Post Hawaii Thoughts...

Post Hawaii Thoughts…
It is getting consistently more difficult to find time to write. But, here I am nonetheless, even though I have a ton of work to do. I’m feeling a little paralyzed by how much I have to accomplish before we get to Japan, but I’m sure it will be fine… may as well procrastinate a bit by writing on our blog!
I’ve decided to take an additional class on the ship – “Women in World Religions.” The class meets every other day from 0800-0915, right before Global Studies, so it works out perfectly for my schedule. It’s taught by Carolyn Heinz, and she’s a great professor. I’m really enjoying the class so far, and since I’m so interested in religion, it will serve as a great context for all of the countries we are visiting. It’s a fun class, too, because it’s all female students (go figure) so it’s very empowering to have discussions with all women. Good stuff.
Our brief day in Hawaii was fabulous, as Hawaii always is. It felt amazing to set foot on land after being at sea for almost a week. Everyone was super anxious to get off the ship, so disembarking was a little chaotic, but I think everyone was off by 9:30am. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, so we spent a lot of our day just walking around Waikiki. First things first, Joe and I purchased our Japan rail passes for our adventures in Japan. It seemed believable that we were going to Hawaii, but now it seems unreal that our next port will be Japan! I am now further than I’ve ever been west of the island of Kauai. We have 8 full days on the ship until Japan, so I’m sure we’ll all be very anxious at the end of this stint at sea, too. Anyway – Joe and I, and one of my fellow RDs - Gail, plan to hike Mt. Fuji while we’re in Japan. (I know you’re jealous, Mom & Dad!!) We’ll need the rail pass to get to the mountain, plus we thought it would be a great way to see other spots in Japan like Hiroshima. We’re also signed up to go to a Japanese baseball game in Kobe, which I’ve heard is an awesome cultural experience.
Anyway – after buying rail passes we went to the one-&-only “Eggs ‘n Things” restaurant!! This place is said to have the best breakfast on all of Oahu, and – as some of you know - Joe really wanted to go there when we were in Honolulu for the marathon. It never worked out, mostly because there were always monster-long lines, BUT!! Yesterday there was only a short wait, and we officially got to experience “Eggs ‘n Things.” Among our friends at the table, we had delicious treats like french toast with papaya, macadamia nuts & whipped cream; fresh banana pancakes; and coconut waffles. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Needless to say, it was worth the stop. Next, we poked around the International Marketplace and then headed to Waikiki Beach to jump in the ocean!! It was absolutely gorgeous, the water was perfect, and it felt so good to swim and move my body in ways that I can’t on the ship. We also checked out the Okinawa Festival, saw some traditional dancing, and ate anidaga(?)– Japanese donuts. Yum.
We rounded out our day in Hawaii at the exciting landmark know as “FoodLand.” I know… not really exciting, but a little exciting in the sense that we were able to stock up on some treats that we may not see for a while, like wheat thins, cheez-its, red vines, … etc. It was a fabulous day, but way too short. I wish we had at least one more day in Hawaii, but I’m probably not as sad as the folks who have never been to HI before.
There was a little drama at re-embarkation… some students tried to smuggle alcohol on to the ship, but were largely unsuccessful thanks to the super strict port security. A few of the items used to smuggle in alcohol were: filling water bottles with vodka (seemingly a smart idea, but actually not), filling shampoo bottles with alcohol, and – my personal favorite – filling up BINOCULARS with alcohol. All unsuccessful attempts. I don’t understand how students can decide to spend their ONLY day in Hawaii constructing different ways to smuggle alcohol onto the ship. Is it REALLY that important, people?
For all of you out there who are reading this, please keep in mind that this is the MINORITY of students who are trying to do stupid stuff like this. In fact, most of their peers think they are dumbasses, too. Anyway – most of them got busted, and will face the consequences, so hopefully that will deter most folks from now on.
Well, I have got to get some work done! I’m frantically trying to coordinate the fitness class schedule for the ship, get intramurals going up on Deck 7, and start planning the Sea Olympics! In the meantime, I’m still trying to get to know all of the students in my sea, which IS NOT easy! I see some of them everywhere, but others are harder to locate on a daily basis. At least I know they aren’t going anywhere!!

A couple shout-outs:
Nancy – I’ve been meaning to tell you – Gretchen & Ray are on our voyage, too! Did you know that? They wanted me to say “Hello” and give you a cyber-hug!! They always say, “Oh, we LOVE Nancy!!!” They’re such great people.
Mom & Dad, and Ed & Zoe – SO GLAD I caught you on the phone yesterday… so fun to hear your voices!
Jon – Heard you were a bad-ass in the ocean the other day… You are SO READY for the triathlon on Saturday!!! I’m so excited for you and SO SO SO WISH I could be there! Please know I’ll be thinking about you A TON!!!
College 8 Peeps – Hope the beginning of RA training goes awesome!!!