Kanichiwa, Japan!

Kanichiwa. Watashi no namae wa Kelsey desu. Ohio kara kimashita. Hajimemashite!

(Translation: Hello. My name is Kelsey. I’m from Ohio. Nice to meet you!)

Japan, our last foreign country, was such a great experience. I think I’ve said this about every country… but it is SOO true for each one! I’ve been overly blessed to have such wonderful times in each country. Japan has a very rich traditional culture and westernized contemporary culture. From tea ceremonies, geishas, pagodas, and hot spring baths to fancy bidets, high fashion, jet trains, and flashy lit up signs, Japan knows how to be awesome. And in addition, it was AUTUMN there! So the leaves were changing colors and it was SOOO beautiful!

I woke up early on Friday morning and looked out my porthole… and there was MOUNT FUJI! This was such an amazing sight! No big deal… just Mount Fuji through my cabin window off the coast of Japan… ha! By the time the rest of SAS was awake Mt. Fuji had fallen too far off in the distance to see anymore… so I was VERY lucky. As we ate breakfast and pulled into Yokohama’s port terminal, we were greeted with traditional Japanese Taiko drummers. What a wonderful greeting for our first sights of Japan! Our clearing process was a bit different and more complex this time though. We were each required to individually go through a long process of immigration and customs in the port terminal. This delayed us a bit and we weren’t totally cleared until about 11:30 am… then it was time to explore!

A little background first: the ship stopped twice in Japan, first in Yokohama and second in Kobe. My friends and I decided to backpack around Japan the first 3 days and then meet the ship in Kobe. Our original plan was to visit Mt. Fuji the first day, Tokyo the second, and Kyoto the third… however, something we’ve quickly learned about traveling is that you MUST be flexible and always willing to change plans. The bus to Fuji was going to take much longer than our travel books said and we probably wouldn’t get there until after dark, which was actually only 5:30 pm. So we switched our days around and made it so we could still do everything. Day 1 Tokyo, Day 2 Fuji, Day 3 Kyoto… Anyway…

Our first steps in Yokohama caught us SOO off-guard. IT WAS SO QUIET!!! This couldn’t be an Asian country!? But it was! Japan is completely different from China, Vietnam, and India. People don’t honk their horns (I may have heard a horn 3 times over the entire 5 days… compared to hearing a horn 3 times in about 20 seconds in other Asian countries!), they talk very quietly if at all in public places, they dress VERY fashionably, and they have this calm peaceful aura to them. Having been in China just 3 days earlier, we were blown away by the differences viewed already. We made it to the Yokohama Train Station and WHOA…. Their train/subway/bus systems are incredibly complex! Especially to foreigners who don’t know any Japanese, can’t read their characters, have no idea how their systems even work, and can’t figure out how to work the ticket machines. The train systems were probably one of our biggest challenges. It sounds silly, but think about it… coming from a small town where subways don’t even exist for at least 150 miles away and who has only ever been guided through them, trying to figure it out is hard enough. Then you add on that it’s all in Japanese characters that are nothing like English. Then add on that it’s in Japan, which has more lines and colors on the map than possibly anywhere else in the world. BUT… we worked through it and figured it out! We boarded the train (or we at least prayed it was the right train) to Tokyo! About 45 min later we arrived! YAY! Not only did we accomplish the grueling system, but we were in TOKYO!

We walked through the Ginza, which is a popular strip in Tokyo. It was filled with high-end shops, restaurants, galleries, and LOTS of fashion. The fashion part is actually kind of funny… since we set out that day thinking we were going to Fuji, we were by far not dressed appropriately for Tokyo. We got lunch at Café Excelsior and continued walking the streets of the Ginza. Everything is pretty expensive so we got the feel of Tokyo by walking around and observing. We checked out a local market and some beautiful pottery stores. As soon as it was dark the bright lights on all the outdoor signs came on. Neon all around! Tokyo is quite a city! If you’re looking for a place to shop and by fashionable clothes, this is your place to go.

Saturday started at a nice and early 4:30 am. That may not be so early for all of you, but come on, I’m a college student! We see this time at the ENDS of our nights! We wanted to see Tokyo’s fish market- it is one of the largest in the world. So we followed the directions we had been given and arrived at Tokyo Station an hour later… but then found out that it was at a different station that required several different trains and subways to get to… See, one of the things that we were “warned” about is that the Japanese is so incredibly nice and helpful. The thing is, they will direct you whether they actually know or not… and turns out that we happened to get directions from one of them that didn’t quite know. Haha. But hey, it’s okay! We’re in Japan and no matter what problems you come across you’re still in a foreign country experiencing pieces of that culture!

So after traveling a bit further and 2 ½ hours later, we finally made it to the fish market! Haha. As we were walking out of the subway we could actually smell the fish, no joke! The fish market itself was a very cool thing to experience. One-person shipping trucks were constantly zooming around delivering stock to their stand. Stand after stand after stand had sea creatures that you wouldn’t even know existed. It was almost like they took an entire section of the ocean, drained it, and plopped it here in Tokyo!

We found our way back to Toyko Station, grabbed breakfast, and hopped on our bus to Mt. Fuji! The trip was supposed to take 2 hours… but it took just a tiny bit longer… actually about 5 hours. So again we had to rearrange our plans. We were mostly worried about getting back to Tokyo in time to catch our overnight bus to Kyoto. If it took 5 hours again we would miss the bus. So we changed our ticket time and location and then had only a short amount of time at Mt. Fuji, but hey, some is better than none!

We walked through a small quaint mountain town to one of the five lakes around Fuji. Oh, what a beautiful site with a line of mountains behind it! Then we rode a cable ropeway up a side of a mountain for the most beautiful view of Mt. Fuji. Oh, it was SO beautiful! Snow capped the top, a lake at the bottom, multiple colors of changing leaves, and rows of mountains on its right side. We caught it right at the perfect time: sunset! The sun set behind the rows of mountains and illuminated the snowy Mt. Fuji. Ah, the site just is still so vivid in my mind!

Sadly it was already time to leave. Our bus back only took 3 hrs compared to 5 and we made it with time to spare! We explored a different part of Tokyo that was similar to the Ginza: shops, restaurants, fashion, and lights! Then we arrived at our overnight sleeper bus.

The sleeper bus was quite an interesting experience… I’m SO glad it happened - haha. The 5 of us were on the bottom of the two floors in a room with 3 others. It looked like a normal double-decker bus but the seats reclined further. One of our new neighbors walked in: he’s your classic cartoon guy- plops the chair back right into Lizzy’s lap and is out within 2 minutes. He’s snoring LOUDLY, wakes up and talks to himself, and makes a cow-chomping noise. Haha. Then our last 2 neighbors arrived and sat behind us. This cute 30-something Japanese couple was taking advantage of being behind everyone and out of site… but not out of hearing! So you got 5 American college girls, a cow-chomping snorer, and frisky lovers all snuggly close on a bus for the next 8 hours. Haha. Seriously though, it gave us so many laughs that it was by far a great experience.

We pulled into Kyoto Station at 6 am on Sunday morning. Kyoto is a large city with many traditions still occurring. We first walked to a Buddhist Temple that is the largest wooden temple in the world. Although I am a Christian, I think there are philosophies within the Buddhist religion that are great for people to live by. We then walked through the more traditional part of town. We saw another temple and walked through its gardens and viewed its worship areas. Then we saw a beautiful pagoda along old city cobblestone streets. We looked through some of the shops and then had our first geisha spotting! There are about 100 geishas left in Kyoto and 1,000 in Japan. These evening entertainers provide a nice meal and tea, music, and other Japanese traditions for men (but as the travel books told us, they are not prostitutes). They were beautiful in their kimonos, white-painted faces, and fancy hair and makeup. But I must say, I don’t know how they walk in those sandals and while taking such tiny steps! Next we saw a large stone Buddha. It was built as a memorial to all those lost in the world war… it was a reminder of peace even through losing loved ones. Behind it we climbed a mountain with many many gravestone markers. I must say, the temple and mountain were completely calming… birds were chirping in the trees, music focused on chants, water trickled… the fact that it was worship in nature had a very relaxing and peaceful effect. We spent the rest of our time in Kyoto walking through old streets, viewing a few more temples, and walking through a gorgeous park. We even saw a just-married couple walking out of a temple! It had started raining in the afternoon and so in the evening we sought shelter (and maybe some food) in a McDonalds. Even though it’s American-based, it still has different food options, like the Shaka Shaka Chicken I ate. We walked through the new Kyoto and then made our way back to the train station.

We took a train to Kobe, which took about an hour. Then we went on our search for somewhere to stay. There are expensive options of hotels… or cheap options of hostels, capsules, love hotels (otherwise known as hourly hotels… but can still be used for cheapos like us for a sleeping quarters), internet cafes, and karaoke bars. Actually many SASers chose these cheaper options. We tried finding one before we got to Japan, but it was quite difficult considering we don’t have free internet on the ship and we couldn’t call until we were there. We walked and searched and walked and searched but many places were full already. We finally found the winner! A hotel had ONE room left with one double bed for 7500 yen ($75 bucks)! YAY! So the 5 of us squeezed into this tiny little room… 2 people slept on the bed and then the other 3 of us slept on the tiny 3-ft space between the bed and walls. Haha. However, the night wasn’t quite done yet. Karaoke (pronounced as Kaw-lo-kee in Japanese) was founded in Japan about 40-50 years ago and then spread to other countries… so we HAD to do it! It’s different in Japan though. A Karaoke building has tons of small rooms that you rent out by the hour. In it is a wrap-around booth with a T.V. in front of it. So it isn’t public like ours, but instead is only for the group that you come with. So Aleks, Nat, and I spent an hour in the small room, found some songs we knew, and sang it up in the mics! Haha—it was such a fun time!

The next morning we headed out early to board the ship as it pulled in to Kobe. We were so happy when we saw it! We had just successfully backpacked around a foreign country! Our independent traveling skills have grown from the beginning of the semester and I now feel quite confident in backpacking mostly anywhere! After breakfast and repacking my bags, I headed for a very memorable experience: a Japanese homestay!

All of the host families and SASers gathered together in the terminal. The families each held up a personalized sign with their students name on it. Across the room I spotted the cutest sign: “Welcome Ms. Kelsey Smith” being held by the cutest little smiling boy. My family was SOO wonderful: Hiroshi the father, Yuko the mother, and little 3 yr old So the son. Hiroshi spoke English very well and Yuko could understand and speak some of it. And little So was always jumping and smiling all over the place. The large group of families and students played a few ice-breaker games and then we headed out. We ate lunch at a place with udon noodles and toppings such as shrimp, chicken, octopus, and veggies, all of which I ate. Mm, it was good! We then drove an hour to Osaka where they live. I was quickly learning why we had gotten paired up together. We both loved music! And they specifically have an interest in jazz music! It was too perfect! I really enjoyed just talking with them about the Japanese culture, music, art, and just life in general. They were so easy to talk to and so very nice. We then went to a gathering for the Osaka host families. The program it’s through is called HIPPO. It teaches up to 10 languages and offers homestays in Japan AND countries all over the world. It was a perfect match for SAS! So the gathering consisted of introductions, music, games, and stories of our adventures thus far. I even got to show my host family on a map where I live in the U.S. Hiroshi had studied SAS before I arrived and showed the exact route around the world we had taken!

After the program ended we broke back into our individual families. We drove to their home in Sakai, an area in Osaka. It was on a city street beside many other houses. The front appears small but it extends far back. Hiroshi, Yuko, and So live on the 2nd and 3rd floors, his mother lives on the first floor, and his sister’s family lives next door. They were constantly making sure I felt at home, having me sit, showing me pictures of the surrounding area, and letting me play with So. Hiroshi’s mother, sister, brother-in-law, and niece came in to meet me. Oh, they were such joyous people! They were so smiley and had the most wonderful laughs. They didn’t speak much English…which made for a very funny conversation. It went as follows:

Fam: [In broken English] “Where are you from?”
Me: “I’m from the U.S.”
Fam: “Oooooooh! [In Japanese] Where in the U.S.?”
Hiroshi: [Translating for me] “They want to know where in the U.S.”
Me: “Oh. I am from Ohio.”
Fam: --very confused looks—
Me: --confused that they’re confused… then I realized what was happening--- “Oh! I mean Ohio the state! Not Ohayo as in ‘Good morning’!”
All: “Oooooooh! Hahahahahaha!”

It made for quite a good laugh! There were a few other times throughout my time in Japan that I had to clear up that I meant Ohio in the U.S., not as a Japanese morning greeting! Haha.

In the meanwhile Yuko was cooking dinner both at the stove and the dinner table. She was cooking Tako Yaki, which are food balls with octopus and some veggies inside. She had me try to flip the balls over with a toothpick, but it showed that I was not a pro like her! Dinner was DELICIOUS (Gochisosama!). Tako Yaki was quite good… who knew I’d like octopus so much?! We also had sushi & rice, squid tentacles, raw salmon and other fish. They spoiled me with dinner!

Such a beautiful moment occurred after dinner. Considering how much they like music, they have an electric piano! So we went upstairs and showed each other our stuff! Yuko had piano books so I played a little out of those. And then I played the one song that I will always have memorized: “Turkey in the Straw” because of my grandpa Clendenen ☺ So I played it for them! Haha. And then it was their time to show off, and they were so good! Yuko played a few songs that were just gorgeous. And then they played a duet! Oh my goodness, I LOVED their duet! And not only did it sound good but when they messed up they would look at each other and laugh. So was playing with his truck and rolling it across the keys to add a few extra high notes haha. This musical connection meant soooo much to me. I haven’t gotten to really express myself through music the past 3 months… and that’s difficult when it’s normally so big in my life. So that evening not only did I get to express myself on the piano, but I also got to engage in conversation with two others that hold music so closely to their hearts. It was just so wonderful.

The next morning I woke up so happy… I had just slept in an incredibly comfortable bed, had gotten more hours of sleep than I had combined in Japan so far lol, was in JAPAN, and was going to spend the day with my new Japanese family. Breakfast was quite delicious: egg and seaweed spirals, rice patties with seaweed, and apples.

We headed out for the day to view some sites of Osaka. We first stopped at Nanshuji, a Zen Temple, that was incredibly beautiful. We walked through many gardens, a stone garden, listened to water trickle through a bamboo pole, and viewed the buildings They were each so calming and peace-inducing. We then went to the Tomb of Emperor Nintoku. It is a mountain cut like a keyhole with 3 motes around it. People are only able to view it from the outside. It is quite intriguing and quite scenic for a grave. We then went to Hochigai Shrine, a Shinto shrine. We saw little girls dressed up in kimonos awaiting a ceremony similar to our baptism. We then went into a teahouse restaurant. They gave us a tour of its facilities: the balcony overlooking the city and another keyhole-shaped mountain moted tomb, a traditional style room, a garden, and multiple views of a teahouse. We got to watch a lady prepare green tea, which is very precisely done. And then we ate some sweets! Mine was… ice cream! Haha. It had both green tea and vanilla ice cream, green tea jello, rice balls, sweet soybeans, and green tea whipped cream. After our sweets we went to lunch ☺ haha, I like this order of eating! Lunch was quite good as well… rice topped with chicken and egg. We then started our drive back to Kobe as it was soon time for me to board the ship. We drove by a castle and then stopped at a Sake Museum where we tried a few different flavors. It was very tasty. Once we were back at the port I had to say goodbye to my family. I was not ready to say goodbye and really hope I see them again someday… either in Japan or the U.S. From backpacking during the Autumn season to having a marvelous homestay—I had such a quality experience in Japan.

A jazz-ish band played along the terminal as the ship pulled out in the rain. I waved goodbye to my last foreign country (for awhile at least). Now we have 10 days ---WHOA--- before our last stop in Hawaii. The seas have been nicely rolling for the past few days. We have our last 8 days of classes and one final before Hawaii, which means many papers are due and studying needs done. I hope I am able to catch some good reflection time as well… to fully take in my travels around the entire world…

I hope you are all doing very well. I hope you had a spectacular Thanksgiving, ate up some yummy food, and were reminded of the MANY reasons we have to give thanks. I’ll write more later on my Thanksgiving happenings, but know that I am truly thankful for you.

As my Japanese family would say, CHEERS!
Sayonara! ☺

Ni Hao, China!

Our China visit consisted of 2 stops in Hong Kong and Shanghai. I was actually just in Hong Kong this past May when I went with BU to China for 3 weeks. However, I still had a spectacular time and much different experience. The BU trip did not go to Shanghai so that was a new place for me. China has a very deep culture because it has been around for thousands of years. It’s so interesting to compare China and the U.S. on a cultural level… the U.S.’s culture reaches a few hundred years while China’s wanders back much further. I enjoyed being surrounded by this culture again that I had grown to love only a few months ago.

HONG KONG:
Hong Kong is much different from the rest of China, especially rural China. It was colonized by the British and only handed back over to China about 10 years ago. Therefore a strong British influence is still observed today. For example, they drive on the left side while the rest of China drives on the right side… they also drive much more quietly than the rest of China! The geology of Hong Kong is sooo beautiful… It consists of several different mountainous islands. The main Hong Kong Island has many tall skyscrapers built closely with fancy landscaping and very clean roads and grounds. Kowloon Island is across from the main island. It is filled with many buildings and shops but not quite as tall as the main island. Lantau Island is a bit further away and is focused more on natural landscaping than the others.

Sailing into Hong Kong was soooo beautiful! I woke up extra early to watch the sunrise as we sailed between many mountainous islands. It was neat to arrive by ship this time around rather than plane! About 2 hours later we docked at Kowloon Island with a wide view of the main island—Wow, it was astonishing!

As soon as the ship was cleared, my friends and I took off. We took the infamous Star Ferry across to the main island then took a 30-min ferry over to Lantau Island. We pulled right into the dock that I had been on so many times in May! In fact, I could see across the bay where we had stayed at a Methodist Church Camp on the side of the hill along the beach! It brought back many good memories with my BU crew ☺. We then grabbed a quick bite to eat and caught a bus to take us to the other side of the island. The drive was just beautiful showing off the white beaches along the shore. After about 45 min we arrived at our destination… The Big Buddha! (This, in fact, is its title lol). It is the world’s largest sitting bronze Buddha at about 45 meters high. He sits with one arm up in the “Native American ‘how’” position. On the sides of him sit 6 smaller statues of ladies kneeling and offering gifts to him. It is a very impressive statue, especially because of its position at the top of a mountain surrounded by distant waters. I took a jumping picture with it (you know how those are popular nowadays) and it looks like I’m high-fiving Buddha’s raised arm! Haha! Then we took the bus and ferry back to arrive back on the main island.

We walked along the skywalk and then took the 100 yr old tram up the side of a mountain to arrive at Victoria’s Peak, which overlooks the city and waters of the Hong Kong islands. At the top is a mall with shops and restaurant that overlook this beautiful and famous view. At this point we ran into a SASer with the 2 new Japanese interport students who then hung out with us for a while. I got to talking with the students and it turns out that one of them had spent time in the U.S. I asked where and she said Ohio! I asked where in Ohio and she said ST. MARYS! Whoa, what a small world that I would meet a Japanese girl in Hong Kong, China who had spent time in a city 10 minutes from my hometown in the U.S.!

We took the ferry back across to Kowloon Island where we had a beautiful view of the Hong Kong Light Show. This show consists of the many buildings that put colored lights up in patterns to music and lasers making designs in the sky. It was very impressive! We found a late dinner at a local Chinese place and ate authentic food. This was good and bad depending on who you ask and what they ate lol. But it was surely very different from Americanized Chinese food! That concludes our first day in Hong Kong. Even though I’d been there before, I still thoroughly enjoyed it as I hadn’t seen the Big Buddha and I was traveling more independently than the last time. It was neat to go to a foreign country where I’d been before and compare my traveling maturity since then.

The second day was another fun and ultra-cheap day! 4/5 of the SASers left on trips that explored parts of China that would then meet up with the ship in Shanghai. However, my friend Natalie and I decided to stay on the ship in between ports. I decided this since I’d just been to China 5 months ago and could save a few extra dollars this way. It proved to pay off, which I will explain when I get there! That morning I went and found internet in a mall so I could upload pictures to my blog from South Africa to Vietnam. I hope you all enjoyed them!

Nat and I then headed out for our 2nd and last day in Hong Kong. We took a ferry over to the main island and found the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Gardens (free of charge!). It was sooo beautiful! It sat in the center of the city and is kept up very well. There were many different types of trees, plants, and flowers. They also had many types of birds and monkeys! We really enjoyed watching the monkeys jump around their cages! So many of their animals come from all over the world… including a very special animal from the U.S…. a Procyon lotor… aka a RACCOON! Can you believe that? They have raccoons in a zoo on the other side of the world! Ha! It sure gave me a good laugh. There were also Japanese children on a field trip that kept yelling “HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!” to the turtles. If anyone ever goes to Hong Kong, I’d highly recommend this beautiful zoo and garden!

Next came our adventure I like to call Sky-Scraper Upping! We wanted to go to the top in the tallest skyscrapers. When we would walk into the buildings, security officers would be scattered throughout to guide people like us. They would point up and say in their cool accents, “Up?” haha. They would check our bags, document our passports, and hand us visitor lanyards that we swiped on our way up. Even the elevators were made for tourists, as there were only 2 buttons: one for the bottom floor and one for the top floor! We succeeded in “upping” in 2 of the tallest and most unique buildings in Hong Kong: The Bank of China and the International Finance Company (IFC). The IFC is the actual building they used to tape one of the Batman movies! The views on top were soooo beautiful… looking out over the water onto Kowloon Island while also seeing the rest of Hong Kong Island.

The last couple hours were spent just walking around Kowloon Island at night. We stumbled across a night market, Chinese models in a photoshoot, and ended in a fun pouring down rain. We went out on the 8th deck as the ship pulled away from the islands. It may have been wet, but it was still very pretty watching the city lights layered on the mountainous islands.

You might find this interesting… before we pulled away we had a lifeboat drill with all 95 of us on the ship. We have these periodically where we practice lining up for the lifeboats in our hott life-jackets as if in an emergency (Titanic, anyone?!?!). Well why would we need to do a drill with only 95 people? Supposedly they were checking each cabin to make sure there were no stowaways!

That night I sat in my porthole window and read from the Bible… the scripture came sooo alive to me. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians how a gift had been given to him and now he had to share that gift with others. And it so many times mentioned “the world.” Hearing “the world” has such different meaning for me now that I’ve traveled it and seen it… I feel like SAS has been a gift that God laid on my heart to partake in… and now it’s my turn to use God’s gift for others’ benefit. I’m not exactly sure what this consists of yet, but I just need to continue to follow God’s leading through the rest of my SAS journey and listen for what it may be.

2 DAYS SAIL:
95 people compared to 650 is quite a change! But, oh, was it nice! There were quite a few awesome happenings:
• Quiet/Alone time! It’s nearly impossible to find quiet or alone time on the ship normally… so this was the time to take it in!
• Piano-playing! There are 2 pianos on board, both of which are in VERY public places constantly filled with people. Playing piano is personal to me, not usually for show, so I hadn’t played yet on the ship. So I sat down at that piano 2 nights and played for the first time in 3 months for 2 hours! Oh, it was sooo wonderful!
• Fancy dinners! We can buy these for $25 anytime, but since we were such a small group, they gave them to us for free (even with different food options) 2 nights! And mmm mmm it was GOOD!
• Free massage! The Wellness Center had us pop balloons for a free something. Originally I won a nail re-polish but I traded it for a free 15-min foot massage! Yup, a FOOT massage… here I go changing again! And it felt sooo good!
• Karaoke party! We had this dancing party in the Faculty/Staff Lounge which students are not allowed in! It is located in the prime spot… the front of 7th deck with the most beautiful view of the ocean on the entire ship. And there we were just singing and dancing around in it!
There was only one negative to these 2 days… the weather! The area between China and Taiwan is known as the Bloody Passage for a reason! The ocean was REALLY rocking, from bow to aft. This creates lots of loud noises and lots of random shaking and jolting. So much for catching up on lost sleep! But nonetheless, these 2 days were quite enjoyable… especially since it was my first 2 days in a row having nothing! It was like a weekend!

SHANGHAI:
We pulled into a wide Chinese river early Sunday morning and after about 2 hours arrived in Shanghai. We, again like Hong Kong, had such a beautiful view of the city. On one side of the river sat a nice park with buildings and on the other side sat high skyscrapers, including the 2nd tallest building in the world. It took awhile for the 95 of us to be cleared, surprisingly, but once we were cleared we were off the ship! Oh, the weather was initially sooo wonderful! It was like Fall weather in our jeans and sweatshirts! This was a nice change from the 90 degree weather we’d been having in about every port! However, the weather kept getting colder and colder the longer we spent in Shanghai, and I definitely did not bring winter clothes!

Nat and I walked across a couple of bridges and many streets to get to the main part of the city. We viewed an area called “The Bund” which is basically old city buildings lining the river that cuts through Shanghai. There’s a lot of construction right now, but when it is finished there will be a nice wide concrete path right along the river and the Bund. Next we went to the Yu Garden, which is a 5-acre park in the middle of the city. It was very pretty. Next to it was a 5-story market, wow! We whisked through it in search of some birthday gifts for our friend, Aleks. We were pretty stoked when we found a 2-Yuan store (everything was about 25 cents!). Next we walked through the Old City filled with traditional landscaping and buildings and many shops. We had fun looking through the stores and markets. We came out of a grocery-type store and at the same time saw a big red flashing sign that read “DQ DAIRY QUEEN.” We both let out a HUGE DEEP GASP, shockingly looked at each other, and raced over. Haha. We ate it on the 2nd story and overlooked the people walking through the Old City streets. Oh, how wonderful! A great site and SUCH a great taste, even in cold weather! We finished our blizzards, looked around a bit more, and then started the journey back to the ship. We saw some tunnels on the map that go under the river to the other part of the city and decided to check them out. The first one we searched and searched for but never found (maybe that was because of all the construction…). The second one was specifically for sightseeing tourists and was made up similarly to Disneyland! We then headed back to the ship and waited for the rest of our friends to get back from their trips. As I mentioned earlier, we were shopping for Aleks’s birthday because it was her birthday the next day. So that night we went out and celebrated for her. The joke of the night was that it was no big deal… we were just celebrating her birthday in CHINA. Lol.

The next day we let up to Aleks what she wanted to do since it was her birthday. Funny enough, she wanted to check out the Yu Garden and Old City, just as Nat and I had done the day before! Haha. We were actually fine with it because there aren’t a ton of “must-sees” in Shanghai. Our other options would’ve been going to the zoo (which we can do in the states), view a Buddhist temple (which I’ve seen many of in China), or go up a skyscraper (which costs about $15 USD each). So this option was by far still a good deal. We walked over the 2 bridges, down the Bund, through the Yu Garden, around the 5-story markets, and through the Old City. We ate lunch at a very interesting local stop. It was almost like a food court, but you take a try and walk through each place taking whatever you’d like. We all shared so we could try a variety of things (of which we really didn’t know what they were when grabbing them). They were… interesting, to say the least. Lol. One thing I’ve learned about real Chinese food is they like to stuff things with more things… it makes it an interesting experience, that’s for sure! We then continued our route from the day before… and got some more DQ! Haha. You gotta stock up on it when you can, geesh! We finished walking around the Old City and decided to head back to the ship. It had been raining ALL day, was windy, and was VERY cold from this weather combination. By the time we got back we were completely soaked and could barely move our cold legs. It felt really good to warm up! And what a reminder that at least we have a place to go where we can dry off and warm up.

We then found out that the ship’s disembarkation had been delayed because of big swallows in the ocean. So now we didn’t have to be back on the ship til 11:00am on Tuesday and the ship would depart at 2:00pm! Awesome! So we got more time in Shanghai!

We got up early the last morning to finish exploring Shanghai. We first scouted out some “Skyscraper Uppings” but didn’t succeed as easily as Hong Kong. We were going to “up” the big ones across the river, but it was so overcast that the tops were in the clouds and therefore closed! Instead we went into some shorter local places but they didn’t allow “upping” for fun. We then went to the popular Nanjing Road and walked along it for a few hours. It was filled with little and big shops, coffee shops, malls, restaurants, and anything else you can imagine. The majority of it was blocked off from vehicles and had a little sightseeing train running through. We took a break from the cold and got some incredibly rich hot chocolate. We also got to try out a new item: a tennis ball that always comes back to you! It is connected to an elastic string on a weight and you hit it over and over. It was really cool! We also saw people couple dancing, which is popular in China in public spaces, and stopped to watch them. As we stood there taking pictures a man came up to me and asked me to dance. How did he know I was the one in the group that liked to dance?! Of course I joined him and tried picking up on the polka-waltz-twirling moves. Oh, no matter how goofy and uncoordinated I looked, it was so much fun! Too soon it was time to head back to the ship and board for disembarkation. I sat on the 5th deck studying and watching as we sailed down the river away from China.

We have 2 ½ days between China and Japan. That first night was VERY ROUGH--- literally. The waves and swallows were HUGE. This makes it difficult to do anything- sleep, shower, change clothes, eat, study… ugh, it’s just not fun at all! But luckily it has now calmed down a lot and is very livable. We arrive in Japan tomorrow already! I can’t believe it’s already here and is our last “foreign” country. We still have Hawaii, but it’s technically part of the U.S. even though its culture is much different. My friends and I are traveling independently in Japan, so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of good stories for you!

I hope you’re doing well and staying WARM!
My blessings to you.

Halloween and Vietnam pics!

cruising down a canal to the Mekong Delta! LOVED THIS RIDE!

oh my gosh-- did I really do this?!?!

horse carts pulling us through a village (sorry it's sideways!)

taxi'ing a sweet motorbike ride!

my two kids from Vy 8 School for the Deaf at the zoo!

Nat and I crawling through the Cu Chi Tunnels...

a Vietnam War Memorial with stones for 10,000 Vietnamese bodies... only a small fraction of all the deaths

a large Cao Dai Temple

at the Vietnamese School for the Deaf and "Dumb"... this girl was incredibly cute

Water Puppet Show!!! What an experience...

sunset on the MV Explorer.... 

"Thriller" performance at Halloween! I know... I'm a pretty scary zombie :)

my friends and I dressed up for Halloween!

India continued

Indian Hindu Temple

poor housing along the Chennai coast still damaged from the hurricane a few years ago

the MV Explorer! --- my beloved home for a semester!

the cutest 8 yr old boy at the Samarpana Handicapped Orphanage in India

a man that has gotten in the pottery industry through RIDE to prevent his kids from having to work

India pics!

victim of chid labor... i was playing ball with her at school that they are daily encouraged to attend

at school to fight child labor.... they were playing with snow! which they've never seen!

performers from 100th celebration

a wonderful evening with my new Indian friends!

Missionaries of Charity Orphanage --- one of Mother Teresa's in Chennai, India

Mauritius and on Ship

the ocean on the day of the Sea Olympics.... so completely calm!

sunset from the ship :)

Mutli-colored Earth in Mauritius

Nat and I in front of Shiva in Mauritius

view of Mauritius from the back of our ship!

South Africa to Mauritius pics

laying on the beach in Mauritius!

Mauritian Grand Bai Beach!

Mauritian Market

Grand Bassin Children's Village

on top of Table Mountain in South Africa!

Sing Chao, Vietnam!

What a country… It has such a personal history with the U.S. yet have moved on and live fully each day. Vietnam was a wonderful country to visit and I had a fabulous time there. Yet there were intense moments as realization hit of what has all taken place on those grounds, and I will share those with you as I tell you what I all did.

Vietnam has a history of fighting for independence, yet are always struggling to win it. The French colonized them for a hundred years and China also fought for power. Vietnam split into the North and South when they achieved independence from the French. America stepped in to “help” and solve the disputes… and there is much controversy from here on out. After standing on Vietnamese grounds and hearing stories from young and old, American and Vietnamese, I have a continued interest in the Vietnam War. If anyone has personal ties to this issue I would love to discuss it more. It’s still a sensitive subject for Americans, however the Vietnamese have moved on and it is only a part of history now to them. The war ended and the North took over the South, uniting Vietnam into a communist country. They are still an independent communist country today, and from my experience, are simply happy to finally be their own country under their own rule.

Tuesday morning we pulled into the Mekong River early for a 3-hour ride into Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as “Saigon”). This was so beautiful… with canoers fishing, dirt being transported, and some small villages along the shore.

As soon as the ship was cleared my friends and I ventured into the city for a self-tour. The first challenge was crossing the street. Oh, this may sound silly at first… but Vietnamese traffic is another world! There are more motorbikes in Vietnam than any other country- it is simply how people travel- and they don’t really follow many traffic rules. We were advised first on the ship how to cross a street: look to make sure no one was immediately coming, step out, and just walk at a steady pace and the thick traffic will go around you. Don’t hesitate or change pace. Drivers will read you and adjust their route right around you. So we came to a street to test this strategy… and succeeded! The celebrated the first few times we successfully crossed streets! Haha. And then it just started coming natural that we step off and nonchalantly walk across the dense traffic lol. We took a stroll through the Ben Thanh Market, which is HUGE, and saw live sea creatures, internal organs (liver, intestines, who knows what else), jewelry, and cheap DVDs. We continued our tour and viewed the Reunification Palace, which is where the independence treaties were signed.

We then went to the War Remnance Museum. This was just… honestly, difficult to go through. There were very gory pictures showing innocent villagers ripped to pieces, terrified kids who had just lost their parents, last few pictures soldiers had taken seconds before they died, the effects of Agent Orange (a terrible nuclear toxin that thousands were exposed to) and has on many generations (handicaps, deformed bodies, bodies shaped where they have to crawl like a dog, huge foreheads with small lowerheads, disfigured bodies, lack of limbs, etc.), soldiers laying and dying in their blood, US torturing the Viet Congs and vice versa. I honestly couldn’t even believe they were showing some of the pictures that were up. But I guess it shows the truth to guerrilla warfare and this controversial war. It ended with a children’s drawing contest on the topic of “What a Unified World Means to You.” A small light was shed at the end of the dark journey through these kids’ drawings. Then we walked outside… onto this ground where these pictures had taken place, surrounded by people who had been a part of the war… I’m honestly still trying to process it all.

We continued our tour (we may or may not have taken a detour to get ice cream…) to see the town cathedral. 10% of Vietnamese practice Catholicism, as the French had brought it over when they colonized it. We also viewed the Post Office, which is actually very large and beautiful, and searched, but failed, for the Botanical Gardens.

The weather was very hot with a few quick downpours throughout the day. We didn’t realize these downpours were short, so during the first one a vendor sold us these stylish polka-dotted ponchos for 10,000 dong (less than 50 cents). We definitely looked good with those on! We thought we REALLY looked like tourists then, but we saw lots of motorbikers with ponchos on, even polka-dot ones! So then we felt like we fit right in and were just embracing their culture through polka-dotted ponchos ☺ haha.

We had dinner at a local spot and it was very tasty. That evening we went to a place that ended up being quite a unique cultural experience… a Water Puppet Show! The puppets showed Vietnamese life with farming, fishing, etc. but popping up in water. Musicians sat on the sides of the stage and also talked for the water puppets. I took some videos that really show its uniqueness. It’s one of those events that you’re glad it happened because it’s cultural, but you’re okay if it never happens again. Haha…

Wednesday morning I went on a SAS service trip to a school for the disabled. We first met with the principal who told us about his school. It is for deaf and “dumb” kids. “Dumb” isn’t offensive in Vietnam, it simply is the category for Down’s Syndrome, mental retardation (MR), ADHD, etc. The kids come from very poor families, but it doesn’t cost them anything since it is government owned. They will graduate at about 16 or 17 and then go on to get jobs. Then it was time to interact! I spent a few hours in a classroom for the young children with Down’s, MR, and ADHD. What a wonderful time! One girl just loved to laugh and would mimic everything I did. Another girl liked playing with the Frisbee I brought. One boy liked to wrestle and play ball. Another boy REALLY liked to climb me haha. One girl was really shy, but I eventually got her to warm up and play ball. They had loooots of fun with stickers too. I couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable time.

That afternoon my friends and I went to a spa since they are really cheap in Vietnam! Oh, how relaxing! I got an hour massage and hour facial, which were just amazing… and yet adventures too! Once I understood what they lady wanted me to wear, she just stood there and watched as I changed! Then when she started the massage she climbed onto the bed and straddled my back! She pulled down my underwear and included my entire bare butt in the massage! Ha, wow! But I embraced the awkwardness and just enjoyed the massage with an understanding of the cultural differences. I really enjoyed the facial, as it is the first one I’ve ever had. I felt soooo relaxed after those 2 hours! They finished it with time to sip tea and just relax in a comfortable chair.

That evening we spent exploring Ho Chi Minh City more. I actually grabbed the fabric I had bought in Ghana with intentions of getting a dress made and took it to a Vietnamese tailor! So now I have a beautiful sundress from Ghanaian fabric but made in Vietnam!

Thursday I went on a trip that explored Southern Vietnam. We drove a few hours then ate a delicious authentic lunch. We then went to a Cao Dai Temple, which is a unique religion to Vietnam. It combines the philosophies behind Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Confucianism to form this religion called Cao Dai (pronounced Cow-Die). They worship each deity for what good it brings to the world. The women wear all white and the men where either all red, blue, yellow, or white. They believe that animals and nature are like our siblings, so they don’t eat animals and they try to have “jungles” surrounding the temples. The temple was HUGE. We went into the balcony to watch the service take place. Solemn music was played while the Cao Dai followers walked in one by one. The service consisted of continued music, some gong hits, and much meditation, bowing, and worshipping. It was very interesting.

Our next stop was a war memorial where they have tombstones for 10,000 Vietnamese from the war, only a small fraction of the many that died. Seeing so many markers helped me visualize how many deaths there were. This is where I started to really wonder about our activity in the war. Was it right to intrude on their dispute? And how did the South Vietnamese feel about it? Were they thankful that we had tried to help even though we lost? Were they mad that we pushed ourselves on them and didn’t even win? Where they angry that we possibly made the war worse and deaths more than what it should’ve been? I’m sure it is different for each person… but now it is over and the Vietnamese have moved on… They showed absolutely no signs of hostility towards us. The only markers I saw still from the war were 1) memorials like this and the museum, 2) the Cu Chi Tunnels, which comes next, and 3) beggers on the street and people in disabled homes that are physically still affected by exposure to the Agent Orange toxin.

We then went to the Cu Chi (Koo Chee) Tunnels. Again, we were truly on the grounds where the war was fought. It didn’t get any more real than this. Years ago the Cu Chi people were being chased through these trees and killed on this soil… so to help protect themselves they built an underground tunnel system. They lived in these tunnels… yes lived, including sleeping, eating, urinating, studying, and, as our tour guide said, rotting. The tunnels run for an estimated 200 miles all over the area layer upon layer. They also included many traps so they could quickly escape from Americans. The Cu Chi people had to stay within their own “neighborhoods” because each one was booby-trapped according to the people living there. If they were above ground and freaked out, they had the chance of hurting themselves if they went into their neighbors’ unknown trapped grounds. Our guide first took us to a spot in the woods that looked normal to me. Then he brushed off some ground, uncovered a wood piece, picked it up to reveal a small hole, placed his body in the hole, picked the wood piece up, put leaves back on top of it, and closed himself in this hole. It was as if he was never there. This hole provided for a quick escape when they were being chased and it appeared as if they had just disappeared into thin air. We then were shown a trick door. It looked like normal ground once again, but when one stepped on it the door flipped revealing a huge pit with spikes sticking straight up ready to quickly pierce whoever fell in. Another hole was shown to us that connected to a tunnel that opened up in the middle of American camps (Americans placed a Base right on top of the tunnels without ever realizing it) in which the Cu Chi people would go in and shoot them in the middle of the night. We then saw an anthill, which was used to stick a hollow bamboo pole in that allowed them to get fresh air into their tunnels. They then showed us a row of many different traps that were used… this was true guerrilla warfare, and honestly, the Cu Chi people were geniuses with this system. Then it was time for us to crawl through the tunnels. The part we went through was the tunnels’ typical size, about 2 ft wide and 3 ft high… which meant we were on our hands and knees in a very DARK space. The tunnels weaved around, up and down, and connected to other tunnels as well. I can’t even imagine living in those… literally, there is not room to live. And it was incredibly hot in tiny spaces with tons of people. But it saved their lives from innocent killings. This was just an incredible, very real experience. In addition, I was reminded that the American soldiers fighting were about 22 years old, my exact age. I can’t even begin to imagine being on that ground for a much different purpose than I was. Wow, just simply… WOW.

Friday I went on a service trip to a school for the deaf and then took them to the zoo! We first went to the school, which is in District 8, the poorest section in Ho Chi Minh City. The kids range on how much they can hear and talk. They get a late start into school so they graduate after 5th grade when they’re about 20 years old. We interacted with them for a while, playing different group and individual games.

Then it was time to take them to the zoo! They were SOOO excited and had SOOO much energy. When we arrived they literally jumped off the bus and started running towards the elephants. Their running didn’t calm… they literally ran the whole day from animal to animal because they were so excited—yet this makes it pretty exhausting and difficult for their group leader! There were all kinds of animals in the zoo. The kids would look at them for maybe 2 seconds, if not 1, then run off to the next animal lol. After a half hour we had already seen the entire zoo! Although this was a great trip and I really enjoyed it, the language barriers were an issue… we not only couldn’t speak Vietnamese, but the kids also can’t hear. So when they were running in opposite directions we couldn’t yell after them to get their attention. You must actually run and catch up to them and then try to gesture slowing down or to go in the other direction. So it made for an exhausting and interesting day… but definitely still rewarding. These kids were so excited to go to the zoo… so excited to hang out with foreigners… so excited to hang out with older kids (I mean… young adults) and I felt so blessed by their energy and presence.

Saturday I went on a trip to the Mekong Delta. It was awesome! The Mekong River is the 10th largest in the world and runs through 4 different countries. Along the way we stopped at another Cao Dai Temple, but much smaller than the other one, and also walked through a local non-touristy market. Meat-cutters were just sitting on top of their tables beside their meat, some even in hammocks! When we arrived to the Mekong River Delta we got on a big boat that held our entire group of about 40 people. It took us for a ride and then we got off and walked through the “jungles of the Delta” to a small hut where they showed us how they make coconut candy. We then got on carts that hold about 5 people that are pulled by horses. They took us through a couple of villages on dirt paths and we waved to the friendly locals. We then walked to a hut where we had snack time. We tried many different exotic fruits and nuts while listening to village music performers. And then…. they showed us a giant snake and offered to let people hold it! A few people out of our group did hold it… including me! Oh my… Our guide placed it on my shoulders and in my hands… oh my goodness! And then he got distracted, walked away, and sat down as I was holding this huge snake! Eventually he realized he was in the middle of something and came and got the snake off me! haha. Oh, what an experience!

We then walked to a small river feeding into the main Mekong where we got on canoes! So there we were… floating on a Mekong canal, 4 in a row, wearing Asian straw triangle hats, as our river guide stood rowing on the end. Oh, it was just sooo wonderful. I love being so close to water and just gliding through it… and that’s surely what we were doing, but in Vietnam! How awesome. When it ended we were dropped off canoe by canoe onto a floating dock (granted, not like ours for sure) that the larger boats tied to. However, as the more people got onto this tiny thing, it started going under! The lady with the nearest large boat said that it wasn’t our boat so we couldn’t get on… but our guide wasn’t around and we didn’t know where our boat was! Then one more person stepped on and we all started sinking! So we said, hey lady we’re jumping on your boat temporarily! Deal with it! Haha! So we did, and no one sunk lol. The Mekong River is NOT a safe place to go under in and thankfully we stayed mostly dry! Eventually our guide came, unaware of all that had just happened, and we found our right boat lol.

The boat took us to lunch in a hut in the jungle. Mmmm mmm it was GOOD. The first dish was a large cooked fish propped upright! The waitress scraped it and put it in a thin wrap with rice noodles and leaves. That was one tasty dish! After lunch we headed back on our bigger boat to cross the delta one last time to get back on the bus. Once we were back in Ho Chi Minh City, sadly it was time to board the ship. However, we didn’t disembark until early the next morning, which was the first time we’ve done it this way. It’s because it was night out and the Vietnam Port authorities refuse to let ships venture out of the long Mekong River when it is dark. That morning I slept very lightly and kept waking up to look outside my porthole to watch Vietnam pass by.

I really loved Vietnam and felt my time there was spent as best as it could be. However, I want to tell you about 2 things that were of slight difficulties for me (note that these are very petty and more silly things opposed to the seriousness of being on war grounds).

1) $1 USD is equivalent to 17,500 Vietnamese Dong… now, we’ve had to constantly do calculations in every port whenever we buy something, eat, pay a taxi, etc…. but they’ve been in 1.5s, 7s, 10s, and 50s, but 17,500?!?! That took some getting used to!
2) They drove on the right side of the road! Can you believe it?! It felt so weird! Yes, I said the RIGHT side felt weird… The last few ports they drive on the left side so when I finally get used to it, Vietnam switched back on me! It’s probably going to be smart if I don’t drive for a few days when I get back to US… just so I can get reused to the driving rules!

So Vietnam was a wonderful and intense experience.We had 3 days on the ship and tomorrow we arrive in Hong Kong! I’m excited because I was just there in May and feel pretty familiar with it. Many SASers are taking trips to Beijing, Xi’an, or the Great Wall and meeting the ship in Shanghai. However since I was just to these amazing sites 5 months ago, I decided to stay on the ship and save a few Yuan. I’m excited to see a country that I spent a month in and really fell in love with!

Blessings to each of you ☺

Over the Andaman Sea and through the Strait of Malacca

Hello all! How has your past week been? I hope it’s been swell. Mine has gone by quickly… filled with 6 papers in 4 days and lots of reading… and of course, a few fun things.

• I saw Jupiter! The sky was clear and the ship bow turned of its lights so any takers could view the Eastern Hemisphere near-Equator night sky. Beautiful.

• My ship family got together – it was filled with girly things… painting nails, watching The Office, and looking at Indian Vogue magazines. Their Vogue is a bit different than ours…

• The ship’s crew put on a talent show! Boy, they are quite talented! Singers, dancers, comedians, painters, and more dancers filled the stage for quite a fun night.

• Halloween! This is interesting on a secluded ship… people really had to be creative with outfits considering we only have limited supplies that we boarded with 2 months ago! I went as a zombie… because… my hip-hop dance group performed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance! Yeah, that’s right! Nearly every ship community member was packed into the Union dancing at the Halloween party. All of a sudden the lights started to flicker and creepy growling sounds came on. Then we zombies creepily crawled on, “Thriller” started to play, and everyone cheered as we performed the dance. Oh, it was SO much fun!

• After the dance party was over, my friends and I headed outside to look out at the night as we passed through the Strait of Malacca. This strait runs between Indonesia on the southern side and Malaysia and Thailand on the northern side. Oh, what a creepy night for Halloween! Heat lightening stroked far in the distance, continually lighting up the ocean and silhouetted ships. The water was completely calm… almost too calm. To top it off, we were in fact in pirate territory once again, but even closer than when we were in the Indian Ocean. Crewmembers constantly did rounds on every corner of the ship, looking to make sure no small boats were growing near and no armed pirates were climbing on. We freaked ourselves out a few times seeing small boats come closer to us and wondering what would happen if we actually got attacked by pirates. A few times the captain would pick up speed to make sure we escaped any possibilities of pirates. Our nerves were calmed knowing our ship is one of the fastest in the world (seriously, it is!) and that the crew was on high watch. And obviously we made it through since here I am typing to you. How realistic of a Halloween night!

• We had another fuel stop… this time in Singapore! So this time around we were chilling between Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand… pretty sweet!

• We have been preparing for Vietnam the past few days. It is definitely still a sensitive subject for some on board, understandably. We’ve had factual lectures and heart-felt discussions about the Vietnam War and its effects on both the U.S. and Vietnam. It’s especially neat to have people from Vietnam with us who also share their perspectives. Our time in Vietnam will surely be humbling for everyone.

After hearing many people’s stories about their time in India and also living on the ship, I began to really think about how we spend our time conversing with others. A man shared a story from India in which he rode in a rickshaw around Chennai. At the end, his driver thanked him… because now the driver’s family was able to eat that night. A girl told a story about her taxi driver. He offered to take her to his house to meet his family. Although this is a risky situation, she did and he sincerely just wanted his family to meet an American and show her his life. Every day crewmembers on board serve us lunch, fix our classrooms, and clean our rooms and hallways. The rickshaw driver, taxi driver, and crewmembers all serve us… but they have lives outside of these jobs. They have families they care about feeding at night. Their basic needs are not guaranteed like most of ours are. Our priorities are so different… we get caught up in drama and silly daily things, while they are struggling just to survive. Why can’t we cross over these differences and show a sincere interest in their lives? They are honored when we get to know them as more than just their taxi driver or food server. And they are so much more than just that simple role their job title gives them. So how do you spend your time conversing? Do you take time to know people outside of the role you see them as? Do you talk to them in a sincere and encouraging way? I hope that we can all look past titles, seeing a person for who they really are and willingly make an effort to show our appreciation for their presence.

We port in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam tomorrow morning. We enter the Mekong Delta at 8 am and will travel 3 hours up to dock in the port. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you.

I’m currently reading “Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service” by Mary Poplin. I’d like to end by sharing one of her prayers with you and hope that you find yourself meaningfully repeating it.

“Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine; so to shine as to be a light to others. The light O Jesus, will be all from you, none of it will be ours; it will be you, shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by shining on those around us. Let us preach you without preaching, not by words but by our example. By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our heart bears to you. Amen.”