Traveled Waters to Fiji

Wow, I don’t really even know where to begin! I know last time I wrote, our journey was just beginning in Samoa. Although that was over 3 weeks ago, it feels like it was just yesterday, yet at the same time so much has happened. 

It’s a little surreal at the moment, as I race to write this and get over to the mall to connect to internet, to think that our “island exploration” is basically over. New Zealand will be the next adventure, but it won’t have the same academic focus as these other islands have, and we won’t be staying on the ship. In addition, tomorrow marks our first day of our ~2 week sail to New Zealand. Some people are extremely excited to finally get an extended period of time at sea, while others are dreading the backlash of their stomachs. I’m definitely excited, but I know it will be a lot of work. So, I’ll let you know how it goes when we get there!

As for everything else… Let me start with each island. After Samoa, we sailed to Wallis, which was such an interesting place. First of all, it was an amazing ride into Wallis because it is surrounded by a reef that creates a lagoon in-between that and the island. Thus, it is BEAUTIFUL, and almost resembles the caribbean, I imagine. It was crystal clear blue water and little islands that looked like movie sets. It was exciting to get docked, because that passage had been something our Captain had put a lot of thought and energy into since earlier this year. There was just a small passage in the reef to get through, so it was tricky, but we did it (well I mostly got to hand that to our crew, but we did a good job looking at the sites!). Once we got onto land in Wallis, we were a little lost as to where to go or what to do… because there was nothing. Some houses, some completely run down buildings, and a church but that was about it. Funny thing was, there were lots of cars driving around, and pretty nice ones in fact. They all looked like they were headed somewhere for a purpose— so we figured we must just not have gotten to the “town” yet. We eventually came across a small library and tried to ask where town was but remember we were in a French territory… so the language barrier was a little tough. Turns out we were actually “in town”, and there wasn't really a place in Wallis where a lot of stores are. Everything instead is pretty spread out, and everything is poorly marked. Our time in Wallis ended up being pretty great though, we spent a lot of time with people in charge of cultural affairs. Their leader, Bernadette, spoke perfect english and was so helpful in answering a lot of our questions. Over the course of 2 days, we were chauffeured around by this group to see the culture and sites of Wallis. Some of the highlights included another kava ceremony (first one was in Samoa), a trip to look at the large crater lake in the middle of the island, and a boat ride out to a motu (small island a little offshore). The motu was such a treat, and I can’t believe we fit 30+ people into this little boat to get there:

Futuna was our next stop. it’s the other island of the French territory Wallis and Futuna— imagine that ;) Like expected, it was even smaller than Wallis. There was literally 3 tiny supermarkets, a bank, a post office and one gift store that we saw. Not really any government buildings like we had seen in Wallis or larger buildings. Also, in addition to each store hardly having a sign, none of them had windows, and they all closed for a few hours in the middle of the day for lunch. The “fun” part was that it also started pouring about 5 minutes after we stepped off the boat. So that made our time in Futuna pretty exciting. Walking to the post office for 10 minutes of free wifi, while wearing our bright yellow foul weather gear will definitely be a defining memory for me. We were lucky enough to be in Futuna for the week of Communion and were invited to some of the local communities’ ceremonies. I don’t think I can really put into words how these were, but I explained it a little in my blog post for our trip… which for whatever reason still hasn't been posted (apparently got a little lost in translation, but should be posted sometime). It was a lot of feeling very out of place, a lot of Kava (if you don’t know what this is, it’s a huge part of Polynesian culture but to me it tasted like dirt flavored tea with a hint of Novocain to make your mouth numb), group dancing, and awkward Middle school-esq slow dancing. Nevertheless, it was awesome to be a part of and something I’ll never forget! We also got a small tour of Futuna after we met with one of the Kings on our second day there. My blog post for our class blog goes into a little detail about this, but since this is my personal blog I would love to say a little bit more. It was an extremelyyyy uncomfortable meeting with the King, because he and his “advisors” were clearly upset that we hadn’t talked to them first about testing waters around Futuna or conducting research on their island. And mind you— this is in French and their native language so we just had to sit through an hour of feeling like "what the hell is going on”. In the end, it all ended up being fine and they invited us to the bigger Communion ceremony that night. The day we left Futuna, the seas were pretty rough and that continued until we got to Fiji...

I know you are probably all are wondering how Fiji has been, because of it’s beauty we see in pictures (mostly from Fiji water bottles), but I actually probably could sum up this port stop pretty quickly. We’ve been docked in Suva for the past week, and it’s the major city of Fiji. It was insane to go from Futuna to a bustling city with malls and big lights and lots of cars, but it’s been awesome in it’s own right. Besides the adventure to a swimming hole at Colo-I-Suva Forest Park some of us went to the other day, most of our time has been spent in the city. I think a lot of people would have preferred being in a “prettier” part of Fiji, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I see this as a pretty unique experience. I don’t feel like I would have ever seen this side of Fiji, and I’m glad all our time wasn’t spent in a resort— although maybe a day of that would have been nice! By walking through the streets and spending hours in the malls, we’ve seen the awesome diversity Fiji has. Turns out Fiji is largely Indian now, but still has a large Fijian population and there are also some Asian and Europeans. We were lucky enough to be here for the Indian holiday of Diwali, and that was fun to see fireworks around the city and Fijians in traditional Indian Saris. I don’t think you’ll meet this variety of people anywhere else in the world, but I kind of like it— and I can’t complain about the food!

So as far as life on the ship, I think I'll leave more explanation about that until after we’ve spent these next two weeks a sea. However, it’s been a lot of eat, sleep, do your watch, and clean the ship— with a little fun in between… and also the glorious sites of the ocean and sky :)

Talk to you in New Zealand!

~LTK

First few days on the Seamans!

Well I don't know when I'll actually be getting to post this but I'm going to write anyway! Today is the 30th of September, and we are aboard the Robert C. Seamans in Samoa! Let me start from the beginning...

 So on Friday, we all arrived safely in Pago Pago, American Samoan with our luggage! It was honestly the most nerve-racking trip because there were so many things that could go wrong that could mess up our entire trip. However, end of the story is that we made it. From the airport we took this funky wooden bus with cool lights and music to the ship. On the way there we rode along the coastline and started getting a glimpse of the place we were in. Once we got to the harbor, we soon saw our ship! Although it was late, we got to meet some of our staff (that was awake) and got our assignments. I'm in a top bunk with 3 others in a "room" like space. More like a stuffy corner. 

 Ok and note this post has taken me like a week to complete so right now it's October 2nd and I'll try and catch you up on everything. 

The first couple days in American Samoa were filled with orientation things and it was a lot of information, but necessary. Still trying to learn everything now! We have like a dozen crew members including the captain, scientists, deckhands, engineers and our steward-- all with lots of info.  

The second day in Pago Pago we got to check out the Hokulea which was docked next to us and then we went to the NOAA Natiional marine reserve American Samoa headquarters (I think that's what the name basically was). It was the same thing as one we have in Santa Cruz for the Monterey Bay sanctuary, but obviously this was for American Samoa. The people there were super nice and it was clear a lot of there work was just getting the community interested in their environment and oceans. That afternoon we went to a local market/festival type thing where the first thing I saw was three teenage boys dancing on the stage. They were a hip hop group and I talked to them a little after, found out they mainly learned from videos on the Internet. It was a bit awkward but glad I did it. Cool to see dance is so universal ❤️

On Sunday we had more orientation and also safety drills including fire, man overboard and abandon ship stuff. The biggest take away was that the immersion (gumby) suit is one of the worst things to get into in this heat. 

Speaking of this heat, it was intense until the past day. Going to sleep drenched in sweat. Basically sleeping in nothing and under no sheets or blankets. Getting out of the shower, you were just instantly sweaty. Ugh it's been gross. We all are gross, but a week in-- it's kind of just a part of life.

So Sunday afternoon we took off and headed for Samoa. It was awesome to see the beautiful American Samoa from sea. It was all great and my stomach was fine :) later that night we had our watches and I'm in A watch and for that night we had the 11-3am shift. One other person and myself were in the lab for our watch preparing chlorophyll A samples and taking hourly readings of information like depth and water temperature that the ship automatically picks up. The samples were from science stops we made while leaving Pago Pago harbor earlier that day. Anyway by this point I had kind of been thinking about how everyone was getting sick and how everyone took medication but I had been fine..... Until I was stuck in a lab completely sealed off from the world and my stomach was questionable. Soooo I went out on deck and got meds and was fine-- just in time (; 

The next morning we got to Samoa, but we lost a day and it was now Tuesday. Funny thing, one of our crew member's birthday was Monday.... So she missed it! we ended up having to wait a while for customs but eventually got to go check out the town, including this amazing new church.

The town of Apia is where we are, and it's interesting... Definitely the biggest city around but kinda like walking around a flea market. 

Yesterday we got free time to go around town and collect research for our projects . Mine are on waste management and my other is on surf tourism. So I went with one of our visiting faculty from New Zealand (but she's Samoan) and we went in an adventure trying to find the landfill. Definitely wouldn't have got there without here but we couldn't go in... Which I figured might happen. But we got to go to this really cool gallery near there that she wanted to go to, and it was great. 

Today we as a class went to SPREP which is the secretariat of the pacific regional environmental program. And it's an amazing organization that had a lot of good information for waste management. Afterwards some of us students embarked on a journey to this watering hole I'd seen in so many pictures of, but it was across the island. Long story short, it was crazy getting there and back but it was absolutely gorgeous. And here is a semi decent iPhone photo of it: 

Anyway I need to get back to the ship, sorry this was rushed and probably terribly misspelt. We leave for Wallis in Saturday! 

~LTK

A Hui Hou!

Alright everyone, this will be quick! Today I left from home and flew to Honolulu where I've met up with my classmates and soon will be departing to Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango), American Samoa! There, we will board the Robert C. Seamans for the next 6 weeks until we get to Auckland, New Zealand and disembark to stay another week at a marine lab outside of Auckland. Again, during our voyage we will be stopping in Samoa, Wallis (Uvea) and Futuna, Fiji and then finally NZ. During this time at sea I do not know when I'll find Internet at port stops, so you may or may not hear from me for a while! 

If you would like to follow our travels, you can check our ship's blog at: http://www.sea.edu/voyages/blog_seamans_238

This may be updated daily or every few days. But please check it out!

A hui hou!

~LTK

That Was Shore-ly The Best

Wow, what just happened. 

A little surreal leaving Woods Hole yesterday morning. It was our home for the past 4 weeks of the first shore component, and it went by so fast. Looking back at the first day, I was remembering how alone I felt when my friends dropped me off on campus. I guess “alone” isn’t the right word I’m looking for, because it was so exciting and I knew it would be great-- but I was still in a completely new place, with a group of strangers I was going to have to get along with whether I liked it or not. Yesterday, I found myself having the same feeling at the Boston airport. However, this time it was because I had to say goodbye to my new friends from SEA…. well just for a week!

In exactly a week we will all be meeting again in Pago Pago, American Samoa. Feels like I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, yet I still can’t believe it’s this close! On the first day of the shore component in Woods Hole, everyone at SEA was telling us the following 4 weeks would fly by. And what'd ya know— it did. Despite the fact that this past week was basically finals week, our time in Woods Hole really did go by quickly and it seems like I’ve been friends with these people for months. Okay side note— everything I just said, I kind of figured I’d be saying by this time. I mean of course I had fears that maybe everything wouldn’t be as great as I’d hoped or the people in my program would be crazy… but in reality I knew it would be great. Nevertheless, I’m still so happy I can sit here and say how amazing this program and these people are. Of course everything hasn’t been perfect, but I don’t have to tell you that…. BECAUSE THE GOOD THINGS ARE FAR TOO GOOD. 

Like safety class!

I will tell you a little about how terrible this last week has been though— sorry, again with my over exaggerated words. It wasn’t "terrible", it was just... you know... finals week, which I personally find pretty synonymous with terrible. I think the saving grace was that at the end, we would be done and heading to the Seamans (details in 1st blogpost). Also, that all of us were in it together. Usually I’m one of the last ones to go to bed, but almost everyone was sleep deprived this week. With around 30 pages of research/literary analysis papers and I don’t even know how many pages of reading (probably would know had I finished them…whoops) we had to get shit done. In ways, we were all a little bummed the bulk of the work load was pushed to the end of the program, but I'm glad we had time to explore the area and socialize with each other the first 3 weeks. Anyway, we made it! 

Woohoo!

We keep getting told that life aboard Seamans will be even more tiring than what we’ve been doing so far. This is understandable since we have quite a bit to do aboard the Seamans. Not only will we be continuing our courses and research, but we will be helping maintain and run the ship. We’ve been briefed on a lot of “life at sea” but it’s hard to conceptualize and understand everything until we get there. Our head resident Jeremy, who is awesome (hear his majestic voice here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc8ZvENm-5I), explained life at sea pretty well the other night. He said to just think of it as a foreign country, which is true because it will be a completely different language, a different way of working and you won’t know where anything is. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it will of course be an exciting challenge!

The beginning of last week was pretty great though. Last Friday, we went on another field trip—this time to the town of Wellfleet. There we helped the Woodberry’s with their clam farm. After this we had our lunches at Monomoy Natural Reserve. I think pictures would better describe this, so if you haven’t seen them yet, here they are:

We made it to Wellfeet... half asleep

The Woodbury's show us the ropes

First, we had to take out the crabs and worms amongst the baby clams

It was a dirty job...

... well for some

Crab!

Preparing the bed

After spreading out the clams, we covered them with net

Great team effort :)

After, we talked to the harbor's Constable

Monomy National Wildlife Refuge

Absolutely beautiful.

Despite that fact that we had to get up at a god-awful hour to get there while the tide was out, it was a lot of fun. The whole time laying the clams, I couldn’t help but think about the times crawdad fishing with my Dad. Although we only got to do this maybe a couple times a year, it was on of my favorite things. By the end of the day, like most new experiences, all I wanted to do was tell my Dad all about the clams. I think he would have been fascinated by the way they “farm” them, and the fact that I ate quite a few and actually enjoyed them! Besides all the hard work and fatigue I’ll probably be experiencing at sea, I know the hardest part will be moments like this. I know he’ll be watching though. Like I said in my first blogpost, he really wanted to go on this trip too, so I know he’ll be there <3

Here's some of my favorite photos from crawdad-ing:

Crawdading in the Delta, I think in 2007?

Most recent time out in the Delta

Red hawwwwt in the rice fields

Dancing in the Library

I've told myself every night this week that I'd go to bed earlier. However, now it's 1:30am and I'm just sitting down to write this. I know I'll regret it in the morning when my roommates get up early to go on a run or when the majority of my house is making themselves a nice breakfast.

To recap on the past 10 days...

Last week we had a meeting with our captain about what to pack for sea, and he gave us more information about what life will be like on the ship. It was extremely helpful, but also just made me even more excited to finally start the voyage!

Last Friday, we went on a class field trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. I didn't really know what to expect but when I walked in and saw this, I knew it would be a cool day:

We went to the museum because although New Bedford, Massachusetts was the "hub" of the whaling industry in the U.S., a large part of it took place on the other side of the states-- the Pacific Ocean. Whaling obviously had a huge impact on the whale populations, but also the people in Pacific Islands and surrounding continents. Although I was probably supposed to take more "relevant to our studies" points away from the tour of the museum, I found these two things the most exciting: 1. Turns out people from the Azores (Portugal) had a large role in these whaling voyages. 2. A half size whaling ship replica that we could explore:

Apparently, in the Atlantic, the Azores were one of the main stops for whaling ships-- and often many Azoreans got on board to be apart of the crew. The reason I found this fascinating was that part of my Dad's side of the family, quite a few generations back, was from the Azores. Although I don't know much about the Azores, nor Portugal for that matter, it is a part of me-- and I've grown up in a small community that strangely has a lot of Azoreans. It was interesting to learn that New Bedford is kind of like the Delta in that way, in that there still are a lot of people from the Azores there too. After learning all this, I couldn't help but think maybe seafaring is actually in my blood, and maybe I might be good at this tall ship sailing... Well we'll see.

After the museum, we walked down to one of the fishing docks to talk to some scallop fisherman. What in the world does this have to do with our program? Not really anything at all, except that it gave us practice at talking to local people and asking the right questions. This will be a lot of what we are doing at port stops during our voyage to collect information for our research papers.

Speaking of research papers....

During our short 4 weeks here in Woods Hole, although we are tempted by the beach everyday, we have lots of work to get done before we leave. The bulk of the work is three substantially long papers for three different classes. Two of the papers we will be finishing up at the very end of our program in New Zealand, after we collect information from the islands we visit. These are for our Maritime History & Culture Class and Marine Environmental History. My two topics are (broadly) Surf Tourism and for the other, Waste Management. So, stayed tuned for lots of pictures of surf and trash!

Despite the fact that I really enjoy my paper topics, this is going to be a rough next week-- we all keep realizing how much other stuff we have to get done and well... I guess we'll get it done.

Tonight I have been in the library trying to start outlining things.  I thought I was going to walk back to our cabin a while ago, but then I got the urge to move around. I needed to dance, and I know it sounds weird to people who don't dance but it helps with life :)  I've been wanting to dance for the past week, but it's kind of hard to do that with 40 other students around the campus. Dance isn't really something like soccer where you could practice it outside and no one would care-- because if you just started dancing, people would be weird about it. Alas, I find myself in our small little library, late at night, blasting good music,  finally moving, and feeling refreshed-- apparently enough to write all this. So there you have it, that's what I've been up to and I probably won't write again until this portion of the program has come to an end!

Interesting things of the week:

~Feeling proud of my home institution's Environmental Studies department for giving an awesome view on this field, and letting me feel like I actually know some things here!

~ Also kudos to UCSC for making the one hill we have at SEA seem like a breezeeee after all those torturous stairs and paths on UCSC's campus.
~I've really come to appreciate that we have to plan our dinners together here and eat together almost every night. Turns out it's actually pretty great to be forced to be together. Our house even decided to do "highs and lows of the day" at each dinner.

~No matter how cool our teachers are, they are still college teachers and know how to confuse and overwhelm us.
~Some of us watched the short documentary, Disruption. After, we had an awesome climate change conversation amongst each other and some of our faculty, just for fun. I loved it.
~Today we found out that the famous Hokule'a should be in Pago Pago near our ship, the Robert C. Seamans while we are there!! If you don't know what it is, check it out and follow its world voyage! (http://www.hokulea.com/) Truly wishing I could have called my Dad and told him about it, but yet again I think he had a hand in making it happen anyway... <3

Hokule'a -- Polynesian voyaging canoe

~LTK

Summer Has Officially Ended

Phew. Made it through the first week and weekend here at SEA. As expected, it's been a little weird getting back into the groove of school, but it's going! Here, we stay in our classroom all day (except for breaks and lunch) and our teachers alternate courses. I love having the small class size that we do, In addition, I love knowing these are the people I will be learning with on a tall ship soon enough too! Each day we have about three out of our 5 classes, and everyday we have a hefty amount of reading. This weekend, although Labor Day weekend, was basically a weekend of reading. But we all managed it for the most part and are ready for the 2nd week of our shore component to begin!

Last week, our Captain (Nautical Science teacher as well) went over our actual itinerary for the trip, and although the dates may always change since we'll be sailing, the destinations will stay the same! We will be starting in Pango Pango (Pago Pago), American Samoa --> Apia, Samoa --> Mata'utu, Uvéa (Wallis) --> Leava, Futuna --> Suva, Fiji --> Auckland, New Zealand (second shore component).

We will be typically staying 3 days at each port stop, and our longest stretch out at sea will be from Fiji to New Zealand (about 14 days). This won't just be a cruise, because we'll be sailing for most of it, helping navigate, taking care of the ship, keeping watch and getting minimal hours of sleep. In addition, we will be continuing research on projects that we begin here in Woods Hole and learning more about the places we visit, the oceans we sail, and how to sail. I'm one of the few people that has sailing experienee in my class (and still very minimal), which I was kind of surprised to find out. Some of my new friends (classmates) know they get sea sick and/or haven't been on boats much, but EVERYONE is ready to go on this adventure-- and that's what makes me excited. We are all here for different reasons, mine can be found in my first blog post, others are starting their first years of college later, some needed more credits, some just like sailing, but we all are damn excited to do this. As we trudge through our homework, I think it just sits in the back of our minds that this month we'll be setting out to sea!

Despite all the homework, we've been trying to explore the area and become closer as not only classmates, but also friends. On Friday, some of us road bikes into the quaint little town of Woods Hole.

Later that night, our "RA" like dude here had an ice cream social for us and the other class, which may seem a little silly to even bring up... but look at all this ice creammmm!

Saturday, we had a Bike Fest (AKA biking safety event), where I just barely lost the "slowest person to the finish line" race. Later, we again went to the beach. Except by this point things had gotten a little more serious and we all brought homework with us...

Sunday, some of us biked into the still small, but larger town of Falmouth for lunch. We experienced the herds of Labor Day weekend Cape Cod tourists... but it was fun!

We couldn't really find a place for all our bikes, so we decided to stick together...

By the time we headed home a storm started rolling in and it ended up pouring with lightning and thunder in the evening! The weather since then has been soooo humid. Sometimes, I swear I must be in Hilo or something!

Today, I literally spent hours upon hours reading but walked to the beach for sunset and had a lovely evening with my housemates. All in all, it was a long but good Labor Day Weekend! Sunday was also my Mom's birthday, and I'd just like to now insert an obligatory mom/daughter picture from us last year on her birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Now I think I'll just leave a section with all the interesting little things I've experienced thus far:

~Mostly everyone else here can get to bed before me, because my friends and family are three hours behind and talking to them happens later, and thus pushes me writing this blog post back into the hours of the AM....
~The UC's are actually pretty affordable when you compare them to the small private universities a lot of my clasmates attend
~But Canada still wins for cheapest (we have our token Canadian, she's awesome, and sidenote they have some awesome coinage, ay)
~No one is obsessed with Disneyland out here. What a sad world.
~Talking to the one girl that goes to UC Davis from the other SEA class about In n Out made my night

Anyway, this is where I think I should stop rambling and get to bed. If you read all of this, thanks for taking the time-- in a few weeks I will be cut off from the world and you won't hear from me at all, so enjoy it while you can ;)

~LTK

First Days in Woods Hole

It turns out, the East Coast is pretty different than the West Coast... Or maybe it's just that California is unlike anywhere else. Both of which I figured to be true,  but am somehow still surprised by. Being surrounded by 18 classmates mainly from the eastern U.S. is a learning experience itself! Yep, I'm the only one that lives and goes to school on the West Coast. I pretty much knew this going into the program, and didn't think it would be weird at all-- but weirdly enough it is. Also, if on the off chance one of my classmates is reading this, you are perfectly welcome to think I'm weird for thinking and saying these things are weird too :)

I arrived to SEA's campus on Monday and was dropped off by a lovely set of friends who I stayed with in Boston. It was a little weird setting off into this unknown world on my own, but it's been good! We had orientation and moved into our cottages. I stay with 9 others in this place:

 It's quaint for sure. We are in a more forested area on the Cape, but very close distance to shore. A big group of us walked to the beach today and that was beautiful. It was my first time swimming in the Atlantic, and for whatever reason, it was so much different than the Pacific. Maybe because we are in a bay here, but it is so calm, and pretty warm!

Anyway, so these are some difficulties that left me to feel a little bit like an outsider here. Right off the bat, I had a lot of stereotypical Californian ideologies to find out about. Such as "do you know In n Out" (aka do you worship it as a lifestyle) and do you eat a lot of Mexican food (aka it's nothing special but obviously amazing). I know, it's stupid, of course because both things are very much just in CA and surrounding states... But I had hope for humanity! Sadly I was wrong, hella wrong... Beyond that, I think I'm the only one that goes to a public university and doesn't know really any of these small schools that most of my classmates go to-- or at least where they are. Also, it doesn't seem like Ivy Leagues are as such a grand idea here-- more like actual reality. Which I guess makes sense since I casually walked through Harvard this weekend. (It was awesome and crazy, who am I kidding!). It's interesting hearing about the ways private schools run, and that they have chapels. That's a weird one for me. Also, two people found out they both are related to the same person on the Mayflower. That's right. That actually happens here. Holy shit I feel foreign. In addition, it's pretty white. Which I knew would be the case and know it's not the case everywhere on the East Coast-- but also that there is nothing wrong with it. However, it just makes me reflect on California with gratitude. Speaking of gratitude, uhh HELLO NO DROUGHT. I don't know why I had this vision that all of the U.S. was reducing their water consumption this year, but why would they?! There is so much water in some places out here... But really I hope this mind frame changes soon! I wish lowering water consumption was a growing trend nationally and it won't take what happened to the Mid West and us happen to the Eastern states. Nevertheless. I'm loving not feeling so guilty about how many showers I take. Yet I am trying to stay close to my twice a week achievement in Santa Cruz! 

Athough I'm still in the U.S. I am thoroughly intrigued by even the smallest differences with the East Coast, and this will most definitely play a part in my "study abroad" experiences. 

I was so happy today to go to the beach with a group of people that enjoy it as much as I do, and definitely see we have mutual interests-- but we are different and that's good!

Speaking of classes, so far it's been a lot of information and we are all trying to wrap our minds around it. We are taking Maritime Studies, Maritime Culture and History. Maritime Environmental History, Oceanography and Nautical Science... I think.

It will be very heavy in reading and writing and full days of class all week (am I back in HISP?). Life at sea is just around the corner really, with only 4 weeks here, a short break at home and then we set off in September! So it will be jammed packed these coming weeks but I hope to keep up with this blog, since I won't be able to regularly update at sea. 

❤️LTK

Let the Sea Semester Begin

Well here I go. 

Pardon this first part, a little lengthy and bland, but it will give you all the details. Although I will be back in California shortly next month, this is the start of my 3 month "study abroad" journey with SEA Semester. I haven't even arrived yet, but I wanted to start this blog now just to get the story going.

Today I left from SFO airport and will be arriving in Boston, Massachusetts (wifi in the air? technology is amazing). I am lucky enough to have a friend and her mom meeting me in Boston (they're visiting too) for the weekend. I start school next week in Woods Hole, Massachusetts with the Sea Education Association. In addition, I will be meeting a little more than a dozen new classmates for my next Semester. I don't know any of these other students (except via social media) but I am thoroughly excited to meet them and embark on this journey together! 

We will all be a part of the SPICE program (Sustainability in Polynesian Island Cultures & Ecosystems) in which after our 4 weeks in Woods Hole we will meet again in American Samoa to get aboard... A pirate ship! Well, almost. We will be sailing aboard the Robert C. Seamans, which is "a 134-foot steel brigantine and is the most sophisticated oceanographic research/sailing school vessel ever built in the United States". For more info check out: http://www.sea.edu/voyages/spice_fall2014 

There was no sailing experience needed for the trip but if you know me, you probably know it's sort of always been an interest of mine. 

I think it was around my junior year of high school that I came across SEA Semester. I knew I wanted to study abroad in college, and I also had this desire to someday spend an extended period of time at sea. Thus, I had the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was something that combined the two. Low and behold with a little help from google, there she was! I waited a little while to tell my parents about it-- I knew it wasn't going to be the most economically friendly study abroad option and I wasn't sure how good of a program it was. However, I read nothing but good things about it, and only became more passionate about the idea. So, I broke it to my parents. And not surprisingly my Dad loved the idea and my mom thought we were crazy. My Dad even asked if adults could go! You see, he's a boating dude. He built a Freya 39 sailboat before I was born. "Yezdan" is its name and it has been a boat I've loved my entire life. 

(Yezdan's first sail in background)

When I was younger it was berthed in the Delta and we spent a lot of time on it out on the rivers, especially in Potato Slough. I even remember a few weddings on it... Anyway, it moved to the Bay Area where it's been up until recently. I may not quite yet know how to sail, nor drive a motor boat that well, but it's in my blood and I love learning more and more about it. Additionally, I grew up in a "Pirates' Lair" so I suppose that could help. Arrr. 

A few years later while a sophomore Environmental Studies major and Dance minor in college (also recreationally taking sailing), I decide I'm going to go for it. It took a lot of paperwork, phone calls, and organizing but I finally finished applying for SEA Semester at the beginning of 2014. About a month later, however, my life sort of took a spin. 

On February 8th, 2014 my Dad passed away. There's not much more to say except he's gone, it hurts a lot, it's scary to think about the future sometimes, and I miss him so much. Now, over 6 months later, my Mom and I are doing well and just keep moving forward. A few weeks after my Dad passed, I got the call that I'd been accepted into SEA Semester's SPICE program. I was overjoyed but wished I could call both my parents to tell them. 

Flash forward-- I finished my sophomore year and headed into this summer knowing it would be short, yet jam-packed with greatness. For everyone that had a part in making my summer what it was, I thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. My family, family friends (ehh you're family too), and friends are what have gotten me through this and kept me busy. 

Now I embark on this journey both nervous and excited-- well, and in denial that I will have to use my brain again next week...

If you actually read all this, thank you for taking the time, and I hope to keep you all updated! 

A Hui Hou,

❤️ LTK