Last Global Studies Part 1

In our last Global Studies class, several of us were asked to speak about the voyage.  We had 2 students and 2 faculty.  My assignment was to talk about what the voyage has meant to me as an individual.  I have written out the comments that I made and am including them here. They are long, so I'm putting them in several parts.

Before I decided to do this voyage, I read a suggestion to try something to get a flavor of the voyage to be sure I could handle it.  What could that possible be?  Stay on a rocking ship for a day?  Eat potatoes for a week?  NO, the suggestion was to go hang out late on a weekend night where students hang out, to eat in a student cafeteria every day for a week.  I work with students every day at home, so I was pretty sure I could do it.  I didn't realize at the time how different one weekend would be from several months.  So, here I am on a voyage whose theme is sustainability and whose subtheme it what?  Flexibility.

Fourteen weeks ago, I sood right here, introduced myself and invited you to come visit us in the library.  I introduced my friend the lion (hold up lion)  who would be watching over the library at night..  Then I stepped outside my comfort zone.  One of my goals for the voyage was to know 100 students by name by the end of the voyage. It helped to have several Kaitlyns, some Bens, and a few Emilys and Abbies. So, I started doing something I don't ordinarily do--asking people's names--some of you several times.  That was easier on the boat (pause so audience can correct me to say "ship") because I would feel creepy doing that back home.  I had already invaded your space somewhat when I joined the Voyage Facebook page and posted the weather for our ports.

It's interesting how some things can be perceived as acceptable in one place and not another.  That was an interesting realization that carried through the voyage.

How many of you have heard of muscle memory? (raise hand)  Muscle memory means that you perform an action so many times that you repeat it without thinking about it.  How many of you play golf or another sport that relies on muscle memory?  It becomes automatic.  How many of you have muscle memory that you would like to forget?  How do you get rid of that muscle memory?  Take a break from something for an extended period of time or re-program it by lots of practice.  I haven't played golf in 5 months.  I'm pretty sure my muscle memory is gone.  Hopefully, so is my slice.

I also think I have something that might be called bahavior memory.  I think that after a while we just behave certain ways automatically without thinking about it.  I typically don't interact with strangers, but another voyage goal was to talk to strangers in foreign countries.  In our first port, Hilo, I approached a stranger in a park and asked him about his island.  It turned out to be easy, and it helped that he was walking a dog, so I had a conversation starter.  I was off and running and found that I could do that.  In fact it was pretty interesting.  You are great at that, and I learned from many of you.  I also learned how kind it is when strangers in a strange place approach you and offer assistance.  I can't wait to try that with visitors back home.

Nancy and I joined you on FDPs and SAS trips and got to know you.  Most of us learned to be flexible on those trips when things didn't go quite as planned--late buses, schedule changes, traffic problems, etc.  I noticed that if we didn't adapt to those changes or griped, we were miserable, and I didn't enjoy being miserable.  That's when we started hearing the phrase "It's all good"--now one of my mantras.

I watched you in ports as you navigated your way--like throught the subway system in Japan, and I learned from you.  When it would have just been easier to stay on the ship, we all took some chances and went off the beaten track a little bit more.  I admit that it was sometimes terrifying, but there was also a little bit of an adrenaline rush.  I watched some of you do the same and grow, and we gave each other courage.  You gave me comfort when I was uneasy in a foreign port and I would randomly hear one of of you call out "Hey Warner".

How many of you have eaten something you never thought you would eat?  Me too--lots and some of it with my hands.  I didn't necessarily like all of it, but I became willing to try, and I found I really did like a lot of the different foods.

To be continued in part 2.