Location: Somewhere in the North Sea (going around the tip of Denmark, I think)
All of today was spent in orientation meetings in the Union on deck 6 (see the SAS website ship tour page for pictures.) At least it was for most people. After many nights in a row of what was probably not enough sleep, culminating with the night before embarkation, when I couldn't get to sleep until 5am, I finally succumbed. I must have switched off the sound on my alarm, because I vaguely remember dreaming about ignoring it and then... nothing.
...Until I woke up to the noon announcements over the shipboard loudspeaker. Panic! I missed all of the morning orientation meetings, though I'm pretty sure they didn't say anything I haven't already read all about (at least from what I manage to gather from all the sleepy people who did make it there this morning.) I was just in time for lunch, and to the next round of orientation sessions (in which they also didn't really say anything I didn't already know.) I did find out that the M.V. Explorer (this ship) has the largest floating library in the world! Apparently there is a cruise ship with 8000 volumes which has been claiming the honor, but we actually have over 9000 - awesome, huh?
On the bright side, I've (sorta) caught up on sleep now! And I don't feel at all seasick - in fact, I kind of like the rocking of the ship. It's like living on a giant waterbed.
There was also a big clubs/activities fair this evening, which had quite an impressive selection. I signed up for four:
1) A group that plans independent travel (so that I'm not traveling around just by myself! Much...)
2) "Talk Nerdy to Me" (seriously, it's called that! I'll feel right at home: I even brought the "Talk Nerdy to Me" T-shirt I won in an NSCS raffle)
3) The Semester at Sea Alumni association organizes something they call "shipboard families" in which you are paired with fellow students, lifelong leaners, and professors into little makeshift family groups. Which sounds kind of awesome.
4) Being a Spanish tutor for the little kids who are on board (for those of you who don't know, the professors and some other staff actually bring their entire families with them on the ship! Apparently on Halloween they even go trick-or-treating at our cabins)
... And there will also be an email sent out for Yoga and Zumba gatherings, which will be first come first serve, so I may do one of those as well.
Cool info of the day: in case anyone is curious how this internet at sea thing works, it was explained to us in one of the many orientation sessions: first, the info is sent from my computer to the IT department, where the computers there package it all up and send it through one of the two tennis ball shaped antennas on top of the ship (once again, you can always view the ship and its layout by going to the SAS website. There are even links to it right at the top of this page.) After that, the signal is bounced waaay up to our satellite, and waaay back down to the University of Virginia. The UVA sends the signal off to whatever server in the US hosts the website I am attempting to view. Then the info goes back to the UVA, up to the satellite, down to the ship, through the antennas, to the IT computers, and back to my computer. That's how the whole process was explained, and I thought it was neat enough to merit sharing. I also like to think about that whenever I'm emailing to my blog, or loading one of the sites that are free to visit (which includes wikipedia! Yay!) Considering all the technological effort (and the money: the Institute for Shipboard Eduction spends $200,000 a year so that we can have internet at sea) which goes into this process, the internet is actually quite good.
Well, classes start tomorrow so I'd better stop rambling and actually sleep. It's an A day so I will be starting with Mixed Media Visual Journal and finishing with Cross Cultural Psychology.
A comment a day keeps the Lindsey happy :)
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Embarkation Information
Location: Somewhere in the North Sea
I am now commencing the blog update-by-email function! Because I only have about 2 hours (50 megabytes) of internet usage allotted for the entire voyage I cannot update the blog via traditional channels, and I cannot post pictures. I can still post though, because I am allowed free unlimited use of my shipboard email account, and I have already set up my blog so that I can update it simply by sending an email. Cool, huh? This also means that I cannot edit what I have already posted (or even see it!), however your comments are still emailed to me so I can continue enjoying them.
Anyhow.... Semester at Sea! It is 10:30pm right now (though we have been informed to set our clocks forward an hour tonight), and I am on the M.V. Explorer, typing this from my bed in my cabin (number 3123!). Because I can no longer post pictures I will just describe everything in excruciating detail instead (just kidding! Sort of...) My room itself is actually quite like what you see when you look at the pictures posted on the SAS website virtual tour of the ship. I have an inside room on deck three, which means that I do not have a porthole view of the ocean, but I do have a massive wall-sized mirror which serves to make the room feel larger than it is (and it is already larger than my last dorm room at the UO, so I'm happy with it.)
My roommate's name is Emily, and she seems very nice. We have a room that's officially right next to the engine, so we get to be on deck three for the price of a room on deck two. I don't think the engine noise is bad at all. In fact, I kind of like it because it keeps the room from feeling too quiet. For all you who are feeling a bit skeptical about that, let me reassure you that I am not just saying it to make you feel better, and I really like my room. In fact, when I first came in (Emily hadn't gotten here yet) I was so excited I jumped up in the air and broke a fingernail on the ceiling. Yah, not my finest moment. I don't usually do things like that.
So yah, we had safety drills and speeches by faculty which ate up a decent amount of time, so I haven't had a chance to explore the ship much. I have gotten lost a couple of times though, so I think it's big. I have had two meals now, and the food is great (pasta, rice, potatoes, bread.... all of my favorites!), but I'm not yet sure if one can get tea outside of the normal dining hours, which would be a bit sad.
The Fall 2013 voyage falls on the 50th Anniversary of Semester at Sea, and in celebration they gave us complementary bubbles to blow on deck as we left the dock, watched the shore grow smaller and smaller in the distance, and waved goodbye to the little group of family members who came to see off students. I last saw Jazlin headed off in a taxi bound for the train station, so hopefully she made it up to the Lake District alright (El if you could email and let me know you're still alive that would be great!)
I think that's all for now! I'm really appreciating all of your comments even though it isn't possible for me to reply to them individually.
I am now commencing the blog update-by-email function! Because I only have about 2 hours (50 megabytes) of internet usage allotted for the entire voyage I cannot update the blog via traditional channels, and I cannot post pictures. I can still post though, because I am allowed free unlimited use of my shipboard email account, and I have already set up my blog so that I can update it simply by sending an email. Cool, huh? This also means that I cannot edit what I have already posted (or even see it!), however your comments are still emailed to me so I can continue enjoying them.
Anyhow.... Semester at Sea! It is 10:30pm right now (though we have been informed to set our clocks forward an hour tonight), and I am on the M.V. Explorer, typing this from my bed in my cabin (number 3123!). Because I can no longer post pictures I will just describe everything in excruciating detail instead (just kidding! Sort of...) My room itself is actually quite like what you see when you look at the pictures posted on the SAS website virtual tour of the ship. I have an inside room on deck three, which means that I do not have a porthole view of the ocean, but I do have a massive wall-sized mirror which serves to make the room feel larger than it is (and it is already larger than my last dorm room at the UO, so I'm happy with it.)
My roommate's name is Emily, and she seems very nice. We have a room that's officially right next to the engine, so we get to be on deck three for the price of a room on deck two. I don't think the engine noise is bad at all. In fact, I kind of like it because it keeps the room from feeling too quiet. For all you who are feeling a bit skeptical about that, let me reassure you that I am not just saying it to make you feel better, and I really like my room. In fact, when I first came in (Emily hadn't gotten here yet) I was so excited I jumped up in the air and broke a fingernail on the ceiling. Yah, not my finest moment. I don't usually do things like that.
So yah, we had safety drills and speeches by faculty which ate up a decent amount of time, so I haven't had a chance to explore the ship much. I have gotten lost a couple of times though, so I think it's big. I have had two meals now, and the food is great (pasta, rice, potatoes, bread.... all of my favorites!), but I'm not yet sure if one can get tea outside of the normal dining hours, which would be a bit sad.
The Fall 2013 voyage falls on the 50th Anniversary of Semester at Sea, and in celebration they gave us complementary bubbles to blow on deck as we left the dock, watched the shore grow smaller and smaller in the distance, and waved goodbye to the little group of family members who came to see off students. I last saw Jazlin headed off in a taxi bound for the train station, so hopefully she made it up to the Lake District alright (El if you could email and let me know you're still alive that would be great!)
I think that's all for now! I'm really appreciating all of your comments even though it isn't possible for me to reply to them individually.
Location: Southampton, England
(Posting now for last night because the internet was a bit sketchy.)
Well, this is it. I officially board the M.V. Explorer and leave for Semester at Sea tomorrow. Jazlin and I made it down to Southampton after a very action-packed day in London, and I have finally been reunited with my long-lost luggage (it made it! The B&B owner emailed to tell me it was here while I was back in Cardiff, but I forgot to mention it.) The airline security folks had rooted around in the larger of my bags and tossed everything haphazardly back in, so a couple of my books are sporting rather bent pages, but at least everything looks like it's still there.
This morning Jazlin and I woke up bright and early in our London Hostel in a valiant (yet ultimately fruitless) effort to have breakfast eaten, stuff packed, and to arrive in time for a 10:30am Westminster walking tour. I think everything worked out for the best though, because after we zoomed out of the underground at the Westminster station at 10:32 and failed to locate the tour, we got to meander (speed-walk) at our own pace past Buckingham palace, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, and the London Eye (not sure if that is a complete list, but you get the idea) before finally descending back into the subway and zooming off to Kew Gardens. I'm pretty sure that last sentence was much longer than it should have been, but I am way too lazy to trace the root of the run-on.
We arrived at Kew Gardens in time to enjoy a heavily discounted entrance fee via the garden's "lazy summer afternoons" special. Of course, this only gave us a couple of hours to traverse what is probably the largest botanic garden I've ever been to. We tackled this challenge in typical Jazlin & Lindsey fashion: speed walking!
We actually made it a decent way, though by no means did we reach everything in the 300 acre garden. We even stopped in the Orangery (an eatery) for a bit and got a nice cup of tea and jammy dodger each before heading off again.
(Posting now for last night because the internet was a bit sketchy.)
Well, this is it. I officially board the M.V. Explorer and leave for Semester at Sea tomorrow. Jazlin and I made it down to Southampton after a very action-packed day in London, and I have finally been reunited with my long-lost luggage (it made it! The B&B owner emailed to tell me it was here while I was back in Cardiff, but I forgot to mention it.) The airline security folks had rooted around in the larger of my bags and tossed everything haphazardly back in, so a couple of my books are sporting rather bent pages, but at least everything looks like it's still there.
This morning Jazlin and I woke up bright and early in our London Hostel in a valiant (yet ultimately fruitless) effort to have breakfast eaten, stuff packed, and to arrive in time for a 10:30am Westminster walking tour. I think everything worked out for the best though, because after we zoomed out of the underground at the Westminster station at 10:32 and failed to locate the tour, we got to meander (speed-walk) at our own pace past Buckingham palace, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, and the London Eye (not sure if that is a complete list, but you get the idea) before finally descending back into the subway and zooming off to Kew Gardens. I'm pretty sure that last sentence was much longer than it should have been, but I am way too lazy to trace the root of the run-on.
We arrived at Kew Gardens in time to enjoy a heavily discounted entrance fee via the garden's "lazy summer afternoons" special. Of course, this only gave us a couple of hours to traverse what is probably the largest botanic garden I've ever been to. We tackled this challenge in typical Jazlin & Lindsey fashion: speed walking!
We actually made it a decent way, though by no means did we reach everything in the 300 acre garden. We even stopped in the Orangery (an eatery) for a bit and got a nice cup of tea and jammy dodger each before heading off again.
Then it was back to the subway, on to Waterloo station, and down to Southampton by train.
What do blogger like almost as much as Jammy Dodgers?
.... Comments!
Friday, August 23, 2013
The Adventures of the Easily Distracted
Location: London, England
I did it again! I fell asleep while writing an entry. So I'm posting it now instead:
The day is Thursday the 22nd, the time is 10:30pm, and Jazlin and I are sitting on the floor of the laundry room in the basement of the Palmer's Lodge Swiss Cottage hostel. As our clothes go swish-swash back and forth in the machines to our left, we sit and contemplate the day.
It started out just like any other day, with an insistent alarm clock chattering away in my ear. Then, just three hours later, Jazlin and I were ambling down Baker Street toward the Sherlock Holmes museum. We didn't end up going inside the museum itself, as we encountered an unmoving line stretching out for several hundred feet and we had already gotten going a bit late, but we did pay a brief visit to the gift shop and took several moderately blurry pictures of ourselves standing out in front of 221 Baker Street.
At that point we had not yet worked up the courage to attempt the London underground with our shiny new day passes for zones 1 and 2. So, after spending a bit of time looking around for food inexpensive enough that I wouldn't snub it, we took a bus to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was big. We barely left the first floor. It was awesome though, and we got to see statues, massive plaster pillar castings with cool designs running all the way around them, a collection of ancient keys, locks, and lockboxes, entire rooms of intricate stonework, woodwork, and metalwork, and a strange but neat glass sculpture which was suspended over the information desk and bore thousands of tendrils of blue and yellow glass.
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Also visited today was the outside of the Globe Theater (located near from a bridge which Jazlin and I were fairly certain has been "destroyed" several times in movies we have watched.) We even hiked over to an obscure street which lay claim to one of the few remaining actual police call boxes (How many renditions of the Tardis can Lindsey and Jazlin visit? Hmmm...)
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Comments make the world go 'round! (Or maybe they just make me happy.)
I did it again! I fell asleep while writing an entry. So I'm posting it now instead:
The day is Thursday the 22nd, the time is 10:30pm, and Jazlin and I are sitting on the floor of the laundry room in the basement of the Palmer's Lodge Swiss Cottage hostel. As our clothes go swish-swash back and forth in the machines to our left, we sit and contemplate the day.
It started out just like any other day, with an insistent alarm clock chattering away in my ear. Then, just three hours later, Jazlin and I were ambling down Baker Street toward the Sherlock Holmes museum. We didn't end up going inside the museum itself, as we encountered an unmoving line stretching out for several hundred feet and we had already gotten going a bit late, but we did pay a brief visit to the gift shop and took several moderately blurry pictures of ourselves standing out in front of 221 Baker Street.
At that point we had not yet worked up the courage to attempt the London underground with our shiny new day passes for zones 1 and 2. So, after spending a bit of time looking around for food inexpensive enough that I wouldn't snub it, we took a bus to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was big. We barely left the first floor. It was awesome though, and we got to see statues, massive plaster pillar castings with cool designs running all the way around them, a collection of ancient keys, locks, and lockboxes, entire rooms of intricate stonework, woodwork, and metalwork, and a strange but neat glass sculpture which was suspended over the information desk and bore thousands of tendrils of blue and yellow glass.
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Also visited today was the outside of the Globe Theater (located near from a bridge which Jazlin and I were fairly certain has been "destroyed" several times in movies we have watched.) We even hiked over to an obscure street which lay claim to one of the few remaining actual police call boxes (How many renditions of the Tardis can Lindsey and Jazlin visit? Hmmm...)
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(As promised, a few pictures of the hostel we stayed at in London.)
Comments make the world go 'round! (Or maybe they just make me happy.)
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
In Which Lindsey and Jazlin Go to Bath
Location: Bristol, England to London, England
This is going to be a bit of a short summary post, as I would really like to get caught up with the present and it's a bit late.
So after Oakhampton Jazlin and I made our way south along the edge of Dartmoor to a place called Lydford Gorge, where we hiked around, visited a waterfall, and had a marvelously good scone with cream and jam to go with our tea.
Then we headed down to Plymouth and took a train to Bristol Temple Meads, which is my favorite of all of the train stations we have gone to (nice architecture, lovely hanging flower baskets, and bathroom sinks which soap, wash, and dry your hands all in one go. What more could a person want?)
Once again, we hadn't been able to book our next hostel, but at least this time we knew where it was located. Fortunately reception was open and there were beds available at around 10:30pm when we arrived. It was also the biggest/most sophisticated hostel we've stayed at, with elevators operated by keycard and rooms with en suite bathroom and shower.
Which finally brings us to today! (Actually yesterday when you consider that it's past midnight at the moment. Drat.) Anyhow, Wednesday: we decided that since we were so close to Bath we ought to pay the city a visit before continuing on to London. I think that Bath is my favorite city so far. The architecture is gorgeous, and it has a happy sort of air about it. So we spent the day there and went on a free walking tour, though we decided against spending the time/funds to see in the actual Roman Baths (our walking tour gave us a bit of a view of one part from the top though.) Our tour guide was a neat elderly woman with all sorts of interesting information, and the tour was two hours long so I don't feel like we missed out much.
Then on to London! I haven't mentioned it, but Jazlin and I are still sick. We stocked up on cough drops (which we've mostly run out of) and have tried not to let it slow us down much, but we've been sniffling all day and I had a bout of very inconvenient light sensitivity and eye soreness which threatened to put a damper on Bath whenever the sun came out (and my sunglasses broke.)
But we're doing well, don't worry! We just made it to the hostel we had pre-booked in London; the place is adorable, with cute little curtains around the beds and rather impressive architecture. I'll take pictures tomorrow.
This is going to be a bit of a short summary post, as I would really like to get caught up with the present and it's a bit late.
So after Oakhampton Jazlin and I made our way south along the edge of Dartmoor to a place called Lydford Gorge, where we hiked around, visited a waterfall, and had a marvelously good scone with cream and jam to go with our tea.
Then we headed down to Plymouth and took a train to Bristol Temple Meads, which is my favorite of all of the train stations we have gone to (nice architecture, lovely hanging flower baskets, and bathroom sinks which soap, wash, and dry your hands all in one go. What more could a person want?)
(Sleepy Jazlin waving in front of Bristol station on the way to Bristol YHA hostel)
Once again, we hadn't been able to book our next hostel, but at least this time we knew where it was located. Fortunately reception was open and there were beds available at around 10:30pm when we arrived. It was also the biggest/most sophisticated hostel we've stayed at, with elevators operated by keycard and rooms with en suite bathroom and shower.
Which finally brings us to today! (Actually yesterday when you consider that it's past midnight at the moment. Drat.) Anyhow, Wednesday: we decided that since we were so close to Bath we ought to pay the city a visit before continuing on to London. I think that Bath is my favorite city so far. The architecture is gorgeous, and it has a happy sort of air about it. So we spent the day there and went on a free walking tour, though we decided against spending the time/funds to see in the actual Roman Baths (our walking tour gave us a bit of a view of one part from the top though.) Our tour guide was a neat elderly woman with all sorts of interesting information, and the tour was two hours long so I don't feel like we missed out much.
(Our awesome tour guide)
Then on to London! I haven't mentioned it, but Jazlin and I are still sick. We stocked up on cough drops (which we've mostly run out of) and have tried not to let it slow us down much, but we've been sniffling all day and I had a bout of very inconvenient light sensitivity and eye soreness which threatened to put a damper on Bath whenever the sun came out (and my sunglasses broke.)
But we're doing well, don't worry! We just made it to the hostel we had pre-booked in London; the place is adorable, with cute little curtains around the beds and rather impressive architecture. I'll take pictures tomorrow.
Over the Hills and Through the Woods
Location: Okehampton, England
This is a much-belated post for Monday, as Jazlin and were a bit off the beaten path and away from WiFi. As always, thanks a bunch for all your comments! I've done the best that I can to put up new posts, but as you will read it has not been particularly easy.
Monday morning we made it into the castle ruins of Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. We had started out the day with another proper English breakfast at our B&B (complete with baked beans - still not sure if those belong at breakfast), and then, after waving off a polite offer by the owner of our B&B to watch our backpacks for the day, we were off!
...Naturally, we regretting not taking him up on his offer, because Tintagel actually involves quite a bit of steps, walking, more steps, and more walking. It is also rather steep at some points. We did stop to take a break up on the grassy hill above the castle ruins, where we took a bit of time to draw, write in our journals, and eat a can of sweet corn I had purchased back in Wales.
After Tintagel castle, we went (read: hiked laboriously up a hill) to the modern town of Tintagel, where we found a pub with free WiFi and sat down to find and book our next hostel (for some strange reason we didn't want a repeat of the previous night) and to update my blog. We were there for about a half an hour while I tried unsuccessfully to do so. Then I checked the bus timetables. The last bus to Okehampton (where we were going next) left in a half an hour from Camelford. The bus from Tintagel to Camelford left in two minutes. We had to be on that bus.
Grabbing our stuff and flying out of the pub, Jazlin and I speed-walked to the bus stop (which we knew the location of from our damp trudge the night before) and arrived just as it pulled up. We had made it! In fact, we made the next bus in Camelford and arrived in Okehampton at about 6:30pm. Granted, we hadn't booked a hostel yet. So with an unfortunate sense of deja vu, we meandered around Okehampton looking for accommodations which could accommodate our budget. We were not having much luck; even the tourist information center was closed.
But then, lo and behold, there was a little wooden sign. And the sign said "Youth Hostel." With a mixture of anticipation and trepidation (we had no way of know whether they still had beds available, after all) we followed the sign... through a park, alongside a river, around a strip of residential neighborhood, up a hill, under a bridge, and up another hill. Then we had arrived!
It is worth noting at this point, that Jazlin and I had both woken up that morning with a sore throats. By the evening, our affliction was rapidly deteriorating into full-blown cold. When we finally got to the hostel we probably looked about as bedraggled as the previous night (though less damp!) and were really praying that it would not be full. It wasn't! But we still had to go back into town to scrounge up some dinner, and by the time we returned there wasn't time for blog post (plus we were both tired after doing so much walking. Being sick probably didn't help that either.)
Stay tuned for the next exciting installment! Remember, more comments = quicker posts! (I wish...)
This is a much-belated post for Monday, as Jazlin and were a bit off the beaten path and away from WiFi. As always, thanks a bunch for all your comments! I've done the best that I can to put up new posts, but as you will read it has not been particularly easy.
Monday morning we made it into the castle ruins of Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. We had started out the day with another proper English breakfast at our B&B (complete with baked beans - still not sure if those belong at breakfast), and then, after waving off a polite offer by the owner of our B&B to watch our backpacks for the day, we were off!
...Naturally, we regretting not taking him up on his offer, because Tintagel actually involves quite a bit of steps, walking, more steps, and more walking. It is also rather steep at some points. We did stop to take a break up on the grassy hill above the castle ruins, where we took a bit of time to draw, write in our journals, and eat a can of sweet corn I had purchased back in Wales.
Grabbing our stuff and flying out of the pub, Jazlin and I speed-walked to the bus stop (which we knew the location of from our damp trudge the night before) and arrived just as it pulled up. We had made it! In fact, we made the next bus in Camelford and arrived in Okehampton at about 6:30pm. Granted, we hadn't booked a hostel yet. So with an unfortunate sense of deja vu, we meandered around Okehampton looking for accommodations which could accommodate our budget. We were not having much luck; even the tourist information center was closed.
But then, lo and behold, there was a little wooden sign. And the sign said "Youth Hostel." With a mixture of anticipation and trepidation (we had no way of know whether they still had beds available, after all) we followed the sign... through a park, alongside a river, around a strip of residential neighborhood, up a hill, under a bridge, and up another hill. Then we had arrived!
It is worth noting at this point, that Jazlin and I had both woken up that morning with a sore throats. By the evening, our affliction was rapidly deteriorating into full-blown cold. When we finally got to the hostel we probably looked about as bedraggled as the previous night (though less damp!) and were really praying that it would not be full. It wasn't! But we still had to go back into town to scrounge up some dinner, and by the time we returned there wasn't time for blog post (plus we were both tired after doing so much walking. Being sick probably didn't help that either.)
Stay tuned for the next exciting installment! Remember, more comments = quicker posts! (I wish...)
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