot of mixed emotions because tomorrow when we arrive it will feel like we are in another port but instead we are getting off the ship never to return again with the ship moving on to some other location without us. I am truly grateful to have had this opportunity to travel around the world and being apart of this amazing community of people. The hardest part tomorrow will be leaving everyone and everything that we have come accustomed to in our life over the past four months. It’s something that would be difficult for an outsider to understand. This includes ship life, friends who we’ve experienced so much with, amazing faculty members that have taught us so much, and the chance to see and learn something new everyday. I believe a major benefit of this journey has been how we are so shut off from our home lives (Facebook, Twitter, News, Cell Phones, etc.) and we can escape from the Internet and completely focus where we are right now. That is something that will be with me forever; how to be in the present and truly immerse yourself in something. Together we have all done so much and it’s hard to believe just how far we’ve traveled since the day we stepped on the ship in Nassau, Bahamas on Jan. 19. For now, that’s all I have. I look forward to speaking and sharing with anyone about this EPIC voyage around the world. I want to thank everyone who has kept up and read along the journey. It has been fun trying to keep everyone informed of what I’ve been up to so I hope everyone enjoyed it.

 

U.S.A. tomorrow, U.S.A. tomorrow, U.S.A. tomorrow after 110 days out of the country. It’s the longest I have ever been away from the States so it will be interesting. I look forward to hearing from everyone as I’m back in contact tomorrow. I’ll sign off with this quote from Dr. Seuss:

 

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

 

I’m forever grateful to call myself a member on the Spring 2012 Voyage of Semester at Sea, it’s been an amazing ride!

Japan

JAPAN – For a lot of different factors not directly relating to Japan this was probably one of the toughest stops on the trip. First, the factor of travel exhaustion started to set in and motivation to plan things was at an all-time low. Japan is ridiculously expensive and with it being the last stop that made things hard. Finally, the weather didn’t cooperate too much as it rained for two of the four days that I had there. That being said this will probably be the shortest entry on a port.

            This past week was a great time to be in Japan because it was peak time to view the Cherry Blossom trees. My first day in Kobe I had a trip for one of my classes to the American Consulate in Osaka. We spent the afternoon there learning about the foreign service, how consulates work, and U.S.-Japan relations. The American relationship with Japan is critical as they are our major Asian ally in the region. The best part of the day however, was dinner in the evening in Kobe as I went out to get a Kobe steak dinner. While quite expensive it was the best steak I have ever had. The meat pretty much melts in your mouth.

            The second day I took a day trip to Kyoto from Kobe. The rail system in Japan is one of the best on the world so it’s easy to travel places on them. It took about an hour to get there from the ship. Kyoto is seen as the cultural hub of Japan as it was the former capital city and wasn’t destroyed during World War II. My lunch here was pretty interesting as we ate noodle bowls Japanese style with Green Tea meaning that you sit on the floor to eat and take your shoes off when you enter. This was one of those days where it rained a lot especially in the afternoon. While braving the weather for a while it’s still hard to enjoy places when majority of the stuff you want to see is outside. We walked up the Philosopher’s Path, which is a prime spot to see the Cherry Blossoms, and stopped at a temple. The path is a small canal lined with Cherry Blossoms next to the mountains. Soaked to the bone after 4 hours in drenching rain, that was enough for me. It was disappointing not getting a chance to see more of Kyoto but I think we did well braving through the weather as much as we did. Also, we have become spoiled seeing a bunch of different historical sites and after a while you do get sick of seeing some of them and they seem to mix in with one another. I spent the rest of the afternoon eating sushi before heading back to Kobe on the train. Day three was spent on the ship transiting up to Yokohama. The day at sea was well needed catching up on some rest and work that needed to get done. It was also nice to have the ship pretty much to yourself as manypeople opted travel overland as I did in China.

            The fourth day I went into Tokyo from Yokohama. It took about an hour commute on the train as well. The first stop in Tokyo was to see the Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest seafood market in the world. The best time to go there is in the early morning when auctions are occurring but it wasn’t possible for us to arrive that early. We got there around 11 a.m. and even though it was starting to close down we were still able to see different fish. Because it wasn’t as busy, it was easier to walk around and get a feel for how big the market is. The best part was seeing the huge tuna on display or being cut at the stalls. Of course, I had sushi for lunch in the area. For a little bit in the afternoon, we walked around the Ginza area of Tokyo. My small amount of time in Tokyo was prettyunderwhelming. It was mostly high end shopping and really not too exciting. Back in Yokohama, there was a baseball game starting at 6 p.m. that we wanted tosee. This was an interesting experience as there are bands, cheerleaders, and the fans get really into the game. I’m pretty sure they brought the pitcher in on a car when they made a pitching change too. Unfortunately, it started torain in the 4^th inning and it wasn’t too fun to watch the game in the rain much longer after that.

            The last day I stayed in Yokohama because it was pouring rain, windy, and quite chilly. So the best place to go was to find somewhere to be inside and that was an indoor shopping complex. My main objective of the day was to have more sushi for lunch. I braved a walk through the Chinatown part of town in the afternoon but that didn’t last long. The price of things in Japan after a while just gets comical and it makes it hard to do things if your not prepared for the prices. Just doing things like going on the subway for two stops costs a few dollars. And I found it nearly impossible to find a cheap meal. It’s clear that Japan is a very rich country. The way people serve you and the attention to detail in Japan is amazing too as service is to be expected. For example, you are notsupposed to tip in restaurants because the service is expected. But overall, I liked Japan a lot more than China because I found the people a lot more respectful and orderly. They were also extremely nice and helpful even if they didn’t know much English at all. The order of the people is amazing as people are pretty much silent on the subway and then line up to get on it. At times its quite bizarre yet amazing how orderly it is, something you would expect in a communist country that we were in the last three stops.

           

Food ~ Kobe Beef, Chicken Noodle Bowl, Lots of sushi.

 

Drinks ~ Sake, Green Tea

 

Next stop: U.S.A.! Last night, the ship pulled out of chilly and rainy Yokohama and we said good-bye to Asia for the final time. Now it’s 10 days until we see land again in Hawaii and 17 days until we are in San Diego. Perhaps over the next couple weeks I will post some reflective pictures or essays but now it’s time to get down to business with classes and reflection of the past three months. It’s pretty sad; I’m not ready for this to be over!

China

CHINA – The final destinations of the voyage are starting to wind down and the long trek across the Pacific back to the motherland lies ahead. I’m coming to you off the east coast of Japan as we transit up to Yokohama arriving tomorrow morning for two days. China was the longest stop we had this trip with a whole week to explore the country. It’s also where I did my most independent travel and planning of exactly what I wanted to do. China was exhausting and being a culmination of by the time we depart Japan, 24 days in port over the last 34 days overall since we arrived in India. It’s been a wild ride and travel exhaustion is beginning to set in with two more days left in Tokyo.

            The ship arrived in Hong Kong on Apr. 1 and as always I made sure to wake up early as we pulled into another stunning city. Many years ago, I traveled to Hong Kong and it was very cool remembering being in spots. The skyline of Hong Kong is a spectacular sight and is quite different from the rest of China. I liked Hong Kong a lot more compared to other cities in China mainly because Hong Kong is a S.A.R. because up until 1997 the city was a British colony. Therefore, HongKong has avoided the communist Chinese rule. S.A.R. stands for “Special Administered Region” so Hong Kong remains its own country, but is in agreement to merge into China in the next 50 years.  I spent my only day in Hong Kong touring around the city going around the city center area, the SoHo district, and up to Victoria’s Peak. We also made a stop at a church, which actually was having Palm Sunday service when we arrived. It was a funny way to be reminded exactly what time of year it is as I’ve said having any concept of time on this trip is unheard of. I most enjoyed going up to Victoria’s Peak, which I remember doing the first time I was here. This is a mountain towering next to the Hong Kong skyscrapers offering great views of the city and surrounding harbor. At the peak they have restaurants, a shopping mall, and various walking paths that you can take. It is a very cool spot. In the evening, I headed out to Lan Kwai Fong, the best night district in the city to begin the 21^st birthday weeklong celebration in China. It is a street lined with many clubs and bars filled with tons of people even on a Sunday night. I enjoyed just people watching out on the street as HongKong is pretty well known for its nightlife.

            The second day was mainly making my way into the actual country of China and traveling up to Beijing, the capital city of China. I had a flight out of Shenzhen, which is located just across the border in mainland China. From Hong Kong, I took a bus that takes you across the border and to the Shenzhen airport. This was an interesting experience because I literally walked across the border into China. The bus takes you to a large building where you get out and walk through two sets of immigration, one for Hong Kong and the other for China. Then once finished a new bus picks you up on the other side and takes you to the airport. With an evening flight to Beijing, we arrived in Beijing around 11 p.m. andmade it to the hotel in downtown Beijing by midnight. The weather was quitedifferent in Beijing than what I’ve been used to this trip with a trip up to springtime weather. It was weird being somewhere where leaves were barely on trees and temperatures in the 50s and 60s.

            The third day, my birthday I spent touring around Beijing hitting the major landmarks. First thing in the mourning I headed to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square area. It’s amazing just how massive the Forbidden City is. In the afternoon, I took a subway to the Summer Palace, which was basically the vacation home for the emperor located on a lake on the outskirts of Beijing. Riding the subway in Beijing is quite the experience as most of the time it’s jammed with people and when you think another person can’t get on, four more do. For an interesting bit of information that I wasn’t aware of until I got there, it was a national holiday for the time we were in Beijing so it was especially busy. The holiday on April 4^th was National Grave Decorating Day where the Chinese go honor their ancestors a lot like Day of the Dead in Mexico. So nobody was working. That meant everyone was at the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, on the streets, and on the subway. It was just insane how busy it was and how many people there were. The line for tickets to get into the Forbidden City was hundreds deep but somehow they could get through to us in just 20 minutes. For my birthday that evening, I obviously headed out to the main nightspots in Beijing. Overall, it was lot of fun and will probably be a birthday I neverforget being spent outside of the U.S.A.

            The fourth day I spent making my way to the Great Wall of China. It is about an hour drive outside of Beijing to make it there. I went to the Mutianyu section that typically has a lot less tourists than other spots while also being pretty close to Beijing. Interesting enough you can take a ski lift to the top of the wall so you don’t have to hike up. I choose that option to allow for more time actually on the wall. The Great Wall was just another spectacular site lining the mountain peaks and then darting steep straight down the mountainside and going on for miles into the distance. It’s hard to believe how they actually built it, as it’s also known as one of the largest gravesites in the world for all the people that died building it. The best part though was at the edge of the tourist section the wall turns into a worn down, overgrown section of the wall. This is what majority of the Great Wall looks like. Even with signs asking people not to go on this part many people still do and the best part was experiencing this authentic section. Actually, the best view of the day wasatop one of the watch posts on the worn down section overlooking the mountains and city of Beijing in the distance. The weather was great with a clear sunny sky and in the 60s making for a perfect afternoon.

            For my last day in Beijing, I really wanted to go see the Olympic Park with the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube made famous in the 2008 Olympics and the Beijing OpeningCeremonies. More than anything it was interesting to see how they have turned these venues into something that is functioning and can bring in money instead of just being an empty stadium sitting there, which is always an issue after a city hosts the Olympics. Inside both the Water Cube and Bird’s Nest, they have shops and restaurants while still being able to go inside and tour the Olympic facility that people know it for. The area is quite nice and you could probably spend a whole day there but I had to leave in the early afternoon in order to make my way to the Beijing South Train Station. I had a 4 p.m. high-speed train ride to Shanghai. I had never been on a high-speed train before so this wasactually a very cool experience. The train reaches speeds of 300 km/hr, which comes out to about 186 mi/hr. It almost feels like you are gliding over thecountryside. The ride was 4 hours and 45 minutes putting me in Shanghai by 9 p.m. and giving me two full days to explore Shanghai. Views of the countryside provided the contrast of China, a country with many very rich people in the cities but extreme poverty outside them.

            I definitely liked the ultra modern city of Shanghai a lot better than Beijing. It’s really just a cool city to look at with skyscrapers popping up everywhere and demonstrates the wealth that the city has. I toured around the city hitting the Yu Garden in the Old Shanghai part of town before making my way to the river area. Along the river is The Bund which stares across the river at the stereotypical skyline of the Pudong district. Pudong is the main business district of Shanghai filled with building after building. It’s amazing to here stories of how this area was all farm land in just 1990 and now it’s completely full. In Pudong, I went to the World Financial Center and went up to the Observation Deck on the 100^th floor, the highest observation deck in the world soon to be surpassed in 2014 by a building they’re building right next door that will be even taller. Up top it provides spectacular views of the massive city of Shanghai including the river where you could see our ship docked. In just 30 seconds the elevator in this building can take you up and down 100 floors.  The subway in Shanghai is super efficient, cheap, and not as busy as Beijing so it is a fun way to get around the city quickly.

            For my seventh and final day in China, I had a tour of the business area of Shanghai. We stopped at the Museum of Urban Planning, which is a museum solely dedicated to how Shanghai has transformed over time and its plans as a model city of thefuture. Plans for the future are laid out that will make the city even better over time.  I don’t know of any city in the States that has such a strategic vision as Shanghai does, as they are constantly looking to become larger and better. I’m sure it helps having a government to just say where a building is going to be built instead of oursystem where we have to debate where its going to be built and how we are going to raise funds for the project. Shanghai more than anything shows a lot of the wealth that we have given China in our trading. Next, we stopped by the spot where the World Expo was held in 2010. There at the Intercontinental Hotel, the CEO of the company hosted us to a lunch to eat some fantastic Chinese food but also learn about how the hotel business is expanding all over Asia. In the afternoon, I decided to take a long walk back to the ship through the city. I walked along the busy East Nanjing Street flooded with people on a Saturdayholiday weekend afternoon (Easter Weekend). This street is the main shopping district of Shanghai. I took this road up to The Bund where I stopped to have some drinks looking out at Pudong before making my way to the ship for the final time. Shanghai is another awesome sight at night with buildings flashing glitzy colors and changing designs every few minutes. So this departure from the dock was definitely one of the highlights leaving the very cool city ofShanghai.

            I really enjoyed China but one of the parts I didn’t like about China is that people are very rude there compared to our standards. People will cut you in line, bump into, spit in front of you, sneeze in front of you without covering their mouth, and just stare at you. So as much as I enjoyed China I was ready to go and probably the place where I felt most unwelcome. I’m not trying to put down the country but it’s probably the place that it felt most culturally different to me. It’s also the one place where I was approached by the most scammers. I counted five in one day as they come up to you trying to be friendly and want to take you to some “tea ceremony.” This is one of the main reasons I really liked Hong Kong because it didn’t really have any of this since it is not technically part of China.

            It will be a long 11 days to travel across the Pacific to Hawaii as the semester windsdown and crunch time begins. These 11 days are definitely needed though as it will be good to be at a relaxed pace after the craziness for the past month. I never thought I’d say this but I am getting quite used to ship life and it’s starting to feel like home. It’s going to be tough to leave. Stay tuned for the last main country update about Japan in the next week, hard to believe it’s already at that point!