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.