Packing by Dr. JJJ

We're about one month out from embarkment which means we're buried in lists: To do lists, work lists, house lists, puggle lists, kids school lists, and of course, packing lists. What you bring and what you leave behind is a reflection of personal values. Only one of the following items is NOT currently on the Johnson-Leck packing list for Semester at Sea. Can you guess which one?

• So much sea sickeness medicine that a blue whale would forget she was in water.
• Themed onesies for every family member including an adult sized "pug on donut" onesie for you know who ;).
• Preemptive tooth fairy supplies in the event that any one of these fuckers has the audacity to pop a tooth on this voyage (these supplies are more extensive than you might realize...).
• Giant plastic eggs for holding found treasures. #Easter
• Leash and carabeener for Guthrie Jude Johnson-Leck (AKA "the typhoon") #safetythird
• Miscellenous wigs
• Miscellenous costumes
• Chris's new lucky Cubs hat for 2020
• $50 worth of journaling pens, markets, and a brand spanking new journal for documenting the comedy of errors that is likely to unfold in the next 5 months
• Enough geocashing stuff for us to plant a Semester at Sea themed cache in every port
• Birthday decorations and surprises for an 8-year-old celebration #WaldenJ-L
• Matching family travel bracelets
• Addresses of friends and family for sending snail mail to our loved ones. 

Are we missing something? Send us YOUR ideas for additional "essentials" to bring on the voyage by leaving a comment.  In the meantime, we'll work on wedging all of this stuff into our allotted luggage limit.

What IS Semester at Sea?

So this is a party boat that sails around like a cruise ship, right?

Ehhh... Not exactly.

Our home for 4 months: The MV World Odyssey

Semester at Sea (SAS) is mostly for college students and it's kind of like studying abroad except you're not just in one country. You're on a ship (never say boat) for a semester and it ports in different cities around the world. There are 9 classrooms on the ship and a wide range of classes for students to take.

Course examples:

Intro Cultural Anthropology
Global Encounters in Art
Comparative Economic Systems
US-China Relations Since 1800
World Interdependence

The classes have an in-port component that dovetails with what is being learned in the classroom. The ports we stop in are: Hawaii, Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, and The Netherlands.  

SO what are the Johnson-Leck's doing on this voyage?! Ain't none of you in college!

In 2016 Colorado State University (where Jen and Chris both work) became the academic home of Semester at Sea. It basically means that all the classes on board are CSU classes. There was an agreement made that some of the positions, like the Academic Dean, on every voyage would come from CSU as well. There are 2 mental health counselors on every voyage and one of those comes from CSU too. So that's how this whole thing got started.

Probably sometime around 2016 we put our name on the list for SP2020. At the time, Guthrie had just been born and SAS doesn't want kids under 2 on the ship. Wally was 4 and we thought that would be an ok age for us to drag Guthrie around the world. So this trip really has been years in the making. Many, many people have heard us talking about this and we have been saving money and planning for just under 4 years.It is starting to get surreal now that it's so close.

So Chris will be doing counseling on the ship. Individual counseling, some groups, emergency consultations, that kind of thing. Jen submitted an application the old fashioned way and got hired to be a faculty member on the ship and is teaching classes. So we both have full time jobs so don't think we're just going to be lying around drinking daiquiris, getting a tan, and yelling at our children. No, no. We will be busy.

On to the kids:
Because the parents have full time jobs on the ship we have to bring along a childcare provider If you're pissed because we didn't ask YOU to be our childcare provider please show us your: years of teaching experience at a Waldorf elementary school, artistic talent, world traveling experience, completed marathons, patience, good humor, organization/planning skills, and genuine affection for our children. Chances are you're missing at least one of the above. Ellie's got them all. Ellie and her family have been friends of ours since well before our kids were born. We're unbelievably lucky she was up for the adventure.

Guthrie's photo for his Visa to India. Cute, right?

We will have more about the kids' days on the ship in a future post, but the basics are this: Kids can come to the morning lecture that everyone goes to if they want and then go to some hours of organized study hall. Each kids will have some stuff to work on for school and the littles time will look more like pre-school. After lunch there are organized activities coordinated by all the childcare providers. It should be pretty fun. Our kids' teachers have been accommodating and encouraging. Lord knows these kids are going to have their minds blown!




In ports:  

Shanghai, China

Jen and Chris both have some job duties in a few of the ports, but otherwise we're free to roam and explore. The average length of time in port is 5 days so not enough to do a deep dive by any means, but the kids will get a good survey of some of the highlights and hopefully the inspiration to return another time for a longer stay and immersive experience.

Lots more to write, but this will be a good start to let people know a general sense of what we'll be doing.