macsseamester

[macsseamester]

Current Location: Crossing international waters

Time: 8:53 am

Date: January 17th

Hello from the future. I am living on January 17th whereas most of you reading this are still living on January 16th. The ship has crossed the International Date Line or the “Lost Day” which means the ship has lost January 16th, 2018 all together. In remembrance of the day, the ship held a mourning for the lost day. I am not joking. Last night, the 15th, I went to sleep and woke up a day later, I must have taken some crazy sleeping pills. (kidding)

We are seven days away from Japan which is also the start of my countdown to Japanese food. Some of you may be aware of my love for Japanese food but I have yet to try food from the island itself. I will be traveling to Osaka to participate in a food tour called Foodies on Foot and I hope to try some of the best food I have eaten to date. The Kobe beef and sake farms will be calling my name during the second day of port as my Marketing class will be taking a field class to the farm to learn about some of Japan’s exported goods. If it was not for John I would not have gotten an A on my Marketing test about Japan and the preparation of the cows that produce Kobe beef or in other words “the bougie beef.” For those of you who do not know what the term “bougie” means it is the slang word for the root Bourgeoisie, which was the upper class during the Renaissance who are believed to live very lavishly. The cow’s who are used for Kobe beef are massaged and given beer hence the nickname the “bougie beef.” What a perfect cow for me to consume, we both enjoy massages and beer yet I also enjoy beef which is a very sad day for the cow. I rest assure that in India I will not be consuming any beef product due to the fact that cows are considered sacred in country. In Japan I hope to eat lots of sushi and ramen and several people are telling me that the snacks there are amazing.

For those of you who are reading this update and have been on SAS, you will understand me when I tell you I have met some of my best friends during these past 11 days. The beauty of disconnection brings a physical connection with the individuals you are experiencing it with. No texting, no wifi, and no communication other than seamail has forced face to face interactions which have turned into a blessing and created the most pure form of friendship. It reminds me of my childhood where my friends consisted of who lived in our community and our play dates were often outside in the yard. Curfew was sunset and the only form of communication was running over to one another’s houses to ask if so and so could play. I kid you not every millennial on this ship has reverted back to their childhood and started to become creative in ways to hangout, meet up, and schedule. My group which consists of 10 girls have made set times for lunch and dinner that leaves no room for misunderstanding. Lunch at 12:20 outside in Lido and dinner at 6:30 in Berlin, be there because you have nothing else better to do. A couple of nights ago after dinner a few of us went upstairs to do some homework and study for our upcoming exams. Laura, a close friend of mine, and I had started a game where we answered questions from a pdf a friend has sent her. Questions such as how would you describe your relationship with your mom and what is one interesting thing about you that most people do not know. It started with 2 of the us, the a couple of friends joined in and by the end of the 36 questions, six of us were answering these very deep questions that continued with stories and experiences from all of us participating. 4 hours, lots of tears, and a deeper understanding of everyone’s family and childhood later, we were all exhausted and went to sleep. I was telling my mom in an update later that the strength and power in the room at the time was so empowering, if we wanted to we could change the god damn world. Each one of are very similar in characteristics and upbringing yet each have different stories and experiences in how we became who we are today. Once again, this trip has made me realize the beauty of disconnection. None of us knew each others Instagram handle, phone number, or Facebook, we simply knew their name for seamail or their room number. I can not wait for these next few months while running with my tribe and I hope that all of you reading will have the opportunity to meet these amazing women.

After Japan we will be traveling to China and I will be trying to conquer Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong in six days. If you any of you have any suggestions or must do’s please let me know.

I hope everything on the main land is going well. I am bummed the Jags won because the Steelers are a WAY better team and same goes for the Saints and Vikings game. But then again I am still bummed the Raiders were no where near to any of these teams in the post season. If anyone wants to update me on news and gossip from the mainland please do. I am lacking in up to date news on topics such as pop culture, politics, and sports.

Miss you all.

xx

Mac

[macsseamester]

Blog 3:

Aloha!

Current Location: Off the coast of Hawaii

Time: 11:13 pm

We hit Hawaii! Our day trip on Oahu was unfortunately only 8 hours long and jam packed. My very short time on the beach and in the water was amazing and relaxing. The feeling of sand in your toes after being on a ship for 7 days is like no other so imagine how great it felt. During our stop I stocked up on all kinds of snacks, peanut butter, and what not. Pearl Harbor was amazing and but even better, I got to meet Tim Tebow, so I basically met Jesus and no I did not “tebow” in the photo. Since Hawaii is still on US soil, I got to use my phone and FaceTime some of your beautiful faces. I think I facetimed my mom 4 or 5 times which is the best face to see after not seeing her for seven days.

The ship is now headed to Japan which is 10 days away and it will be the longest stretch we have on the voyage. We are crossing the international date line so we will not live January 16th, so let me know what happens on that day. A guy on the ship is celebrating his birthday on that day which means he is going to be a year younger for the rest of his life. Hopefully he will get to celebrate properly when we get to Japan or when we were in Hawaii.

My favorite meal on the ship is currently apples and peanut butter but I have to say their chicken and rice is not half bad. The food does’t have the nutrients that we are used to so I have been taking a lot of extra vitamins to keep me healthy. It has been so nice on the ship so the majority of students have been lying out on the Lido deck by the pool and most of my meals are now eaten outside. How cool is it that I get eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the water? Sunsets have become habit and we all make our way over to the front of the ship to watch the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen and I know they are just going to get better and better. The green flash is clearer than ever before and it is so beautiful each time I see it. My art history teacher, Larry Silver, is out on the deck for every sunset and tells a great story of the green flash to the students who have never seen it before. And for the students who have, we look for it everytime the sun drops below the horizon.

We have formed quite the group on the ship; there are 12 girls who are from all different parts of the country and we each bring completely different jokes, mannerisms, and stories to the table. I have so many new places to travel to for gameday next season. :) Two girls in particular make me say wow and have opened up new doors to my faith, southern customs, and service. We just booked our airbnb in both Tokyo and Kyoto so we are all counting down for the next 10 days until we reach Japan. For the first day of our port, I am going to travel to Osaka for a day trip and eat some amazing food. My marketing class has a field class in Kobe the second day where we get to eat Kobe beef and drink sake, sounds like my kind of field class. I am heading up to Tokyo that night and going to stay in Shintuzu. I think that I am most excited for Harajuku, sushi(Troy, wishing you were with me), and the flower gardens. We are finishing our time in Japan in Kyoto where we will stay the last night and visit temples and the old geisha towns.

Working out on the ship has finally become a routine and I have given up on the gym all together and planted myself up on deck 9 where the bikes and weights are. Thankfully I brought workout bands so I can mix up workouts from time to time. Wishing there was a way to transport the peloton bike to my room on the ship. Clubs are also finally starting; I am a leader for the volleyball and workout club so in my next update I will let you know how both of those are doing but I am excited to start. Two of my friends play volleyball at Chapman so catch us killing it during Sea Olympics. For those of you who do not know what the Sea Olympics are, it is a competition on the ship between seas(groups based on your room number). I am in the Bering Sea and our color is black, which fits perfectly because I don’t have to search for any clothes to wear.

All my classes are going well. I feel that my marketing class is going to be the hardest class I have taken but maybe I shouldn’t have taken an upper level marketing class during my trip. My professor is actually one of the main authors in the majority of the marketing textbooks. SAS has some amazing teachers and I wish I could have taken more classes just to experience their lectures.

I hope everything is great on the mainland. I got to watch ESPN and the whole Warriors yesterday so you all must know how happy I was. I hope that the mountains are getting snow, California is getting rain, and New York is starting to warm up. My seamail has been full every morning when I wake up which is the best feeling so please keep sending me emails.

pyg.

mac

[macsseamester]

Blog 2:

Waving hello to everyone,

Current Location: I have no idea

Time: 4:05pm

I am currently in the middle of the ocean with no sight of land; we are three days away from Hawaii. I just wrapped up my 2nd day of classes and so far all is well as I am writing this update sitting by the pool, many of you should not be surprised. The weather is predicted to only get better from here on out until we reach Hawaii which I am sure will bring most of the ship out on the deck. I will be sure to wear sunscreen as I am already seeing tons of sunburns. The UV rays are much different than some cities in the US and I don’ t think people realize that until far too late.

My roommate Alexa is from Philly and goes to University of Tampa and seriously no taller than my shoulder. She is a big Eagles fan and is extremely bummed to be missing the playoffs. I wish I could be in her situation but the Raiders let me down going 6-9 this season. But good news, I was updated that Gruden has taken over and I hope this means a severe organizational change. I have not met any other Raiders fans but I have met some incredible girls who are from Laguna, Manhattan Beach, and the south. Funny that we had to travel onto a boat to find one another when several of us are living no more than 20 minutes away from one another. We are starting to plan our stop in Japan so if any of you have any recommendations in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto please let me know. The amount of southern girls who LOVE sports is like no other which is a relief that there are girls out there that enjoy some NFL and NBA. Now that I am up to speed on the very slow wifi that we have on the boat we will not get to watch the Super Bowl as we did not get to watch tonight's crazy game between Georgia and Alabama.

Sea sickness is no joke people. The first two days were awful and I unfortunately spent most of my time sleeping as drowsiness is one of the main symptoms of sea sickness.

The food is not great but it is bearable; we always have some kind of pasta so check back in after Germany and see if I turned into a pasta. Peanut butter has become my best friend and an interesting fact that I recently found out is that the ship goes through 6,000 lbs of PB a voyage and honestly I do not think that they will have enough to make it through India. On the last voyage the ship ran out so I am praying that they stocked up on more to avoid running out. I am excited to finally make it on land because my legs are bored and the gym is not the best on the ship. I tried to run on the treadmill yesterday during some big waves and in summary, I will not be using the treadmill for the next four months. I hope everything is going great on the mainland. If anyone wants to send me sports updates for the next four months please DO NOT HESITATE, I am talking Warriors box scores, NFL & NBA anything, and especially the Super Bowl. If anyone wants to send me new music suggestions too that would be so helpful as well.

I miss home and all of you but this trip is already so amazing and it is only the first week.

Feel free to send me updates and emails! I only have a few classes so I have lots of free time to respond and talk with you. I have access to my email 24/7.

xx

[macsseamester]

Blog 1:

I have never really done this whole “blog” thing but I am going to give it a try so I can keep all of you reading this updated on these life changing travels I am about to embark on. Starting this week, I will be traveling around the globe for the next 102 days, visiting 12 countries and 17 cities. You may ask what will I be doing while at sea? To answer that question, I am taking classes (had to add this to assure my corporate sponsor, mom, that I was getting plenty of education during this trip) while seeing the planet. The list of ports listed in order below:

January 12: Hawaii

January 24-28: Japan

January 31- February 5: Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, China

February 8-13: Vietnam

February 19-23: Myanmar

February 28- March 5: India

March 11: Mauritius

March 18-23: Cape Town, South Africa

March 30-April 3: Tema, Takoradi, Ghana

April 11-14: Morocco

April 19: Germany

If you have suggestions or tips for any of these countries, please feel free to pass them along as I would love as much information as possible.

This amazing adventure would not have been possible without the support of my mom and family. I also want to give a major shoutout to the Miller family; thank you for introducing me to SAS and helping me along the way, I hope to make just as many memories as all of you. I will miss each and every one of you tremendously. I will try to be as safe as possible and continue to keep you all updated on my travels.

In the meantime, feel free to follow my travels and send me green bubbles, DMs, and lots of email. There will be WiFi on the ship.

Here is the info to stay up-to-date on my insane, yet amazing, adventures:

Instagram: @macsseamester

Email: maclaine.westendorf.sp18@semesteratsea.org

Signing off from US soil. ✌

Bon Voyage,

Mac