Day 4 – At Sea

So today was the first B day (we run on an A/B class schedule). B days are going to be busy, but should be a good time. I start at 8:00 am with Liberty and Law. The Professor, Bob Hoffer, is a very nice and exceptionally smart man. He managed to allow for a significant amount of dialogue while still covering a lot of information, all within in an hour and fifteen minutes. Immediately afterward I go to Global Studies, which is solely interesting due to Don’s zany presence.

After a short break followed by lunch, I sit in on Digital Storytelling. I’m looking forward to acting for SeaTV, which consists of closed-circuit TV segments aired on the ship (similar to Paly’s InFocus). There will be six production teams, so my production team will be responsible for producing SeaTV one time for every six days we’re at sea. I definitely want my show to be funny, thus far my idea are a telenovela, a detective show spoof (made applicable to Semester at Sea crimes, such as sneaking alcohol on the boat), a Grey’s Anatomy spoof, or a LOST spoof, entitled “LOST (at sea).” If you’ve got any idea, please email me at msrattner@semesteratsea.net. My next class is on Friday, January 22nd, so try to hit me up before then.

Immediately after Digital Storytelling, I go to Drawing. I surprised myself in class today, as the task was to recreate our hand on paper. It actually came out well. I’m hoping we continue to learn how to draw body parts. Then, with any luck, I’ll graduate past stick figures.

Finally, I have Gamelan, which is an Asian percussion-based symphony. It has gongs, xylophones, and a few other percussion instruments (unfortunately I have never seen them before and do not know the names). By the time Gamelan ends, its 4:45, hence B days being long. I shouldn’t complain, though, Gamelan is rad. We began to learn our first piece today and I’m on a xylophone. Eventually we will perform for the ship, it should be quite fun.

I seriously could not be more ecstatic for the remainder of this voyage. Now that we have gotten through the syllabi, we are going to dive head-first into classes. And all of my classes (excluding global studies) are creative. I’m also sitting in on a great class about civil liberties and the Constitution, and am bound to be a ship celebrity with my hit show on SeaTV. Also, clubs are starting! Tonight is the first meeting for the Bluegrass jams group. Tomorrow night I have a meeting about starting my Drum Circle club. Three nights from now is the first meeting for Dance and Movement, and anyone who knows me well (this includes you, dear readers), is well aware that there are few things I love more than dancing. Well I gots to run to my Bluegrass Jam, I’ll ttyl, internet.