Crossing the Atlantic!

Ahoy!

Location: 42 degrees N, 48 degrees W, Atlantic Ocean

I’m currently sitting in my porthole window looking out at the beautiful clear blue-green water with absolutely no land in sight. It’s GORGEOUS and I can’t believe I’m finally here! All the prep work for this trip was most definitely worth it! I’m enjoying this all so very very much!

I’ll pick up from where I left off last ☺

My flights up to Halifax, Nova Scotia went very smoothly. My family drove me to Columbus, Ohio very early on Wednesday morning to the airport. I got on my connecting flight in NYC and landed safely in Halifax. While boarding in NYC, I scoped out the room wondering whom else might be on SAS and actually met a few! After landing, I talked more with the SASers and ended up hanging out with them for awhile. I was going to stay in a hostel that first night, but a couple of my new friends offered for me to stay with them in a hotel. That sounded more fun and safer, so I did—I got to hang out with them for the night and then slept on a chair! The next morning was check-in for the student workers (that’s me!). 83 of us boarded and moved in our belongings. I met my roommate, Lauren, who is also a senior psychology major. The rest of the day consisted of folding shirts for the campus store for about an hour, and then getting to explore Halifax more! Nova Scotia is beautiful! But I’ll talk more about it in a minute.

Friday was the big day for the rest of the student body to move on. I got to work check-in, which I actually really enjoyed since I got to greet all my peers with a friendly smile. After work finished, we explored Halifax one last time, kissed the ground (not literally lol), and then boarded the ship. At 1700 (I really need to get used to using military time!) we disembarked! HOW EXCITING! We all piled at the rear of the ship on all the deck levels and waved goodbye to the parents. Some bagpipers came to play music on shore as we sailed away. We were finally moving! We ate supper that night slowly watching the shore fall away in the distance and then eventually couldn’t see it at all… and haven’t for 3 days now! Let me tell ya, it’s weird not seeing shore for this long… but the ocean is sooo beautiful! Yesterday consisted of informational orientations all day and today (yes, Sunday) we start classes. I’m actually very ready for classes to start… I’m in the mood to learn again, especially in this worldly campus!

I’ll tell you a little about the ship life. There are 521 students and 900 total people on board. Other than the students, there are crew staff, professors, RAs, and Life-Long Learners. We have students from 15 countries and staff from 27 countries. This means that we have a VERY diverse group, both culture and age-wise. It’s very neat to see everyone come together for the same mission. The ship itself seemed huge at first but now seems much smaller. It’s actually mini-sized compared to those real cruise ships! I was supposed to be on the 2nd deck (the cheapest!) but they moved me up to 4th, which is a lot nicer and more spacious (I got it for the same price though), because we have a smaller student body this semester. They are using the 2nd deck as quarantine in case the Swine Flu breaks out… So that’s a bit of comfort and discomfort at the same time! Everyone is VERY friendly! I’ve met soooo many people and have honestly enjoyed each one! Everyone is just so excited to finally be here! It’s been very easy to make friends because of this.

I’ll now tell you a little about Halifax, Nova Scotia! It’s very beautiful, that’s for sure. A couple of my new friends made comments on how it is very similar to Maine and the other New England states, which makes sense since it’s not far from them! It is a city on hills with an industrial and touristy bay. The food was very similar to the US’s, with maybe a few small differences. I had ice cream (that’s a shocker, right? Haha) that was very unique! It was cold-stone style but they mixed fudge in instead. My choice was mint ice cream with brown sugar fudge… it was very tasty! Night musicians played bag pipes with accompanying drums (well, pots and pans) along the dock, all dressed in kilts too! The Nova Scotians were very friendly as well! I thought that there would be more French-speaking signs and people around, but it seemed predominantly English-speaking instead. The land was beautiful with many many trees and rolling hills. The atmosphere was just very calming, laid-back, and relaxing!

Well, I am heading off to my first day of classes! I hope everything is going well for all of you as you move back to school, start classes, and continue working! Talk to you later ☺