At Sea we forget to count the days....

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -Lao Tzu
Hello All! We are currently over 500 miles from the closest point of land, Midway Island, which we’re told is essentially a military base / fueling stop. We are about five days into a ten day crossing from Japan to Hawaii. People young and old are starting to get a little cabin fever! It’s hard to believe that when we arrive in San Diego on December 13th, we will have been traveling one week short of four months – one third of a year!
It is true that the days blend into one another at sea. Especially since while we’re sailing, every day is a school day and we’re just as busy on weekends as we are on weekdays! It is no exaggeration that most days we have no idea what date or day it is! Time is another strange phenomenon. Although our days are fairly structured, especially in regards to meals (8am, 11:30am, 5:30pm), we have been losing an hour every other night! Yesterday we had our own version of “Groundhog Day” in that we added another day because we crossed the international date line! So yesterday was our second November 27th – pretty wild, huh! Two students actually got to celebrate their 21st birthdays twice!!!
The kids continue to thrive at sea and in this unconventional living and learning environment. Today they were treated to a hot dog lunch in the faculty/staff lounge! They were served hotdogs, hamburgers, French fries, milk shakes, followed by ice cream and cookies! They danced to Disney tunes and frolicked in bubbles with their shipboard friends – all the while floating out in the middle of nowhere! They have five more days to work with their beloved tutors. We have been so fortunate to have 20 young women help us with individualized tutoring with the girls, and 2 hours of care for Declan over these four months! Their help has been invaluable! John and I wonder how the kids will ever return to a conventional classroom. Then we remember how resilient children are and how they adapt so much quicker than we do. I was talking to my boss Sue, the Executive Dean of the voyage today. She has a son and a daughter who have sailed with her for a third time this voyage – her son is a student, and her daughter works in the field office. She told me that her daughter who was eight the first time they sailed, told her recently that her experience on this ship shaped her into the person she is. John and I think that it will probably be years before we can truly appreciate the impact that it has had on our children – especially the girls.
This is the last week of classes for the students. After Hawaii, they will have exams. As a result, it has been extremely busy this week. We had the shipboard auction the other night. They did a silent auction during the day for smaller items, and then a live auction at night for larger items like rental properties. John’s placemats created a bidding war and earned a sizable donation for the Semester at Sea foundation – as always, I was very proud to have so many people recognize one of his many hidden talents. Last night, I was a participant in a career panel focused on healthcare professions. I have truly loved all of the interaction and mentoring of students throughout this voyage. Tomorrow night is a talent show, followed by a choral concert, then a comedy night. I never went to summer camp, but I imagine it feels something like this! There is always something going on! Life will feel quite monotonous when we return, but hopefully we’ll be ready for a little break…
Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving! Thinking of you all, Traci