August 29 (Syracuse, NY USA - Vancouver, BC Canada)

And so it begins! Today is full of endings and beginnings. I've said my goodbyes, I've left home and all that is familiar, and I embark on the next great stage of my life. I am journeying out into the great unknown. Everything I think I know about life, the world, and myself will be challenged in the coming months. And I will be better for it.

Sure, I'm nervous. So much is unknown, so much is up in the air, so much will change. But in the midst of this fear and uncertainty is a calm excitement that overcomes. My sense of adventure outweighs the nervousness and it unties the bonds of anxiety.

Who knows to what distant part of this world I will go? I will see more than I could ever dream. I will grow in more ways than I thought possible - but always hoped I would. Though the itinerary is set, I will voyage into the depths of myself, test the lengths of my heart, and discover the heights that my spirit will soar. And in the end I will find myself.

The first step is taken. My spirit is willing, my flesh is able, and the adventure has begun! Mevlana Rumi, a Sufi mystic, once said, "Don't be satisfied with the stories that came before you. Unfold your own myth." And so, MY story begins...

"We will not cease from exploration And the end of our exploring Will be to return to where we started And know the place for the first time."
-T.S. Elliot

"The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
-Marcel Proust

August 31 (Vancouver, BC Canada)

Welcome Aboard! After traveling from one side of the country to the other, I am finally onboard! The trip was long but with few bumps in the road. Airport security and Canadian Customs were pretty merciful which was a definite plus. My body is still trying to compensate for the 3 hour time difference from home but I'll adjust. Our ship - SS Universe Explorer - is large and is truly a floating campus. It is complete with library, pool and fitness area, student union, theater, classrooms, and all the other creature comforts a college student needs. My cabin is, thankfully, one of the larger ones on the ship, though certainly not THE biggest. It's larger than my previous dorm rooms but it also houses myself and my two roommates: Tom and Alex. Even though it's just the first day, I can tell we'll get along and do fine.

The food is typical dining hall cuisine, though without the selection I'm used to at BU. I have managed to navigate the maze of corridors and stairwells that make up the ship fairly well. I've at least located where most of my classrooms are and many of the key places to know. There is ertainly a different feel to this place; it's a far cry from the sprawling city campus of Boston. Though it's pretty close quarters with the roughly 610 students and many faculty and staff and adult passengers that are accompanying us, there are many places to just sit and enjoy the view and to take in the experience.

Getting settled, lifeboat drills, and an orientation session are orders of the day this afternoon. And in just about an hour we will finally be shoving off and heading out into the vast blue waters of the Pacific and an experience that will change my life.

September 1 (First Day on the Pacific)

Still trying to get acclimated to the time difference from home, I found myself wide awake at 6am. The ship was nearly silent apart from the wind and the waves. The night before, the line between sky and sea was gone. Blackness surrounded us with only the white caps created by the ship to pierce the void. Morning was quite different. As I peered off the starboard side towards the aft as we made our way WNW I saw perhaps one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen - and the photo doesn't due it justice. Later, as I sat at breakfast gazing across the vast water that now surrounds us, the occasional whale in the distance would blow water and air out into the sky. And, simply by chance, I caught sight of 4-5 dolphins running with us. Truly, this morning was made for me.


September 3 (Somewhere in the Pacific)

The seas were a little rough yesterday. Making it hard for some to keep their stomachs under control. And the rest of us were getting pretty close to that point as well. Luckily, today has been pretty tame.

Classes have gotten off to a good start. I am taking Core which is a geography/cross-discipline course for the entire shipboard community - students, professors, adult passengers, and all. We cover the cultures, geography, political climate, economy, and other useful information about each country we will be visiting. A different professor gives the lecture each day in his/her area of expertise, which not only helps us get the best info from the most knowledgeable on the subject but it also offers a good variety of perspectives and voices on each country. My next class is Religious Ethics. Here we will be approaching various prominant social issues from the points of view of each of the multiple religions of each port. I am also taking a class that focuses on the arts of Asia - and will also touch on some Islamic art to fill the class time post-India. Finally, I am taking a class about nationalism. We will be in search of what that concept means for individuals of each country we visit. There is a lot of reading to be done, but no more than I've been accustomed to in years past. A large part of our coursework is done through journals and papers that are focused on our personal observations and interactions with the cultures, locations, and people we meet along the way. There really is no better way to do it.

Activities have begun as well. As of right now there have only been the preliminary meetings to see what interest there is and to provide an overview of the groups. I'm going to be working with the onboard website and, to some degree, with the religious/spiritual commuity. I'll be finding out later in the week what role I'll be playing with the website. I'm the lead photographer so be sure to check that site through www.semesteratsea.com as well. Also later this week we will be given our teams for the Vicarious Voyage program. This program will match us up with an elementary or high school class (in either NY or MA in my case) and we will periodically mail them pictures, letters, discriptions of the countries, menus and other objects with foreign writing, and other educational items so they can follow along with us and learn from what is beyond the textbook. Depending on where the school is, I may get the opportunity to visit and give a presentation once I return.

Aside from classes and organized groups, there is a lot to do onboard. Certainly happy hour at the end of the class day is popular. In the evenings there are generally movies playing in the theater or on our closed-circuit tv's in our cabins. The selection isn't great but we generally see films either with a theme or setting in the next port or one produced in those countries. Though, there have been exceptions. The Union which is basically the central meeting place on the ship and the location of our Core class is always full of people doing pretty much everything from playing cards to playing music to studying to just hanging out or passing through to something else. One of my favorite spots is the port side sitting area on the Promenade Deck (that's the left side when looking at the front, or bow).It's generally pretty quiet and you can sit and watch the water and listen to the waves for hours. I can't get enough of it!


September 7 (Almost to the International Date Line)

Tomorrow doesn't exist. Tonight we will be moving steadily past the International Date Line and Sunday the 8th of September will be skipped. Unfortunately a few members of the shipboard community will not be having a birthday this year as a result! There's going to be a big dance party tonight to celebrate though and they will get cake anyway.

I was assigned to a kindergarden class in Newton Center to correspond with. The other two members of my group are from the Boston area as well and we're going to be able to visit them when we get back in January. That's going to be pretty cool!


September 9 (4 Days from Japan!)

As the first week aboard the SS Universe Explorer has come and gone, the anticipation rises as we continue to get closer and closer to our first port of call: Kobe, Japan. The shipboard community is really starting to take form. There is no longer so much of the apprehension and nervousness that came with the newness of the first few days. Groups for class, clubs, and other friendships are being created out of the simple "Hi my name is _____ and I go to school at _____ and my mjaor is _____" conversations that were pretty much the entire range of discussion over the past week.

Anticipation is rising as we progress on our journey. Most of us still can't believe that we'll actually be in Japan on Friday and seeing things that we've only read about or seen pictures of in textbooks. To see first-hand what I only imagined up until this point is going to be beyond amazing for me. I can't wait!