First Day of Class

So, I had planned on getting up bright and early at 6:30 for class so that I could get a shower and go to breakfast this morning before class at 8 a.m., but I guess it makes a difference when your room is pitch black without the light on, no matter what time of day it is. I hit the snooze button a few times before I even realized what I was doing. And then it was 7:20. Oh, well. I have a few more days at sea to get it right.

I did make it to class on time, however, which is more than I can say for everyone in my first class. Two people came in late, haha. The schedule works on an A/B system, which means the days have an alphanumeric numbering, so today was A1, tomorrow is B1, the next day is A2, the day after that is B2, etc., etc. Except that everyone takes Global Studies every day, regardless of whether it’s an A or B day. My 8 o’clock class is Linguistics 200: English as a Global Language. It should prove to be interesting. My professor is from the UK and remarked while taking attendance about my Russian name, later telling us that he is fluent in a few languages, including Russian and also taught Russian in Canada. Pretty cool. We’re required to keep a journal in port and remark on our interactions with the usages and non-usages of the English language, interviewing people and making observations (Hmm…that sounds like some other job I’ve had).

After that was Global Studies, which everyone on the ship, including Lifelong Learners, children and families of the professors, etc. have to attend. I was in a bad spot today and couldn’t see the main screen with the PowerPoint on it very well, so I’ll hafta get a better seat tomorrow. Anyway, our professor for that one seems a little eclectic. He has shoulder-length silver hair that kind of reminds me of Gandalf or Dumbledore without a beard, but he has a hippie look about him because he wears the round glasses like John Lennon did. BUT, his class today was boring. :o( I’m hoping it was just an introduction and it will get better from here. He talked about the transfer of energy in ecosystems from the sun to plants to animals to humans. I’m pretty sure I learned that from Bill Nye in middle school and I don’t know how that relates to global studies directly, but I’m interested in the rest of the course. We’re supposed to discuss each of the ports before we get there with a little bit of cultural and historical background. We will also be having other professors speak about the countries as well, almost like guest speakers.

After class I ate lunch and instead of trying to find someone who I could sit with, which is what I have been doing otherwise, I just sat by myself outside on the deck and watched the waves go by. There are two dining rooms, both in the rear of the ship, or aft, one on Deck 5 and one on Deck 6. The one on Deck 6 is technically the main dining room, although they both serve the same food and both have outside areas attached to them. Because I’m so used to it from school, it’s weird to me that they don’t close the dining rooms they just take away the food. The space is available throughout the day to study and talk and pass through to the outside decks.

They opened the campus store today, so it was really busy with people trying to get t-shirts and sweatshirts and various other things, like mugs, key chains, pins, and bandannas for example, imprinted with Semester at Sea, its logo and the like. I actually had a few minutes before my first class to go in and buy a green water bottle with the logo on it (I have a water bottle, but it has a filter attached to it to be used in the ports, and the straw makes a whistle-y noise when you tilt it). I also had to get a shirt with “Spring 2009 Voyage” across the front and all the flags of the places we’re going. If anyone wants anything from the store, let me know and I’ll get it for you. They had all kinds of different t-shirts and sweats, so I’m sure I could find you something, but then again, I imagine it’s not as cool to have one if you haven’t gone on the trip. :oP Either way, let me know.

There was also an activities fair this evening. It was pretty much organized chaos with a tiny ring of tables in the Union and 700 students trying to sign up for activities. They had various tables set up, one for a battle of the bands, one for academic study groups and tutoring, one for helping organize intramural sports and exercise classes, just to name a few. I signed up for the Students of Service, which apparently does service projects or something, I dunno, sounded up my alley. I also wanted to look into the Vicarious Voyage program, which pairs us with an elementary school class and we send them back things and write to them about our travels. The only other thing I signed up for was the Extended Family program (so did practically everyone else I talked to – their sign-up list was huge), which pairs students with Lifelong Learners and other students to create a “family” or sorts. Sounded interesting.

I need to finalize some field programs if I want to go on them – things like a Japanese homestay and program on socioeconomic problems in India. The Dark Knight was playing in the Union, but I had seen it a few times, so I passed on that and got a jump on some reading for class.