A community of love.

Today, for the first time in a while, I felt that sense of community that this ship is capable of having.

The first instance was during my family dinner. I'm not sure if I've explained this before, but we sign up for "extended families" on the ship, which means that you're assigned ship board parents and siblings. Let me say, my family is pretty fucking boss. Since today is the day before Thanksgiving, there was a proper meal served, and my family and I gathered with two other families and had a nice meal together. It was SO nice. I love my family meals, we swap a bunch of great stories and get to know each other so well, and it's an awesome way to get to know people you don't really run into otherwise. It made me feel SO at home.

The second was during "A night of Expression", a talent show event put on my LAMDA and my dear friend Adam. It was in celebration of Pride Day which was yesterday. I chose to perform a monologue from the play "Like Dreaming, Backwards", which is a monologue I've been working on for about 9 months now. (I guess you could call it my baby). The monologue is about a young girl who is suicidal, and she is telling bits and pieces of her story. Now, there are certain aspects of the piece that relate to my life, but it is absolutely not a piece ABOUT my life. After the show, I had a lot of people coming up to me and telling me that I'm brave and courageous and that they would be there to talk. At first, I thought it was really awesome that everyone thought my monologue was so good! The I discovered through my friend Chris that most people thought the piece was written by ME, about MY life. So essentially... the whole ship thought I was suicidal. Oh shit. So I went around to the people who had offered me support and told them I am, in fact, not suicidal... perhaps one of the happiest people you'll ever meet, in fact. Everyone was INCREDIBLY relieved.

It made me realize something. There are some days where I get really sad on this ship, and I think that there's no one here who really, truly cares about me. I sit in my room and wallow in self pity. Tonight made me realize that after 3 short months, there are people here who give a shit about who I am. There are people here who love me. There are people here who have experienced the things I've experienced, and they're here to talk and tell me everything is ok. It's absolutely the most amazing thing to realize... that people you didn't know a few months ago care about your life and your well being. It put me in an absolutely amazing mood, and I feel so incredibly blessed to have met the people I've met on this trip, especially the people who don't give off a caring vibe.

The most important lesson I'm taking away from this thus far is not to judge people based on the way they come off. I know we've all heard it before, but there are some people I've met on this trip that I would have NEVER hung out with back home. Our paths wouldn't have crossed. And they did, and I am so BEYOND lucky to have them in my life, even the people who I occasionally talk to or hang out with.

I'm just really, really happy right now.

The Pacific Crossing

We've all been warned that crossing the Pacific Ocean was going to suck pretty badly. After the last month or so consisting of almost no time at sea and at least four days in port, I had sort of forgotten what being at sea for more than two days at a time was like. Let me tell you, I miss it.

This time around, we're at sea for nine days before we stop in Hawaii for Thanksgiving, and we then continue another eight days until we hit Costa Rica. Many people consider Japan to be our last real port. Personally, I'm stoked for Costa Rica. Our last port has changed yet again, from Cuba to Guatemala, to now Honduras, so I'm trying not to get too stoked for that, in case it changes again. Not getting stoked for Honduras is hard though... there's whale sharks. I FUCKING LOVE WHALE SHARKS.

Anywho, spending this long at sea is kind of brutal. Especially on The Pacific Ocean. First of all, the waves are kind of nutty. Being in my room is really similar to being on a roller coaster at all times. I'm situated at the front of the ship, so I can feel us going over crests of waves and hear the crashing when we come down. It's kind of cool, but kind of annoying.

Second of all, we're losing an hour of sleep almost every other day. Because of this, my schedule is wonky as fuck. I've developed pretty bad insomnia. For example, it is currently 6 AM on the 21st of November. I tried going to bed at midnight on the 20th of November to get a good nights rest, and woke up at 2 AM. I was unable to fall back asleep until about 7 AM, and then I couldn't wake up until 6:30 PM, meaning I missed all of my classes, work, and one rehearsal... woops. I fell back asleep around 11:30 PM, and I woke up at 4 AM, or about two hours ago. Since then I've been checking emails and watching "Supersize Me" and "The Laramie Project" on the TV, all while trying really hard to be tired. Finding a normal schedule is a massive pain in the ass, and it's just not working out.

Third, eating is weird too, because of my schedule I'm rarely awake or hungry during regular eating hours. So i find myself snacking, if anything. Also, because the worms in my feet are dying and there's been a rush of white blood cells and phagocytes down to them, the rest of my immune system is totally fucked, making me just not hungry at all. Yesterday I ate a burger and a bag of dried pineapple. The food on the ship has become progressively less appealing to me, to the point where looking at most of it makes me feel nauseous, so that doesn't help. And the rockiness of the ship makes my stomach a little queasy too, so it's just a whole lot of craziness.

Some cool things:

We had the shipboard auction, which is a night where members of the ship can donate items to be auctioned off, and all the money raised goes towards scholarships. It was AWESOME, and my first auction ever. There were some really interesting items, everything from week long getaways in Mexico to having our academic dean (who's British) read you Harry Potter over tea and crumpets. I bid on a few things, but the prices for most things got outrageous pretty quickly, as a lot of students on this ship have parents paying off their credit card bills. I found myself getting frustrated about it, but it's ok because all of the money goes towards people (like me) who wouldn't be able to do this trip otherwise. I did buy a raffle ticket and win a seat at the ship captains table at our alumni ball, which is a pretty cool thing, so I'm excited about that.

Today is the talent show! I'm not in it, but I'm one of the people who has helped organize it and create it and make it happen. Working on it has been fun and a bit stressful and annoying, having people constantly asking if they could join after we had to move acts around due to lack of space. We had a tech run that actually went really, really smoothly, so I just can't wait to get the whole thing over with so I can stop worrying about it.

Also, I'm performing two monologues for World Aids Day, which I'm very excited about. One of the pieces is from a book written by South African youth who have been affected by AIDS or HIV in one way or another, and the other is a piece from the Vagina Monologues. We've had rehearsal almost every day, and it's starting to come along nicely.


Well, there you have it world. That's pretty much what's going on here. There's still a lot of things I completely forgot to talk about in my blog, like Sea Olympics and other shenanigans, but I almost like having a few things left to my memory and not for the people who read this to know... assuming of course, that people actually read this. Maybe I'll try to go back to sleep now.

Things to do in Japan

I thought Japan was going to be way less awesome than it was. I actually didn't have any expectations, because of the earthquake, there was some uncertainty about us going to Japan before the trip started. I'm SO glad I go the chance to go though. Here's some things I did, and suggestions of things you should do. Written really scrambled... deal with it.

Kobe:

Bunraku Puppet Theater

        This is an ancient form of puppetry that is considered to many to be a “dying art form”. It involves 2-4 foot puppets being manipulated by three puppeteers, and the show also includes a narrator and a man playing a shamisen, which is a guitar-type instrument. The show we saw was long, and there was something about the music that just made me fall asleep. It was really, really weird. But besides that, it was a pretty cool thing to go and see.

Spending a day with an awesome Japanese student

        Meet up with someone you met on couchsurfing. Set a goal for the day. We had one main goal for the day: Kobe beef burgers. Kobe beef is world renowned for it’s marbling, humane treatment of animals, and superior taste. As someone who is mildly obsessed with steak and all beef, I was beyond stoked to be in Kobe. Yohei took us to this street food place in China town and we all got burgers. We got the burgers and they. were. so. good. I wish I could explain it. Incredibly tender and juicy and just straight up delicious.
        After burgers, Yohei offered to take us to a few touristy locations, but we declined. We asked what he and his friends would be doing on a typical Saturday afternoon. He replied almost instantly “karaoke”, so we found a karaoke bar that had English songs and paid for a room. Karaoke in Japan is different than in America, you don’t just perform in front of everyone who’s there. You rent out a private room and you sing with just the people that you’re with. It’s actually way cooler that way. We spent the next two hours singing Katy Perry, Kesha, and rapping various different ridiculous songs. Yohei and I did a duet from RENT, which was simply fabulous. Definitely do karaoke.
        After karaoke, we headed over to Kobe University, which is where Yohei is studying European and American culture as a graduate student. They were having a fair that is apparently common for universities to have. GO TO A LOCAL UNIVERSITY. There were several student run booths that were serving cheap food, and there were bands playing all around the campus. We went and listened to this one band, and a mosh pit formed, which we all joined in. It was my first mosh pit, and it was absolutely epic. We walked around for a while and listened to other bands, but everything was starting to close down, so we got some discounted food and then headed out.
        We started to head back to the ship, but we realized we still had some time to kill, so we chose to grab some last minute food. We walked by this chicken stand that was passing out free samples, and it was delicious so we decided to go there. You basically got a cup full of chicken, and then they had a bunch of different sauces you could put on it. Choices included mayonnaise, barbecue, spicy, sweet and sour, chocolate sauce, and other crazy things... but no ketchup! I went with mayonnaise and barbecue sauce, and it was 1000 times more delicious than it sounds like it was. Eat street food. Lots of it.
        After chicken, we said a sad goodbye to Yohei and made promises to stay in contact via facebook and email. This was my first time spending an entire day with someone I met on couch surfing, and I must say that I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is planning on doing any traveling. Simply sign up on couchsurfing.com, and look for people in the place you’re going to. You can also use the website for places to sleep.


While sailing the ship from Kobe to Yokohama:

        Sleep. The entire day.


Tokyo:
        Hang out with a group of people you don’t usually hang out with, you’ll learn something new. Spend the entire time you’re in Tokyo walking around trying to find some bar that may or may not exist. Along the way, stop for Italian food at a restaurant that has happy hour, and have three drinks within about 10 minutes. Dodge the rain by running into British pubs, even though you just spend money on booze at a 7 Eleven. Stay there for a while. Pay the child fare for trains... they’re too expensive anyways. Or just don’t pay at all, and follow closely behind a Japanese person. Don’t be afraid to leave the group of people you’re with if you’re having a good time.
        Be awesome like Sonya and I. Spend the rest of the night taking stickers from various places around Tokyo, but get way more picky as the trip progresses as to what types of stickers are good enough for you. Try to find the fish market. Ignore the advice from locals telling you that there’s “no way you could walk there!” and just start walking in the direction you think it might be. We walked until about 4:45 in the morning. It was freezing, and we were slowly starting to lose our sanity and the feeling in our feet. get excited when you walk over the warm part of a train station. If you get too tired and cold to stay out until the trains back to Kobe start up, take NO shame in falling asleep at a McDonalds for a little while... they’ll let you stay there until customers start rolling in around 5:30.

Spend the day by yourself... and enjoy every minute of it.
        The last day in Yokohama, I woke up around 12 (keep in mind this was after coming back from Tokyo running off of 20 minutes of McDonalds napping) and headed out on the town by myself. Yokohama is really cool because the part we were in is incredibly serene and peaceful. There’s not a whole lot going on, and everything is just wonderfully quiet and calm. Soak this in, enjoy the serenity. Go to cool shopping districts. Find a sweet little food store that is Christmas themed, and get WAYYYY too excited about the upcoming holiday. Buy two bottles of sparkling cider, and cross your fingers they let you take it on the ship. I fucking love sparkling apple cider.
        After a bit of shopping, I walked to the theme park that’s in Yokohama. You get in for free, and then you pay for rides. The rides are over priced... but worth it. Ride a roller coaster completely by yourself! I was literally the only person on it, and it was fucking awesome. Ride a ferris wheel alone! And don’t panic about the height when you get to the top... even though it’s kind of scary. I really enjoyed the theme park, even though I was there for less than an hour.
        I went to the mall across the street, because I heard that was a good place to get steak. Turns out, the restaurant had closed. Was I going to let this stop me from eating steak? fuck no. I went to a restaurant in the first shopping district I was in and ordered myself a filet mignon and fries. The fires were cooked in truffle oil and perfectly seasoned with a pinch of garlic and a bit of salt. They were delicious. Then the filet... I just... there are no words. Ok, there are some words. As soon as I took my first bite, I said “Oh fuck yeah, that’s good” out loud. Keep in mind, I’m still by myself. In fact, I’m the only customer in the entire restaurant. Enjoy this feeling, you feel kind of like royalty eating a juicy steak and having the entire waitstaff paying attention to only you. Enjoy every bite of the steak, because you know ship food is coming up for a loooooooong time, and there won’t really be a way to escape it. Load up on more snacks with what you have left for money... you’re going to need them!
        I walked back to the ship super happy with the way my day had turned out. I had spent a few hours to myself to other ports, but I never really full out spend a day alone and did everything that I wanted to do in that city. It felt really, really good. I highly recommend enjoy time alone, because you just don’t get nearly enough of it.

Chine... uhhh?

So for China, I'm just going to paste an email I sent to my dear friend Lillie, because I've told the story way too many times and I don't feel like retyping everything:

Hey dude.

The great wall fucking SUCKED. let me tell you all about your delinquent best friend...

So, the wall itself was awesome. A pretty tiring hike, but one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Cold as fuck, but awesome. Then it became night time and it was time to make camp. We were in a group of 50, so when almost everyone settled in one place, me and four friends decided to keep going because we didn't want to get in any sort of trouble, which generally comes with large groups and alcohol. So we found this kick ass watchtower that had like... a makeshift fire pit. So we gathered some branches and toilet paper and this wood we found on the ground, and we started a fire. I didn't drink because there was only beer and I wanted to be sober (last year someone fell off and busted their head, and I know CPR/first aid so I figured I'd stay clear headed) So after a few hours of just kicking it and chillin, these fucking security officers come and make us put out the fire and start yelling at us in Chinese. Then our tour guide comes and we're like "dude, wtf is going on". APPARENTLY the piece of wood we found on the ground was a relic from the wall that they thought we had torn off (allegedly 600 years old). We explained that we found everything the way it was and that we didn't tear the wall apart, but they wouldn't believe us. So they kicked everyone off the wall, which made a lot of people hate us a little. Then we went to the police station and were interrogated for about 2 fucking hours, and they told us to clean up the wall at sunrise and that we would be fined anywhere from 5,000 YUAN-30,000 YUAN (about $800-$5000), but our tour guides said that if we cried and cleaned and did everything we'd probably get a lesser fine. Oh, and they wouldn't let us call the embassy. So they finally let us go at like 3:30 AM, we have to be on the wall cleaning by 6. Meanwhile it's like 20 degrees outside so none of us sleep at all. At 5:45 we head up and clean up our shit and everyone elses shit, I'm talking picking up pieces of used toilet paper and shards of broken glass. At 8 AM then tell us they're charging us the 30,000 YUAN, which is BULLSHIT. So we go back and they interrogate us for another two hours and we eventually talk them down to 20,000 YUAN, but they make us sign a confession saying that we tore the wood off the wall and created the fire pit ourselves. We just were so fucking exhausted and pissed off at this point, and they wouldn't let the rest of our group go either, so we swallowed our pride and our tour guides paid the fine (we're being billed for it... $665, dude) and we were finally able to leave.







So... yeah. That's mostly how China went. Don't get me wrong, I saw some other cool things and enjoyed my time otherwise... but I did NOT enjoy China.