All aboard the MV

As I write, we zoom towards Russia, the first destination of this adventure. In the past 5 days I have learned so much, met hundreds of new people, and enjoyed every minute!

It finally feels real, as the ship rolls beneath me and I sit in my newly filled and decorated room, exhausted from my second day of class. I have arrived for my semester at sea and it only gets better from here 🙂

The short:

Friday 22st – Embarkation! Boarding the ship a day early with work study students & going out in Southampton

Saturday 23nd –Working all day for full ship embarkation, opening session

Sunday 24rd – Orientation all day – finding hidden treasure, activity fair

Monday 25th – First day of A day classes

Tuesday 26th – First day of B day classes

The details:

It all felt pretty surreal as I woke up not long before I needed to catch a cab to the airport and head out for the ship. I rushed to cram everything back in my half unpacked suitcases and made my best attempt not to forget anything. I arrived at the Heathrow Hilton quite early and hung out with a number of the students also waiting for shuttle check-in at 12:30. Everyone had great stories to tell and incredibly different backgrounds, so conversation flowed quite easily as we excitedly met the people we’d be living with for the next 4 months. The shuttle to our port in Southampton took about an hour or more – to be honest I had no concept of time because I was so caught up in meeting everyone and talking about where we were all from, what work study we had, where we were over summer, and our plans for various ports. There were around 30-40 students in total, a nice and more intimate group – as we learned the next day when the 600 or so other students joined us.

We got to Southampton, a quaint English town, and arrived at the correct berth shortly after. First we had to get our passports checked, then go through a carry on/backpack security check– similar to TSA – and then on to the gangway to get on board! We could not see the ship until we exited the security building, so a flurry of selfies and photos ensued.

Five floors seemed like a long way to walk up a wiggly gangplank, but I navigated it, gave my SAS ID card – passport for basically anything on the ship – to the security guard to scan and arrived on the MV. I dropped my bags off in my room, 4th floor and quite small, but at least it has a window. I had no roommate yet, so I wandered around the ship with a group of students, exploring every nook and cranny. It felt like a huge ship, though it’s only 8 floors, but it soon became a lot smaller when the rest of the students arrived the day after.

We then attended several orientations for our jobs and I got trained about the IT help desk and computer lab policy. We only have 2 hours of free internet for the entire journey. Yes. The entire journey. 2 hours for 108 days. But we quickly learned several things: 1) the internet is spotty at best 2) there are a number of free sites we can access with the onboard intranet – including our SAS email addresses, but no facebook 3) that is part of the fun.

After blowing though my internet time pretty quickly and accomplishing next to nothing due to slow loading times, I realized I can get by quite fine without it – minus Greys Anatomy, RIP Netflix. On SAS we are all in the same boat, literally, and part of this adventure is figuring out how to get along and entertain ourselves without the aid of much technology. Yes, we have been playing lots of Cards Against Humanity.

The first night on board, SAS permitted us to get off the ship and we took Southampton by storm. We had about 20 people going out, so we broke off into smaller groups to tool around to the number of bars on one of the main streets. These small groups were much more ideal for actual conversations and we all made fast friends. I am so glad I got to board early and meet all of those students.

The next day came far too fast and much too early. I woke up around 6:30 to unpack because I had been so busy the day before I ran out of time. I did not want my roommate coming in to my bags exploded all over the room. After breakfast, I congregated with the rest of the IT student workers and we began the process of helping all the newly boarded students configure their emails to the ships intranet servers, honestly, not that strenuous off a task, but people seem to love us. So far I have been called “genius”, “amazing”, “the best” and, my favorite “IT girl”, one guy even asked if he could tip me… but I guess that’s what I get when I apply for a computer lab work-study. The other workers are really great and the work is not too terribly demanding.

Everyone stayed up way too late meeting other people, playing games and talking, so early morning orientation came far too soon. Fortunately, we figured out the orientation was screened in our rooms and hid out with a group of friends to watch it. The afternoon consisted of more orientation information sessions. That evening we had an activity fair and everyone signed up for way too many clubs, myself included. Again, we stayed up until the wee hours playing card games and talking, but it sure helped us meet cool friends.

The next two days consisted of classes, eating, working, and hanging out. We realized just how much free time we were going to have. My classes and my professors are awesome. I even have a professor from USC! Funny how I came all the way over to a completely different country and I still manage to find a class taught by an SC professor.

Tonight was the first night students had drink vouchers. The incredibly long line of students waiting for a 4$ tiny cup (I swear it was 4 oz tops) of wine was pretty entertaining. It seems people were quire desperate for a drink after 4 days cooped up on board the MV, but quickly learned the maximum 3 was not enough to get anyone remotely close to intoxicated. I opted for $1.50 ice cream instead, which I believe was a much better deal and equally as satisfying on the rocky boat. I still get disoriented when the ship sways a bit too much for my liking or I realize how fast we are moving across the water.

Today we also traversed the Kiel Canal (pictured above), so we saw lots of Danish and German countryside and several tourists waving at us. We’ve traveled over 400 nautical miles so far! I will try to upload pictures with this post, but again – the wifi situation is a doozy. Four more days at sea until our first stop – Russia! I’ll post in a bit about plans and some interesting insider tidbits about the ship. Time for bed now. Goodnight world.

 

layovers, muggles & pub crawls: London, England

The travel part did not go as smoothly as hoped – try a 12 hr layover in Mexico City, subsequently missed shuttle to the hotel, then a foray through the underground with far too much luggage due to the closest station to our hotel being closed for renovation. Good thing my mom and I looked our best (post 36+ hrs of travel) so chivalrous british men would help carry our three 50+ pound bags up the numerous stairways between tube stops. Regardless, we finally arrived to our hotel in London late Monday night – travel weary and bleary eyed – ready for a shower, room service and a good sleep in a normal bed.

After our rest, we set off to experience London and we have been busy from then on.

The short:

Tuesday: Run in Hyde Park, lunch with Lorraine – mom’s friend from San Diego, being a tourist with Freddie – my friend from USC, Book of Mormon in Camden (sorry to my Mormon friends), delicious pan-asian food for dinner.

Wednesday: typical English breakfast, Warner Brothers Harry Potter Tour – truly an all day event, Dinner in Shepard’s Market

Thursday: Harrods, Tea at Fortnum & Mason, SAS pub crawl

 

The Details:

Our hotel is right by Hyde Park – London’s fancier & smaller version of Central Park complete with rose gardens, statues, and a small lake. We met Lorraine that afternoon and she showed us the backstreets of Westminster, renewing my love of Europe and its twisting, cobbled side streets once again. I rendezvoused with Freddie after that and we made an attempt to be touristy by visiting Trafalgar Square, the national galleries and walking down by the Thames. It was great to see a familiar face and explore the sites of London. Freddie is originally from here and will be attending University of Edinburgh this year. Here’s a shot of us over the Thames by our new friend Ben

After that, I rushed back to the hotel to change and head out to see the Book of Mormon with my mother. We Ubered there – so excited to see this app exists here! Much to the disenchantment of the Hotel Valet man who wanted to call us a regular taxi… sorry! My mother and I laughed our heads off and we were pleasantly surprised by a number of the British actors’ American accents. Disclaimer: the play is quite offensive to most parties, but still, downright hilarious. By the time the show finished, around 10, we had developed quite an appetite and hopped in a cab requesting to be taken somewhere with good food near our hotel. Luckily, the cabbie was more than happy to oblige and dropped us off at a small Pan-Asian restaurant by Oxford Street. Surprisingly delicious – see here.

Wednesday morning we shopped around Oxford Street and enjoyed delicious breakfast at a small cafe down the road from our hotel. We caught our bus out to the WB lot around 2:00 and stepped into the magical world of Harry Potter, seeing the sets, the costumes, the props from all of the films. I had forgotten how much this series dominated my childhood and how much I still wished I’d received my letter to Hogwarts at age 11. We marveled at the sheer attention to detail and amount of effort put into every single piece used in the movies and we gave Butterbeer the good old college try. As I have quite a tolerance for sweets, I loved the sugary butterscotch concoction, but mom was not such a fan. We walked through Diagon Alley, Number 4 Privet Drive, most of Hogwarts and even found a piece of Wizard’s Chess fighting on! Pic later!

After hours walking around, we took a bus back to Piccadilly and stopped in Shepard’s Market for a drink and some dinner. PSA: if you are a female – expect to be a minority. We also felt quite underdressed compared to the vast numbers of suited men crowded outside every pub for a Post-Wednesday Drink. According to our waiter, in England they celebrate hump day by drinking at pubs. I think the American version of this is called “wine Wednesday” 🙂 – but that remains to be confirmed.

Thursday was another marathon day, comprised predominately of eating. We took the tube to Harrods and taste tested a number of scrumptious delicacies – see this amazing Zebra doughnut: layers of chocolate and plain pastry, filled with chocolate mouse, covered in sugar and coated with chocolate fudge and dusted with chocolate flakes – SO GOOD. Pics to come later.
Then we hoofed it to Fortnum & Mason for our High Tea, which far exceeded already high expectations. The mint décor, assorted mini sandwiches, crisp champagne, wide array of tea selections, and our smiling Spanish server made it an afternoon to remember – mom & Paige’s last meal. After that my mother and I split up, me heading off to a pub-crawl with a group of Semester at Sea students and she joining Lorraine for a nice dinner. I had an excellent time at the pub-crawl and I really appreciated finally meeting some of the people I’ll be spending the next semester with! Our excitement seemed to be contagious, because everywhere we visited with our 30/40-person group became even more lively and raucous. I’ll spare the details of our 5-stop crawl and just share my piece of knowledge from the night: the tube in London closes at midnight and the bus really only gets you halfway back from Camden toward Hyde Park. Regardless, the night got me even more excited to get on the ship and start the adventure of a lifetime!

— posting 2 days late due to spotty ship wifi, more on embarkation day later! —

homeless

At the moment I am existing in a semi-transient state.  Kicked out of the apartment at midnight last night, but not leaving until tomorrow early morning.  My mom and I are heading to London a few days early to tour around and I board the ship next Friday! Quick recap here My car currently contains all of my worldly possessions – so to anyone reading this, please do not break into it.  

I cannot believe my adventure begins tomorrow and I come into it with bittersweet feelings.  My internship ended yesterday and I packed everything I own into a small sedan, yet I still have not fully comprehended the momentous amount of change I am about to experience.  

THE SHIP

On one hand, I already miss a number of my friends.  This departure really snuck up on me and I did not get the chance to say official goodbyes.  However, I strongly dislike goodbyes.  I prefer to have the last memories of time spent together focused around the exciting moments and the fun we had, as opposed to constantly worrying about missing each other and my impending departure. So, to those who I missed saying a real goodbye – just think of how much fun we had when we last saw each other and I know we will be reunited again soon 🙂

Another thing I now realize is how many amazing people are in my life.  I guess it’s true you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone – although technically not gone, just very far away in my case.  I really feel blessed to have such supporting people as my friends, family, and loved ones.

On the other hand, as sad as I am to leave my life in the US behind for a bit, I AM SO EXCITED I LEAVE TOMORROW!! 

I have fit my life into: 1 rolling duffle, 1 suitcase, 1 purse, & 1 backpacking bag (with the yellow bandana on so other SASers can recognize a fellow student) 

Shameless self promotion – I rock at packing because with the plastic compression bags, I fit everything in and my suitcases are 45lbs – no idea how that worked.  none. my roommates can attest to that.

Picture proof:

empty bags: the before

all packed

thank goodness for plastic vacuum seal bags

So after I go pick up my photo prints at Walgreens – 50% off today by the way! – I am off to say some last goodbyes and then to an airport hotel for my early takeoff tomorrow.  Dear friends, family, co-workers, peers, enemies, I hope to provide you with more excitement of my travels over the next months.  Thank you to all who have had an impact on my life over the summer and the past years.  This is Paige – signing off.  Peace out America.

they call it STUDY abroad for a reason

Obviously, I am going to be taking classes on board the MV and although it might sound super nerdy, I cannot wait!  Because I have extra space in my academic schedule to graduate, I was less hindered in my selection of classes and I got to choose ones that really seemed interesting to me.

Fortunately, I got all of the classes I wanted right at registration – which stressed me out because I had to wake up at 6 am in Bocas del Toro, Panama, where I was on a volunteer trip- see here:

 

Because registration opens for everyone at 8am EST, it is basically a race to click “register” as everyone can pre-select the classes they want.  To alleviate my nerves about getting the classes I liked best, I opened up the mypassport site in two browsers and a world clock counting in seconds so I could press the register button at exactly 6:00:00.  It worked! And here are my classes:

1. PPOL-4500 Global Security Concerns

2. SEMS-3500 Entrepreneurship (Global Comparative Lens Class)

3. SPAN-3030 Cultural Conversations – Spanish

4. ARTS-2511 Documentary Photography

All courses also have field labs associated with them, which are mandatory excursions at port – I know what a hard life right? Having to participate in in-country excursions for class credit is so rough 🙂  Corresponding field labs are as follows:

1. NATO world headquarters visit in Brussels, Belgium

2. Micro-financing with the Grameen Foundation in Ghana

3. Flamenco dancing and walking tour in Cadiz, Spain

4. Photography tour in Le Havre, France

 

For books, I still need to purchase kindle editions of everything.  I could have ordered actual textbooks to be sent to my cabin, but I missed the deadline and I know e-readers are much cheaper!  Just another thing to add to the growing list of to-do’s before I embark. But what I really am excited about is…

TEN DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE FOR LONDON!