Tour of the Bridge

Ahoy Mattes! I just had the opportunity to go on a Bridge Tour to see where the captain and crew works. I even had the opportunity to sit in the captains sea and wear his hat!
Japan in 3 days!!

From Hawaii to Japan!

On Tuesday January 15 I arrived in Hilo, Hawaii!! I have never been to Hawaii before and was so excited! I woke up at 6am to watch the sunrise, realized the sun didn't rise until 6:40 so I got out around 6:30 and was able to see the sun rise and watch the whole process of going into port. It was exciting to be arriving in our first port, that there were so many people on deck. A few minutes went by and to my left we saw two whales! Unfortunately they were too far away to get a picture but it was an amazing site to see when we first arrived.

Once the ship docked, it took almost two hours to actually get off because everyone had to go through customs. Walking off the ship onto land felts so strange because my body had been use to trying to keep balanced while the ship rocked. Unfortunately, the feeling of rocking never left my body when I was on land.

When I started to walk around Hilo, I started to realize that it wasn't exactly what I expected when I thought of Hawaii. Hilo is a much more residential area, not touristy. So there weren't the pretty beaches and fun attractions that were in Hilo, you would have to drive about 4 hours to go to that part of the island, but my group decided to stay in Hilo.

We did not plan what we were going to do in Hilo and just decided to go with the flow of things. So the first thing we decided to do was walk to a restaurant for lunch, but we had no idea where the closest restaurant was, so we probably walked a good 2-3 miles until we found downtown Hilo. I can definitely say that Hilo consisted mainly of walking and eating. On our way to the resuraunt we found Liliuokalani Park and Japanese Gardens, which consisted of Koi ponds, pagodas, statues and a Japanese teahouse.

After lunch we went to Rainbow Falls, which is an 80ft waterfall in Hilo. An interesting fact I learned was that the water falls over a natural lava cave and if someone were to jump off it, they would get sucked into it. But on a positive note it was beautiful and had a bit of a tropical feel to it with the large and unique trees around it. While walking around the forest we found what is called the boiling pot behind the falls where many semester at sea students were hoping into the water and jumping off of a 20-30ft cliff into the water. At first I was apprehensive about jumping but then was like who gets to say they jumped off a cliff in Hawaii!! Once I got onto the cliff it took be a good 30 minutes to actually get the guts to jump off. I only did it once but it was a blast!!

That was the peak of my time in Hawaii but the next day we went to the local farmers market where there were so many unique fruits and items being sold. I didn't buy anything but it was very interesting to walk around and be part of it.

To end my time in Hilo my group took advantage of the American store Target to get last minute things, mainly snacks, that will last us through our 10 day journey to Japan.

We did get into a situation with the ship though. The day after we left Hilo we refueled in Honolulu, which is beautiful even though we weren't allowed to get off the ship and ended up docking over night because there was suppose to be a huge storm at sea. Thankfully we will not longer be hitting the storm and are on our way to Japan!

It was nice to use my phone in Hawaii to see how everyone was doing at home, I guess my family had a snow day which was crazy to comprehend because I was in Hawaii where I was sweating like crazy. I was definitely getting a little homesick so hearing their voices helped with that.

On our way to Japan we cross the International Date Line and lose January 21, so I will never live the day of January 21, 2013. Today there is a 6 hour time difference and tonight we add another hour! I could definitely say I am enjoying this sleepJ

I am still in the process of planning my trip in Japan but if anyone has any suggestions on what to do please let me know!!!

Until next time!!!

~Sam

Noon Bridge REport

Here is an update on our ship

Noon Bridge Report

Location of ship Lat.24-42N, Long. 144- 10W
Miles traveled since Ensenada
1605 NM

Miles since noon yesterday, 414 NM Miles to Hilo 675 NM
Nearest land 670 NM Northeast from Hawaii

Avg. speed of ship (since Departure)

17.4 knots
Avg. speed for last 24 hours 16.6 Knots Temp. of Air 68° Fahrenheit
Temp. of Water 70° Fahrenheit Sunset: 1717 Sunrise: 0639
Fresh Water Consumption 57 gal/person 

One more day at sea until I get to Hilo Hawaii!!

Im having so much fun and talking to all new people everyday and sitting at dinner for hours on end having really great conversations.

Miss everyone at home!

<3 Sam

Day 3

SO its my third day in and I still have 4 more days until we get to Hilo. I am just starting to get a little home sick. I am so use to seeing my family or friends everyday or at least talking to them so it is just starting to hit me that I wont be able to do that when I want to or have the accessibility to see someone if I want to. My classes just started today and my teachers are very cool.  It is weird only having 2 classes a day but there is a lot of reading for each class so I am keeping busy. Its funny that during the first two days here, when no one had a set schedule, it was a lot easier to meet people but now that everyone has different schedules that you don't know it makes it harder to find those people, but hopefully I will get the guts to meet some newer people, its pretty intimidating but this is a growing experience. Right now the ship is definitely going through very very choppy weather and the boat is rockin A LOT making so many people seasick. One of my classes is in the front of the boat and it was crazy… our professor was holding on to a pole in the class so he wouldn't fall all over the place. Hopefully the waves calm down and not make everyone so sick but this is definitely a crazy experience!

Day 2 – 1/10/13

Today is my second day here with semester at sea! I have an awesome roommate Sarah and I love my neighbors on both side of me. Its funny because I am the only one out of the six of us who is not from University of Colorado but there are 50 students from that university so I am able to meet a lot of new people easily. I got really sea sick last night, luckily did not puke but I passed out at 7pm pacific time and slept until 7 am which felt great but I woke up in my normal clothes and realized I fell asleep on top of my clothes because I was in the process of unpacking. Right now I am hanging out with my roommate and neighbor and we have been getting to know each other better and showing pictures of all of our friends and family from home. I am really having fun and enjoying it here on the ship and cant wait to get to Hawaii! I have no idea what I am going to do there but I hope it is nice! An announcement was just made by a crew member telling us how deep the water was which was over 13,000 ft but told us to think of it this way, think of taking 981 14 foot alligators and stacking them on top of each other will give you how deep the ocean is…interesting way of thinking but it made me laugh. My classes start tomorrow and I am actually excited to start them because I am going to meet even more people and get into my daily routine here on the ship. Unfortunately I wont be able to post pictures until I find wifi in different ports but stay tuned to see pictures of the ship and what I have been up to!!

Almost time to go!

This is my last post on the main land of the United States. I will be stopping in Hawaii so I can’t say it is going to be my last day in the US, but just about.  These past few days in San Diego have been so relaxing and this place is beautiful. The life style here is so different compared to CT, it is very laid back and the people here are so friendly. Even though I haven’t started my actual trip with semester at sea, I have already seen a different part of the world. This is my first time in Cali so I am soaking everything in already. It is so green, the food is so fresh and delicious, and the weather here is beautiful. What is funny though is that to everyone here it is cold and to me its like summer, there are people walking around in North Face, uggs, ear muffs and gloves when it is a little below 50 degress…crazy!! But my mom and I relaxed by the water today for about an hour and it was awesome! I feel so refreshed, I think I even got a little color from the sun!

My mom went on a tour of the ship last night, students weren't allowed, but she got some good pictures of different parts of the ship! 

I board the bus to Ensenada, Mexico tomorrow at 11 am Pacific Time to board the ship and move into my new home. I am extremely nervous and everyone keeps telling me not to be and that I will have the time of my life and I will but the beginning is going to hard, leaving everyone at home, making new friends which everyone knows I am awesome at….(sarcasm). There are a lot of semester at sea students in my hotel and I pass someone probably every other minute but am too shy to say hello. I know it will be different once I board the ship and meet my roommate and get all situated so I’m not too stressed.

My mom and I are going to have a yummy seafood dinner tonight, my favorite type of meal, and then I will pack up all of my things and get ready for tomorrow! I’m terrified but excited for this new adventure I am embarking on. See you all in four months!!! I will keep you up to date on all of my travels across the worldJ

Next stop…HAWAII!!!!

The Last Supper

I can't believe I leave little Granby on Sunday, just about 1 1/2 days left here then its off to San Diego! My family decided to celebrate my last family supper tonight since tomorrow will be a little crazy around the house with some last minute packing. We decided on sushi tonight which is one of my favorites and I am excited to try legit sushi in Japan, but that's besides the point. I had one of my favorite dishes the Yon Bon dinner which is spicy tuna, spicy salmon, and spicy yellow tail rolls and then a tempura banana for dessert:)

Today is also my older brother Wade's birthday today and I just want to give him a little shout out for being 26!! I wish I got so see him before I left but I will miss you Wade<3

I am pretty much finished with all of my packing even though I always over-pack yet still feel like I need more!! I finally adapted the technique of rolling my clothes which is AMAZING because I was able to fit all of my clothes in one of my suitcases! As a pageant girl you would think I would be a pro at packing...not so much. I can't believe I was able to pack my life away for 4 months into these three things!!!

It still hasn't hit me that I am going to be gone from everyone and have very limited contact with everyone here but I am excited to learn how to live without the obsession with the cellphone being at my side 24/7, lets just say I might go through some withdrawals the first week. But I have read a lot of blogs of former semester at sea students saying that they are able to actually get to know people without the distraction of technology which I am really excited for but obviously I wont forget my friends at home... ;) ;) (that's for you Morgan)

While I'm gone I will have very limited access to the internet but unlimited access to email so I will be updated my blog as often as I can through email.

Please feel free to email me at samantha.sojka.sp13@semesteratsea.org to say hi or have any suggestions on what to do in the countries I am traveling to or some cool ideas of what kind of picture to take in each country so I can have the same pose in every country or if you are interested in me sending a postcard to you! I can't promise anything but I might be able to get to it:)
I will make sure to post in San Diego before I head to Ensenada to board the ship!!!

Wish me luck!!!
<3 Sam