San Diego - The Last Leg

As we made our delayed departure from Honolulu, we expected to hit some big waves, and maybe do a little cruise ship surfing. However, we encountered nothing but smooth waters on our 6 day crossing to San Diego. The last few days on ship were filled with final papers and exams (for the students) and goodbyes for us.

We have plenty of people to thank for their friendship and help during our voyage. We won’t put a full list on here but between faculty, students, fellow Life Long Learners, staff and crew, we can’t thank everyone enough. It’s been great to share such a life-changing experience with so many amazing people.

Once we made it back to San Diego, we met up with Grandpa Milton and enjoyed some of the local attractions. Unfortunately, Legoland was closed, but we still visited SeaWorld. Jonathan and Marjan Greenblatt visited us from L.A. with their two boys, Ariel and Ilan. Thanks for driving down to see us!

Christy jumped right into a weeklong visit of ATEK’s facilities, the kids attended school the day after they returned, and Jay immediately met up with friends for poker night. The internal differences are slowly becoming more apparent. When we see friends, they say that it “seems just like yesterday that we left.” For us, it seems like a long time ago. On our trip, we experienced new cultures and beliefs every day. Time went by slowly for us and each week was memorable…even many of the days. We fear that we’ll just jump back into a routine and will miss enjoying the present – and experiencing each day for the unique experience it should be.

The other area that is hard to get used to is STUFF. We have so much stuff. Coming back just in time for Christmas has not helped things. We came back to a home with so many things we had not seen or played with for months. Then…Christmas descended and we accumulated so many more things…many of which we’ll never use. Many still sit in the boxes.

This is disconcerting after we went to many places in the world that did not have anything. We remember the village we stayed at in Ghana where the children wanted empty water bottles to use as a kick ball. They had nothing and could enjoy each new toy they created.

It will be interesting to see what parts of the trip the boys will remember. Luke remembers the most and has developed a worldly vocabulary and has a story to tell anyone who will listen. His new favorite game is Risk, since he wants to rule the world. He seems to remember the most impactful places we visited: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, Angkor Wat, the Taj Majal, the Ghana village and the safari in South Africa. Ironically, he also remembers the quiet, beautiful beaches of Mauritius.

We thoroughly enjoyed our voyage around the world but are happy to be home as well. We look forward to getting back in touch with all of you over the next few months.

P.S. Semester at Sea is offering a two-for-one discount for the 2010 voyages!

Coming to America - kind of - Hawaii!

During our uneventful 10 day crossing from Japan, we re-entered tropical waters on our way to Hawaii. The warmer temperatures allowed the boys to burn off some energy on the ball court and get back into the ship pool again. The return of nicer weather was tempered by the knowledge that our voyage was coming to a close.

On this second last leg of the journey, our classes finished up and the students began to turn their attention to final papers and exams. Jay was invited to join three professors on a faculty panel in the mandatory Global Studies class. The panel presented their viewpoints on the connection between globalization and Asia, and whether the coming century will be the “Asian century”. To hear his perspective, just ask him (but only ask if you really want to talk about it!).

Hawaii was a fun way to re-acclimate to US society. Although Christy and Jay had both been there before, we had forgotten how fun and beautiful Honolulu is. We started on an educational note, with a visit to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona. Jay took some time out to play golf with two students from the boat, Chad and Mike. We spent that night and next morning at Waikiki, soaking up the rays and enjoying another day on the beach. We wrapped up our time in Honolulu with a climb up into the Diamond Head crater for the spectacular view back towards Waikiki.

After just one night on Oahu, the ship moved on to Hilo. We took full advantage of our two days and one night on the Big Island to visit the Volcano National Park and cross the island to Kona. Unfortunately (we think!) we didn’t get to see any flowing lava but we did get to see the steaming vents and walk through lava tubes. We arrived in Kona with no hotel reservation and were unable to escape the lure of the Hilton Waikoloa, with its seaside location, numerous pools and dolphin experience. We spent a great day there and the boys got to swim with the dophins and spend some time with them close up. We also got to feed some ravenous turtles, followed by a closer-than-desired encounter with the turtles in the water!

The adventure in Hawaii was supposed to end that day, as the Orris boys reboarded the ship and Christy stayed on shore to return to Colorado and business meetings. While Christy made her flight off the islands, the ship was delayed almost two days as we waited for the largest swells in forty years to subside. We got to spend a bonus day back on Waikiki, hear about 40+ foot waves for the Eddie Aikau surfing competition on the North Shore and see the ship churn out thirty knots to make up our delay getting back to San Diego. The surfing competition is only held when waves hit 40 feet!

The transition back to the US was very smooth, thanks to the gentle re-entry in Hawaii.  One big irony was the realization that after visiting many different countries and cultures, our return to the US marked the first time since Spain that we felt more concerned about keeping the boys in sight.