Life At Sea

This is our fourth day at sea and we seem to be settling into a rhythm. Classes have started, recreational activities have begun, movies are shown often, and we continue to eat all of the time. I go to the gym most mornings at 6:00 am and then for coffee at 6:45. I’m usually showered and ready for breakfast just after 7:00. It’s a great time on the ship with sunrises and quiet time. Not many students up at this time, including Davis who has been sleeping in most days. Davis has begun his English course and is making good progress. He continues to connect with various staff and students. Today he will attend a video workshop.

My classes – between 3 and 14 students, great diversity, mostly motivated students. I teach two on “blue” days (Managing Cultural Diversity in Business & Tourism and Hospitality Management) and one on “green” days (Human Geography). We still have limited resources (e.g. paper, photocopying, printers and of course internet). Most of us are using power-point as the six classrooms have projectors. Students and staff remain flexible as we get through the first couple of sessions. It does make me appreciate all of the academic support systems we have in NA. It also forces us to be a bit creative in the classroom.

We are off the coast of Sardinia and Tunisia. Today we had the coast guard come and pick up a student who had some sort of illness. He will have it looked at in Sardinia and he will meet up with us in Lisbon.

Tomorrow we prepare for the academic field programs in Lisbon. I will be accompanying students who are in the International Business Learning Circle. More on that later. . .

-Ken

My life has been pretty laid back on the ship so far. I am pretty tight with the video team, Josh, Ed, and Erik; they are like brothers to me on the ship. I help them out a lot. One of the students is the ‘designated photographer’ and her name is Emma. She is a surf instructor from O.C. California. She has an XTi, the same camera I have! She is super cool. I have started school, and I can tell I will be done it all on time. I just have to get a schedule going so I can stay consistent with my work. My plan is to finish all of my school work, and then help out with the video team and get school credit for that. If that happens, that can count as my elective and I can have a spare block when I get home for the 2^nd semester. That allows me to finish my homework, help out with yearbook photos, and sleep in or go home early. That would be so awesome. Internet is so limited here, so keeping up with you guys will be a struggle. It is 17$ an hour! I now can never take unlimited internet for granted ever again in my life. When I get home, I am planning to get a job and start my career. Dad said he would help me get a business license. That allows me to sell my photos legally. I also want to get a domain name, preferably davishammer.com. It is only 8$ a year. I finished my website, but it is hosted on shaw.ca.

Check it out. Give me feedback. I want to get a job so I can start making money. With money, I can buy camera accessories. With that, I can take more photos. With that, I can sell them. It is all a cycle. Last night, I got amazing shots of the sunset. Sunset photos are pretty popular in my books, but you can’t pass them down.

Well, I think that completes it mostly.

I hope to get into a healthy routine soon enough.

Talk to you guys soon!

-Dave

ps. Sorry. Photo issues. We will edit it in Lisbon and post more photos!