SAS Travelogue-Hong Kong

SAS Travelogue-Hong Kong

by Rebecca Smith

OK, so I never thought I would say this but I miss dirty yucky nasty rude Shanghai. Hong Kong was neat and all, but Shanghai beats it 10 times over for shopping and weather. It rained everyday I was in Hong Kong and then the sun came out 2 hrs before I had to be back on the ship. I think it did it to spite me. That bastard. Anywho, so the first day, I went up to Victoria Peak, which is supposed to be a fantastic view of the city, but I guess that must be dependent upon the weather, which was not in my favor since by the time we reached the top, the only thing there to welcome us was a mixture of rain clouds and smog and a freaking shopping mall. The entire city of Hong Kong is a huge shopping mall, all department stores, Starbucks and McDonald’s. It was disheartening. But onwards and upwards…well at least further on. OK, so since it was all rainy and cold at the top and we couldn’t see a damn thing, we decided to go get a coffee (hot chocolate for me). I was walking carefully down the stairs as I have of late had rather bad experiences in nasty weather. Despite all my cautiousness, I reached the last step and went flying. I fell on my ass in front of like 50 tourists, who just stared at me like I did something idiotic and God was punishing me for it by making me look a fool, and who were they to question God’s motives and dare to help me up. So I withstood the pain and embarrassment and helped my own bruised ass off the floor amid the stares of the mean westerners. The only person who showed any concern for my well being was the nice Chinese boy who made me a hot chocolate and asked if I was alright. Well, I like Chinese people a lot more than I like American tourists. Hmmmph!!! Ok, now that you are done laughing at my foibles, please feel the indignance at the tourists’ behavior with me. I want to hear an audible tut tut or harrumph. Oh well, tape it for me and send it to me. Speaking of which, if anyone wants to send me mail (hint hint), the addresses for all the ports and the send by dates are listed on semesteratsea.com. Please also check that site for updates about our itinerary and any other information about the program. (Do I sound like their PR department has me on the payroll or what?) Right, so then what did I do? Oh, well obviously we descended the mountain. Then Shayna and I went to Wan Chai, or Chinatown. I know I know, Chinatown? In Hong Kong, a territory of China? Isn’t the whole place Chinatown? Well, I didn’t name it, I just visited it. Well, that was a bust. So we walked back to the ship and decided to go to the Temple Street night market instead. Here is where the adventure begins. 8pm, we depart for the night market in a group of 7. Taxis can not obviously fit this many people, so we split up. But the first group just took off before we even got a cab. Well, now it gets interesting. We try 3 cabs, which have no idea what we are talking about when we ask them to take us to the Temple Street night market, before a nice Chinese Hong Kong native offers his help. He asks one cabbie in Chinese who says he does not know what the market is because it is only his second day as a cabbie. We are beginning to get frustrated. The man teaches us how to say it in Chinese and writes it down for us in Chinese, myugai (this is obviously not the correct spelling, but its phonetic and the best I can do using the Roman alphabet). Finally, a cab driver sort of understands what we mean. So he drops us at this small street filled with fortune tellers with caged birds. One we can’t see the first group anywhere, and are positive we will never find them or the night market. Two, we are super pissed because we think that if this is the actual market that it is the worst market we have ever seen. So we walk through it, get lost, find another street and eventually discover the actual night market. This is much better. Not as cheap as Shanghai, but closer to the quality and variety of goods the markets in Shanghai had to offer. Bargaining is an option, but the same tactics employed in Shanghai of just walk away and let them chase you out the door until they accept your meager offer of $2 US for a silk dress, just do not work. If you walk away, they put the merch back and start talking to someone else. They will not bargain lower than $10 HK off the original price. I am not sure if it is because we are American tourists, or if this is just the way here. In Shanghai, you were disrespectful if you did not try to bargain at least 80% off the original offer. Lord, do I miss that. So I bought a few things, but not as much as Shanghai, and went home. Next day, this girl and I walked down the waterfront to do T’ai Chi at like 8 am. It was early, so the humidity wasn’t so bad yet, and there was a cool breeze off the water. In the distance you could see the skyline of Hong Kong Island with its mountainous backdrop. Behind us was the innovative architecture of Hong Kong’s Cultural Centre on Kowloon (the island on which we were ported) and next to us was this neat fountain with colorful Chinese dragons and warriors and other sea creatures personified. It was just the most interesting setting for the serene activity of T’ai Chi. The T’ai Chi itself was amazing. The master taught us a simple form with 25 poses. He told us the history and meaning of each pose as well as what the warriors used it for. He showed us how to make the movement from one pose to the other continuous and fluid. He spoke English very well and was the cutest old man. He walked the girl and me to the tourist info office and told us that he went to university for education and spent his life teaching, and now he teaches T’ai Chi. He said he and his wife have been doing it for years. He told us that they both love all the same things and are life partners. They were and are destined to be together forever. It was sooooo cute. His wife was teaching the SAS group that was doing a T’ai Chi field trip. Then I went to Lamma Island which was a bust as it started pouring rain and became freezing cold and we were all soaked. So much for the beautiful beaches. We had spent 2 hrs at a Vegan café before that, so I guess we were just asking the weather to change on us in the middle of our hike. Oh well, I told you, the Hong Kong weather is spiteful. So we ran for the next ferry and went back to the ship. I didn’t feel so hot after that so I stayed in that night and went to sleep early. Last day in Hong Kong (also my birthday). I had a FDP where I had to listen to lecture by a presenter for Radio Free Asia. I was not really very excited by this as I was certain it was going to be a boring talk about the communications industry in Hong Kong. It was in fact nothing like what I expected. It was a lecture setting, but the topic was varied indeed. Mr. Han, our lecturer, told us of how he became involved in radio. He had always wanted to do it since he was a child but failed his voice entrance exam for broadcasting school years ago, because the Chinese government wanted to put forth one voice for the Chinese people. So instead he became an electric factory worker in Beijing and became involved in worker’s rights movements. He later organized a trade unionist protest organization in Tiananmen Square and was arrested for his efforts. The government sentenced him to imprisonment in a TB (that’s right, my friends, tuberculosis) cell in which all the other inmates were infected with TB. Two years later they were forced to release him because he had dropped below 85 lbs and had to have lung surgery due to TB and overexposure, and American human rights activists were hassling the Chinese government. So Mr. Han and his family set off for New York for his surgery, where he continued his activism and lobbied Congress to support the trade unionist movements in China. When he returned to China, he stayed one night in a hotel in Huang Zhou province before the police found him and deported him to Hong Kong never to return to mainland China for seditious acts against Beijing. His family was still in Beijing. He started a newsletter called China Labor Daily and was interviewed by a local media outlet. Someone in Washington was listening and called to offer him a job. He accepted and now works as a daily call-in program host for Radio Free Asia, a network sponsored by Congress but run privately. It is a network with the goal of “freeing the people of Asia,” much like Radio Free Europe in eastern Europe after the dropping of the Iron Curtain. Many of their correspondents are underground in China or other Asian nations and work under dangerous conditions. Only 5% of the callers are women. They call from all over China to Hong Kong to tell horror stories to Mr. Han about working conditions in socialist China. Government officials often call in as well, referring to Mr. Han as “the dinosaur” or “the last Communist” because while they are all using the language of free market systems, he still refers to the plight of the worker and fights for labor rights. Mr. Han is one of the few “outed” presenters. He has the luxury of working in Hong Kong, which is part of China but operates under a different system. The government in mainland China still has a large amount of control over the communications industry and information technology. There is a new debate over the governments bid to control the internet in China. They have 24 points that are not to be violated in the material posted or looked at on the internet, violation of which can result in life imprisonment. China’s entry into the WTO may force changes in their control of information. Yahoo Enterprises was the first company to sign a petition against these 24 points, on grounds that it violates ordinances of the WTO. I thought his story was very interesting and telling of the changes that are beginning to happen in China as a result of their entry into the WTO. He made a point of reminding us though, that though capitalism is beginning to enter China, democracy is not part and parcel with it. Nor is dictatorship necessarily aligned with socialism. His talk was very compelling, but I think he was having a bit of trouble with speaking in English because when it came time for question and answer, he did not always understand the question, or answer it. After this, I rode across Hong Kong Bay in a Duk Ling. It’s an old Victorian left over, a junk boat used by the fisherman of the late 18th and early 19th century. Its sails are very unique in that they look like dragon wings. It was really speedy and whipped around the bay. I met some New Zealanders that had traveled around the world over 7 weeks in the opposite direction from us, beginning in Australia over to LA, through Europe, down to Asia, ending in Singapore then flying home. I was so impressed. I only hope that when I am in my 50’s I can still flit about the globe without a care. Well this was Hong Kong. That was my birthday. I didn’t do anything to exciting for my 21st since we had to be back on the ship by 7pm and the pub is not open on nights in port or the night prior to and after leaving port. Hopefully tomorrow night I can have a belated rite of passage and celebrate my 21st in the typical American fashion. Hope to get some pictures developed in Vietnam and include some in my next entry. Till Saigon everyone!!!! Zaijian!!

SAS Travelogue-Shanghai

SAS Travelogue-Shanghai

by Rebecca Smith

Ni Hao!!! Yo yo yo, from Shanghai. So anywho, my lasy entry was slightly sappy and not up to snuff, so here goes back to my normal self. Anywho. Two clear ups. One--I am not mean to my roommate, you are all very confused. I like my roommate Monesha very much, but our room was supposed to be a triple, so we are both very upset because the administration seems to think the fact that our third roommate never showed gives them the right to install another person in our room. Well HELLLLLLL no to that!!! That is why I sounded belligerent. Numero dos.....Theo, from Louisiana, real dumb, recently seen on Real World Road Rules Challenge, originally on Road Rules, I will not befreind him Brent, he's an idiot, I have no time for people like him. OK onto news. Someone got arrested in Kobe, he's no longer with us. He got in a fight, don't know the details. Also, Our oldest pasenger, Mae aged 92, just lost her husband 2 nights ago, and he is no being stored in the ship's freezer.....sad, but even worse, how creepy is that?!?!?!? Anywho, the other night we had SAS Singled Out, wherein the hormones and the obvious female heavy ratio came to the foreground. Anywho, some little boy made it to the final round and introduced himself in a vulgar manner as coerced by the older boys. Needless to say, his momma gave him a spanking so hard he forgot it ever happened. OK about Shanghai, yesterday went on tour, saw and Acrobatics show, ate Chinese food, which PS is not very good for vegeterians, and disgusting and nothing like American Chinese food. Went shopping. Went nuts, bargaining is popular here. No matter how well I think I did, the Chinese nativces can always get it for like 1/3 of the price. OH well. Shanghai, by the by, is the dirtiest, nastiest, most polluted, most densely populated city in China, but i think the dirtiest, nastiest, grossest, rudest, city I have ever encountered, but its super cheap to shop......which is why..... OK today, only shopping. Went to this place called the Xiang Yang Market. CRAZYYYYYYY!!! Bought a Coach bag and wallet for so cheap. Bought Jason the cutest little suit. Bought 17 DVD's for like a buck each. Bought a NorthFace thingy. Tried to buy Louis Vuitton, but there was an incident, and they wanted way too much money. Well, anywho, so if you want Louis Vuitton or Gucci or Prada, the vendors lead you a couple blocks from the market to their house (which is a tiny room in a dirty building with a shared grotty bathroom) and in their one room apartment is a heaven for designer bags and wallets that have "fallen off the truck" so to speak. We spent like an hour there picking out our bags, and then just left weith nothing cuz they wouldn't budge on the price, but they were so pissed (as all the vendors are because you are trying to buy something from them, but even more pissed becasue we wasted so much of their time. So after that we hightailed it back to the market to escape the Chinese mafia (who I am now convinced want my blood). OK that was fine, then we tried to take a cab to another market but he dropped us off at a real mall where they sell real LV and Gucci and Prada, so we were lost and in an expensive area and it started to rain and its a holiday weekend in Shanghai, so no cabs to be had. So we started to walk back to the Xiang Yang market. Along the way we stopped to buy DVD's every so often. At the last point, we discovered how illegal it is for vendors to have these DVD's as when a cop showed they all slammed their little suitcases of DVD"s shut and ran, but my friends and I were still holding some and being pushed by the massive crowd (20 million people live in Shanghai, and I swear they were all on this one street at that point). So my friends and I were separated and we all still had the DVD's. One girl had none, but she had blonde hair, so is easily picked out in the crowd, so the vendor chased her and started yelling at her because he thought she had DVD's, so they found the rest of us and we gave them back, but he wanted us to pay for them and was yelling at us. So we just threw them at him and ran and he kept yelling and all the people were staring at us (but I'm not sure if that's cuz we were white girls or becauyse he was saying we had stolen from him). Oh well, more Chinese mafia attacks. Then we went to the market again. It took our friend forever to buy her silk dress or whatever so me and Lindsay (the blonde) went looking for Louis Vuitton, but we wouldn't follow them, we just wanted to see pictures and have them bring it to us. No such luck finding exactly what we wanted though, so we gave up on that. But Suz, its for the best cuz I totally forgot what the one you wanted looks like, so I was just gonna get you some square looking one. But I think you said something about it looking like the LL Bean tote. Remind me so I can try again in Hong Kong or Vietnam. Anywho, that was my fiasco of a scary day. Tonight we leave Shanghai. We leave for Hong Kong...in a few days, one of our professors will be married on the ship. Soooo cute. Sorry this email is sooooo choppy and bad grammar is abundant, but I have only an hour on the internet and it takes me forever to type on this keyboard. OK, I don't know how to say bye in Chinese, so I will just say later and hopefully by Hong Kong, I will figure out the Chinese. Write again from Hong Kong. PS--dad, did you get my email. If not, I was just wondering if you had sent away for my refund yet. Just a reminder. Also, has anyone gotten emails from me, because I haven't gotten any replies, so I don't know. I can't tell if it is working. Let me know.

SAS Travelogue-Japan

SAS Travelogue-Japan

by Rebecca Smith

Ohaio gozaimasu!!! OK, so these journal entries are only going to be once a port I think. So I apologize about how long they are, but I repeat, internet is hard to come by, and is especially expensive. Anywho, I just wanted to let you all know, in case I didn't last time, that you can check on my progress and our itinerary on semesteratsea.com. Go there, click on Voyages, then click Fall 2002. From there you can cruise around and figure out what you want to know. Now, onto bigger and brighter things...like Japan. We docked in Kobe on Friday the 13th......ooooohhhh scary. Anywho, On that day I went to a baseball game. It was pretty neat. We met a player for one of the teams who was American, he was born in Idaho, lived in Houston, and played for Oklahoma, but I guess he got bored of playing for the American minors, cuz now he's in Japan. The fans were not as many in number as I had expected, but they made up for it in enthusiasm. This is a major thing if you know anything about the Japanese people. They tend to be very shy and demure. They only speak when spoken to, and even then speak very quietly. They are wary of speaking English no matter how well they know it, for fear that they will make a mistake. They do not like to draw attention to themselves and do not like to pay attention to others for fear of embarrassing them. So surprisingly, they turn into a different group of people at a baseball game. Each team has their own cheering section. By this I mean, there is a group that sits together in a section.....like 100 people, and wear the team colors, there are flag wavers, a band, screaming, clapping, and they have a cheer or song specially made for each player. They go nuts. I am surprised the leader didn't lose his voiuce after 5 minutes of screaming like he did. They taught us some cheers, which for the life of me I can't remember now, and we taught them how to do the wave. They got pretty good and it made it half way around the stadium by the time it started to rain. None of us were prepared for the rain, and the game got rained out, so we left. Next day I went on a city tour, which I only paid $10 for (extremely low price for Japan for anything) and I got more than my money's worth. First they took us to a museum dedicated to restoring and preventing earthquake damage to the area as a result of a 1995 earthquake that destroyed the Kobe area, registering 7.3 on the Richter. It was reminiscent of the Holocaust Museum in its depressing and shock factors. Then they took us to a Sake brewery, which was cool and we got to taste test, however, we are prohibited from bringing outside alcohol onto the ship, so none of us could buy any to bring home. So I bought some sake cups instead. Then they took us to a beach resort for lunch, which was interesting, the lunch that is. I ate vegetarian and it was not very vegetarian since they gave us some raw squid with spicy mustard. I guess they have a different concept of vegetarianism than we do. I didn't care, but one of the professors I was eating with was making some sarcastic remarks and wouldn't eat anything else because he was convinced it was all raw fish. PS...I am pretty good with the chopsticks if I do say so myself. Then we went to the world's longest suspension bridge and walked on water (they have a section that is floored with glass so that if you step out onto it, it looks like you are walking on water). Then they took us up a mountain in cable cars to see the Ninobiki gardens. It was beautiful, but some of the girls in my cable car were almost hyperventilating with fear. The view isn't as pretty when the background noise is tempered with heavy breathing and a high pitched whine. Oh well. Our tour guides were so sweet, and the lead lady cried when they dropped us off. It was so touching. The next day I left for my homestay. Again I only paid $10, and again it exceeded its value. My family was very nice, but only my okasa (host mom) spoke English. When they picked me up, their friends the Fujimoto's, drove and they spoke a little English and a lot of Spanish. They took me shopping and I bought a kimono for Samantha for a really good deal (I tired to find us some cool purses Sam, but Japan was super expensive, maybe next port). That night they threw a birthday party because my host mom's was on the 10th, and my host sister, Saya, will be on the 28th and mine is on the 26th. All their friends and neighbors came over and there was sooooo much food and they were so excited and wanted me to try everything and like it. I am so confused as to how these people eat so much and yet most don't weigh in at over 100 lbs. I just don't get it. All the adults were very excited to speak English to me, because the group that sponsored the homestays is a language exchange club, called the International Hippo Club, apparently we have them in the States too. The kids were more apprehensive, they all said please and thank you, hello and good bye, and "My name is ..." but not much more. The Fujimoto's brought all three of their children over. Their oldest is a boy about TJ's age and already in medical school. The middle child, Aoi, is only older than Sam by 10 days, can you believe it, her birthday is July 23, 1986. I saw that and told them about you, Sam. They wanted to hear all about my family and about me. I said everything in as clear English as I could so they could understand. There were so many kids, and one little boy was only 11 mos. He was kind of scared of me and kind of curious about me. Japan is a very homogenous society, so they don't see many foreigners, and when they do, they are typically Asian in ancestry. So I am anomaly in their house. So the little boy was staring at me and when I would look at him he would hide his face. Then he got more comfortable with me and was playing peek-a-boo with me. He was so cute. Everyone was so nice. It made me miss my family. TJ, I asked my host brother about Dragonball to see if I could find you some cool Japanese memorabilia and he said, "That show is old. Its so old, I can't even remember it, I was only 5 when it was on." So I guess our Japanese imports are behind the times, but that's okay because they are just getting Full House and 90210 in Japan now, so I guess we're even. But they do get the Cartoon Network there, and they let me watch Dexter's Laboratory in English, but I think my host sister would have rather watched in Japanese, but she was doing homework, so her mom wouldn't let her. The next day we rode bikes to Osaka Castle (oh yeah I forgot to say my host family lived in Osaka). It was so humid and gross, but it was nice to ride bikes, even if it was mostly uphill and the heat was unbearable. The castle was awesome, but I wish I knew more about Japanese history so I could understand the museum better. Then we went to the NHK building, the national broadcasting station of Japan, which was right next to the Osaka History Museum (which PS was like 22 stories high, so I guess Osaka has a lot of history). We were headed for the History museum, which would have been cool, but it was quite late and the museum was so large, and there was a charge to get in, and I felt bad, so I asked if we could go to the NHK portion of the building instead (it was free, fewer exhibits, and I have to do a write up about it for a class, so it was a better choice anyway). We watched a Japanese soap being taped. My host mom presented the news from off a teleprompter, and my host brother and sister learned about blue screen technology by participating in a demonstration. It was very interactive, and I suspect more fun for the kids than a history museum. OK, so last day in Japan, I went to an internet café and couldn't get my online journal to work, and all the error messages were in Japanese, so I don't even know why, so I checked my mail, talked to Joe Ardito for a couple of minutes, and then my computer decided it didn't feel like working anymore, so I am writing this on the ship and will post it at our very expensive internet café. So you should appreciate me and my efforts. The girls and I went to the 100 Yen Store, the equivalent of a Dollar Store, and made a killing. I love cheapy shopping. I mean, y'all know I love shopping, but getting good deals is even more of a rush for me. So fabulous. I bought so much stuff. Then I went back to the ship and now I am here writing this. Tips for future travelers: Funniest thing about Japan-the only Americans we saw were the thousand of us from SAS walking around Kobe, I am pretty sure these are the only Americans the people of Kobe saw too, judging by their reactions Necessary info-the only ATM's that accept your American cards are in the post office or the Citibank, not many places take credit, most of your money will be spent in Japan cuz everything is expensive, most people speak English but will say that they don't because they are not very confident in their skills, so ask questions, and don't say anything stupid cuz they understand Interesting tidbits-most clubs have a dress code or a Japanese only policy, also covers and drinks are expensive, so either find some local to show you where to go or be prepared to drop up to $42 per drink My Advice-install a budget for yourself, talk to the people, do some planning so you can do as much as possible, and DON'T sleep in, you're burning daylight, there is too much to see and do, you'll miss it if you waste time putzing around, and you don't need to spend a lot to have a good experience OK y'all, till Shanghai, this is Beki, signing off, love ya, miss ya, see ya in Dec. Sayonara!!!!

SAS Travelogue-Beginning

SAS Travelogue-Beginning
by Rebecca Smith

Hey everyone,
I have written this as a journal entry and will probably continue to send all of my correspondence in this fashion. I have very good excuses though. I am on the fricking ocean right now, and they ("they" meaning the powers that be, the man, the oppressor) have deemed it perfectly legal and not at all extortionate to charge us poor students 50 cents per minute for internet use. That's right, half of one US dollar for a meager 60 seconds on the internet, and they start charging while you sign on...EVIL!!! And its another way in which to document my journey, since I have to keep about 80 journals for class.
Anywho, I am fabulous, since I am sure you were all wondering about my personal well being. I am having some trouble adjusting to the constant change of time zones. They are changing in my favor (we always gain an hour), but my body still wakes up at the time I was supposed to like 3 days ago, so then I go back to sleep and eventually wake up again late. Oh well, such is life, che sera sera.
So, the run down...600 kids on the ship, of which about 500 are female. Great numbers...for the boys. P.S. Theo from the Real World is on the ship. It has been driving my roommate and me nuts trying to remember which season he was from, so Brent...clue me in. By the way, he happens to be one of the dumbest and most insane people on this boat if not the planet. My roommate, Monesha, has been keeping a diary entitled "Theoisms" listing the stupid or strange comments he makes throughout the day to us or people around us. We have just recently discovered that he isn't even interesting enough to devise his own weirdness; he has been stealing his strangest or most memorable lines from "Brasilia" the nickname we have given to the eccentric Brazilian boy aboard ship. Today's Theoism was in conjunction with a conversation he was holding with Brasilia in the Union. He and Brasilia are holding a contest wherein they have promised to pay for the education of each other's respective child for the one who is first to help conceive and then witness the birth of a child aboard ship. I think they do not understand some simple concepts about life. One, babies can not be conceived and born with a less than 3 month gestation period. Two, though Theo has his "stardom" and Brasilia his Latino charisma, I don't foresee any of the 500 girls aboard this boat allowing either one of them to impregnate her. So that is my weird and wonderful tale of the day.
Next, classes, boring. Geology, not at all exciting, and almost unintelligible. Luckily most of the professors on the ship are the coolest, nicest people and are accessible most of the time. They have all brought their families; the kids for the most part are sooooooo cute. There are also senior passengers aboard the ship, sort of taking a cruise around the world, but most of them attend our classes as well for their own benefit. They are really neat people and have seen sooo much in their lifetimes and are very willing to share their knowledge and experience and often participate in our class discussions.
TJ, I have learned, and I hope this won't disappoint you too much, that Japan is not the captain of international industry that it once was. Our interport lecturer from Japan has informed us that China and India are quickly taking the lead. And my Communications classes have been pointing in the same direction with regard to the computer industry. So I suggest you start taking Chinese or Hindi classes if you want to learn a language for your future career.
So much to say. My roommate is really nice and from DC. We were supposed to have a third roommate but she never showed, which is totally FABU, until we got a note on our door saying the head of Student Life wants to meet with us re: our vacancy. I am so unhappy about this. I do not want another person in there now, and where would they get one. Oh well we'll see what happens tomorrow. But if they want us to take another roommate, she is not getting her closet back or her drawers. Too bad, you snooze you lose. The other girls I hang out with are all from the west coast. They are very nice and very funny, I don't really know what to say. I am working on two student groups. I am a reporter for the onboard closed circuit TV student news program and am working on the Ambassador's Ball. I don't know what it is yet, but I am making the slideshow for it, so that should be fun. Ummm, our toilets have ocean water in them, so if you agitate the water in the dark, the microorganisms in the water are bioluminescent so they glow an ultraviolet blue color. It was really cool. I wish you could try it at home. Sorry, there is a lot of down time on the ship, this is what I do with it. We saw the Aleutian Islands yesterday. We have no tomorrow because we are crossing the International Dateline. So we go from the 7th to the 9th. We will hit Kobe on Friday the 13th...ooooohhhhh scary. I don't think I will have time or money to use the internet again before then. Also, anyone in the GW South Asian Students or Indian Students Association, please make them take me off their listserve, its costing me a fortune right now to delete all the club invites. Nandu...please help. I am so excited to hit land. Oh well, gotta go read, I know I know, Beki read for class?? What the (insert expletive here)?!?! Well, people change, it happens. Shut up. OK, kiddies, Love Y'all! Miss Y'all! See y'all in December. Keep your eye out for future entries. OK, bye!!
Mom, Dad, Karen, and the sibs!! I love you guys. I will call you when I get to land.
PS-Smith family, I have read some of the notes, thanks so much. They really cheered me up. I don't think I have opened one from Aunt Donna yet though, I am slightly worried about what I will find, especially after reading the one from Uncle Robby reminding me that he wasn't drinking all night. Oh well, we'll see.