Voyage 128: The Semester at Sea

We signed up for the adventure of a lifetime, and we are getting it, but not in the way we expected. We got another curve ball last night when we learned that the Seychelles denied our entry into port. We expect Mauritius to follow suit. As a result, we did not get off the ship this morning as expected and now are headed to Mozambique. 

There are no known cases of corona virus on our ship (in fact, our ship doctor says this is the healthiest our shipboard community has been so far on the voyage). By the time we reach Mozambique, we will have been at sea for 18 days since our last port in Vietnam, surpassing the 14-day incubation period for the virus. Still, the threat of a pandemic makes governments and port agents nervous, particularly in small island nations without much medical infrastructure to deal with a contagious disease. 

Everything is contextual and our entire experience is deeply rooted in privilege, but this has been a big blow for the shipboard community. This morning, Chris said to me that the hardest part is loving people and seeing them so disappointed. I think that’s right. Loving people has been both the biggest gift and biggest challenge of this voyage. A fellow faculty member joined us for breakfast this morning and his mere presence brought me to tears.  He sailed on SAS as a ship kid when he was about Wally’s age. It was such a transformative experience that he built his career as a Geographer on the hope that he might be well situated to be hired as faculty and share the voyage with his wife and two kids. Sigh. Students that have touched us with their humor and enthusiasm, people who have doted on and entertained our kids are watching their dream slip away port by port. Some of them have been saving the 35K it costs to be here since their early teens. None of us are sure how any of this is going to turn out. Best case scenario, we may be able to complete the voyage and visit the remaining ports. Or, we may arrive in Mozambique in 7 days and be once again be denied port, extending our already lengthy stretch at sea. It is hard to trust any kind of “schedule” at this point. Uncertainty is the name of the game. 

Staff and faculty, who are also dealing with their own feelings of loss and uncertainty, are hustling to do right by the students. Examples of empathy, hard work, dedication, effort, understanding, creativity, gratitude, and support surround us all. With only about 12 hours of lead time, the student life team had put together a whole series of activities for the community today – Democratic debate viewing, basketball and volleyball tournament, pool dance party, Harry Potter Movie Marathon, board games and more. Faculty, who have already written and rewritten syllabi numerous times to accommodate the previous two itinerary changes, spent their night last night providing support to students and accessing their limited internet allocation to yet again begin the search for content relevant to a new port destination on our itinerary. Chris and his partner, Marvel, are working overtime to provide skilled support to the many people who need a listening ear right now. Even Rigley and her friends got in on the action and spent the morning decorating Dean Gene and Dean Mari’s door with post-it notes of affirmation.

Our family is holding up. We’ve had some pretty epic experiences so far on the voyage, both on and off the ship, some of which we’ve had the chance to share with you on this blog. Right now, we are sailing in the Indian Ocean in glass calm seas, with our meals provided, a swimming pool, and laundry service. All of us are alive and healthy. We are surrounded by friends and colleagues and students who we travel with in solidarity. We grieve the loss of our original vision of Semester at Sea with the kids: of snorkeling on the beaches of Malaysia, hiking in India, and hugging tortoises in the Seychelles. We avoid talking about money. We are concurrently ok, “not ok” and so much better than ok.  We’re only halfway through the voyage and we’ll stick around for the end of the story. Onward.  

Neptune Day

Neptune Day

The celebration of Neptune Day has been a Semester at Sea tradition for the last 50 years. The ritual marks the crossing of the equator and the transformation of voyagers who have never crossed south of the line from “Polywogs” to “Shellbacks.” The morning starts with the current shellbacks (Semester at Sea alumni) parading through the halls in costume and making lots of noise. All voyagers are then invited to join King Neptune (AKA Captain Kostas decked out in green body paint) on the pool deck for Shellback initiation. Anyone who wants to participate gets green “fish guts” (sea water with green food coloring) dumped on their head, leaps into the pool, kisses a fish, kisses Neptune’s ring, and has the option to shave their head. All of the Johnson-Lecks are now officially shellbacks, and we have the certificate to prove it. It was another fun and memorable day at sea for all of us.

Vietnam Reflections by JJJ

Our time in Vietnam was fabulous! Due to our itinerary change eliminating China, we had 12 full days to explore and learn. Our time in port included: watching the sunrise in the middle of the floating market in the Mekong Delta, a truly epic biking adventure in the Mekong that will likely go down as one of the most memorable days in Johnson-Leck family history, attendance at the delightful water puppet theater in Saigon, a negative experience with a dishonest taxi driver, a Vietnamese cooking contest enjoyed by the big kids and Chris, visiting the Cu Chi tunnels and other important historical sites related to the war, new tailored clothing for Chris, manicures for JJJ and Guthrie, many intense on-call days for Chris, attendance at the amazing Bamboo Circus, and a three day visit to Cambodia for JJJ and 21 Impact Scholar students. 

There is so much to say about our Vietnam port, but the most profound for me was gaining greater understanding of the horrors of war, and of the impacts of the Vietnam/American War specifically. 

Although I was born 2 years after it’s conclusion in 1975, the Vietnam/American war played a central role in my childhood. My parents, and particularly my dad, talked a lot about what it was like to be a 20-something in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pop music of the time, including my personal favorite protest song, Edwin Star’s “War,” was a staple in our household and I can still sing the lyrics of many of those songs verbatim, even now. At a young age, I knew that my dad read anti-war essays on Iowa State’s College radio station, that “nobody won” in Vietnam, and that most Americans had a complicated set of feelings toward the war in Vietnam which was in stark contrast to the nearly universal pride and celebration of WWII. In high school, my favorite teacher, Bob Uetz brought his buddy, a Vietnam vet, to talk to us about the Vietnam/American War. Later I learned that this experience was so triggering and painful for his friend that Uetz had to take him to the bar to get him through it. As a result of my family history, porting in Saigon (also known as Ho Chi Min City—HCMC) held a lot of personal significance to me. 

As a family, we had the opportunity to visit both the Cu Chi tunnels (which were used by the Vietcong (VC) as a safe haven for the guerillas and as a way to move supplies from North to South) as well as Reunification Palace (the place of residence of President of the Republic—aka South Vietnam-- before the VC overtook the palace and reunited the country under communist rule in 1975). Both locations were hugely impactful and left us with a set of complicated emotions. 

It is impossible to set foot in the Cu Chi tunnels without some sense of admiration for the Vietnamese work ethic, ingenuity, industriousness, creativity, and determination (qualities that one can still easily observe in the daily lives of Vietnamese people today). The tunnels were dug by hand over the course of 20 years, mostly using tools that were upcycled from bits of residual war shrapnel and found items in the jungle. The tunnels are located at three different levels below the surface and stretch for hundreds of miles. In addition to the pathways themselves, the tunnels include dining “rooms,” kitchens, medical “rooms,” areas for resting, underground wells, and even circulation/ventilation holes. Our guide shared that many hours every day were spent in the tunnels by the guerillas every day. 

Before having the chance to enter the tunnels, visitors to Cu Chi learn about uniforms worn by the guerillas, weapons used, and the construction of the tunnels themselves. We also had the chance to try taro root, a staple of the Vietnamese diet during war time when basically all other foods became unavailable. Wally was overcome with emotion when we saw the booby traps employed by the VC. I think his 7-year-old brain connected the dots that the creativity and effort of the VC (in the form of these booby traps) was directed toward hurting and killing people…specifically American people…HIS people. His tears started falling and he needed to be held for the rest of the visit. He kept saying over and over, why couldn’t they just VOTE instead of going to war? Watching him have this reaction was heartbreaking but also important in my opinion. So often, we try to minimize the amount of violent content our kids take in with the hope that it will reduce the likelihood that violence will be normalized in their minds. Despite our effort, our kids tend to ignore us or act annoyed for our preaching. But the Cu Chi tunnels got to Wally at a deep level. After seeing Cu Chi, both of the big kids had a ton of questions about why anyone would ever advocate for or support war, why it was necessary for Americans to be in THAT war specifically, and whether anyone participating in a war can really “win.” It’s seems both odd, and fitting, that the Vietnam/American War instilled the value of peace in both my dad and his grandkids 2 generations later. If a deep and visceral rejection of war and violence of all kinds is the one takeaway these kids get from our voyage, I will consider this trip a success. 

Sea Olympics!

One of the huge differences between ship life and life at home has to do with time. Our days on the ship are organized into A days and B days. Whether it is an A day or a B day determines the teaching schedule for faculty and students. The complete voyage consists of 25 A days and 25 B days, a few “Study Days” and a few “Community Programing Days.” The days of the week have no relevance on the ship. Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays—they are all the same to us here on the MV World Explorer. 

Recently we had our very first “Community Programming Day, “ Sea Olympics, which is a Semester at Sea tradition.  All of the students are split into one of 6 “seas” (Red Sea, Adriatic Sea, Arabian Sea, Yellow Sea, etc.) and the faculty/staff/dependents/lifelong learners make up the 7th sea (our team name for this voyage was Odd-a-Sea). All seas complete in 26 different events and at the end of the day, one sea is crowned the voyage winner based on the outcomes of the events. 

By all accounts, this is an extremely fun day on the ship and really important in terms of breaking up the rhythm of long stretches of alternating A days and B days at sea. On our voyage, the ability to let loose and have some fun seemed doubly important given the impacts of the voyage itinerary changes. 

The morning started off with a banner and spirit competition as well as lip sync. Each sea is assigned a color and a specific seating location in the union and most people go all out with dressing in their assigned color to promote team spirit. My peeps in Fort Collins will be happy to know that that many wigs and costumes that we packed came in handy for Sea Olympics 😊. We looked GOOD. 

Seeing all of the color in the union and hearing the students’ enthusiastic cheers for their sea was really a treat. 

The 26 events included challenges of all types such as a chess tournament, geography bee, math test, volleyball, water balloon catch, relay race, basketball knock out, banner and spirit, and many more! Chris participated in “name that tune” where 1 second of a song is played and you then had to name the artist and song name.  He and the rest of the Odd-a-Sea participants pulled off a respectable 3rd place considering that the college students were quick to identify any music produced after the year 2000. Our crew was solid on the oldies! Wally and Rigley loved participating in crab soccer and I had a blast dusting off my 20 year old volleyball skills. Guthrie made a surprise cameo appearance in the Odd-a-sea lip sync. He was doing his robot dance to the song “I’m too Sexy” when he felt inspired to try to take off his shirt and throw it into the audience. Unfortunately, he had a wardrobe malfunction and couldn’t get the buttons undone on his “cute suit” to get the shirt off. It was sooooo funny. The whole shipboard community was dying of laughter. Rig and her girlfriends participated in the synchronized swimming competition. Thanks to a lifelong learner named Tami who used to coach synchronized swimming and agreed to work with the girls, the Odd-a-sea made a strong showing in that event. 

The end of the day was capped off with the closing ceremonies and announcing of the winners. Guess what?  The Odd-a-Sea got 2nd place!  Not bad for a bunch of old folks and kids! 

Reflections on Vietnam - Chris

Hey folks, we have a ton to reflect on for Vietnam, but things have been busy and the internet has been super wonky. Expect posts to come fast and furious as we get into Seychelles. We've have some fun events on the ship to tell you about as well. Stay tuned!

It's really hard to talk about any reflections on Vietnam without talking about being on call. So a big party of my job on the ship is to be available for emergency mental health issues. Most of the time this is not a big deal and a few phone conversations with students in a panic is all I have gotten so far. But what it really means is that I can't be more than an hour away from the ship at any given time while in port. I'm on call for exactly half of all port days as I split the duties with the other counselor on the ship. Way back in May or June the other counselor and I started emailing about how we wanted to divide everything up. Jen and I had 2 ports we knew we wanted to be free: Malaysia and Morocco. Malaysia because that was the place we knew we wanted to be on the beach and stay in one spot and Morocco because Marrakech is one of our favorite places in the world and we are really excited to take the kids there. But things change and we have to stay flexible plus I was going to ultimately end up on call in China and Vietnam. So when we skipped China to extend time in Vietnam, my on call responsibilities shifted as well so I was on call for 9 out of our 12 days in port.

Good news: our port was a 15 minute walk to the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. The down side comes later, but not without a caveat that we are getting paid to be here and we are so grateful for the opportunity that this is for our family. I'm not complaining, but it explains why even though we were in Vietnam for almost 2 weeks, we have not seen 85% of the country. So many people have given us suggestions of places to go and waxed poetically about the north, and Hanoi, and Hoi An and the lantern festival. And practically everyone else on the ship has gone away to explore other cities and more rural areas. Again, not complaining, and we know that this is a country we would love to come back to. So, so, so much more to see and experience. We ended up getting to know Ho Chi Minh city pretty well. The kids and I had the same taxi driver several times that he and I were on a first name basis and haggling for ride was more fun and funny that it normally was. But the truth is, the kids and I were not sad to be moving on from Ho Chi Minh City. The pollution was significant, it was hotter than blazes most days (we found an oasis high class shopping mall that we went to 3 days in a row and sometimes twice a day just to cool off), and there weren't that many things at the kids' level for fun. Jen had a 3 day trip to Cambodia with students that helped give her a break from city life. We certainly learned that our family can do city tourism, but we prefer green spaces, hiking, and rural areas. (Possibly its the stuff that makes Jen happiest and when mom's happy she can carry the grouchiness of 10 families, but truthfully we all just do better outside.)

As s side note, the one thing we were warned about most in Vietnam, more than the pollution, crime, and getting sick was crossing the street. Traffic lights are barely suggestions and cross walks are just for decoration. The flow of traffic is constant. Buses, trucks, and cars for sure, but mostly motor scooters. The Vietnamese joke that there are 2 motor scooters for every person in Ho Chi Minh and it seems like it. People were terrified of crossing the street, but the JL's took it in stride. Once we figured out that no one actually wants to hit you and that they will happily avoid you if they can we felt way better. We started to see the motor scooters like a school of fish. Have you ever tried to touch a school of fish underwater? Impossible. So then all you had to do was watch for the big things avoid those. Easy enough most of the time. All you had to do then was step off the curb and keep moving in a very predictable fashion and you'll make it to the other side. I tried to make a video, but it took a lot of concentration.   

You'll get to see the pictures so you'll get a sense of our day to day in another post. 

Vietnam is an absolutely fascinating country. Part of it is that we have lectures by multiple people before we even get to the port so when we're in country we can see at a deeper level. Knowing how these people have fought off multiple imperialist countries and other invaders gives you an appreciation for the strength and resiliency of the citizens. It's also the first Communist country I have ever been to. Not that it was noticeable. Everyone is hustling in one way or another and it feels way more capitalist to the average tourist than anything else. In conversations with Vietnamese folks, they all feel very aligned with Communism even though many privately own their businesses.

There is a tailor in Ho Chi Minh that came highly rec commended by SAS folks and finding clothes that fit a gigantisaurus like myself ain't easy to begin with. So of course I went to see Tricia and Verona. We got to know the two sisters and Tricia's little boy Anthony pretty well over the two weeks we were there. Tricia is an entrepreneur that would make ol' Dave Johnson proud. She owns the spa next door, a factory that makes uniforms for the Watergate Hotel in D.C., and several other small businesses. She told us that she has to pay taxes on her businesses, but she also has to stay off the radar screen or the government will come after her, either to take more tax money or take her business contracts. We had many, many conversations with Vietnamese people in our time there and this kind of learning and connecting was our favorite part.

Well, that and the food. The food was really built up before we got to Vietnam and it certainly delivered. We ate noodles, Bahn Mi, Pho, spring rolls, and stuff we didn't know the names for. The kids were a little more conservative, especially Guthrie, but Rigs and especially Wally were willing to try a ton of different things. They actually liked much of what we tried. Seeing them continue to be adventurous around food is one of my biggest surprises so far.   

Vietnam is a pretty cool place. History, food, culture, adventure, beauty, wonderful people. We will definitely be back.

Corona Cruise update by Dr. JJJ

News from the Corona Cruise

Hi all! I’ve been getting a ton of questions from home about how the Corona virus has impacted our voyage. Of all of the things to worry about pre-Semester at Sea, I never in a million years would have considered that a virus in China would be the most difficult challenge of our voyage so far. It’s had a major impact on our experience.  Here’s the skinny on what we know so far and how we are all handling it.

As we disembarked from Japan and headed toward China (late January), we got word that Corona had spread from the Wuhan district to the major Chinese cities, including our future port city of Shanghai. The medical team, along with the Deans on board and the SAS home office, made the call to skip our port in Shanghai and head directly to Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam where our port time in Vietnam would be extended from 5 days to 12 days to accommodate for our lost land time in China. Some people were incredibly disappointed to miss China (I mean, it’s CHINA, and the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors are big draws for many students on the voyage). That said, this ended up being an unbelievably good call on the part of our leadership team. We now know that if we would have ported in Shanghai (even if none of our voyagers contracted the virus) the likely conclusion would be that future ports would not accept our vessel and we’d be floating around the South China Sea with no where to dock.

When we arrived in Vietnam for our extended stay, we learned that the three Chinese passport holders on board (all students) would not be allowed to disembark the vessel. Vietnam made the decision to close its borders to anyone with a Chinese passport, despite the fact that we could prove that these students were nowhere near China when the outbreak started. Oddly, these 3 students are in fact the ONLY members of our shipboard community that we can say with 100% certainty do not have Corona at this point in the voyage. Those students were treated well by our community.  People brought Vietnamese food and snacks to them, and the Captain invited them for meals and let them order cakes from the dining hall (a major perk on the ship). That said, being stuck on the ship for 12 days after such a long stretch at sea is a major bummer (this is an understatement).

Meanwhile, the rest of the shipboard community was traveling around all parts of Vietnam (and some of us also hopped planes to Cambodia). Initially there were 15 reported cases of Corona in Vietnam, most from Chinese folks who had traveled to Vietnam. As our travel time in Vietnam came to an end, a small outbreak happened in Northern Vietnam in a small community that SASers were unlikely to visit. This small community was under quarantine when we left. The virus has a 15 day incubation period so if we can make it to March 1 with no cases on board, we are home free.

We’ve been getting plenty of updates on the virus from our medical team. I don’t want to minimize anyone’s concern, but I am not worried AT ALL about getting Corona, or if someone on the ship did get it, I would not assume they were going to die. What the docs understand so far is that the most deadly version of the virus came directly from a pangolin from a wet market in Wuhan and was transferred to people. That virus has about a 4-5% death rate, mostly killing old folks and people with compromised immune systems. The virus that spreads from person to person has about a .5% death rate, also affecting older folks and immunocompromised people. Vietnam is a heavily populated place, with millions of people. Of these, 15 were known to have the virus. So the chances of any SASer getting this is pretty low.

Another perspective taking measure is to compare this virus to the flu. In the U.S. alone, the flu kills 30K people annually. We have had quite a bit of flu on the voyage so far (including Rigley’s BFF and Wally’s BFF) and it results in an immediate 3-day quarantine. One thought I’ve had is that Americans may be more scared of Corona (compared to the flu) because it originated in China, a foreign country that has a fairly loaded relationship with the U.S.

During our Vietnam port, I traveled to Cambodia for three days with a group of 21 students. Cambodia, unlike Vietnam, did not close its borders to China.  This happened not because the virus is less deadly in Cambodia, but rather because the Cambodian government has a tight relationship with China, and they receive a ton of money from them.  Politically, Cambodia couldn’t close its doors to their Chinese allies for fear of political or economic backlash. To date, Cambodia has only one recorded case, but my guess is that this is an underestimation. Global public health crises have a lot to do with health, but also a lot to do with geopolitics.

Upon embarkation to the ship in Vietnam, every passenger had to undergo a medical screening, including temperature taking and a follow up exam with the medical team if any symptoms were present. Washing hands has been emphasized and hand sanitizer has been handed out frequently. Most people wore masks in Vietnam, even though there hasn’t been a lot of proof that this helps too much with virus spread.

Upon leaving Vietnam, we got word that itinerary would once again change.  We will not be porting in Malaysia or India. Both countries have just a couple of cases of corona at this point so the risk of getting infected is still pretty low.  The bigger concern was that if our ship had passengers on board with stamps from Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India, it would be harder for us to port in future locations, particularly if the number of cases in those locations grows as time passes. Our ship is now in route to the Seychelles (islands off the east coast of Africa) where we will port for 4 days before heading to Mauritius. This was a tough decision for the shipboard community with a variety of impacts. Many voyagers were really looking forward to India specifically (it’s INDIA, and the Taj Mahal is a big destination for people). Some people (our family included) had already dropped lots of money in India or Malaysia to pay for plane tickets or lodging. In most cases, there is no way to recuperate this loss. Other people were meeting family members or friends in those ports. The saddest story I heard was a student who was traveling to India to visit his family (he hadn’t seen them in over 5 years). In addition to all of that, the faculty/staff/field office have to revamp curriculum, field classes, and field programs that were originally scheduled to be held in China, Malaysia, or India. This change has been a logistical and emotional kick in the pants for everyone on board.

The first day with that knowledge was pretty rough for the shipboard community. At the same time, it’s hard not to feel like a total asshole when saying something like “we’re heading to the Seychelles (for the record a place that has the most beautiful beaches on earth), but I’m super bummed about missing India, China, and Malaysia. Saying this out load makes me feel like an entitled baby, considering that most humans on planet earth will never travel out of their own country ONCE, let along to multiple countries on a ship circumnavigating the globe. We were lucky bastards for getting this opportunity to sail with SAS and we’re still lucky bastards.

As for the impacts on our family specifically, we are doing just fine, better than fine, really. Chris is getting pounded in the counseling center as a result of the itinerary change and the stress it is causing for students (he’s been working hard from day one). Malaysia was Chris’s most anticipated port (he loves the beaches in South East Asia) and we had prepaid for a sweet set up in the northern part of the Malay peninsula. It seems to me that Seychelles will fit the bill for some beautiful beach time and it might be hard to pull him from the islands. As for the J-L kiddos, they are doing just fine. Aside from prep we did with the kids in relation to China/Malaysia/India prior to the voyage (reading, etc.) they weren’t super invested in any particular itinerary. Their expectations are not quite as concrete compared to most adults. And me, well, I am doing my best to be positive and listen to the students who are struggling. In my leadership class we took a full class period to apply a process we learned from the Personal Leadership book we are reading to the itinerary change as a way to work through our feelings and judgements and engage creativity when moving forward. We are ok, and most folks here are now ok (we are 48 hours out from the initial news).

One last thing I want to share about Semester at Sea and Corona virus: This is not the first time that a voyage has had a major itinerary change. The “SARS voyage” is still discussed, with a lot of comparisons to this voyage. On another voyage, the ship hit land and they docked the ship in Egypt, loaded students into hotels, finished the academic curriculum and sent people off. Game over. I have two students in one of my classes whose parents sailed in 1991 and were rerouted to the Seychelles as a result of the Gulf War. There is some comfort knowing that we are not in uncharted territory with regard to our Semester at Sea experience and that although different, ours is a true and authentic Semester at Sea voyage.

I have two more posts coming soon including reflections from Vietnam and also reflections from our Sea Olympics day yesterday.  I continue to be extremely grateful for our time at sea.

Cheers, Dr. JJJ

2.4.2020 Approaching Ho Chi Min City

Random musings from JJJ as we approach Vietnam

·        We are about 4 hours away from setting foot in Ho Chi Min City (HCMC), Vietnam. This leg has been longer than expected due to the itinerary change, eliminating China from our lists of ports. When we arrive in HCMC, we will have spent 6 days on land out of the last 34. 

·        At my core, I am a learner. Starting my day with Global Studies is something that makes me so deeply happy, I almost cried yesterday. The lecturers are engaging, informative, and have provided so much useful context to my world travels. 

·        I feel like I have a different professional identity on the ship than I do at home.  I am getting valued and appreciated for roles that I don’t typically play at CSU and doing less of things that might otherwise focus on at home. Some of this has to do with the unique needs and context of the ship environment compared to CSU. Some of it has to do with me feeling more willing to take a risk in an environment that feels fundamentally “lower stakes” than at home.

·        One of the highlights of this week was a showing of the movie Get Out as a kick-off to Black History Month.  We did a panel at the end, and our SAS Filmmaker talked through the foreshadowing, music, and other aspects of the film. My mind got blown. It reminded me of being at Sundance. Plus, it was so fun to watch it with hundreds of students shouting and cheering during the most intense parts of the film. 

·        Certain groups of students are really struggling. Some of the Black students on the voyage experienced outright discrimination in Japan and the shipboard community can be pretty isolating for them, too. Socioeconomic differences seem magnified here, too. In Vietnam, some students are booking $7 a night hostels while others are securing $5000 per week mansions. Financial differences are in your face and a part of daily life here. Finally, with the pool deck and bikinis everywhere, plus eating together at every meal, body image has also been a struggle for some students.  

·        I feel like I am making so many new friends including both students and staculty. It’s super energizing and fun. Last night after a late meeting, Chris and I cruised over to the Fritz Bar (staculty only) and hung out for a while. We laughed and laughed with our fellow voyagers. I feel so lucky that we are going to have so many new friends to visit around the United States/world plus a few new Fort Collins BFFs, too. 

·        Vietnam awaits. By all measures Vietnam is a pretty remarkable place. One of the things we are focusing on in Global Studies is the question of “How can one live ‘the good life’ without killing the planet?” In most situations, countries that meet quality of life standards for their people (like the U.S. and many places in Europe) grossly overuse environmental resources. Places that live sustainably (mostly poor countries around the world) tend not to provide very good quality of life for their people.  Vietnam happens to the one exception to that rule on the planet!  Most quality of life indicators point to a healthy, happy, and thriving society in Vietnam, ALL while doing it sustainably. I am anxious to get there myself and take it all in! 

·        This port offers my first field class with the Chapman Impact Cohort. I’ll be traveling to Cambodia for 3 days with a group of 21 students to learn about Friends International, a local nonprofit. This is a fabulous group of students (they remind me a lot of CSU alternative break groups – badass, fun, engaged students) and I am looking forward to our journey together. 

·        I have thought a lot about my parents’ generation and how the Vietnam/American War shaped their lives, the culture in the United States, and by proxy my own life. I’ve thought about my dad, who read anti-war essays on the Iowa State radio station, and what he would think about his grandkids setting foot in Saigon 50 years later. I am filled with gratitude.

Adventure awaits! Signing off from the South China Sea,

Dr. JJJ