we dock tomorrow. There's lots of travel-guide checkout-activity going on in the library. Which, fortunately, doesn't require a library catalog. Also, btw, lots of proxy server handing-out-of passwords, I should mention that too. Folks doing research for papers due between China & Japan.
I won’t be really spending any time in Hong Kong. I would have liked to, it was a hard decision, but I also really wanted to take the big overland trip to China. We leave the ship at 9:45 tomorrow morning and fly to Beijing. We see the Great Wall and all that and then we fly to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors. From there, we fly to Qingdao to meet up with the ship. The ship will be sailing from Hong Kong to Qingdao with about 75 faculty/staff/students aboard who are not doing overland trips. It might have been nice to stay on the ship too, quiet and all.
I'm really excited about this trip. Amazing sights for sure. And tons of faculty/staff are on this same trip. In many ways, it kind of feels like the last hurrah. I have day trips planned in Japan, but nothing big. Then we’re only in Hawaii for one day. And then we’re done. So, it will definitely be nice to do this last big trip with a fun group. There is Robin & David & Phoebe & Sherri & Giles & Kate & Anne-Claire & Simon & Joyce & Bob and other nice people I'm not sure I’ve mentioned on this blog. Anyways, it should be nice. We're gone for 5 days, so this will be the last post for a bit.
I missed breakfast this morning because I missed the time change. This is the first time I've done that. They remind you both at the noontime and dinnertime announcements when we need to advance our clocks, but nonetheless I totally forgot. I was in the shower when the announcement came on for Global Studies. I made it to class on time, but breakfast was already closed. We're back to 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, which is easy for the math at least. In the next 29 days, we'll be advancing another 12 hours. Yipes. The last 3, though, will be in the air from San Diego to Charlottesville.
The summer voyage is under-enrolled. Yesterday, they offered discounts to our current students if they want to sail again in summer. There is lots of speculation as to why the enrollment is so low. This is the first time there is a language requirement (Spanish), as they are going all around South America. Some people are wondering whether the language requirement is a deterrent, since there are so many other good study abroad opportunities for Spanish-speaking students. Summer is always lower than fall & spring, but current enrollment is still considered low by comparison to other summers. This voyage that I am on now has a record 702 students. More than ever and students were turned away. If you know any college students who would like to take a voyage to South America, send them to http://www.semesteratsea.com. The summer voyage is 65 days long and they take 3 classes for 9 credits. And they will have to take Spanish at "their current level of fluency". The full itinerary is on the website.
