ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY ME- OCTOBER 2018*

Questions I get asked almost daily:

“So like you’re going to be on a boat?”

“When do you even take classes?”

“Where are you going?”

“Did you know anyone?”

“What even is your major?”

“Oh my gosh, how much money is that?”

“Wait, you won’t have any internet?”

“So like… you’re pretty much living the Suite life on deck, right?”

If you’re like my mother, you’re probably wondering when I am ever going to post my first blog about my semester… she hasn’t heard from me much in the past 3 weeks. The truth is there’s so much to see and to get done on this trip.

For my specific voyage, Fall 2018, I will be traveling to 11 different countries over the course of 106 days. I embarked the ship on September 9th with about 450 other students from all around the United States and some from different countries. The ship will dock in each of the following countries:

September

15-16: Barcelona, Spain

17-18: Valencia, Spain

27-28: Tema, Ghana

29-30: Takoradi, Ghana

October

7-12: Capetown, South Africa

19: Port Louis, Mauritius

25-30: Cochin, India

November

4-8: Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)

14-18: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

24-29: Shanghai, China

December

2-6: Kobe, Japan

16: Hawaii, USA

23: Disembark in San Diego, USA

To answer some of the questions I get asked:

Yes, I will be on a ship (it’s not small enough to be a boat) for about four months (three now). The MV World Odyssey is a German Cruise ship that is used for Semester at Sea each semester in order to carry students, professors and their families, crew members/staff, and lifelong learners across the ocean.

I often get asked if I came with any friends, but the truth is before coming I knew absolutely no one. However, I am so lucky to have met some pretty amazing people at Air BnB’s in Germany before boarding the ship and I have also met a lot of friends during my time on the voyage so far. We have very limited internet and when we do, it’s really slow. The only form of communication  we have is called SeaMail (email from the sea).This is nice because it forces people to actually sit down and talk to one another. Everyone gets close pretty fast and the majority of people love making new friends.

I’m currently a first semester senior and I major in Communication studies with minors in Public Relations, New Media, and Professional Writing. I am lucky because credits from the ship transfer over to my home university without any problems… some people aren’t so lucky. Semester at Sea is a big investment, but there are many scholarships offered. I was fortunate to get a good amount of aid, to have a job that allows me to pick up extra waitressing shifts during the summer, and amazing family/friends that helped make this voyage possible.

During the voyage each student must take a minimum of 4 classes. I am taking global studies (mandatory for each student sailing), Reading Without Borders, World Music, and Documenting Globalism. Each class comes with something called a field class. Every professor picks one day, in one of the countries and takes the entire class there (kind of like getting a single field trip for each individual class). Field classes are mandatory and worth 20% of your grade. Mine include: African Drumming and Dancing in Ghana (World Music), Kakum National Park Canopy walk in Ghana (Global Studies), Robin Island in South Africa (Documenting Globalism), and Cu Chi Tunnels and War Museum in Vietnam (Reading Without Borders).

The 4-9 days that it takes to sail to each port is when we take classes; so instead of getting weekends, our time off is when we are in port. Our days are split into A and B days. On A days, I only have Global Studies and on B days, I take my other 3 classes (what classes you take on each day depends on the person).

When I am in each port I have the opportunity to do solo travel with friends, field classes (1 is required for each academic class you take and usually takes a full day in a select country- where is determined by the professor and worth 20% of your grade), or a field program (instead of organizing solo travel SAS organizes everything for you- this can be a bit expensive, but totally worth it in some countries).

So to answer the last question, I guess I am pretty much living the Suite Life on Deck. Just like attending school at a regular university, each day has its ups and downs and things aren’t always easy. However, I learn something new about myself and the world everyday. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Here’s to endless sunsets…

Until Next Time,

Liv