Our Chinese Writing Center
Traveling around the world on this Semester at Sea voyage are a dozen students from China. They come from China’s best universities, where they won out in very stiff competitions to enroll in Semester at Sea Spring ’12 at the expense of their schools. These kids are clearly brilliant. And fun. When Chinese New Year’s came around, they put on a special celebration for as many of us as could cram into one of our classrooms: there they gave talks on China’s schools, culture, and food (they are forbearing but clearly looking forward to getti... ( read more )
The Amazon!
I’ve seen my fair share of Tarzan movies—and in fact, they’ve been showing some of them on our closed circuit TV station here on the ship. But they certainly did not prepare me for THIS Amazon, the one just beyond Manaus. This city of 2 million, accessible only by water or air, is a gateway into the Amazon rainforest, which, in spite of rampant deforestation, is almost unimaginably huge. The Amazon river itself is more huge, some 4000 miles of rushing water that pours out into the Atlantic from a mouth over200 miles wide. It took us two and a half days from the mouth of the river to get ... ( read more )
Becoming Illiterate
On my first day in Manaus, Brazil, I went out exploring this city of 2 million (accessible only by water or air!!) perched in the Amazonian rainforest. We walked up a main street, Rua Eduardo Ribiera, which was literally teeming with Brazilians surging along rhythmically. The street had shops on either side—nothing American looking in sight, thank goodness—but between the street and the entrance to the shops were hundreds of street vendors with small stands covered by umbrellas selling all manner of junk (most of it made in China, it seemed) ... ( read more )
Eating at Sea
Last night Semester at Sea held its first all-ship social event, a set of games based on the TV show Family Feud. I came in near the end of the activity, to the “union” auditorium, which was packed. Moderators were taking turns reading out “best pick-up lines” that students and faculty had submitted, and I soon detected a theme: FOOD. Many of these “pick up lines,” featured some kind of invitation to eat, most often in the context of what is known on the ship as “snack time.” This event occurs every night at 10:00, but last night was the first time I’d heard of it.( read more )
Seasickness and Writing
Along with all the students and faculty on this Semester at Sea voyage are a group of researchers—from the U.S., Brazil, Taiwan, and France—who are studying seasickness. They tell us that while seasickness has plagued people from as far back as we have any records, little research has attempted to determine what prevents it in some and brings it on in others, and, especially for this project, what it means to “get your sea legs.” The research team called for volunteers to be subjects in this research, so this morning I went down to the aft fourth deck and signed up. After answering a sheet or two of questions (about my health, experiences with motion sickness, etc.) and signing a consent form, one of the researchers (a graduate student from San Paolo, Brazil) took me over near the aft railing and asked me to stand with my feet on two rectangular pieces of Styrofoam (or wha... ( read more )
Writing at Sea -- and a Whole Lot More
Writing at Sea—and a whole lot more
I opened the Writing Center for the Spring 12 Semester at Sea voyage on Saturday, January 21—after posting flyers around the ship and getting the word of mouth network going. To my surprise and delight, I had three students drop by the first hour! Then that evening I got to speak very briefly to all the students on board. I warmed up with a little joke at my expense and then issued a challenge: I want every student on... ( read more )
