Cheeehoooo

We’re on the way to Japan, but tonight we’re crossing the International Date Line. I will never experience January 16th 2018. Could have been the best day of my life, but I just will never know. They told us to stare at the horizon and a dotted red line might appear, so I’m going to do that once I finish writing. Update: I saw the line and got a Milky Way as a prize. 

As we slowly sail away from Hawaii, I thought I would give you all a rundown of our tropical island day (except I was in class while people were at the beach). 

Each class on Semester at Sea has a field class, in one port country, where the professor plans a day that correlates with the topics of the class. Because Hawaii was only a one day fuel stop, you needed to be in a field class or have signed up for a SAS program in order to disembark. Naturally, I signed up for International Relations with a field class in Pearl Harbor thinking I was cheating the system. Lol

We all woke up really early to watch the sunrise as we pulled into port. Everyone was turning their phones on and face timing friends and family. Love you all but I like not having a phone. We had a big breakfast (pre-port pastries included because Anna told me thats the best part) then immigration officials came on. My favorite quote of the day was a random girl behind me in line asking if we have to go through immigration in every country. 

Rachel and I met up with our class and took our first steps on land. My legs were still wobbling even while sitting on the bus on the way to Pearl Harbor. Because of some time issues and honestly I don’t know what other issues, we ended up going straight to the USS Missouri, docked on an island across from the Pearl Harbor Museum site. We ate boxed lunches there before meeting Neil, our tour guide. He shared his personal story about growing up in Hawaii with Japanese grandparents and how the unfolding of the war impacted his family. He was really emotional and informative so Rachel and I took a picture with him after. It was genuinely the most awkward picture we could have ever taken. But it was fun.  

The Siegal family, while enjoying their Hawaiian vacation, stopped by to say hi and bring snacks. MUCH LOVE xo

As we were leaving, we saw Tim Tebow. I’m not really sure who that is but Rachel noticed him and goes yup thats Tim Tebow right as he walked by and he just nodded his head. 

Our next stop was at the University of Hawaii where we heard a lecture from a political science professor. She shared some really eye-opening information about the annexation and creation of Hawaii as a state and the political resistance that the US government faced. We watched a clip of family members being dragged from their houses by policemen, sent by the US to clear the land. The professor speaking to us was so passionate about the activism of the natives that she even teared up as she was reading a personal story. We stopped by the student store after, stocked up on snacks, and headed back to the ship. 

Being on land for a day was almost a tease now that were on the way to Japan with a little more than a week to go. 

I started writing this blog yesterday, the 15th, but finished it today, on the 17th. Mindblowing. Stay tuned for Japan! 

P.S. Kaitlyn is the bomb and I thank her for posting this blog while I am in the middle of the ocean.

If I forgot anything or you have any follow up suggestions or questions, you know where to find me. xo