This will be a very brief summary of what I did today since this message can only be 2 kb in total size.

After maneuvering around many (many) conifer covered islands of emerald green we pulled into Mokpo today, right next to a lumber mill. We were greeted warmly by the officials and representatives of the Korean Maritime Academy.

After dealing with some paper work (which was a much less painful process than in Russia) we were set loose on the Korean port town of Mokpo. The vegetation here is very similar to the Pacific NW, but the architecture is much more dense and signs in Korean (a strange looking language looking like Chinese with circles and ovals dropped into it) cover everything.

Four other guys and me hit the city soon after noon. First we got some food (I got spicy egg noodles, good for my sinuses). After that we hiked up the small mountain (approx. 700 ft.) in the middle of the town (called Yudal-san). My group and I explored a sculpture garden (very cool), an orchid house (no flowers were in bloom), and the peaks of the mountain (which allowed a beautiful view of the city and the islands around Mokpo).

After that we went to a department store/ mall called Lotte Mart (lo-teh). Many of the employees maintained tiny sample stations; I was able to tried fried fish, dried anchovies (or something like them), and tofu in a spicy red sauce. I bought some instant noodle bowls that I could snack on later on the trip. I also bought a bottle of what I thought was Green Tea Pop, but it turned out to be Soo-joo (grain-alcohol).

After that we searched for a bank that wouldn’t reject our bank cards, but to no avail.

Then we got some ice cream at a little cafe, which had internet access, and received some useful info from the owner of the store. After that we had some rice and veggies at a buffet-type restaurant. Then we went to the night market and I bought some cheap shirts.

Eventually we cough up with some friends and hung out at a little cafe/bar, where I got a little messed up. More happened but this e-mail is almost too long, more tomorrow.


Everyone in Korea that I met was extremely polite, but more than that they seemed genuinely kind; they seemed like they treated my friends and I nicely because they wanted to not because they felt they had to.

Arriving in Korea cemented the realization that I was on a cruise traveling to foreign countries. Russia had been different, but Korea (at least initially) was alien. The culture, language, advertisements, and everything else was more removed from American/European culture than in Russia; it was all very comfortable though, and I guess that is another difference between Mokpo and Vladivostok. Mokpo didn?t didn?t have anything intimidating about it. I remember smiling the whole time I was there.

A lot of the eateries I visited in Korea (and in Russia) had air purifiers in them; the air was much cleaner in Korea though. The first place I ate at (noodles mentioned above) had one. The proprietors where also kind enough to have their picture taken with us.

Yudal-san was very green and very beautiful. Something I forgot to mention about it was the very colorful, somewhat hidden Buddhist temple we found among the trees on the mountain. The temple was small but brilliantly painted; it was covered in detailed woodwork depicting animals, dragons, people, and a million other things.

I took a swig of the Soo-joo ( thinking it was pop) as I left the Lotte Mart; I wanted a little refreshment in the heat, but I almost gagged on what I immediately realized was very strong grain alcohol.

The ice cream shop was found entirely by luck. The guy working there spoke some broken english, and we all took turns using the computer there and asking him questions about the town. The ice cream was very yummy. All of the flavors were tropical fruits and a serving consisted of a couple scoops of three flavors compacted into a sizable cup-like container.

The night market was awesome. It covered dozens of the little alleyways that crisscrossed through downtown. The wares for sale were of all shapes and sizes, lots of clothes and lots of seafood. There most have been over a thousand stalls, cases, and tables covered with things for sale. Lights where strung up here and there, some in pastel colored paper lanterns. The night market in Mokpo was my favorite place to shop on the entire trip.

Well, I finally got to take my evolution test today, which I spent most of the day studying for. It wasn’t as long as the ecology test I took on Saturday, which I discovered I destroyed when I got it back today, and I think I did pretty well.

I’m still a little sick (grow-snarl), but the disease is just a little mucus and a weak cough every once in a while. Hopefully, it will depart from me some time this week.

We’ll be reaching Korea some time tomorrow morning. Everyone has to get up earlier than usual to man the rails as the ship enters the port. I am not sure if I’ll get up to see the sunrise as the ship navigates around the small islands surrounding the southern coast. We’ve been passing small, rusted fishing boats and huge container ships for the past two or three days.

I introduced some more friends to the bluffing/dice game of Perudo. An excellent game where a player states how many dice of a certain number are under all of the cups being used. This game is especially fun if you’re good at calculating odds in your head (thanks to statistics).

Speaking of statistics, Beau if you’re reading this I have been thinking about how much I am going to miss you when I return (I’m not really missing anybody yet . . . too much excitement and I am coming home in a month). I can’t believe that you’re going to be gone after almost four years of going to school together. I am grateful for the fun we had and won’t forget it. Maybe I’ll come down and visit you in Ohio this summer.


Being sick on the ship really really really stunk. Life on the ship was active every waking hour and I did not have the needed energy to enjoy it (as opposed to suffer through it) while I was sick.

Yeah Beau, I recently talked to him on the phone. It was very good to hear from him but, it was a reminder that my time here in SLO is slowly running out
.

Today didn’t start out as a very good day. I got up early to finish some physics homework (which, it turns out, I didn’t need to do), and wasn’t conscious until after lunch (which I went to after a nice long nap).  I spent most of the day studying for my big test tomorrow (which was supposed to be today but got postponed).

I was in a bad mood for most of the day because I am still a tiny bit sick, and because I got in a little bit of trouble for something stupid. I couple days ago a list was posted near the messhall. On it was everyone’s name and a number that indicated how they were getting home form Hawaii. I had to talk to Sean about what our plan was so I didn’t sign it immediately, in fact I forgot to sign it. So, this morning I had to go see the PDO (personal development officer) and he told me that I have Captain’s Mast in a week or two. That’s where you appear in front of the captain and some officers and they go through this whole performance which results in you getting a couple of hours extra duty.

It’s really not a big deal, but I absolutely hate it when something harmless results in a disproportionately grave consequence (like loosing a toenail when you stub a toe). Anyway, I was pissed off all day, but by the afternoon I felt better. The whole anxiety trip that has been bugging me for the past week or so seemed to have burned it self out. Sometimes you just have to feel crappy to get over feeling crappy.


So I am feeling a little more comfortable today, I think I’ll be feeling the same way tomorrow.

I took lots of naps during the trip. The constant rocking motion made it very easy to crash. Plus I never knew exactly when the next time I?d have the oppurtunity to nap.

I spent most of the day studying for my tropical ecology test which turned out to be a big essay test (6 pages in one hour). I think I did fine though, it was just kinda of a pain to take. It’s nice being on a ship when you have to study though, plenty of nice atmosphere. After dinner I went to the same knot tying class again to refresh my memory, I can tie seven or eight knots now.

After that some CMA kids projected the movie Big Fish on the rear of the aft house and a bunch of people watched it. It was a warm night again so everyone was very comfortable outside. The moon was out and the low clouds resembled flying pirate ships out of Peter Pan. After the movie I had a socializing session with friends.

I gotta cut this entry short because I need to study now. See ya.


The warm nights I spent alone or with friends out on the stern of the ship were unforgettable. I really felt like I was on a vessel flying through the ether. At night it was very to imagine that the ship was sailing through the clouds.

I spent most of the day unpacking and rearranging stuff in my room, returning the bed to its proper position, and unpacking the metric ton of crap in my suitcase and backpack. During this time Cory bombarded Sean and I with questions concerning our journeys. We saw a movie (?Arry Potta? was quite entertaining) and went to a few bars that night to further facilitate the telling of our tales.

My birthday is on the 5th (coolness), and it should be fun after I finish getting my teeth filled. I made a dentist appointment a million years ago and didn?t realize it was on my b-day until later. I didn?t reschedule because I had already pissed off my dentist once by missing my last appointment, I didn?t want to press my luck.

I?m going to try and contact all of my ex-shipmates very soon so that we can have a reunion party/ies, but I have been running into difficulties using the internet (grrrrr). I am greatly anticipating maintaining the friendships I developed on the ship here in SLO.

I?ll also be calling New Frontiers, my old work, soon. I have to see if they have an opening for me. I am beyond sure that they?d take me back, but they may not have a spot for me. I?m not worried though. I can always find another job, and I have some money I can coast on for awhile.

I am still in the process of cleaning up my room. It?s going to take several more hours of solid work.

Nothing was broken while in transit which I am very grateful for. I can?t wait to enjoy some of the best green tea in the world with my new tea set (something I picked up in Korea). I also got plenty of new T-shirts to wear. Cory seems very pleased with the gift I gave him, a Russian military pocket watch of authentic design.

I?ve started to get in contact with my social group here in SLO again. I am amazed at how many people have been regularly reading this journal. It?s a very big compliment and I am glad that so many people found it useful. Just as a reminder, now that I am home I can read any comments posted on the journal. Feel free to post now that I?ll actually be able to read your comments. I might even respond to some of them.

I?ve been feeling pretty good . . . very good since I?ve returned for a variety of reasons. I?ll explain what they are and my feelings about the trip as a whole in my next and possibly final entry (bum bum BUMMMM!).

Sean and I . . .well I awoke at seven, Sean didn?t sleep. After gulping down a smoothie we were rushed to the train station. Sean?s mother had been nice enough to buy us two tickets back to SLO. I was looking forward to the journey because I had never been on a train before.

Of course the train was three hours late. Sean and I were too tired to stay awake and to tired to sleep. For at least an hour we struggled to swim out of the ocean of unconsciousness we were drowning in, but we couldn?t keep our heads above water for more than a minute or two at a time.

I pulled out my little game box (a small plastic device that has six simple board games printed on a single sheet of laminated plastic wrapped around two rollers inside the box) and we played a game of checkers. This was able to pull us out of our haze, I guess because it gave us something to focus on. As a side note, Sean and I didn?t take any of each others pieces the whole game. In checkers, if a player is unable to move any of his pieces he looses. I only learned this after it happened to me (Sean had only one move left) and I looked it up. I don?t think I remember playing a game of checkers where that happened.

Continuing onward, eventually the train pulled up and we boarded it. Since my only suitcase weighed more than fifty pounds (it weighed eighty) it couldn?t check it and I had to lug it onto the train myself. I had to maneuver it up a down a flight of exceedingly narrow stairs before I found a storage cubby to deposit in.

Since Sean and I had missed lunch, we were involved in a game of Parcheesi (sp?) and weren?t able to make reservations for the restaurant car, we ate in the snack car (all of the food was micro waved and plastic wrapped). It wasn?t that bad and we spent lunch, and a considerable time afterward, simply talking about everything: how we felt about being on land again, what the train ride was like, and everything else. We had a lot to discuss since we spent a small portion of the trip together.

The Amtrak train was large and two-storied. Our comfy reclining seats (much better than airline seats) were on the top floor. The passing countryside, which quickly became familiar hills of gold and scattered ranches, was easy to watch through the rows of large windows on either side of our car.

After Sean and I talked we both decided to take a well deserved nap. We both slept for several hours; Sean slept longer than I had.

I woke up earlier than he did (didn?t I just say that?). The train was passing through the area between Paso Robles (a town close to SLO) and San Luis Obispo. As I watched the familiar countryside pass I rolled around the realization that my journey was over in my head; I couldn?t find a divot in my mind for it to settle in.

Suddenly I realized that the train was passing through the very same tunnels I had explored on foot more than four years ago on the hike that lead to my extended stay in the wilderness. Weird coincidence. The sun set just as the train reached SLO, bathing everything in a sleepy orange glow.

Sean and I took a taxi home to surprise Cory, the only house mate that was there at the time. He was ecstatic to see us as we were to see him. We dumped our stuff in our room. I stayed up late talking with Cory, Sean fell asleep in the living room early. I slept there too since everything in our room was packed up and out of place. This was because my old friend Beau had been living there for his last quarter at Poly while Sean and I were gone.

Home didn?t feel like home. I felt like I was visiting someone else’s house, sleeping over for the night. I current of thought it my head kept asking me, ?when are you going back to the ship?? That night was painfully silent, a little claustrophobic, and uncomfortably still. I almost felt like I was sleeping in a tomb, but I slept. I finally was able to get a good night?s sleep.

Like I said, I didn?t sleep. Between five and six in the morning everyone woke up. They did this because between seven and eight our rooms were going to be checked and locked up. I grabbed breakfast . . . well it was more like a snack. No breakfast was cooked, only cereal and tiny pastries were available. Paper bowls were all that was provided, and there were so few that we had to share them.

So everyone was more than a little pissed off. The morning was more than hectic. I had packed all of my gear two nights ago so all I had to do was finish cleaning my room. All of the passages were congested with people taking luggage out onto the aft deck or bringing cleaning supplies into their room to clean.

After everyone?s rooms were cleaned, checked, and locked; after we had our final formation (out of force of habit I was the only person who attended it in uniform) we left the ship for the last time and headed for several buses parked outside of Aloha Tower (where the ship was docked).

Right before we left I had talk with a close friend of mine, actually it was more of a confession of my feelings for her. She reacted positively and said that we?d be sure to see each other often back on the mainland, so my mood was elevated somewhat compared to everyone else’s.

Anyway . . . we spent twenty minutes getting on several buses, which had to be supplemented by a cargo truck since the buses weren?t loaded correctly. The bus ride was quick, but going through the airport was not. A lot of time passed before the people whose luggage had been loaded on the cargo truck could access it again (I was a member of this ill-fated group).

Everybody had to get their luggage scanned for alien species (don?t ask me how they did this), examined via x-ray, and go through a security checkpoint as well (I was randomly chosen for a more intimate search, yay).

After a quick burger on the run I jumped on the plane with everyone else. That flight had been chartered specifically for us. It was the plane that brought the second crew for the ship, the folks that will take it back to Vallejo using the route we traveled, to Hawaii.

It took everyone forever to get their luggage stowed and the plane to take off. Take off was exciting, a fast take off followed by a steep bank over the island (we flew right over the ship). I was in the back surrounded by few Cal Poly folk. I wanted to write but forget to pack a pad and pencil in my carryon bag. Two movies were screened on the five/six hour flight, but they stank and I didn?t pay them much attention. Almost everyone was asleep or almost asleep so there wasn?t much socializing happening. I slept for small intervals of time, but not very well.

On an up note the CMA cadet sitting next to me brought a squirt gun that he used liberally. That was a blast to witness, and it seemed to cheer up the folks being squirted. I also started a pillow fight by tossing a single pillow. Haha, it was like a pebble starting an avalanche.

After the plane landed everyone was stuck in the baggage claim for three to four hours. Goodbyes between shipmates and hellos between family occurred, but they seemed strained. Probably because the whole day was spent traveling.

Sean?s mom came to pick us up and took us back to San Fran. There we were given dense food and good drink (a little wine, a little scotch). Unfortunately Sean and I didn?t get to sleep by three in the morning (we got to the apartment at midnight) because we were to busy telling tales. I don?t think that Sean slept at all.

I was too exhausted to think or feel much while waiting to fall asleep. Something felt out of place, but that?s about all I was aware of.

The original plan, once I got off of the ship in Honolulu, was to go cliff jumping at some local waterfalls (Pakena Falls I think). After that I?d figure I?d cruise around town and explore the nightlife; eventually I wanted to end up and the local Dave & Busters (a Chucky Cheeses for adults: video games, pool, shuffleboard, darts, alcohol, and a live band). This is not what happened, but I had a great time anyway.

Everybody on the ship only had until 11 PM to mess around in Honolulu. I left with a small group of friends late in the morning; our first goal was to hire a taxi to take us to the falls. Unfortunately all the taxi drivers we talked to, and the taxi dispatch agent my friend talked with on the phone, had never heard of the falls that we wanted to find. Oh well.

So my little group decided to head towards Waikiki beach. Half the time we walked, half the time we rode a bus. Honolulu is a colorful, surprisingly clean town composed mostly of hotels resembling huge appliances that fell from the sky.

The local vegetation was a treat. I spent some time climbing on banya trees (large trees that send think, rope-like roots down to the ground from their branches) and playing with mimosas (little plants that fold up their leaves and lower their stems when touched).

We stopped for grub at an aluminum trailer by a small marina. The proprietor of the little grub stand was a kindhearted older gent? whose skin had turned to leather years ago. I had coconut shaved ice served on top of a scoop of Haupia ice cream (a creamy coconut flavor only available in Hawaii). It was beyond delicious (especially with a can of orange-pineapple pop).

After snack time we hit the beach. The water was warm (not as warm as Saipan). After a little swim we hiked along the beach behind a continuous string of resorts. One of my companions happened to recognize a friend (she had been trying to contact her via cell phone all day) out of a crowd of choir singers that were performing for the occupants of a hotel that we were passing. My friend stayed to watch the show while I and two others went to hit the beach (the music was too show-tooney for me).

We tried to bodysurf with little success (the waves broke unpredictably), and I stubbed my toes on bits of coral at least two dozen times. At six the group reconvened at the choir girl?s (Sarah) resort. She was nice enough to let several total strangers rinse off in her shower and change into dryer clothes.

We met up with more friends of my friend and got some grub. We ate at Bubba Gump?s, a corny but tasty seafood joint based on the movie ?Forest Gump?. Every surface was decked out with Forest Gump paraphernalia: ping pong paddles, tv?s with Forrest Gump playing on them, license plates with ?Run Forest Run? printed on them, and a bunch more tacky crap.

The food was expensive (I spent over $30 on a meal and a pina colada), but tasty. I had a bucket of fried shrimp, lobster tails, and Ahi ahi. I had a great time talking to Viki?s friends (Viki was one of the shipmates I was hanging out with that day) about Hawaii, pigeon english, and tails of our travels.

After ice cream it was almost eleven so we had to say goodbye to our new pals. It seems that each time I?ve made friends on this trip I?ve had to say goodbye to them too soon. Oh well.

-Now begins the tale of what transpired during the evening of ?The Longest Day?.

Soon after I returned to the ship everyone else returned in a drunken flood (their were two bars within sight of where the ship was docked). I was sober (only one drink that night), but I still had fun with everyone. Since everyone had to be back early a big batch of crazy ensued immediately after curfew. It was localized around the aft 01 deck and the balcony of the 02 deck.

A game of keep away between the girls and boys raged for about forty-five minutes, people were hurling packs of unpopped popcorn at each other, and many were um . . . ?enjoying? their last night with a significant other. I aam amazed nobody was seriously injured (lots of drunken kids running around where EVERYTHING is made of steel).

I messed with everyone (using my mini-soaker squirt gun with maximum humorous effectiveness), talked and flirted (part of this involved doing pull-ups for for the affections of one of my favorite shipmates), and wreslted around with my bros.

Eventually, almsot everyone hit the sack. As the night became early morning I played some chess and chatted with some of my closer friends. I lost (after a while), but I was having a hard time focusing on the game anyway.

I didn?t sleep. I didn?t want to. After watching a piece of a mediocre romantic comedy I went back outside to wait for dawn; it wasn?t that spectacular since the sky was exceptionally cloudy, but I did have a very interesting talk with a friend about the future and growing up.

I wasn?t sure how I felt about the the end of the trip. It really hadn?t hit me that it was over. Most the time I spent between by myself before dawn was spent remembering what had happened that day and early, thinking about people on the ship, and gazing at the twinkling cityscape.

It was a very long and interesting day. Again, this is only a summation of what happened.

Today is my last day on open water; tomorrow we dock in Honolulu. I’ve haven’t been sleeping much slimply because I want to experience every conscious hour possible. I’ll probably end up taking a nap soon though.

I put the final touches on my projects today and turned them in. Yay! All that is left to do is pack, which shouldn’t take long; I’ll do it some time today.

I doubt that I’ll understand that the curise is over until I am on the airplane back to Oakland. Everyone who is not staying in Hawaii (I would’ve if I had more billage) is flying home on the same five hour-long flight. That should be fun. 

So, I’ll be back in the states Wednesday, and I’ll be back in SLO a few days afterward. I think Sean and I are stopping off at his mother’s residence before we head back, and I’m not exactly sure how were getting back home.

I’ll be posting all the way home (Sean’s mother has internet access), but this is the last entry sent from the ship (computers are being shut down). I think I’ll watch the sunrise tomorrow.

Well, until I am back in the states.

Well, I had to get up at eight in the morning today (after staying up until three last night playing Illuminati and getting as close to winning without winning). Why did I have to rise early? To serve my two hours of extra duty for failing to sign something weeks ago. It wasn’t really bad at all, just filing such. The only thing that bugs me is that the Purser (who runs the ship’s office) waited until almost the last day of cruise to make me work. Whatever.

I spent the day finishing my last report. Needless to say that when the BBQ (mmm, chicken + corn + cheesebread= yum) rolled around at five I was more than a little stir crazy. The food and the view of the Hawaiin islands quickly chilled me out. The senior CMA cadet were being tested on steering the ship so were doing manuevers by Hawaii today.

It’s been an interesting night. There was a dance after the BBQ, but the music was pretty much crap so I tried to soak up the waves/wind/stars/moonlight. I won’t be able to for much longer.

I was thinking about some more interesting sutff, but now my mind has been wiped by a funny movie on the tube across the room. Crap. Oh well.

So I am pretty sure that I will be able to get both my ten-page reports finished before they are due on Friday. The paper on orchids won’t be so good though since I recently discovered that I didn’t bring enough research material on it. Also, typing these up will not give me much time to study for my finals on Friday and Saturday.

I spent a large chunk of the evening in the engine room. Every Cal Poly studetn gets one four hour engine watch and one four hour bridge watch during the cruise. Lucky me, I get them both during the last, busiest week. Despite my whining engine room watch was very cool.

I had to where ear protection at all times except when I was in the EOS (control room, also the only room with air conditioning in the engine room). ’Engine room’ is kind of a misnomer anyway I think. It’s more like a huge amount of space filled with the biggest pieces of machinary you’ve ever seen. Several stories high and sixty or something feet square, the room is filled with car-sized blocks of machinery entangled in dozens of pipes going in every direction. All of the pipes are labeled the name of their contents (grey water, steam, lube oil) and an arrow indicating where what’s in them is going. It’s very hot in the engine room and it gets hotter the further up you climb (almsot 120 at the top, which is directly beneath the stack where the exhaust comes out).

The two engines are huge, each engine block is the size of a small bus. They sit above the drive shaft which extends back through the ship to the propeller. The shaft is a thick as a tree trunk. Other objects populating the space in the engine room are: water evaperators used in the potable water purification proccess; centrifuges used to filter out stuff from the fuel, lots of squat white motors used to power the pumps for the fire main and ballast tanks; lots of small start-up air compressors (which are necessary to start almost every piece of machinery up); three large diesel power generators (only two are every supplying power at a time); a surprisingly small water boiler (not much on the ship runs off of steam); and a million valves and meters.

Happy Father’s Day Dad! Check out the California Maritime Academy website!
(http://www.csum.edu/vctsgb04/cruise2004/public.asp - then click on a day in the calendar - then click "Photo Album" ; Ben in pics on days 5/9, 6/21, and 6/26)

I’ve been very busy over the last four days, I’m sorry I haven’t written an entry for a while.
 
On the 22nd I stood bridge watch and got to steer the ship (sweet). All that’s involved in steering is lining up a directional indicator with the heading that you want; you spend most of the time staring at a small display of numbers. The radar and instrumentation on the bridge was very cool; the LWO (liscenced watch officer), Mr. Elliot, showed me some cool sea charts of Midway.

We stopped in Midway for about six hours on the 23rd. Midway is just a small atoll few islands and a barrier reef. There’s no doack there so the ship had to anchor and people were shuttled to the boat in small, sluggish lifeboats. The island is a giant wildlife reserve, and it was covered (literally) with molting juvenile albetross (large, clumsy looking seabirds that sit on their legs with their big feet sticking out in front of them).

I spent most of the time there snorkeling or swimming in the still waters of the atoll. Under the two piers were the only places that I found fish, but some other folks saw turtles and sharks under them as well. Everyone hung out on the North Shore beach, swimming or tanning. The ride back was fun, our lifeboats were kicked around by some small swells and everyone got soaked.

I spent most of my time each day (until yesterday night) studying or taking tests. I didn’t get much sleep, but I think I did pretty well on everything.

Last night a graduation ceremony was held for the graduating Cal Poly seniors on board. It was fun, Sean lit up a fat stoggie to celebrate (he walked). The A buddy of mine gave the opening speech which involved, in no small part, my adventures getting lost in the wilderness four years ago (he was one of the few people on the ship I told about that). I was completely caught off gaurd. That story will follow me forever.

6/19... the first time around

Well, there is a little less than two weeks of time left on this cruise, and during that time (much less than that time actually) I have to prepare two 1/2 hour presentations, write two ten page reports, and study for three finals. Busy busy busy, but I am still feeling crappy. Hopefully I ’ll feel better tomorrow so I can get some serious work done.

The highlight of the day was during formation. My division commander (div com) Chelsea, has her birthday on the twentieth. When it’s your birthday on the ship you usually get a bucket of H20 dumped on your head during formation, but since Chelsea’s birthday is on a Sunday (when there is no formation) I decided to give her an early birthday present myself. She couldn’t have been more surprised, and everyone had the initiative to start singing happy birthday to her right after she was soaked. I forgot about my nausea for at least an hour after that.


I don?t remember feeling that nauseous. I think half of it was caused by angst over the cruise almost being over, and the fact that I had to spend a nice chunk of it getting everything done since I procrastinated my final projects. Oops. I really didn?t want to go home yet.

I woke up at one in the afternoon today, the latest I’ve arisen all trip. This is because last night, or earlier this morning, some friends of mine convinced me to play some Illuminati (a game I brought with and have shown a few people how to play) with them. The game is simple in it’s overall theme (as one of several secret societies try to take over enough organizations to rule the world), but complex in its details. We ended up playing two games since the first was so short (somebody snuck by everyone else to victory, I won the second one). Bedtime was a little after four (the latest I have gone to bed while not being in port).

I missed breakfast and lunch (snacked on instant noodles from Korea), but dinner was fun. Mom (the cook everyone calls Mom I mean, an adorable Indian woman) made Chelsea a huge chocolate cake and everyone jumped one it (my naseau is totally gone yay!).

After dinner I spent most of the night working (whale presentation, physics homework, and a small paper). I think I am going to be able to meet all of my deadlines this week, but it’s going to be busy until the end.

I am in an excellent mood; despite my business today a spent ten minutes here and fifteen there just hanging out with different people, talking, and getting a little slice of what everyone was doing throughtout the day.

The ship is kinda a like an improved reincarnataion of the dorms: it’s on the ocean, not so crowded, a higher ratio of cooler/more together peers, and lots of little exciting vacations in foreign countries between classes.

I realized today (and last night) as I was looking at pictures of myself on the 1st day of cruise, that I have definitely gone through some change. The major motivation for this change hasn’t been all of the new ’things’ I’ve been exposed to necessarily; it’s been due to the reappearance of little pieces of past personal baggage that I’d thoguht I’d dealt with. I’ve gotten a chance to get another, subdued taste of them. Now that all of the those little aftershocks (ideas about myself, what I want, who I should be) have resurfaced, been acknowledged, and floated away; I feel like a larger part of myself has clicked into place, I am sturdier more secure.

Well, that’s all for now.

6/19 . . . one more time!

We re-crossed the international dateline today. Today was kind of a repeat of yesterday.

Since it was the nineteenth again I made sure that Chelsea, my Div Com, was soaked with water again. She was watching like a hawk me the whole day as well as during formation. I recruited two friends from Division A (all of the Cal Poly kids are split into divisions A & B) to dump two buckets of water on her I had set up earlier in the day. It went off almost perfectly. She definitely wasn’t expecting two buckets. Hahahahaha. I can still remember her scream when the second bucket hit her.

I finally got a lot of work done today. Which is very good considering the amount of crap that I need to finish by the end of this week. I probably will be spending most of my time on Sunday doing lots of school work; first on the list is preparing two presentations that I need to do.

I am a little bummed out how busy I’ll be this coming week since it is really going to be the last full week of cruise. I am flying back to the states from Hawaii on Wednesday and finals are Saturday so I’ll have a little free time before the cruise is finished, but it’s still winding down. At least I’ll have a bunch of new friends to hang out with when I get back.


Man, talk about cries for attention. Although I was involved in several other students birthday soaking, Chelsea?s was the only soaking that I set up. I was asked to do all of the others. I guess that it was tough luck for me that so many kids on the ship happened to be chasing after her, and on top of that she kind had something going on with the head cadet on the ship (found that out later).

The last two days have been amazing. A true tropical retreat. Yesterday, was all about cruising to find a place to snorkel. First we (my bike gang and I) went across the island to its Eastern side and checked out Lau Lau Bay ( or somewhere close to it). Before the beach was reached we traversed a maze of muddy dirt roads (serious off-roading). Unfortunately the reef at that beach was very lacking; we got back on a paved road (after a few minor accidents) and headed north.

We traveled upward toward the hilly center of the island eventually reaching its ridge line. We followed it for some time (chalky, unpaved roads) thinking it would lead us to another beach eventually. We were wrong, but it was worth it. Either side of the road was bordered by jungle or steep hillsides allowing an expansive view of the island. Eventually, after a lot more high speed cruising, we made it to a decent beach with a reef, but the beach was on the western side of the island; since it wasn’t exposed to the wind it was much further out from the shore. I swam for a good twenty minutes before I reached the reef (and was thrown into it a few times). There were a lot of small fish (bright and pretty) out there that I was able to make form into a sizable school with the help of my bag of frozen peas.

That night we hit a beach bar & grill called Alouai (or something). We enjoyed good seafood, drinks, and lots of laughs. After finishing there we headed across the street to another bar (smaller/cozier) for some karaoke and pool (I sang most of the songs). After that we met some friends the at the final bar of the evening, before taking a taxi back to the ship and watching Aqua Teens (zany cartoon).

Today . . . I need 8 e-mails to do it justice. I went to THE GROTTO and snorkeled for hours. The grotto is a HUGE rock cave (tens of feet deep/wide). In the rear of the cave, about twenty feet under water, is a hole leading out into open ocean (on the other side of the grotto). A lot of people scuba dive there and fish swim in there all of the time. I spent three hours there and was a fish by the end of my visit. After some practice runs I swam through the underwater exit out into the ocean and back.

My friends also found a grass road down into a bird sanctuary, which had a killer reef. I spent about three hours there chasing tropical fish around a gorgeous reef (swimming back to shore against the current has WORK). Right before we had to return our bikes we blasted up to the highest point on the island where the view left nothing obscured. Tonight was minor ’cause I was too tired.

Mom, Dad, sorry I didn’t call. I wish we could have been here, especially Dad. You would’ve flipped. Much love.


The beach bar was literally on the beach. The deck and the beach were only separated by a small wooden fence, and the ocean was only a few feet away. A few kids were chasing after crabs in the surf as we ate. This was the only time on the whole trip that I told the story of my adventures hiking to Atascadero during freshman year, to my surprise it was not the only time the story was told, but I?ll talk more about that later.

The bar my friends and I went to after eating dinner was called ?Dracula? I think. We sang an out of tune version of Bohemian Rhapsody as well as many other favorites. I think the bar catered specifically to Japanese clientele because half the songs on the karaoke machine were in Japanese, half of the words were missing from Bohemian Rhapsody, and everyone at the bar seemed impressed that we knew the rest of the song?s lyrics. Between that and one of my friends stealing balls off of the pool table while we were playing I had a pretty damn good time.

Because of all of the of-roading I did getting to beaches my bike had to be replaced; the wires connected to the battery became partly disconnected. I certainly road my bike into the ground while at Saipan. Each day after the first (when I wrecked) I became more and more comfortable on my scooter. By the last day that thing was at full throttle as often as possible (within reason). Whenever my friends and I reached the Northern part of the island, where there was no traffic and lots of winding roads, we floored it. There was defiantly something exhilarating about going so fast and being so exposed at the same time (half the time I only had a pair of tiny board shorts on that I?d bought on the island and a skull bucket).

The grotto was probably the single coolest locale of my entire time at sea. It was like something you?d see illustrated in a children?s book that would make you say, ?I wish I could still find the magic places like that. ? The entire cave was lit by light coming up through the water (due to the underwater passage in the back of the grotto leading to open water). The water itself was so clear that you could easily see a hundred feet in any direction. A troupe of Japanese tourists were being led on a dive while my friends and I were swimming, some of them went diving too. I swam in the divers bubbles as they descended and marched out into the sea. After I little practice I was able to dive thirty or so feet without my ears hurting.

The bird sanctuary was very remote, a large rock sitting in the water off of a strip of beach surrounded by a very steep bank hundreds of feet high. It took me a while to find a channel out to the reef as the water was very shallow by the beach. Like I said, swimming back up the little rock channel, against the current, was very hard, and probably would have been impossible if I had not been wearing flippers. I saw the more fish at that reef than anywhere else though, schools and schools of all different colors, some were huge too. I probably wouldn?t have swam out as far as I did if I had been alone though.

Interestingly I discovered, sometime after I got back to the States, that the government of Saipan has serious problems with corruption. Hmm.

So, to bring everyone up to speed, on the 13th I was involved in CC (kitchen duty) for the entire day. This included setting up and taking down stuff for the BBQ, which was a lot of fun (good food)! The next day we reached Sapain, a small island near Guam (15 degrees above the equator). It is a 15x5 mile tropical island with lush vegetation. It is also a territory of the US) and a major tourist stop for East Asians. We’re staying for four days since we had to leave Japan early.

So, several of my friends and I rented scooters for our 4-day visit (we’re the alpha/omega biker gang). The bikes rock and are pretty fast (I’ve driven mine over 65 mph without opening the throttle all of the way). I had one spill but was unhurt (tiny cut on left palm), some others weren’t so lucky, . . . but they were pretty stupid with their bikes.

My friends and I have hit a few small pubs and shopping centers. Three are a lot of ’massage parlors’ here catering to the navy sailors that pass through. Most of the goods here are a little overpriced, but if you look you can find stuff for cheap (shirt and board shorts for $14.50). We also cruised through some of the back roads and swam in a rock grotto at the north end of the island.

Lots of people rented a hotel room tonight at the Pacific Islander’s Hotel, but most of them won’t be able to spend the night (only CMA seniors, our professors didn’t think it would be a good idea for us to stay). I just happy I was able to use the shower (A REAL SHOWER) in a friends room (sooo good).

I also picked up some snorkel gear, but didn’t get to snorkel much as it was getting dark when I started. More tomorrow. And DON’T WORRY about me. . . (especially mom).

Throughout the day heavy rains periodically passed over the island. The roads were often slick. I made the mistake of using BOTH brakes on my scooter when I tried to stop after passing a turn. The wheels locked and I was immediately dumped off of my scooter. I think I was going around thirty miles an hour. I hit the street and rolled a good ways only to immediately spring up and make sure that my bike was okay. My friends were a relieved that I was okay. This was not the case for many of the other kids from the TSGB. About half of the kids that rented scooters messed themselves up pretty bad( broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, lots of road rash). For the rest of the day I was pretty cautious on my scooter. I rode back to the ship during a massive downpour. Thankfully the road was pretty much clear because I couldn’t see and was only going 15 mph down the road.

Everyone and there grandma got completely smashed at the PIC. I wasn?t there the evening, but I heard war stories the following day from the girl that ran the wave pull. Apparently one of ours busted up some kid tennis champ?s wrist while bouncing around on a water slide, and a ton of kids were drunk/drinking in the giant pool behind the resort.

I felt kinda crappy today. Didn’t do so well on my physics quiz. The meals today were more than sub par. Again I didn’t get much done. I don’t really feel motivated to do much right now, didn’t win anything in bingo. I am just kinda tired. Bed time.



As a side note, I participated in several sessions of bingo on the ship. In each one many prizes were given away (lots of soap, deodorant, and pairs of socks along with good stuff), and I don?t think that I ever one anything, at least nothing significant enough for me to remember. Hmmm.

Today was the first day that I didn’t really do anything at all except physics homework. I also slept through my alarm and through my physics class for the first time. Whoops.

My mattress is finally dry, so I’ll finally get to sleep in my own bed again (I’ve been sleeping in random open beds around the ship the past two nights).

It seems that the less I do in a day the less energy I have. I haven’t started working out again since my void ended, and I’m way behind on salsa moves. Oh well, still having a great time and grateful for each day.

Things are heating up as we head for Saipan. It is a tropical island that is owned by the US and is the furthest south that we’ll be going. Supposedly the water temp. is in the mid 80’s right now, just the blueness of it makes me want to dive over the railing.

This evening the stars were finally the out in the manner I had been waiting for all trip. For a short while the sky was very clear and there were so many stars out that it was hard to identify any constellations. The differences between life on this ship and life back home are too numerous to count. The fact that there are so many differences dramatically illustrates the endless number of possible ways a person can live. The people you interact with, your routine, none of it is as concrete as you think. There are limitless amounts of people you could be, and still be you.

To all my buddies back home I hope that finals week has gone well for you. I’ve had thoughts of you now and again (actually only when I’m really bored doing homework . . . HAHAHAHA). See you all in a couple of weeks.



Even on the ship, you could settle into a routine/ experience a rut. When this happened I kinda made it worse for myself by getting angry because of my boredom. ?Your on a ship in the middle of the ocean, there is no reason you should be bored!? Of course that line of ?reason? never convinces the boredom to evaporate.

The ship had to leave Naha a day early because of a typhoon warning (suck). After we left the harbor we hit the edge of the approaching typhoon. For a little while waves were crashing over the bow, even over the bridge (four levels above the main deck). Things were flying off of tables, and tables and chairs were sliding across the floor. Unfortunately the weather decks (outside) were secured so I wasn’t able to experience the waves directly.

Everyone was tired from the previous day and made sick by the waves (I was nauseous for a half hour), so nobody did anything for the whole day.

Played another game of Castle Risk (so much different than normal Risk), and after an amazing defense against overwhelming odds I lost (again). Sigh.

Right before I was about to go to bed, someone told me to check out a lightning storm outside. Purple lightning was flashing through the clouds and forking toward the water. As the ship passed under the thunderhead stars began to peak out between gaps in the clouds, lots of stars. The bioluminescence (which occurs ever night in the wake of the ship) not only included the usual dancing points lights, but large rippling pulses. Light seemed to resonate through strands of white foam in the water(never seen that before). Then the moon rose from beneath the clouds off the port side of the ship. More stars came out as the sky continued to clear and lightning continued to flash in the thunderheads after we left them far behind. It was a dreamscape, unreal.


My description of the storm we passed by during the evening doesn’t do my memory justice. I was out on the fantail with two friends for hours scanning the surrounding inky darkness. Suddenly a bolt would strike the nearby ocean and everything was saturated by a a blinding purple light. We all screamed and laughed as we waited for the image of the flash to fade from behind our closed eyes. My two friends had there cameras with them. They would wait with their shutters open to try and catch a bolt on film. I don’t know if any of their pictures ever came out.

The affect of the huge masses of clouds passing overhead amongst dense patches of stars, the exaggerated brilliance of the plankton passing along the ship and the irregular but frequent purple lightning convinced my senses that I was no longer sailing on the pacific, but somewhere else beyond the realm of the physical or the understandable.

Today I traveled with a much larger group of people. First we HAD to go to the only Starbuck’s in the city. To redeem myself I had a CURRY-filled pastry. Which was a surprisingly tasty breakfast.

After that we all traveled on a monorail across the city. It was beautiful, especially all of the lush, rooftop gardens. It didn’t cost to much either (for Japan), only 230 yen ($1 = 106 yen).

We took the Monorail to Shiru castle. It was the home of the royal family of Okinawa back when it was still ruled by China. It had been crushed into dust so many times that everything except the foundation is a complete reconstruction. The current day castle is (mostly) a replica, but still very sweet. It had all the moss covered stone walls and large wooden gateways of every kung-fu movie I’ve seen. The main building had gold inlay around its main entrance.

Lunch was at an all you could eat, cook it yourself (grills in the middle of the table) buffet. The cheapest/best place in Naha.

Later, everyone went on a huge shopping binge in the shopping arcade (the one I described in the last entry). While we were there a tropical deluge began that likes of which I don’t think I have every seen. The rain pounded on the roofs for HOURS; it continued to do so as I walked back to the ship. My poncho kept only my torso and backpack dry.

My roommate had left my window open so everything that had to do with my bed was saturated. Yes! Dinner was great though, seafood and snails cooked in front of me and my friends by a juggling chinese cook (expensive).



The rain that day was due to an approaching typhoon. The little troupe I was with at Shiru were hit with several brief but intense downpours. Someone?s camera was ruined and I think that was the last day that my camera worked.

My friends and I were able to skate through the downpour on our way back to the ship their was so much water on the street. The entire lot surrounding where the Golden Bear had docked was flooded with almost a foot of water. We were forced to sail out early the next day to avoid being smashed against the dock by the large waves (typhoon).

Today seemed like the same day twice in a row. I was going to do some homework and type on the computer this evening, but I realized that I didn’t need to since I had already done so earlier this morning.

I think I am pretty much over my cold, over that final ’I loose my breath after I run up a couple of stairs’ stage. I am not getting sick again. I missed three salsa lessons and had to stop working out because of my cold. I went to salsa tonight and was way behind. It was still fun, but I am still thinking too much. I am stuttering as I try to remember the moves.

We arrived in Okinawa today ahead of schedule. The ship sliced through the water at top speed (around 20 knots) to get Todd (a Cal Poly student) to a hospital as fast as possible. He had gotten appendicitis and went under the knife earlier this evening. He should be fine, I hope.

I saw one of the most glorious sunsets today. My friend Kyle and I were playing a game of chess on the Helo deck and drinking some Korean green tea. Since we’re in Okinawa a day early our dock isn’t clear yet, so the ship is currently anchored several miles away from shore. It happens to be under the flight path for planes landing at the airport. So as the sun was setting into a fleet of puffy white clouds the lights of Naha (the city on the island) began to twinkle . . . as passenger planes and F4 phantoms flew overhead. Very Surreal.

I never went to many salsa lessons or worked out again for the rest of the trip. Once I got out of the habit I couldn’t get back into it, which kinda bummed me out a little. Here again I see the reoccurring theme of attempting to design my trip to fit a preexisting idea. I didn?t go back to salsa because I was behind. I should have gone back because I enjoyed it, the same goes for working out.

A large number of planes flew over us while we floated outside of Naha because they were using the ship as a means to get inline with the runway.

Didn’t do much today. I was woken up by grinding and hammering on the other side of the bulkhead (wall) next to my bed, so I did some reading. Then I fell back to sleep. I got a lot of sleep actually. All I did today was do some physics homework and study for a physics quiz. I didn’t feel tired, I was kinda just moving in slow motion.

The was another BBQ on the back of the fantail today (good potato salad). I tried to take some more pictures. I haven’t been able to take as many as I would have wanted since my camera doesn’t work half of the time. I’m not too bummed; I plan to download all of the picture files everyone is sharing when I get home.

Anyway, after eating I just sat and people watched. I noticed a difference in how I felt during the last BBQ. I didn’t feel like I had to be socializing with everyone to satisfy my self image. If I felt like talking I would talk, but there was no requirement for me to do so.

It turned out that the exterior paint on the outside of the bulkhead was being sanded off (to get rid of the rusty bits) and repainted, lots of grinding was involved since the entire ship is metal, and sound travels well through metal (especially power tool sounds).

The whole BBQ weirdness was a continuing theme for me. Everyone seemed to be part of a social group while I didn?t belong to a particular group of friends. This usually doesn?t bother me, but I think I was more acutely aware of it during the trip because I wanted it to be ?perfect?. In reality is should have simply relaxed and been a little more forward when the opportunity arose.

In the early afternoon some of the CMA & CP students (including me) were given a tour of the Hyundai Samso Shipyard, 5th biggest in the world. Everything was soooo big here . . . two oil tankers were being assembled in dry dock and nearby stood two Goliath Cranes that could lift thousands of tons.

The tour was too short though. We all were spirited, via bus, to the maritime museum. An exhumed shipwreck from the 15th century was on display, as well as scale models, ancient cargo (teapots, peach pits, etc.), and ancient sailing tools. The old Korean ships were flat bottomed with wooden anchors so they could just sit on the beach after the tide went out. I made an ink print of a sailboat; it got a little smudged and I won’t being wearing one of my pairs of khakis on this trip anymore (ink stains).

After that I meet up with some friends (from the ship and from the Korean academy) at what I thought was going to be a concert at an outdoor stage by the water (with no idea what to expect). It turned out to be a series of performances protesting the import U.S. GMO/fast foods into South Korea, feminism, and environmental protection in Korea. A few Korean Maritime Academy friends served as interpreters so we knew what was going on. A famous underground singer sung passionate songs about a women’s plight. It seems that the position of women in S. Korea is very limited compared to that of men (no women politicians, restricted mannerisms, subservient attitude). The performance art was extremely stimulating visually, and traditional drumming was on hand to add to the event. My friends and I ended up dancing and drumming in a circle with the performers in front of everyone at the end of the show. A news crew was filming the event and the camera was on us many times. I guess they were interested in our reactions to the performances condemning the American food industry.

Afterward our three Korean friends took us to a bar/cafe called Miller Time (no joke) where we payed high prices for imported MGD; the food was great though, the owner gave us free squid jerky (very common here). Then are Korean our friends took us to a Karaoke joint were we sung and danced for hours. We exchanged email and I was a little sad when I had to leave.

Hanging out with Korean youths was what I wanted to do most tonight (and get some Green Tea candy too). I can’t complain on the rest of the trip.

When my peers and I first arrived at the Hyundai factory we were shuffled into an auditorium where, after a brief welcome speech was given by a company representative in broken english, we were shown an advertisement movie (probably meant for investors) listing the advanced technologies and efficiency of the company. It looked as if it was made in the late eighties, but we all clapped at the end anyways. On an interesting note, on of the Korean students sitting next to me told me that he was surprised that I was allowed to talk photography will we’re being driven around the shipyard (again, in buses). I only took a couple anyway.

The performances that I saw at the outdoor theater were awesome. It was an entirely novel experience to watch plays/farces in another country (which involved a hilarious song about avoiding junk food and eating traditional food). When the female star took the stage she was meet with rancorous applause and a section of the audience (made up entirely of women) cheered while waving purple sashes in the air. Outside of the audience a large semicircle of men watched silently with folded arms. As I previously mentioned, several different performing troupes took the stage during a period of about two hours. The last group, who used some traditional dance and drumming, based drums around for the audience to use at the end of their show. Nobody was moving to drum with the performers so me and my friends grabbed some drums and started drumming with them as we all skipped in a circle. I could tell from many of the faces surrounding me that this was unexpected, but soon everyone became comfortable. I was beating my Tupperware-drum so enthusiastically it shattered into pieces by the end of the drumming session.

The squid jerky, which seemed to serve the roll of beer nuts in Korea, was ubiquitous in bars. The jerky was super tough; I think that it was burnt with a torch or something before it was laid out (as opposed to being smoked or dried.) It was tougher than shoe leather and very salty/fishy, and I ate it as often as I could. Hahaha.

Our little group of Korean friends were quite the singers (at least they were very enthusiastic). We forced them to sing Korean pop songs (they wanted to sing only American songs. They, like everyone else we meet, loved American music. We took turns singing songs and I threw down some slick dance moves while a friend of mine sang Billy Jean. It was a blast.

I slept in for three hours after quarters (formation). After that a large group of the kids and I went to the Korean Maritime Academy. They have two training ships their (each is a little smaller than ours, but they’re newer). The newest one was purchased a year and a half ago. It was spotless. On board were large wood-paneled classrooms, comfortable six bedroom suites, and a double bridge. A training bridge sits directly behind the ship’s bridge.

After the tour we played soccer, volleyball, and basketball. I played a little soccer but was only successful in falling down and scraping the crap out of my left hand and shin. I was kinda pissed off about that. There were so many California kids that we had to play with lots of substitutes, and the game was only half as long as a regular game. It was fun to watch though. The game ended up being a tie (1-1).

We won basketball and volleyball. I kicked butt in volleyball (and hit a wicked spike). So I felt a little better. The Koreans were extremely polite and friendly.

After that I went out with some friends. First we hit the bank (a bank that actually accepted my check card). Then we found a real teahouse. I sampled some of the proprietors delicious products (Korea supposedly has the best green tea in the world).

After that we ate a cool restaurant where the food was cooked in a charcoal grill in the middle of the table. Then we met some friends and took over a little Karaoke lounge. It was a blast.


It took most of the day to find a bank that excepted foreign visa cards. This involved many hours of walking. This was the first port that I took the taxi regularly. The traffic and taxis were much safer than in Russia, but I heard several stories of taxi drivers taking corners going over 50 mph and using the e-break to drift around turns.

The tea house was an unexpected find. While wandering the streets of Mokpo I ran into a friend who showed it to me. The owner was a young women (of course it’s hard to tell since all Asian women look young) who spoke some english set a table for my friends and I with tea and snacks (little rainbow-colored rice crackers). The tea was extra good because she put some kind of thickener into it.

I think at least twenty of us, probably more, crammed into that Karaoke room. It was a large room though with lots of couches, several tables, a huge TV, and a unending supply of snacks and drinks supplied by the host (who would drop occasionally to refill the snack trays and pitchers) all for one hourly rate. The whole time everybody danced while four or five people stood next to the TV and screamed whatever song was being displayed. I screamed myself horse singing ’Welcome to the Jungle’. After a little while on of my shipmates marched around the room and took all of the guys’ shirts off. Eventually everyone was dancing, shirtless, all over the room (even on top of the tables). It was a blast.