explorer's got talent & a visit from captain jeremy

16 & 17 april 2009
(written 17 april 2009, posted 1745)

i haven't forgotten about everyone! it's been a busy few days. of course, that's all relative. but i'll catch you all up!

for starters, we are currently 7 hours BEHIND the east coast, and we will lose another hour tonight. as exciting as it is to work our way back to "home time", it means that we are getting closer and closer to the end of the voyage. i think everyone, myself included, are struggling to understand just what going home will mean. i am thrilled at the idea of seeing dear family and friends, but i will be leaving the dear friends i made on this fantastic voyage. it will be bittersweet, but more on that later.

i don't believe that i discussed my trip to the bridge; where they drive the ship. dad will surely kill me for that statement, as i am incorrect in my terminology. but with a steering wheel and lots of buttons, it's sort of like driving! there were about 15 of us on the tour, everyone eager to check out the view. we entered and were given a speech by the 1st officer, or maybe he was the 2nd. either way, this man knew the ship like the back of his hand. there were lots of buttons and lights, i felt like i was in the movie elf, when buddy presses all the buttons on the elevator because they light up: i wanted to push them all! facts about the ship included that we have 4 engines, how the stabilizing systems work, the global positioning screens and that the ship is on auto-pilot nearly 95% of the time. no blow-up otto from airplane, but a staff that keeps a lookout and a few who monitor the screens, day in and day out. we are the fastest ship of our kind, with the ability to travel up to 29 knots/hour with all four engines running.

the first few days back at sea, after japan, we experienced a storm that led to considerable rocking. the crew asked us how we felt about the storm, and many were surprised; asking "what storm?" i suppose a combination of sleeping in, studying for global studies and focusing on school kept people in their cabins and unaware of the weather. apparently it was pretty rough. a few photos in the captains chair and a peek through the lookout's binoculars and our tour was complete. it was fun to be in the bridge and to hear about the inner-workings of the ship. i'm not sure if there is a galley(kitchen) tour, but i'd love to check that out!

our dreaded global studies exam grades were posted in timitz square, and the grades were much better than the first exam. when discussing grades in class, professor schoenherr said that the faculty was pleased with the results. the majority received b's, the highest grade being a 95. i got an 82, which i was very pleased about; i was just 3 points from an A (according to the scale). i suppose i can't complain, i still did well! our next test will be our cumulative final, on april 25th.

classes are winding down and papers are all due by the last days of class, the 23rd and 24th. hard to believe the semester is almost over! only 22 class meetings per class, that's less than half of a semester at unh.

last night was "explorer's got talent," a more formal version of the open mic nights. there were auditions because too many people wanted to perform! the evening opened with a spectacular song by the "sober sailor singers." sober sailor is a term coined by luke, our academic dean, at the beginning of the voyage, essentially asking students to be responsible with each other and to designate someone to be sober each night. his rationale was that we were not to be driving, so designated driver was not appropriate. hence sober sailor.

the sober sailor singers, faculty, staff and lifelong learners, created a semester at sea version of the gilligan's island theme. sporting blue and white, and homemade sailor caps, the song was fantastic. dedicated to christopher, the 4 year old who sailed with us through thailand and often sang at open mic; the singers promised that they would put a video up on youtube for him to see from home.

there were countless performances and the show neared 3 hours. the emcee was a crowd favorite, jonathan, who provided his stand-up as well as introductions.

he joked about facebook: how we won't be able to find anyone because no one knows each other's names. he suggested a sas-book, with features like "what sea were you in," and "what was your room number." his jokes were perfect and his final set was about how he'll miss the ship. especially the noon announcements and the searching of his bags every time he wants to get into the house. i suppose that the jokes don't translate into the blog world, but i have a video that will do the routine justice.

the ship's acapella group sang natasha bedingfeild's "unwritten" and did an amazing job, i am always in awe of such talent! my ship-brother harry performed the al yankovich "white and nerdy," a follow-up to his karaoke performance of "amish paradise." a kid named ben did an acoustic set of popular rap songs, it was so much fun, everyone was singing along. there were a few dance numbers (including a hula dance) and original compositions. from opera to the chinese yo-yo(absolutely INCREDIBLE, wait for the video), there was a little taste of everything.

rounding out the evening was a follow-up to the song, "no land," reworked to ask, how we're supposed to live on land after the voyage. i look forward to getting the lyrics!

i have never been exposed to the art of spoken word before this voyage, and last night there was a great speech by grace and david. the piece, be the light, was awe inspiring. grace has created her own major in the art of public speaking and she is incredible. she certainly is going to do big things; she is quite possibly the sweetest girl on the ship. the performance was awe-inspiring, and received a standing ovation. i look forward to finding the text, something i cannot do through wikipedia.

there was also an original song, by a girl from connecticut, that closed the evening, nearly bringing the audience to tears.

it was a great evening, offering a true sense of the talent and diversity on the ship. i'm sure that some people will be famous one day; and i'll be able to say "i knew them when.."

today (17 april), classes as usual. except for a special treat in my first class, "english as a global language." the captain of the ship, jeremy, came and lectured! in his whites, jeremy spoke about the use of english in maritime communications and the need for a common language. he is a truly funny man, and we were so lucky to have him in class! professor thomas was so tickled that the captain came, he was still talking about it in our second class of the day.

i am now doing my best to study and prepare my papers due before the end of the semester. my game-plan is to finish as much work as i can prior to hawaii, so as to focus on exams and finals before guatemala. the end will be here before we know it! only 5 more days of class!

tonight is our cultural pre-port for hawaii. luke, the voice on the intercom, promises that it will be a cultural pre-port like none other, put together by the students. should be interesting! i'm curious, will we have a logistical pre-port? all the things to look out for when in hawaii? we joke we want a pre-port for fort lauderdale, to hear what foreign tourists hear when they visit the united states.