Life at sea and beyond

Topy Fiske, my cabin mate and friend of 45 years, and I usually wake up before 7 a.m. well-rested after at least eight hours of sleep. Every other day I go to the “wellness center” and either ride a bike or go on the treadmill for 15 minutes and then lift a few weights on the top deck. The weight machines are old and somewhat rusty but they suffice. The buffet breakfast (preferably taken on the open deck) is highly satisfying. I am mesmerized, grateful and humble as I breathe in deeply, watch the white caps and look out at the horizon.  

By looking at the foam, we can tell the captain is using only the starboard engines and probably going under 20 knots an hour. The two other engines on the port side speed up the Explorer, one of the fastest cruise ships at sea.

Classes start at 8 a.m., and I have sat in on a couple of lessons on oceanography, but the large classes in the Union are of more interesting to me. I can sit in on the Religions of the World, International Law, Human Nature, Health Promotion, Water for the World and others. In my previous blogs, you have read some of the facts I have learned. I can take advantage of two “LENS” classes before lunch and two afterwards. 

Lunch and dinner are very well-balanced with salads, fresh fruit, soups, several varieties of fish and meat, always pasta and often rice and potatoes. I never pass up desserts (ouch!). We have a choice of ice tea or various fruit juices with every meal and there are huge containers of peanut butter and jelly by the toaster.

I have already finished reading three murder mysteries and knitted two scarves.

I give away the Evil Eye pins I brought along to those who need comfort. Among them is a couple who found out three days ago that their 21-year-old son dove into a shallow pond in Austin, Texas, and injured his neck. The father is a professor on board ship, the mother had just flown into Tokyo from Tennessee to join her husband. The surgery was scheduled for the next morning, and the young man's sisters would be with him. It apparently went well, and the young man is now back home walking and talking. 

We Lifelong Learners, and some members of faculty volunteered to “adopt” students with whom we enjoy meals every third day so they know they have a shoulder to lean on. My extended family includes Betsy, a sophomore from Wilmette, Illinois; Sierra, a junior from Boise; Brendan, a senior from Texas; and Juan from Mexico City. All are curious and sharp with dreams of successful careers in business, the arts or communications.

Lifelong Learners get together at 4 p.m. every other day and share experiences or listen to a professor speak on various subjects. English Literature Professor John Miller spoke to us about "Moby Dick" on a very stormy day, a perfect setting.  Psychology Professor Charles Morris taught us techniques to remember names and faces and told us to get physical exercise if we want to avoid Alzheimers. Several of us, as well as students, staff and young children on board, are partaking in a study he is conducting during the next three months. 

The view from Deck 7, outside the faculty lounge, as we approach

Yokohama on a crisp winter's day. 

Environmental Science Professor Ed Sobey showed us photos of various ocean creatures and birds and discussed his research work in Antartica. He and his wife have crossed the Pacific from Japan to Seattle in a 57-foot sailboat. Quite a fit couple. The faculty and staff lounge on the bow of the ship on Deck 7, which is off-limits for students. We usually enjoy a glass of wine and conversation before dinner.

As I mentioned, 68 percent of the students on board are female. Most of them are tall, pretty with long hair and long legs. Both the girls and guys come from all corners of the world, including South America, China, Pakistan and Africa. Apparently 35 percent of them have received partial scholarships, and many are doing work-study on the ship, especially in the computer lab.

I am plan to get a massage tomorrow (reasonably priced) and a manicure next week. I have not yet hooked up with a yoga class (on deck in the evenings) or Pilates. A group of Lifelong Learners walk for 30 minutes around the deck at 3 p.m. For me, going up and down the stairs between the various decks is challenging enough.

Every evening there is a lecture on pertinent information about the environment or culture we will experience next.  There are interesting documentaries or movies shown on TV every night but it is amazing how tired we get by 9 p.m. We are gently rocked to sleep after a few minutes of reading, looking forward to the next day.

Tokyo gallery

 

Balloons, several stories high, mark the entrance of a store offering big sales to young shoppers.

 

View of Tokyo from Skytree Tower in the upscale Roppongi neighborhood. The 2,000-foot tower, which opened in May 2012, boasts the Modern Art Museum on the top floor. When we visited, there was an exhibit by Makoto Aida who uses various media to jolt the viewer's senses.

Japanese prefer Eastern-style toilets that are clean, flushable and sanitary. Most public restrooms also have the Western style loo -- and a long line of tourists waiting their turn.

First Japanese port: Yokohama, Tokyo Bay

 

After a very rough 12 hours at sea, with 30-foot waves and 65-mile-per-hour (hurricane force) winds, we arrived in Yokohama Sunday, January 27. Captain Jeremy said the storm was supposed to move east, but a low-pressure system hung above, causing the ship to swing from side to side and the cancellation of the evening classes. We were advised to go to our cabins, but we could barely stay put in our beds and did not get much sleep.

Yokohama, a city of 3 million people, is the largest port in Japan, on the northwestern edge of Tokyo Bay. The city of Tokyo, which has a population of 12 million, is further north. Click here for a map of our location.

In the 1850s, when Yokohama was a small fishing village, it became the first Japanese port to open to international trade after Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Uraga in 1859. Pulling into the harbor on this crisp, sunny Sunday was breathtaking with majestic Mount Fuji in sight. A fireboat shot sprays of water 50 feet into the air to welcome us, while a band, dressed in navy and white and waving huge yellow flags, played Western marches. People jogging or walking their dogs on the miles-long boardwalk stopped and waved.   

Japanese people are kind, reserved and well-mannered. They genuinely like Americans and go out of their way to help with directions and information. Emperor Akhito is beloved, but many Japanese have no confidence in their politicians whom they blame for the state of the economy in which they see a shrinking middle class while the rich get richer.

Few couples have more than one child because it is expensive to educate them well.  There is bullying in public schools (by teachers as well as fellow students), which sometimes results in suicide by teen-agers, since Japanese culture discourages complaining or snitching. Lone children feel isolated, lack social skills and often crack under the pressure of doing well in school. The government encourages families to have more children with tax incentives. In addition,  a family with a third child is given a Toyota, according to our guide in Tokyo. She also explained that 60 percent of women are in the work force because educating their children is expensive. Every household’s income tax rose 2 percent after the Fukujima disaster and will stay in place for the next several years. The rich pay as much as 40% in taxes.

A few other interesting facts:

1. Japanese women live longer than any other people in the world.
2. During the dry winter months, one out of five people wear white medical masks to keep moisture in and germs out.
3. Japanese drive on the left side of the street.
4. Yokohama boasts the world’s tallest lighthouse, the 106-meter Marine Tower, which made the Guinness Book of World Records, although it has not functioned as a lighthouse since 2002.
5. Skytree Tower in Tokyo is, for the time being, the world's tallest tower at 2,000 feet. It was built this century in the new commercial district to accommodate the high-tech needs of Japanese businesses. It also houses restaurants and retail shops.
6. Tokyo is the most densely populated city in the world with a highly efficient transportation system.
7. Tokyo General Railroad, privatized a few years ago, hires “pushers”: strong young men, wearing white gloves who shove passengers onto trains during rush hour.
8. There are no trash cans on the streets of Tokyo, a decision made after the 1995 terrorist attack of poisonous gas in the subway system, and yet people still do not throw things on the streets.
9. Household garbage is divided into three kinds and put in clear plastic bags so the collectors can see inside. Perishable waste is picked up one day, the aluminum cans another and paper picked up the third day.  If you get confused, you get fined.
10. There is no graffiti, no jaywalking and very little crime. 
11. Homeless people leave the city center during the day and can come back to their designated place after dusk where they have stored and locked their belongings in large blue canvas bags provided by the city. 



City-issued carts and canvas used by the homeless

Losing a day

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean

We have crossed the International Dateline, which means we lose an entire day. I can't figure out how to adjust my watch and how many hours ahead we will be of Chicago and Istanbul. Even the computers cannot synch ... 

Did you know ... The Pacific Ocean

Less than 1 percent of the world's population has a college degree. Less than 1 percent of the world's population has traveled around the world. We are lucky to be part of this 1%.

There are 6.8 billion people on Earth but only 2000 white tigers in the wild in India. Ecologists think they will be extinct in a generation or two.

Our planet thrives on volcanic activity that regulates the Earth's core temperature, permitting life. New islands are popping up in the Pacific Ocean in a straight line northwest of the Hawaiian chain.

Laysan albatross, native to Hawaii, can stay aloft two years at a time without flapping their wings by taking advantage of air currents. This seabird mates once every two years, producing only one egg and stays on land long enough to raise the chicks. It feeds on fish and scraps from passing ships. There are 24 species of albatross, and only four are in the northern Hemisphere.

The depth of the ocean beneath us today was 15,854 feet. The air temperature was 64 Fahrenheit degrees, slightly cooler than the water at 68 degrees. It is estimated that each voyager is using 58 gallons of water a day. Luckily, the Explorer produces its own water by desalination.

Leaving the US

End of the day in Honolulu 

In the land of fire

Hilo is the capital of the Big Island of Hawaii and its biggest city with a population of 60,000, 4,000 of whom are students at the Hilo branch of the University of Hawaii. It is a town of working people, mostly engaged in agriculture, including cattle ranching. The farmers no longer plant sugar cane but harvest papaya, bananas, vanilla, coffee, macadamia nuts, orchids and other exotic flowers. As you climb to higher ground this region gets as much as 20 feet of rain each year.

The first settlers came to the Big Island from Polynesia around 800 A.D. Captain Cook brought while settlers almost 1,000 years later, around 1778.

Banyan trees, which are native to India, are everywhere on the Big Island, their seeds germinate on the tree and send down roots to the ground, taking up a lot of space. In 1933 Babe Ruth planted an entire acre of banyan trees in Hilo. So did many other dignitaries.

There are black-sand beaches on this island, resulting from the volcanic ashes; the bigger and better-known beaches are on the West side near Kona. There are no native mammals here but many varieties of native birds, as well as those brought later by settlers. There are no bats and only one species of (harmless) snakes.

The last two major tsunamis to hit this island were in 1946 and 1960, although the killer wave that devastated northern Japan in 2011 caused minor damage here.

Volcanoes created the Hawaiian Islands nearly 70 million years ago. Two of the world's most active volcanoes are Kilauea and Mauna Loa, and they are still adding land to the Big Island. Mauna Loa stands 56,000 feet above the depressed sea floor – that’s more than 27,000 feet taller than Mt. Everest. However, Mt. Everest is 29,029 feet above sea level, while this volcano is only 13,679 feet above sea level. Ascending it without acclimating one's body is not a good idea. Kilauea, only 35 minutes from downtown Hilo, is 4,000 feet above sea level. Geologists, biologists, seismologists and other scientists do research and show their findings at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. One can see sulfurous vapors coming from huge calderas, or craters, with lava lakes where temperatures reach 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. Walking on hardened lava is like walking on broken glass. Volcano tubes, or caves, are carved by hot lava -- standing10 to 20 feet high inside.
 

After departing Hilo, our next stop for fuel was Honolulu on the island of Oahu, a 12-hour voyage from Hilo. The approach to the harbor was exciting as several whales and some dolphins escorted our ship. Oahu's green mountains, scattered with clusters of white homes, rose in the distance. Skyscrapers line the coast, making Honolulu look like a typical American city. Nearly 1 million people live on Oahu, with a daily average temperature between 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. It is a paradise for tourists.

We have already set our clocks back four times and will do so again before we cross the International dateline, meaning we will lose a day.

Sunsets on the ocean are breathtaking. This photo was taken by a young man from Mexico with his iPhone. Juan and two young ladies are my "adopted" children on this voyage. Each of us Lifelong Learners have volunteered to take several students under our wings. We are available to listen, guide, advise or otherwise be an adult influence on them. Betsy, from Wilmette, Illinois, is a sophomore at a small liberal arts school in Michigan. Sierra is from a small town in Idaho but goes to school in Boise. Most students are juniors or seniors in college.

Environmental dangers

Global environmental issues facing us in the 21st Century:

• Population explosion
• Overgrazing
• Depletion of fisheries
• Deforestation
• Land and soil erosion
• Depletion of natural resources
• Waste management
• Climate change
• Space junk
• Ocean acidification
• Loss of biological diversity
• Water shortage

Did you know ...

• 50% of the world's population depends on fish and other sea life for its protein
• 40% of fish congregate at coral reefs
• Coral cannot survive if water temperatures rise above 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Our biological diversity is disappearing 100 times faster than the natural rate
• The only compound in the world that comes in three different forms is water, ice, vapor
• 97% of water on our planet is salt water, 3% is fresh water, though not necessarily clean water 
• Desalination of water is expensive and results in oversupply of salt that is usually dumped back into the ocean, upsetting the balance of nature.

Meeting Mr Tutu

Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 81, is a very friendly, lovable person who takes his meals with students and Lifelong Learners like us. He has traveled on the MV Explorer, the ship used by University of Virginia for the Institute for Shipboard Education, several times in the past. 

The retired archbishop of Cape Town rose to fame in the 1980s as a crusader against apartheid in Suth Africa. He is my height, always wears a smile and often blows kisses as he walks through the dining rooms or on deck.This photo was taken after a reception for the alumni of Semester at Sea as we were sailing from Ensenada, Mexico to Hilo, Hawaii.