July 14
Today I had my first Architectural History test.
Surprisingly, it did not go as bad as I thought it would. I didn’t really know
how to study for it last night, so I just went over my notes and studied my
teacher’s power points for a couple hours. We had one hour to write about four
pictures of places or buildings we visited in our four ports. The prompts were
really general, and I think I did decent! Woohoo!!
Now I just have to study for my Foundational Religions
midterm for tomorrow…
We learned a lot about Vikings today. My architecture
class is really hard, but it’s also really, really interesting. It’s insane how
much I learn in that one hour and fifteen minutes of class. I love how we are
able to learn the history of an entire area and then relate it to modern day
architecture. It’s incredible if you think about it. Like we’ll start talking
about how the dragons were a central part of Viking mythology and by the end of
the class period we’ll be going over how the Oslo Opera House was designed to
look like a glacier slipping into the water.
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| Oslo Opera House |
Also, I got truly homesick for the first time last night.
I spent a lot of time traveling independently in Ireland, and I don’t know if
that like made me feel more lonely than usual or what. But I started thinking
about home and my parents and Cailey and Zane, and I got pretty melancholy.
Then I started thinking about Newman (my cat that I had to put to sleep a week
before I went to London), and I’ll admit that I cried a little. We’re just
approaching the half-way point of my trip. I’m still obviously so happy I’m
here and I’m loving it, but I’m also just a tiny bit excited to go home too…
July 15
So my Foundational Religions midterm was a little tougher
than I thought it was going to be. I should have spent more time studying Judaism
then Paganism, but I think I did alright. We’ll see what my grade is tomorrow!
It definitely pays off to be a good student when it comes to test time (both on
and off the ship). I always listen in class, take good notes and do my best to
read as much of the text as I can. I’d be pretty lost if I were some of the
kids on this voyage who call it the “Booze Cruise.” I have no idea how some of
them are getting by!
I also had a game night with my extended family after
dinner tonight! It was really fun, and I should have taken a picture of us but
I didn’t think about it at the time. We played a fantasy card game called
Ascent (I think it’s called Ascent) that Giselle brought. It was kind of
complicated, but I’m really into strategy games so it I liked it a lot once I
figured out the basics. Joe, my ship dad, brought candy and trail mix which is
a big plus in my book.
We also had our pre-port meeting for Norway! Norway is
going to be a little bit of a different country for us. We have class tomorrow,
but we’re allowed to get off the ship early at 6:00 pm. We have one day in
Bergen (which is on the west side of Norway). Then the ship will be “in
transit” for one day while we sail to Oslo (on the east side). We’ll then be in
Oslo for two days. While the ship is in transit, students are allowed to travel
across the country. So we can travel independently or with a paid field program
overland from Bergen to Oslo.
Courtney and I are both planning to travel "independently" overland with
a group of about 25 other SAS students. We’re going to do this incredible hike
called Trolltunga or “Troll’s tongue.” I highly recommend Google Image
searching “Trolltunga Hike Norway” if you’re into beautiful scenery. The view
is absolutely breathtaking, and I am so very excited to see it for myself!
Hiking in Norway, could it get much better than that?
I should also mention that we had some awesome
entertainment at our pre-port meeting tonight as well. Our ship’s very own
SASsy Choir made up of the children voyagers serenaded us with a fabulous
rendition of Frozen’s “Let It Go.”
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| The little Queen Elsa in front really stole the show! They were all adorable, but she was especially cute. |
In addition to this tear-jerking performance
(yeah I cried a little, okay?), the Academic Dean, David Geis, and the
Executive Dean, Marti Fessenden, sang us a little Shania karaoke. We’ve had a
fundraiser going on where students could put their spare change in a Dean David
box or a Dean Marti box. Whichever dean ended up with the most money had to do
something embarrassing at tonight’s pre-port. Dean David won (by a mere $5
USD), and his punishment or reward (whichever way you look at it) was to sing
“I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain. In the middle of the song, however, Dean
Marti jumped up and joined him as well. We seriously have the most fantastic
faculty here at SAS. They are truly incredible people, please read their bios on
the link below:
David Gies- http://www.semesteratsea.org/faculty-and-staff/david-gies/
Marti Fressenden- http://www.semesteratsea.org/faculty-and-staff/marti-fessenden/
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| "I Feel Like a Woman" SAS style |
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| He put on some of his wife's clothing mid-performance |
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| They make a fantastic singing duo |
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