Aloha, land

I have miraculous news.

 

 

At this very moment, I am on LAND.

 

 

While I am acutely aware that I have signed myself up for a semester at sea…I’m already a little bit tired of the sea. I know the many days at sea will pay off, but the fact that my feet are firmly planted on Hawaii simply THRILLS me.

 

 

The sad part? I’m only here for the day. At 8 o’clock I must return to the ship.

 

 

The really stinkin’ awesome part? The next time I set foot on land I’ll be in Japan! It’s kind of insane. The idea that I’m literally going around the world continues to blow my mind- and I feel as though I’ll be able to fully understand that it’s really happening when my feet hit a completely unfamiliar territory.

But for the time being, I'm just enjoying the scenery as well as the fact that I can see trees. And birds. And food that is not pasta or iceberg lettuce.

Anyway. 

Though I complain, I'm incredibly blessed to be on this voyage and have sincerely loved getting to know folks over the last week! Last night was especially cool, because we do this thing called "extended family," and I got to meet mine last night! The extended family deal is an optional program where you get put randomly with a few students and you and your classmates get paired with a lifelong learner! The percentage of students that are typically involved is about 55%- but our voyage had a whopping 98% sign up to have a family! So instead of 5 kids... Our "mom" has 10! 

At first, I thought, yeah! Of course I'll sign up for a family! Then as my time to have dinner with them last night came closer, I thought...this is going to be so awkward. I'm going to be paired with people that don't get along well. I even considered just running by to say hello and not eating with them. I'm thankful that a stronger part of me urged me to go, because we had a GREAT time! We sat, talked, and ate for three hours straight! We even planned to have lunch tomorrow to talk about our Hawaii adventures! 

This is truly going to be a great semester.

...but to my family and friends- yes, of course I miss you. I wish I had packed you in my duffle so you could experience this with me. 

Because this is what I woke up to this morning:

It's beautiful, and I really do think about you all and how much fun it would be had you joined me.

BUT, we shall be reunited in a few short months, and all will be well. 

I'm going to try to make it to where I can just email in my blog- so that way I can continue updating you all on what I am up to (besides the misery of seasickness). We will be in Hawaii until early tomorrow morning, and I'm hoping to have a little communication with some of you.

Meanwhile...I'm in Hawaii...so I'm going on an adventure.

Things I love about today:

1. The sweet, sweet land beneath my feet

2. Internet access for this short period of time 

3. The fact that we arrived at our first port safely. Truly a blessing.