A Rhyming Summary

I wrote this today during my day trip to Cheng Chau, one of the neighboring islands of Hong Kong.  I started it on the MTR (the metro) and finished it over dinner at a sushi restaurant (which I have now been to 3 times in the course of 3 days--Today I was greeted with "Welcome Back."  Should I be embarrassed?  Nah.).  The poem references a lot of inside jokes that I can explain later...

It's called "The Space Between", written in honor of The Scholar Ship September 2007 Inaugural Voyage

The space between the end and the start

A blink of a space, not far apart.

Would you believe that four months have gone by

Of excitement, delight, and moments of "Why!?"

Of hopes, of fears, of courage, of doubt

Pioneers we were, mapping our route.

A vision before us of all that could be

Traversing the globe, while crossing the sea.

A collection of cultures all brought together

Weren't we once strangers back in September?

We started from scratch, our own creation

How do we satisfy 50 'a nation?

Let's take a look back while we're still sane

A very short trip down memory lane.

What do we call our communities

How about "star" in Japanese

And Spanish and Farsi and German, there's more

Our guiding symbol from ocean to shore.

And what are the rules that govern our seas

A four drink max, and "no fires" please.

Hard to enforce; Our battles we'd choose

Stay flex-i-ble, and don't forget shoes!

A myriad of talents from beat box to prose

Language teachers; traditional clothes.

From auction items that kept us awake

From dance lessons and hips that could shake.

From student voices that drove us to change

Lessons on hunger; Look at this range!

Skits and plays on the 24th hour

Privilege, prejudice; Let's talk about power.

Face to face, no cell phones to call

We'll make our own masks to wear at the ball.

Our lunches and dinners together we eat

Our vegans need options, no dairy or meat.

RC debriefs, a circle of backjacks

The equator crossing, which made us all Shellbacks.

From Facebook to Zimbra, we carry our Macs

Checking the Portal; Please no medivacs!

Upon each port, immigration we'd greet

"Crikey", says Kim; Take your Ship-to-Shore Sheet!

Off we'd head in every direction

And the country we'd cover, each taking a section.

From Arts to Business, so much we would see

Shore Ex, Indy, or on AFP's.

And no matter how far we would steer off track

Those bright string of lights would guide us right back.

Our ship, our home; We came to rely

With each Noon report and part-cloudy sky.

And before we knew it, China was here

What once felt so far, now was so near.

It began as it ended, time taking its toll

Once strangers now friends surround a Peace Pole.

The chapter is closing, and tears start to fall

From barriers and boundaries, to crumbling walls.

As we say our good-byes it's hard to believe

The depth of our bonds and the love that's been weaved. 

And though we'll no longer share the same space

We carry our memories, leaving a trace.

Our third culture created, no one left the same

New kids on the planet, "The Bridge" is our name.

It's been quite a journey, one heck of a ride

But as we walk off the gangway, you'll notice our pride.

And years from now we'll look back and we'll gloat

'Cause we were the first on that Scholar Boat.

Through sweat and tears, laughter and fun

Look what has happened; Look what we've done!

The space between, together we stand

I'll give you the courage, if you'll give me your hand.

With our heels in the present, the teacher our past

We look to the future; We know it comes fast.

And for those who've moved on, your spirit remains

While welcoming others who just joined the game.

Our purpose awaits us; That much is clear

It's why we signed up, why we're all here.

We've always been ready; We know what to do

My friends, we can do this; Let's head for "Round 2!"

Pictures: (1) "Star Wars" Competition between the Residential Communities (2) Market in Hong Kong (I realize this is a random combination of pictures, but I'm trying to catch up on photo sharing while I have high speed Internet.)

Pictures: (1) Dana and Me at the Masquerade Ball (2) Meeting the Persian family on The Bund in Shanghai (3) The Peace Pole, presented at the Closing Ceremony

The Final Days...

December 26, 2007

After Shanghai, we did a short stop in Hong Kong for a night, then headed out to sea for our remaining 3 days, before finally docking back in Hong Kong for disembarkation.  Confusing, I know and am not really sure if I can explain it.  Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities, and I have been here before with Semester at Sea, so it was a little surreal to return.  Mainly because I couldn't believe how fast two years have gone by.  

Upon arrival, a group of us (Makiko, Mariam, Ty, and Amanda) headed out in the port area of Kowloon for some Dim Sum, a leisurely walk through the park, and then Ty broke away and the girls caught a ferry to Hong Kong Island and headed up to Victoria's Peak for sun set and a view of the city (again, surreal because I had been there two years ago with Amy, Rico, and Jason).  The craziest thing was that once we got to the top, the two people we saw (the only people who were there for that matter) were Cherine and Sarah!  And they had just been talking about us, too.  Cosmic.  So now our newly expanded group headed back down the peak, walking through a little park, some trails, and talking about our spirit animals.  Pulju, you should have been there for this conversation.  We figured out Cherine is a dolphin.  We were on the fence about Sarah, but then it came to us the next day: Sarah is a butterfly.  So after leaving Victoria's Peak, we headed to Soho (a hip little district of restaurants and shops on a hill; very San Francisco-esque) for some dinner.  But on the way, we randomly stumbled upon an Africa Drum Session, which was Cherine's heaven because she plays the bongo drums.  It was a beautiful collective experience--the energy, the sounds...All of it magical.  When we eventually arrived in Soho, we found a little restaurant/hookah bar where we had drinks, appetizers, and great conversation.  Definitely a time to cherish, especially since Makiko and Mariam won't be here for the next voyage, and I will miss them dearly.  

The next day, Sarah, Amanda, and I took the ferry to Lantau Island, home of the "largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha" (I'm still laughing at all the qualifiers.) in the world.  I distinctly remember arriving at the top of the mountain and catching that first glimpse of the Buddha amidst the fog--So majestic; almost breathtaking.  Certainly creating the ambiance for spiritual connectedness, serenity, and peace.  You could just feel it.    

Currently, I am back in Hong Kong, sitting in a hotel, reflecting back on our inaugural voyage, which as of Dec. 23, officially came to an end.  And as part of the very first alumni group of TSS, also known as "The Bridge" for all the symbolism it carries, we have vowed to continue what we've started, all over the world. 

Four months in a blink!  Crazy, isn't it?  During the final days on the ship, we had our last open mic, filled with beautiful music, poetry, and even a little rap battle, which was hilarious.  And on our last night, we ended with a closing ceremony, which was very meaningful.  It was a re-creation of our first night on the ship, as our community circled together on the Aft deck.  Only this time, the faces weren't of strangers but of friends.  Friends that have taught each other, challenged each other, inspired each other, and deeply and profoundly touched each other.  There were heartfelt speeches, lots of tears, and a special note from our Navigation Officer, whose voice had become one of the cornerstones of our voyage.  Each Noon Report beginning with "Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman..." followed by a sky that was always "partly cloudy" (despite how it actually appeared)...and ending with "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention, and I wish you a pleasant day on the Oceanic II."  Consistent, reliable, and comforting.  

And now it's Dec. 26, my last day before going back to the ship tomorrow and starting it all over again.  My sense of space and time feels completely off.  Given that we only had 3 days in between the two voyages, I wasn't able to come home for the holidays.  So I had sushi on Christmas eve (What better present could I give to myself?:-), and ended up in an Italian restaurant/bar in Soho on Christmas night, with a group of random people from all over the world, who are now living in Hong Kong.  Amusing.  And different.  But fun.  

To my family and friends: Happy Holidays!  I wish I could be there with you all right now, but I am thinking of you and miss you very much!

It's been an amazing and crazy and intense ride!  And I'm actually starting the next voyage in a new role, as IRC Coordinator.  Riikka is now focusing on teaching, so I was promoted to her position and will be working closely with Cherine and Sarah, the other two Coordinators.  It's a great opportunity, and definitely a good next step in my career.  I am excited to be involved in the  "big picture" planning, to gain supervisory experience, and to work closely with Cherine and Sarah, two very inspirational and gifted leaders.  At the same time, I am a little nervous, because it comes with a lot of responsibility and a lot of details to manage.  Plus, it's my first time supervising professional staff, and transitioning roles within the same peer group might take some adjustment.  Kathryn, I keep thinking back to our conversations around this topic.  

I know that with this entire experience, so much of the integration will happen when I return home in April.  It's hard to gain true perspective right now because I still feel so in it.  But what I do know is that I am different now for having had this experience.  Not changed, but rather evolved, having learned more about myself, and thanks to leaders like Riikka, Alfred, I've also realized how much more there is to learn about others and the abundance of beauty and understanding that lies in the subtly of our differences.   

To close this entry (which I realize has been somewhat disjointed), I'll end with a quote, shared by one of our students, Dara, during the last open mic.  The quote is from the TV show "Northern Exposure"...

"In a sense, it is the coming back, the return, which gives meaning to the going forth.  We really don't know where we've been until we come back to where we were--Only where we were may not be as it was because of who we've become, which after all is why we left."

Ready or not...Let's begin Round 2!

 

"CHINA!"

Dec. 7-13, 2007

Are we really at the end? It feels like yesterday when I was telling
a story from Portugal about the woman who pointed at Ann and screamed
"China!". And now China has come and gone (Clearly I'm way behind on
my blog--We actually left Shanghai on Dec. 14th.)

So, Shanghai in a nutshell:

Day 1:

After the ship was cleared, Marimam, Makiko, Amanda, and I headed off
into the city--It's fun how we always end up out together. We
stopped for some lunch at a local restaurant, where no one spoke
English, and after a mixture of sign language and confusion, we had a
great little buffet meal, for less than $2. Let the cultural
experience begin! After lunch, we then strolled down the Bund, an
area along the water considered to be "old Shanghai's commercial
heart", which is interesting because I've never been to a city where
I felt like there were so many hearts, or city centers--Literally. I
definitely had difficulty getting my bearings. We actually ended up
coming back to the Bund twice, once with my students on our Academic
Field Program, and another time to one of the clubs, where we
celebrated Mel's birthday. So on that first day, as we were walking
along the Bund, we ran into a Persian family. Actually, it all
started with the initial "look"--As in "I'm Persian; You're Persian"--
after which we started chatting. They were in Shanghai for a
conference. Very friendly--wanted to take pictures with us...and it
only took about 5 minutes before I was asked about my marital status.

As for the rest of the day, we strolled around Nanjing Road, which is
considered to be one of the popular shopping areas among the
Shanghainese--Very bustling and lots of tall flashy buildings and
department stores. Also, lots of opportunity to try traditional
Chinese snacks--chestnuts, red bean/sticky rice treats (Karen and
Bri, I was very excited about the red beans.), etc. At the end of
the night, we headed for some sushi at a revolving sushi restaurants--
the kind where the dishes rotate around the center of the restaurant
on a conveyer belt.

Day 2-6:

Day 2 began my Academic Field Program (AFP). I was a Participant
leader for the Worlds of Art & Culture group. It might be the
Learning Circle I would have been in as a student, so I was very
excited about leading this trip. Plus, the students are great--A
very small tight-knit group. Because our group was so small, we were
combined with the Global Cultures & Social Change group, led by Dana
and Alle, which was fun. We visited The Fudan University (one of our
Academic Steward schools) and heard a great lecture from one of the
Fudan professors on the ship about "Traditional Chinese Arts &
Crafts". The professor basically gave us a run-through on the
different artwork that we would be seeing, which was very helpful.
They included dough sculptures, paper cuts, embroidery, cloth art,
masks, clay sculptures, shadow puppets, woodcuts, and folk
paintings. Immediately after the lecture, we went to the Shanghai
Art Museum. I could have spent hours there, looking at all the art
work and relics. It was cool to see artwork similar to the ones I
purchased on Semester at Sea. I also think Chinese calligraphy is
just beautiful, and I love how each character is a word and that the
vocabulary is comprised of a combination of words. For example,
"library" is a combination of the characters for "books", "pictures",
and "buildings."

After the museum, we visited Shingwang Mei (Old Town), where you find
the 18th century Huxingting Tea House, a beautiful garden, and a
pavilion filled with lots of traditional arts and crafts and food
treats. Dana and I did a little bit of tea tasting at one of the tea
shops--It's such a cool ritual to watch. There was also the flower
tea, which is just beautiful--You place the "bud" in hot water, and
it literally blooms into a flower right before your very eyes. David
B., I think you showed Henri and I one of these before.

On the second day of the AFP, we visited the city of Suzhou, known as
the "city of gardens", with a history of over 1,500 years. The
particular garden we saw was called "Humble Administrators" Garden.
Very serene. And the air was misty and cool, so it added to the
ambiance. On that same afternoon, we went to the Water Village--a
rural landscape, surrounded by lakes and marshes, with streams and
waterways branching through them. This was probably my favorite part
of the AFP. The whole scene look straight out of a movie.

Towards the end of the week, we visited a Community Center, which
included a space for older generations of Chinese people to enjoy
leisure activities, whether it was working on the computer work,
participating in dancing, singing, etc. In the same day, we also
visited the Children's Palace, an after-school program for children
to learn music and create artwork. Some of their work was just
amazing--I couldn't even do that work now at my age, let alone at age
six!

Mornings, Evenings, & Day 7:

On a few of the mornings, I got up early and went running around the
port area. It was a nice way to start the day and to see some of the
local people begin their day. On one morning in particular, I ran
into (not literally) a Tai Chi class, right there on the side walk!
One of the women motioned for me to come join, so I did. When I
wasn't AFP'ing, I spent the evenings going out into the city. One
night, Ann took a big group of us to a "hot pot" restaurant, where we
cooked our own food (seafood, vegetables, etc.) in these two big pots
in the middle of the table. And we were given different dipping
sauces, too, from peanut to spicy chile sauce. So good! I was in
heaven--the dipping, the sampling! One funny observation we had was
when Ann was talking to the wait staff in Shanghainess, and they were
speaking very fervently--The rest of us got a little nervous because
we thought they were arguing. But Ann said no; That it's just the
way they communicate--Directly and with avidity (Not sure if avidity
is the right word to use--I just looked it up in the Thesaurus.). On
the third evening, I went out with one of my students, Yuan, who
lives and studies in Shanghai. She is actually a student from my
Residential Community (RC), so it was great to spend quality time
with her and have her show me around her city. We had a wonderful
meal together and ended the evening at a little jazz bar in
Xintiandi. I also went for a massage during the week--Actually I
went for three. They were just so great and relatively pretty
inexpensive. I was addicted. Ty and I went one night, which then
turned into a "brief" stop at Jam's bar, where we played a dice and
paper game with these four other women and ended the night with an
extensive karaoke session at "Cash Box"--I don't think I've ever sang
so much karaoke in my life--It was a blast. Two night slater, I
went again to a massage parlor with Mariam, Amy, Amanda, and Ty, and
then for a third time with Amanda, Makiko, and Cherine. There are
massage parlors everywhere, but we found this street that had an
entire row of them. And what was so funny (and pathetic on our part)
is that when we were walking down the street on our last night, the
people working at the massage parlor waved to us from inside--like we
were regulars. Which we were. For that week at least. On our last
day, Amy, Chris, Makiko, Mariam, Amanda and I headed out to the
markets. The taxi Amy, Chris, and I were in got lost, so a 15-minute
ride ended up being 1 1/2 hours. But we finally made it, and
actually ran into the rest of our group that afternoon. We looked
around for a little while, and then a few of us who weren't in the
shopping mood, left to go for our final massage.

So that about sums it up. Shanghai is actually our first stop for
Voyage 2, so we'll be back January 10th!

Upon returning to the ship on our last night, we were met with some
startling news. Justice, Michael, and Aaron from Ghana couldn't get
a Hong Kong visa and had to disembark that night, thus unable to
finish the rest of the journey with our community. It was very
abrupt, very unfortunate, and very sad to see them go. And in some
ways, it marked the beginning of all the good-byes to come. On top
of that, two of our other students (Ivan from Belarus and George from
Russia) had to fly to Shanghai to get their Hong Kong visa, while
Parvin from Iran wasn't sure she could get a visa at all (She finally
did after countless hours spent and people working from all sides,
but it was a very disheartening experience for her.).

Pictures of Sydney Harbour and Fraser Island Jeep Safari

How you go?

December 13, 2007

Okay, I realize this entry is a little late, especially considering
that we just left Shanghai last night...:-)

Day 1: Arrival to Sydney, Australia...
*Woke up to a beautiful sunrise, as we pulled into the Sydney Harbour
(It was called "Darling Harbour"--for you, Sunny:-)
*Spent the day in Sydney solo--I needed a little personal time.
*Browsed through "The Rocks" Markets--cute little markets on
cobblestone streets.
*Walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge.
*And of course, found a place to eat sushi:-)

Day 2: Here begins my adventures with Mariam and Amanda...
*Caught early morning flight to Hervey Bay (Queensland).
*Arrived at Fraser Roving Backpackers (The term "Backpackers" refers
to a hostel-like place, for low-budget travels. The ones we've
stayed at so far have been pretty good--clean, affordable,and makes
you feel part of a travelers' community.)
*Went for "breaky" at the Aqua Vue-Sat at a little picnic table
overlooking the ocean. Mariam ordered a breakfast plate that was
suppose to come with baked beans, but they were out of beans. So she
was brought spaghetti instead. We thought that was funny.
*Had lunch at Thai Smile--recommended by a local guy from one of the
shops.
*Rented bikes and did a little tour of the town. Stopped for some
shopping.
*Headed back to Fraser Roving for our meeting. What meeting? So
glad you asked...
The three of us signed up to do a self-guided jeep safari (with a
group of randoms) on Frazer Island (the largest all-sand island in
the world; and by all-sand, I literally mean ALL sand--NO "roads.").
*The meeting: Grabbed drinks (Amanda had Jack & Coke in a bottle) and
headed to the community room to meet the rest of our safari mates and
listen to a brief overview of the three days to come. Again, this
was a self-guided safari, so the group is given a jeep (a PINK jeep,
I might add), camping equipment (Yes, I'm a camper.), an itinerary,
and a map. The group was an "interesting" mix, and there were enough
people to split into two jeeps. Jeep 1: Me, Amanda, Mariam, Julie &
Michael (a couple from Germany), Anik (from Holland), Antje (also
from Germany). Jeep 2: Marcel, Tony, Chris, Jonas (from Switzerland,
21 years old guys, and clearly childhood friends), Katrine and Jenny
(again, from Germany; not yet 21, and clearly excited about their
Swiss German jeep mates), and Monika (from Czech Republic, 28 years
old, quit her job at the Marriot in London to travel the world, and
bless her heart was now with a group who were at let's just say a
different developmental stage in life:-). This was going to be a
treat.
*After the meeting, Amanda, Mariam and I headed out for dinner. It's
8:30, and the town has shut down. Literally. Except for an Irish
restaurant/pub--Some things you can just count on. In your honor,
Mo. Ate at Hollighans, then called it a night.

Day 3:
*Piled in our pink jeeps (Let me add that the jeeps had given names:
Ours was "Stinky", which conveniently rhymes with "pinky"; and the
other's was "Eurong", the name of a beach on Fraser Island.).
*Went grocery shopping with 15 people--A little hectic. Mariam took
one for the team and helped Monika do the group shopping, while
Amanda and I got some extras for the three of us, which of course
consisted of pesto, hummus, avocado, cheese, and museli--not meant to
mix together. And gum for me. Briana, I've depleted my entire
supply: three cases! Bob and Kathy, this is no surprise, right?:-)
*Took the barge, along with jeeps full of other campers to Fraser
Island.
*Got off on Fraser Island, and upon entering Eurong Beach, got stuck
in the sand (i.e., our first "bog"). Time to push.
*Had to be careful not to drive into the ocean..."or you'll lose your
bond" (i.e., deposit). This phrase was posted on everything: our
map, the inside of our car, etc. It became a running joke for the
next few days.
*Hiked to Lake Wabby. Lake was surrounded by HUGE sand dunes, which
we had fun running down and into the water. Clean green-colored
lake. With catfish!
*Everywhere you turned: Warning signs about the Dingoes--an animal
that looks like a malnourished dog, but apparently, attacks small
children, which given my tall stature, I was told to be careful.
Amanda, Mariam, and I kept quoting the line from a movie "The dingo
ate your baby!" but have not idea where it came from--Manoosh, I feel
like this is something you would know, but you're probably not
reading my blog, so I'll ask you later.
*First night of camping at One Tree Rocks (like the TV show "One Tree
Hill. Except different.). Set up the tents, cooked up a big meal,
drank wine, and sang songs (like "Country Road"--Court and Christy,
are you dying right now? The Swiss guys are the ones that started
it. Everyone else knew the lyrics--more so than I did, and I grew up
in West Virginia! Julie taught us a German song, which Amanda,
Mariam, and I originally thought was a love song, but later found out
it was a drinking song and were prompted to put a little more kick
into it. It goes like this:

"Das ist wahsinn; Warum schickst due mich in die holle. HOLLE HOLLE
HOLLE HOLLE!
Eiskalt; Lasst du meine seele erfrieren.
Das ist wahsinn; Du spielst mit meinen gefuhlen. FUHLE FUHLE FUHLE
FUHLE!
Und mein stolz, ist langst schon auf dem mull. MULL SONDERMULL!
Und das ist was ich will. Ich will dich.
GANZ ALLEIN!"

Literal translation:
"This is crazy; Why do you send me to hell. HELL HELL HELL!
Ice cold; You let my soul freeze.
This is crazy; You play with my feelings. FEELINGS FEELINGS FEELINGS!
And my pride is already rubbish. SPECIALIZED RUBBISH!
And this is what I want; I want you.
JUST ALONE!"

(It was so fun coming back to the ship and singing this to our German
students. They were impressed, which they should have been, given
that we probably practiced this song ten million times.)

*We also learned how to say "cheers" in German ("Broste!"), and
Mariam was given major props for putting her whole soul into it.
*After dinner and dishes, we sat out on the beach under the stars. A
great first night on F.I.

Day 4:
*Woke up at the crack of dawn. Ate our museli and yogurt and sat on
the beach while everyone was getting ready (By the way, I know it
might be a little strange to detail the food items--but there are
some treats that I just get really excited about. Henri, are you
shaking your head right now?)
*Headed out in our pink-mobiles. First stop: Eli Creek--a creek in
the middle of the beach. It was a little crowded, and the water was
cold, so we didn't stay long.
*Stopped at Happy Valley to refuel our water supply. This was one of
the only (if not the only) little store on the island, so given this
monopoly, you can only imagine the prices. Actually, you don't have
to imagine; Let me tell you. A loaf of bread: $4.86. A fifth of
Malibu Rum: $56 (which we did not buy).
*Stopped at an infamous shipwreck, right on the beach--very cool.
*Almost did the dance of joy when we found "rubbish" bins, which we
had been looking for everywhere. And what was so fun was that we
stumbled upon a lot full of them--like a little rubbish heaven.
*Stopped at Indian Head--right off the beach--large rocks you can
hike up for a spectacular panoramic view of the island.
*Hit a major wash-out crossing on the beach--It's hard to tell how
deep the streams are while driving.
*Headed to Dilli Village, which was a crazy ride. Off-roading at
it's finest (Reminder: all-sand island). I've never heard the word
"BUMP!" shouted out so many times. It was a roller coaster of a
ride. Mariam has major driving skills--She was our permanent driver
for this trip. As you might have guessed, I chose not to drive on
the island:-)
*Stopped at Lake Boomajin, which was okay. Were debating about
camping there, but decided to keep going since it wasn't on our
itinerary.
*So glad we went to next lake: Lake Birabeen--a little paradise--true
white sand, warm clear water (so clear you could see yourself under
water--and seemed clean enough to drink). The place was deserted, so
we had a fun little splash around the lake before heading to our
camping site at Central Station.
*At Central Station--Set up our tents just before dark, cooked a
spaghetti and garlic bread dinner, and then played the funniest game,
initiated by our Swiss German buddies, involving an empty cardboard
beer box and a shovel.

Day 5:
*Got up early and headed to Lake Mckenzie, which was very similar to
Birabeen--white sands and refreshing crystal clear water. Were the
first ones there that morning, which was nice. Weather was perfect
(for the whole trip, really)--blue skies and sunshine. Played in the
water, swam to a little island, had heart-to-heart conversation with
Amanda and Mariam while lying on the shore, and swatted away stinging
flies that were bigger than a thimble (weird comparison, I know--but
it was the first object that popped in my head). Just before leaving
lake, the Swiss German boys revealed their red g-string (literally)
swim wear for photos. Hilarious and disturbing.
*Finally headed back to the barge and back to on Hervey Bay. Bought
dinner, chocolate, and a bottle of port (which came with glasses from
a pub, graciously donated by the sales guy at the liquor store), and
sat on the picnic tables on the beach (where we had breakfast our
first day).
*Interesting side note: During one of our little jeep rides, Julie
(from Germany) commented on how she has trouble understanding native
English speakers because of the speed of which it's often spoken.
However, she seemed appreciative of the fact that she could
understand me when I spoke to her. This was a cool moment for me
because I realized that through my experience on The Scholar Ship, I
have developed a greater sensitivity to non-native English speakers
and consciously slow down my speech and more clearly articulate my
words so that the other person can understand and feel connected.
For me, this moment symbolized one of the many many learnings I will
take away from this whole experience.

Day 6:
*Caught our flight back to Sydney, rented a car, and started heading
south (without really knowing exactly where we were going--we just
knew we wanted to go to a vineyard).
*Stopped at an info center, was told about the "Crooked River Winery"
near Kiama. Were excited to hear it was "award winning"--and later
amused by the fact that everything in Kiama claimed to be "award
winning".
*Winery visit was wonderful. The place was family owned--We met
Katherine and her husband Chef Michael, the father Brian, and
Katherine's son Luke. The weather was rainy, which made it cozy.
Had a beautiful view of the vineyard and delicious tastings,
especially the ports. Brian told us a great story about one port in
particular called "Pyjama Port". A 99-year-old woman wrote a letter
to Brian saying that she had a glass of port every night before bed
and would sleep just beautifully. The woman died at age 104, and
Brian named the port "pyjama port" because it's enjoyed best when
drank in your pajamas.
*Katherine then booked us a room at The Anchor Inn, where we checked
in after wine tasting.
*Had dinner at Sea Haven, which was an amusing experience. I asked
if I could send back my meal (which I never do and for some reason
decided to do it in Australia)--and ended up being charged for two
meals. Oops. Lesson learned.
*Back to Anchor Inn for movie and good night's sleep.

Day 7:
*Went into Kiama for the morning. By the way, I drove here--On the
opposite side of the car, and on the opposite side of the road! Dad,
we had insurance.
*Found great farmer's market in Kiama (I was in heaven.), where we
tried different olive spreads, pastries, fruits, and fudge--all of
course which were "award winning."
*Back to Sydney for a final afternoon in the city before sailing
away...to China.