Orientation Day- June 18

Today’s blog is going to be relatively short and simple. It can be summarized in 1 word: Orientation. We had orientation from 9 am until 5 pm, then deck, or “sea,” meetings and book discussion groups for the rest of the night until about 9:30.

Orientation was boring, as expected. It was speaker after speaker telling us all the rules and regulations and things we needed to know. ALL. Day. Long. Somehow I managed to stay awake during it all.

In fact, I don’t really even know what else to say about it! We got short meal breaks, then had to go back to listening to speaker after speaker and presentation after presentation.

Our “sea” is starboard deck 3. We are the Caribbean Sea, and our color is blue. At the end of the voyage, we’ll have a “Sea Olympics” and compete against the other seas.

The book discussion groups were okay. We were supposed to have read “Triumph of the City” before boarding the ship, and we would discuss the book as a group activity. I got lucky, and my group met in the faculty lounge! This is on the top deck, deck 7, at the very front of the ship. It is a room panoramic with windows. I have to admit, it was tough concentrating on the book discussion when there was a beautiful sunset right outside! Most of the students didn’t read. I read the first 8 pages…and that was a lot compared to most people. We were still all able to have the discussion about cities, and whether cities really are better than suburbs and rural towns (as the author suggests). Of course, I am biased since I didn’t grow up in the city. I prefer towns. :) The discussion was interesting since there was a diverse group of students in the group. The author’s side was that cities are what advance the world forward based on a number of reasons. Since people are all congregated, there is more human contact, spread of knowledge, and innovation. Companies are in close quarters and must compete to succeed. Also, since everyone is congregated in one place, the carbon footprint is less. In my opinion, I prefer rural areas. I think the quality of life is better. Yes, there are more interactions in cities, but they are often quick hellos and goodbyes whereas in a town, running into people means having actual conversations with content. Of course there are exceptions. I prefer the slower moving life. I actually think I would like a nice balance, and suburbs provide that too. Or maybe even something between a suburb and town! :) In the book, the author made a statement that people reported greater happiness in cities, but did not give any citation. The entire group caught this and agreed that it is probably actually the other way around. Anyway, now I’m just rambling but you get an idea of how the book discussion went!

One thing worth mentioning about the day was dinner! A group of us met on Deck 5 (the dining hall that isn’t as busy) for dinner at 6, and so began “on 5 at 6”—our regular routine now. We sat on the starboard side and met some really nice crew members! They are mainly in the dining hall to make sure the food is put out and to make sure people clean up after themselves. Darwin and (the other one whose name I forget right now!!) went above and beyond, and were serving people their drinks, clearing plates, and checking to see if there was anything else we wanted. It’s buffet-style, so they didn’t have to at all! We talked to them a little bit and somehow I ended up being called the trouble-maker. I think it was from walking to the table—the ships rocks constantly and I just can’t walk straight. I most likely almost caused some kind of collision or spilling or falling…it wouldn’t be surprising. Anyway, somehow I got the name “Trouble Maker,” so every time Darwin sees me it’s- “Hi TM!” It’s my goal to get everyone else nicknames, too!

Well, that’s about it for that day. I went back to the room to get ready for classes to start the next morning, so my night was pretty uneventful. Showered and slept, then woke up for classes!