Crossing the Pacific

I know you all are probably looking for a more substantial entry on my adventures in China and Japan , but I felt I should write this one first because it is not nearly as exciting. My logic is that if I post my more exciting entries later, they’ll remain at the top of the blog longer, so those who don’t check this blog very often will see them right away instead of this much less interesting entry. That, and writing about my experiences in China and Japan are going to require a lot more energy and attention than I can currently muster. They were awesome, though. Especially Japan. But I'll get to that at a later time.

Anyway, some may consider it a bit premature to write an entry about crossing the Pacific Ocean , since we still have several days left of this stretch of the voyage. However, my inclination is that until we reach Hawaii , at least, my days are going to follow a very similar pattern, so I don’t feel I’ll be leaving out much if I write an entry about it now. Since we left Japan 3 or 4 days ago, I have been doing a lot of reading and a lot more sleeping. Slumber is the best way to deal with the unpleasantly large waves, I tell you. The ship isn’t rocking as much today as it was the past few days, though, so hopefully this trend will last for the next few days so I can get my last few papers finished up.

Today was the silent auction and the live auction to raise funds for SAS scholarships and stuff. I didn’t go to the live auction, but at the silent auction they were selling things people had donated, including dinners at people’s houses in the U.S., a bubble bath for 1 in Dean David’s Office (which makes me wonder why he has a bath in his office), dinner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and some crew members at the Alumni Ball, and the right to raise the U.S. flag when we reach Hawaii (I heard it went for over $100). There were also a variety of bags, clothes, pictures, and other trinkets that people had acquired throughout the journey that they presumably had decided they didn’t need. There was also a jar of Nutella, peanut butter, and some candy that went for $15 or something. People here really like Nutella and peanut butter, by the way.

Two days ago we had Thanksgiving. It was very disappointing. A few of my friends and I without Extended Families (something like surrogate families made of people on the ship) had an Orphan Dinner where we got dressed up all fancy and sat together in the Garden Lounge. There was turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and stuffing, but it was not much better than usual dining hall food (which I am completely tired of, by the way). On the plus side, I think I will enjoy Christmas Dinner much more because Thanksgiving was so underwhelming.

Oh, we’re also crossing the International Date Line today. I don’t know if we’re actually crossing its physical position on the globe, but at midnight we are not changing our calendars to the 28^th – we’ll be living November 27^th again. Time paradox!

As I’m sure you can tell, nothing interesting is really going on here. It’s basically the equivalent of 10^th Week at UCLA, except it’s a very long 10^th week. After today, there are 6 days of class left until Hawaii . After Hawaii we have a reading/catch-up day, finals for 3 days, Ambassador’s Ball (or is it the Alumni Ball? I forget what it’s called), and then we pretty much pack up and disembark. So besides Oahu and The Big Island, there isn’t too much to look forward to, especially because the Pacific Ocean is not made of smooth waters. The Ambassador’s Ball might be kind of fun, at least, because we get formal dining (which I hope is better than Thanksgiving) and we get to dress up all fancy-like.

And that is all for the Pacific Ocean . After I get my entries on China and Japan posted, I probably won’t have anything else until after finals or after I’m off the ship, unless something super exciting happens or I’m struck by inspiration. We’re really getting to the end, but since there’s not much left to really look forward to, I don’t mind as much that it’s almost over. I’m kind of ready for a break from traveling, and I’m definitely ready to be off the ship. But I really do only want it to be a break from travel, so I guess I’m going to have to get my SAS loans paid quickly so I can apply for JET as soon as possible!

P.S. – I don’t think anyone cares about my classes for next quarter, since no one ever takes the same classes as me, but here’s what I’ve got:

Class: ANTHRO 149SL (Language & Gender – Communities) 

Time: 9:30A-10:45  Tuesday & Thursday + Discussion 10-10:50 on Friday

Professor: OCHS, E.       

-I’m not a huge fan of the linguistics side of anthropology, but Ochs is supposed to be a huge name in the field, so it should be OK. Maybe.

Class: ANTHRO 175S (Japan!)  

Time: 9:30A-10:45A Monday & Wednesday  

Professor TAMANOI, M. 

-I was told they wouldn’t offer this class this year, so I’m super excited they decided to!

  
Class: FRENCH 14W   (French Culture & Civ + Writing)   

Time: 11:00A-12:15P Tuesday & Thursday + 11-11:50 discussion on Friday     

Professor: MELZER, S.E.   

-I’m only wait-listed, so if I don’t get in I might try to get into a different Writing II or that Egyptian class with you, Brian.
        

Class: GLOBAL STUDIES 100A   

Time: 2:30P-3:50P Monday & Wednesday + Discussion 4-4:50 on Monday

Professor: BURGOS, R.A., RIGBY, D.L., THOMAS, D.R.       
-Yep, I took up my Global Studies minor again. Hopefully it doesn’t prove to be a mistake. And hey, even if I hate it (this is somewhat likely), I only have a few more classes to take to complete it! Plus, I had Burgos for Global Studies 1, and I sort of liked him, so maybe I’ll like his portion of the class.

Yep, not the best schedule, but at least I’ll be too busy to be whining about how much I miss SAS and stuff. On the plus side, there are no 8 a.m. classes, on Mondays and Wednesdays I have time to go back to my apartment for lunch between classes, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I'm done on or around noon. My main goal, though, is not convenience so much as I’m trying to get all of the classes I have to take out of the way as soon as possible so I can take as many fun classes as I can with my remaining quarters of college, of which I am beginning to realize there are not many!

AND THANK YOU SARINA FOR SIGNING UP FOR ME! You are a fantabulous roommate =)

P.P.S. – I think I am going to go crazy with boredom in the next few days (or maybe just end up sleeping too much), so please send me emails to help relieve the ennui!