A Day At Sea

Out of the 115 days of the Semester at Sea voyage, 53 are spent in port…which means I have (or will have) a total of 62 days “at sea.” Since the voyage is more than 4/5 over, I figured I’d let you all in on what a “typical” day “at sea” is like.

Not a bad way to start my day.

645: If I’m being really ambitious, my alarm will go off at 645 (I will be using military time in this email, as this is what we use on the ship…good luck with the conversions). A few members of our community lead CrossFit (a core strengthening and conditioning program) sessions each morning starting at 700. If you come at 705, you will get publicly scolded (and then be able to join). I have only done CrossFit one time, so not that ambitious on my part. I have however worked out on my own in the mornings a handful of times…but still nothing to brag about, so I won’t.

700-830: Breakfast is served at this time each day. It is a buffet style with various eggs, potatoes, french toast, fruit, and more. I did really well waking up early for breakfast for the first few weeks of the voyage. I have never really been a breakfast person (except in middle school, mainly because I had sisters who needed to use the bathroom at the same time each morning), but found it beneficial to wake up and eat breakfast with different students/faculty/staff each morning, in order to meet more people. It definitely worked…but then I realized the same people come to breakfast every morning. Thus, I stopped going to allow myself a little more time to sleep and instead typically have a breakfast consisting of a morning cup of tea.

 The Breakfast Buffet

900-1200: This is my “office time” each day. The 8 Resident Directors (RDs) share an office on the ship. Our office is located near the bow, in an area where you can feel every single wave. More than one person has gotten sick in the office; though I've been good throughout the voyage. The Student Life Office only has 3 computers, which is why the 8 RDs have split up office time. In addition to RDs, the office fills up with work study students in the afternoons (since the students usually have class in the mornings), so the morning shift is better for me.

John Boyer - easily the ship's most engaging professor. 

Honestly. Look up his name and watch some of his videos on Youtube! 

1200-1300: Each day “at sea,” the Student Life Team meets for lunch at 1200 in the Garden Lounge (Deck 6, Classroom 1) after the Noon Announcements are read over the PA. The noon announcements are read by the Assistant Dean, who indicates everything happening on that particular day, any updates for the shipboard community, and then gives information about our current voyage (ie: distance from previous port; distance to next port; distance to nearest land; sea depth; sea/air temperature; etc.). Lunch always consists of salad, cheese, bread, a pasta, a potato, a fish, another type of meat, and some kind of dessert. When Dean Rita is finished, our meeting begins. The meeting is led by the Dean of Students, Eddie, and the others in the room include the 8 RDs, the Alumni Coordinator (Ashley), the Outreach Coordinator (Megan), the Dependent Children Coordinators (Jane & Ian), the Lifelong Learner Coordinators (Ruth & Leigh), and one of the two psychologists (Nancy or Bill). Dean Eddie pretty much starts off every meeting with, “I don’t have much for you today...,” and then allows everyone to go around and give an update regarding their area. The RDs typically stay after the initial meeting is over, just to get some additional information to be aware of.

Pasta (and sauce), Potato, Fish, Meat, and Veggies (and repeat...everyday)

1300-1400: Each day, this is free time for me. I can choose to do whatever I want. This usually involves some personal time to start my blogs, upload/manage my pictures, plan the next port, or check personal email. Every once and a while, I’ll tap a power nap (which is easy with the ship rocking you to sleep), but not often, as I typically feel more tired after a nap.

1400-1600 or 1500-1700: RD Carla (Student Activities) & I (Recreational Sports) share the responsibility of overseeing the Activities Desk in Tymitz Square. Tymitz Square is one of the main areas on the ship; as Reception, the Pursers’ Desk, the Field Office, and the Activities Desk are all located in this area. The Activities Desk is the place where individuals can check out sporting equipment or various games to play. Carla & I are the only RDs without work study students, but we have 5 students to fill hours at the Activities Desk throughout the day (1100-2300 every day). Unfortunately, all 5 of our students have class between 1400-1600 (A Days) or 1500-1700 (B  Days). Thus, Carla & I take turns working these two hours at the desk. We usually talk about it during our meeting at 1200, and decide who can work. I actually don’t mind working the desk, as I can do work during my shift; I get to see a lot of students/faculty/staff with the location in Tymitz Square; and the students working the Field Office are some of my favorites of the voyage (Carl, Andrew, Erin, Nicole, and Taylor). Our students working the Activities Desk are great as well (Kate, Lauren, Lauren, Ramy, and Briana)!

1700-1900: Here’s where the schedule becomes different every day. I am in charge of Recreational Sports, which means I run the intramurals on the ship (though there's more to my position than just this). The last classes end for students at 1700; therefore,  everyone is available to start playing intramurals after 1700. Thus, I always schedule games/matches from 1700-1900. I have a group of 4-5 students (Kelsey, Christina, Caitlin, Lauren, & Jules) who help me referee/time keep/score keep for the games (they are a life savers!). That being said, a lot of times I’ll go up there to the netted area/court to help them or to referee myself. The intramurals we've played on the ship include: Soccer, Ping Pong, Dodgeball, Volleyball, and now Basketball. The Championship matches (men & women) take place on Dec. 2nd. After which…my position just has to create a transitional folder for the next Recreational Sports Coordinator to use.

Netted Area

Sometimes we'll pause the games to watch dolphins or whales off the side of the ship.

1730-1930: This is dinner time on the ship. Another buffet style, the meal always consists of salad, fruit, soup, a pasta, potatoes, fish, meat, and a type(s) of dessert. The refereeing schedule usually makes me start dinner past 1800. In addition, for the first 2/3rds of the voyage, I had a signup sheet on my cabin door for my students to sign their name, if they wanted to grab dinner with me. Many of them took advantage of this, which really helped me to learn names! I will typically eat in the main dining hall on Deck 5, because there’s always seats/tables available. I’d say deck 6 dining (Garden Lounge) is always full; though the outside eating area is awesome.

Deck 6 - Best place to eat!

Sunset on the MV Explorer

1900-2000: Explorer Seminars take place at this time during most “at sea” days. Explorer Seminars are a chance for any member of the shipboard community to share their knowledge or experience in a discipline. These seminars are not necessarily academic, but education; providing the opportunity for residents to learn from one another. All the RDs help coordinate these sessions; which usually ends up being around 4 per day (ie: each RD would help coordinate 1 every 2 days). Luckily, many people are interested in sharing their knowledge and expertise, so it hasn't been too difficult to fill the space. Going with my “Recreational Sports” curricular, I have mainly led card tournaments; free time for board games; Sea Olympic info sessions; “Trivia Nights” (Disney, Harry Potter, etc.); and some topics outside of my area (World AIDS Day, Personality Tests, etc.). If I am not coordinating an Explorer Seminar, then I have this hour free to do whatever I like (or possibly go to another Explorer Seminar).

2000-2100: Free Time OR a Union Seminar. A Union Seminar is another opportunity for community members to learn more about a topic (usually regarding the surrounding region). The speakers usually consist of Interport Lectureres or Students talking about the upcoming country; Faculty/Staff members familiar with the region; or a special presentation from one of the VIPs on the ship. The most interesting Union Seminar (in my opinion) was the Astronaut Talk with Kathy Thornton & George “Pinky” Nelson. They told us everything we wanted to know about their experience with NASA – the shuttle launches, floating, walking on the moon, eating in space, etc. They had some amazing photos to share and Pinky even had some videos as well…including when he had to be untethered in space to fix a satellite (scary…luckily he didn't fly away).

George "Pinky" Nelson & Kathryn Thornton (Academic Dean of the voyage)

 During the Astronaut Talk w/Kathy & Pinky

The Union was full to capacity for this presentation.

2100-2300: Of the 62 days “at sea,” 37 of them have something called Beverage Service. This is a time when the Deck 7’s pool bar is open to serve alcoholic beverages to students (over 18). In the two hours of Beverage Service, the students can have up to 3 alcoholic beverages (wine or beer). For the majority of students, having 3 drinks in a span of two hours will not even make them “tipsy” when it comes to their level of intoxication (this is intentional on the part of the ship’s crew). Here’s where I (or the RDs) come in. Whenever BS Duty (as the RDs call it) happens, 3 of the RDs need to be on deck 7, aft, monitoring the exits (doors leading to deck 7 and the outside stairwells leading to deck 6. We need to collect all water bottles/nalgenes and backpacks brought to deck 7, aft. This is due to the fact that during previous voyages, students would sneak alcohol out of the area in their water bottles, backpacks, etc. They would then store up this alcohol to be used at a later date (where they could then legitimately get drunk on the ship). So…unfortunately, all the RDs must do BS Duty around 15 times throughout the semester. If no student comes to buy a drink in the first 30 minutes, the rest of the Beverage Service is cancelled (and the RDs rejoice). However, if any person purchases a drink, the RDs must stay the full two hours. All I do during BS duty is sit, look at the stars, read my nook, and interact with the students who are up there. I just finished my last night of BS Duty! So...now 2100-2300 = Free Time!!

2300: In the evenings (starting at about 1900), the faculty and staff will start to migrate to the Glazer Lounge (Faculty/Staff Lounge). Throughout the remainder of the evening, people will come and go as they please. I usually get to the Glazer Lounge a little before 2300, because Mandy (the Bartender) will ring the bell at 2300, signaling last call. Most nights in Glazer are pretty mellow; however, not the nights before a “Study Day” on the ship (meaning, there are no classes) or the night of a Cultural Pre-Port (2 days before arriving to a port). After Mandy closes down the bar, the faculty/staff take over the lounge and turn it in to a dance party. These have a tendency to go late into the evening. 

Glazer Lounge

After "last call" at 2300

Dance Party!!

Some nights finish with a friendly game of Twister.

100-200: This is my typical bedtime on the ship...though I sometimes do stay up later (usually sports or blog post related).

There are plenty of additional things that change the normal schedule of a day. Here’s a few of them:

-Sometimes our Student Life Meeting at 1200 get cancelled …

which means the RDs get lunch early and lay out on Deck 7!

-For each stretch of days “at sea” (could be 3, could be 10), the crew members select 20 random cabins to be searched. The RDs must help in the process by observing as the crew security goes through student cabins, looking for prohibited items. This mainly consists of food taken from the dining center, food that could get rotten, and alcohol. The ship is insanely clean. The crew are constantly cleaning everything from cabins to staircase railings. I believe, on the last inspection, the ship was given a 99.8% rating in overall cleanliness. The .2% off came from one item in the pantry/kitchen that was a few inches off the wall with no light shining on the area behind. The area behind was clean, but because it was covered in shade, they were docked .2%. Still…not too bad!

-About one month into the voyage, Captain Jeremy started allowing crew members to give tours of the Bridge. The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. There are lookouts 24/7 and other crew monitoring the course of the ship. The tours happen three times each day for a maximum of 15 people. I signed up early and went on one prior to chopping off my hair.

On the Bridge...in the Captains Chair!

-Cultural Pre-Port take place at 2000, two nights before arriving to a port. These are not mandatory, but they give a lot of interesting and helpful information regarding the upcoming port: what to do/see, where to go, major events taking place, what to be aware of, etc. 

-Logistical Pre-Port take place at 2000 the day before arriving to a port. These are required for everyone in the shipboard community as pertinent information regarding the logistics of the port are given at this time. This includes: safety information, on-ship times (when everyone needs to be back on the ship), field program information (times for groups to meet/leave), and medical information with Dr. Dave. Dr. Dave might be the student’s favorite person on the ship as he always presents his information in a funny/joking way.

-Some evenings have Community Events, which are large scale programs for everyone on the ship. These typically go from 2100-2300. They have included a Back to School Dance; movie nights (Mud, Not Since You, The Host, & City of God); Halloween Party/Dance; Sea Olympics Opening Ceremonies; and the Talent Show.

Staff at the Back to School Dance

Halloween - Carlos, Nathan, & I as the Blue Man Group

With the staff...and some students.

Dressed up on the day of Halloween - Kathy & Pinky's Flight Crew

-I’ve already mentioned Neptune Day & Sea Olympics in other blog posts, but both of these fell on a “Study Day” for students…though not much studying occurred.

Neptune Day with Sarah!

-Championship matches of the intramurals are sometimes scheduled to allow more of the community members to be in attendance. For example, for the Championship Ping Pong match, we moved the table into the Union, so more people could sit and watch the match. The kids (John Henry) did not prevail this time around as Michael Fassett (Baltic Sea) won the 84 person Ping Pong Tournament!

-Finally, some days “at sea” are technically “at sea…in port”. Especially at the beginning of our voyage, our ports of destination were so close to one another, that it would only take 1-2 days to travel between them. This is great…except, the students need to be taking classes on the ship as well. Thus, there were a number of ports early on where everyone had to remain on the ship, while we were still docked in port. This happened in Le Havre, France; Antwerp, Belgium; and technically Namibia (though we were just getting fuel there). 

There it is...a "typical" day at sea and only 17 more to go!

"I am living in a land of stark beauty and stark reality, a place where you have to be wary and alert and at your very best at all times. I call this paradise."