Last Global Studies Part 2

This continues Part one of my post on what the voyage meant to me.

How many of you got to know someone really well on this trip?  How many of you got to know yourself well?  We found out what we could tolerate, and then we learned that we could often tolerate even more.  How many of you saw someone on the ship and formed an immediate impression abut that person based on something like looks, dress, who they hung out with or something you heard them say.  I admit that I have done that, only to find out later that the person was totally different from what I had projected.  For example, I observed a faculty member at a dinner before the voyage, and based on his dress, I knew he would be stuffy and not someone I would be interested in getting to know.  Boy was I wrong, and fortunately, I got to know the real person and not the perceived person.  I found out it was easier to just meet the person, have a conversation and get to know them.  You all welcomed me at you tables at meals, and I learned to do the same and found most of you to be really incredible people.  We found that out just because we were willing to give each other a chance.

How many of you have watched a sunrise on this voyage?  Sunrises are great times for reflection and pondering.  And meeting people.  I've seen most of them.  How many of you are my sunrise acquaintances?  Thank you.  I will forever seek out sunrises as a result.

Back home, my evenings were centered around dinner, housekeeping and television.  On this voyage, they were centered around explorer seminars, the entertainment you provided, and conversations.  Conversations turned out to be the stuff that challenged me to think about why I believed or did not believe something or at least what the consequences were for holding certain beliefs.  A lot of questioning has gone on in my mind, and I can respect someone for holding a different belief even if I don't agree with it.  That behavioral memory is now a thing of the distant past.  I know that I will want to spend more time with people in the evenings when I am back home.

The interesting thing about meeting people is that I've always had a small group of friends, and I thought that was fine.  Even on the boat (pause) I somehow thought I had all the friends I needed, but on the trip to the Amazon this past week, I made some new friends that were really neat.  Now I wonder about those friends that I have not yet met.

Who has a really good story about a port or shipboard event?  I will now look at everything I do and see as a story in the making.  We've learned to tell those stories and to listen while others tell their stories.  I've learned to take pictures of you on the boat (pause), and many of you have appeared on my blog.  How many of you have heard from a parent or friend that they had learned something about the voyage from my blog?  I am now facebook friends with some of your parents. I have learned how important "keeping in touch" is to our friends and relatives, and you motivated me to keep up my blog.

What is one of the questions you ask yourself when deciding whether or not to do something?  The one I like from this voyage is "if I don't do this, will I regret it later?"  That extends from buying a t-shirt to speaking to someone to the ultimate one I asked myself about whether to take this trip.

Another question that I heard was from a group of school children in Nagarcoil, India.  They asked a group of us--"which country is better, India or America?"  One of the students in our group explained that neither is better--they are just different.  That stuck with me as another mantra that I will carry with me back home as I visit places and observe cultures.

This voyage has reset my behavior memory, so it is now ready to be built back. I can now say "ship" instead of "boat".  I'm hoping I get it right this time.

Finally, friend me, visit us, and use your librarians.