Welcome to my Blog!

So, I gave in. Despite the fact that living on a floating campus means high priced internet, I couldn’t resist sharing my journey with family and friends.

I left San Diego, CA the morning of August 27 for Ensanada. We boarded the M/V Explorer and began sailing West. It took six days to get to our first stop, Honolulu. We had two days of Orientation with boring unstructured days and the task of making all new friends which left me pretty homesick. As soon as classes started things picked up and I, of course, made many friends. Classes made the days easier to bear but we were unexplainably happy to get off for a day in Honolulu, Hawaii. We had about 10 hours on the island. We made a stop at Walmart to stock up on things we had forgotten. I got myself a $7.87 watch because the last few days I had continuously showed up to class 20 minutes early cause I just had no idea what time it was. Let me tell you, life is weird without a cell phone. After that, we spent a few hours at the beach and then headed back to ship for our 8 day trek to Yokohama, Japan.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to arrive in Yokohama tomorrow. The ship isn’t that big, so sometimes you can go stir crazy but I feel a lot more comfortable than I did before Hawaii. I feel like I’ve been gone for so long, and my trip in essence has not even started.

A little about my home:

- I live in a double room on the Portside (Left) of the ship. It has a window to the water which I often stare out. Yesterday it was my afternoon entertainment as the waves were the largest yet. I have a roommate, Justine. She is a second year at UCLA and we get along really well, especially considering we share a bathroom you can barely turn around in.

- I was seasick the first two days but my body seems to have adjusted well. This boat rocks 20 times more than a Carnival Cruise, you wouldn’t believe it. Last night, all of the pool water (7^th deck) splashed out even soaking the 4^th deck. The pool was soon empty.

- I have classes almost every day we are at sea. There are no weekends on board. I hardly know what day it is. Our calendar follows and A-B schedule. A1, B1, A2, B2, etc. I am taking a core global studies course which everyone takes. This is a very eclectic course, all of the professors have their turn lecturing about different aspects (cultural/historical/technology) of the places we are visiting. We just took our first of four midterms for global studies. I am also taking Global Media, China in the Modern World, and Population and Development in Asian Societies. The teachers are wonderful and really stress learning based on field observations.

- The food is very dorm-esque. We get pretty much the same thing everyday with a tiny new spin on it. My diet is primarily salad, pasta, and vegetables. If there is protein that looks tasty I jump on it, cause it doesn’t come around too often. =)

- I have made a great group of girlfriends and we have a lot of fun. They definitely make being away from home easier.

- I still check email daily so feel free to write, ninaburke@sbcglobal.net. I am a pro at getting and sending emails in under 5 minutes. =)

Tomorrow, we dock in Japan. My plans include Tokyo for 2 days, Hiroshima, Kobe, and Kyoto. My last night will be a home stay with a family of a University student in Kobe which I am Very excited about!!

The next time I write I will officially be a world traveler. Cheers!