09.10.19

09.10.19

Today was my first full day on my new floating home. I slept like a baby through the night and waking up at 7:00am was a real struggle. I think something about the gentle rocking of the ship really helps put me to sleep. We started off our morning with breakfast on the top deck. My roommate, Chelsea, and I tried to sit outside but the wind and cold temperatures forced us back into the dining hall. I started my day with a warm bowl of oatmeal and a view of the ocean.

After breakfast we headed to the main student meeting place for some more orientation meetings. If I am being completely honest with y’all….. I feel asleep for a good part of it. The rocking and the cold temps on the ship really just know how to put me to sleep. I was awake for some of it and I am glad that I had some information on the journeys ahead. We then moved into new locations and met with our Sea group. My sea is the Baltic Sea! I was very excited to hear I was apart of Baltic because my sister was also Baltic Sea when she did her voyage in 2012. Our team color is ocean blue and it looks like we have a solid group of people. We even talked a little about the Sea Olympics. The Sea Olympics is a big event where all of the different Sea’s on the ship battle each other for the title. I of course signed up to be Sea Captain for the Olympics. I also was excited to meet another ship mate that was in my Sea who is from New Orleans and another one who goes to school in Nola at Tulane. What a small world!

After lunch I went back to my cabin to organize some more of my things. The view of the ocean from my bed is something out of a novel. I feel so blessed to be able to wake up with such an amazing view. There is something about it that just helps you start your day on the right note. When I turned on my TV the main channel told me that we had already traveled 164 nautical miles. Next we had an IT meeting where we finally were given the WIFI password, making it possible for me to give y’all these updates. I think everyone on the ship was happy to be given the access to email home. After some more meetings giving us information on travel planning and tips on cultural communication, Chelsea and I went up to the top deck again for some dinner. I had some yummy turkey and mushroom dish with a salad. At dinner we also met up with some new friends and all went to the lido terrace (aka the game room) and played a big round of apples to apples. Tonight we also had the Activities Fair in the main hall. It was so fun to see all of the diverse clubs that people came up with. I signed up for a few clubs that I am really looking forward to!

Tomorrow is my first day of classes and I am looking forward to meeting my professors. I am now gonna take a shower and then might go up stairs for a PM snack. 🙂 I want to get a good nights rest for classes tomorrow.

Love & Miss Y’all lots

Bon voyage,

Christian