More than Halfway to Hawaii

Halfway to Japan
Joe and I began our day yesterday doing yoga on the back deck with one of our very talented students, Kailani. It started raining in the middle of the class, but all of us just continued through a number of poses with the rain falling all around us. It was great. I think yoga is definitely going to be my source of balance on this ship because there is so much going on all the time! Every day just flies by. Thank goodness we’ve been gaining an hour practically every day, BUT today we LOST a whole day. For those of you out there who are reading this on Thursday 9/7, let us know how the day went, eh? We went straight from Wednesday to Friday. One of my students’ birthdays was on 9/7, so I made him a “Happy Un-Birthday” poster for his door.
I’ve been noticing recently that the shipboard community is already a pretty tightly-knit group of people. It’s VERY cool. We haven’t even made it to our 2nd port yet, and I already feel like I recognize about 70% of the people on the ship, I have formed at least small connections with maybe 25%, and would consider 10% friends for life. Everything seems to run in fast forward because we are in a contained community. The Student Life staff was reflecting that we already feel like we’ve been working together for years. There are also already a few students who I absolutely adore. It is so fun to get to know the different people on the ship because you know you will be sharing such amazing experiences with them that no one else will. It’s a special community. Last night we had a giant BBQ out on the 7th deck, and you could feel the positive energy. Good stuff.
Joe, Gail, and I started to plan our Japan itinerary and I think we’re tentatively planning on venturing from Kobe to Kyoto to climb Mt. Fuji, then maybe Tokyo for a bit and back to Kobe. I’m also organizing an informal discussion on the ship about climbing Mt. Fuji since it’s 12,388 ft. high, and I’m not sure everyone who is planning to climb it knows what they’re getting into… it’s supposed to be an amazing experience to start the climb late in the evening – around 11pm or midnight – so that you arrive at the summit at sunrise. So, that’s our plan! J
Full Moon on the ocean tonight… woohoo!