Spring 2015 - Day 17
The rocking has gotten out of control!!!
Ok, that may be an exaggeration but it was really intense today. It started out fine but by 10 o'clock the water had gotten pretty choppy. When I was on the bridge for a tour we were watching the ship skipping over the waves and it would slam back down on the ocean and the water would spray out of the sides. At one point we caught so much air that we almost lifted off the ground and felt weightless for a few moments. I learned later that we were going through 14ft swells.
Walking around the ship when it is like that is an interesting experience. When you go down stairs it can alternate between feeling like you are going to fly down the stairs, like there is nothing underneath your feet, to it being very difficult to lift your feet, like you are weighed down to the steps.
The choppiness also caused the ship to shake so the ceiling the vibrate and the walls will creak. Sometimes its hard to talk or hear anything, especially in the union. It certainly made class and cultural pre-port interesting.
The bridge tour was exactly like the one I took last time, they told us about all of the instruments. The different radars they have, the speaker system they use to communicate with everyone on the ship, the navigational system they use, and the different panels that let them know if a fire alarm is going off or a fire door closes. One person on our tour got in trouble for getting too close to the "panic" button. It's this big orange button right next to the steering wheel. Apparently he was yelled at because someone on Jessi and Annie's bridge tour actually pushed the button, which made the captain call the bridge. He wasn't too happy.
We got to take pictures with the captain's hat, just like before. Except this time we were not allowed to sit in the chair. It was roped off. Probably someone touched something they weren't supposed to and ruined it for everyone. Or maybe it was just too choppy.
I had to leave eventually, before it was actually over. The choppiness was just exhausting and I got a wicked headache in just the 10 minutes we were up there. I went on the tour with Stephanie and both of us just went back to our room and took a nap. On our way down from the bridge I asked the officer if he ever got seasick and he said no. Then I asked how long it took him to get used to it and in so many words he said that he had always been used to it, it never bothered him.
My nap was really needed, it was only about a half and hour but I felt more recovered from the sickness. I should have gone and gotten some meds and took them right then but I didn't think it was going to be so bad, I was wrong. I just kept feeling worse and worse.
I spent most of the afternoon napping, but I did complete my homework for drawing. We are learning how to organize a drawing so that it captures and keeps a views attention and is not stagnant and boring. For our homework we had to draw a picture that included:
A table
A chair
A window
A curtain
3 objects
1 cat
A part of a figure
3 clouds
And a mosquito.
The point was for us to draw, then erase, and re-draw. Multiple times if necessary to reorganize our picture.
Mine turned out alright, I went the unconventional route and made my mosquito be a large painting on the wall instead of a tiny bug.
In class we did an interesting assignment where we went and sat out in the piano lounge and then had to pick an area and draw the negative space. I did the snack bar, which was silly of me because it was very challenging. It turned out looking more like Manhattan than a snack bar. But according to my professor it really looked like I studied the shape of the negative space. So apparently I did it correctly.
I don't remember what I had for dinner. The entire evening is a blur of just feeling worse and worse. We had cultural pre-port in the Union and I had to leave part of the way through because I was feeling so sick. But I did learn some interesting things about Japan:
Japan has had a significant influence over all of the countries we are going to up to and including Burma. So China, Vietnam, and Singapore. At one point their empire covered 3 million square miles. It was the fastest assembled empire, taking only 50 years, from 1894 to 1942. It spread so quickly due almost exclusively to warfare.
The reason they sought to grow their empire so much is because Japan itself does not have any raw resources. Obviously, their expansion was one of the major contributors to WWII.
After WWII their GDP grew very quickly and they became powerful fast. How did they they grow so fast? They still had no resources and now had no colonies. Well, there were three major reasons why.
1. Their savings rate was incredibly high
2. They invested in factories and machinery. This technological advancement was key to their success.
3. The most important factor. After the war the cost of transportation dropped so low that they could import raw materials for almost as cheap as those who harvested them.
By the mid 80s they were predicted to surpass the U.S as the next super power. Then, they crashed. It was similar to the real estate crash in the U.S in 2008.
Their stock market dropped 63% in the first 2 years. Now they are resting at 1% of growth a year. They recovered but not back to the point they were at in the 80s.
Even though they crashed so hard, when it comes to their GDP, they are still right around Germany and are doing better than France.
After the history and economics lesson the music teacher told us about the music in Japan. They have their own kind of pop music called J-pop. They have bands like the Yellow Magic Orchestra and The Candies, both 80s bands. There is a 19 person boy band named Exile and a band called Acid Mothers Temple. There is also Finger 5, a Jackson 5 cover band. Besides J-pop they also have music subcultures like hip-hip and japa-reggae. He showed us videos of all of the bands and it was pretty fabulous.
It was right after the music presentation that I had to get up and leave. I felt awful and needed to be horizontal. I went and laid down on my bed and watched the rest of the pre-port from the TV in my room.
They ended with 12 things you need to know about Japan:
- It is free and safe. They have the same freedoms we do in the U.S but they also have the freedom from fear. They have the 2nd lowest violent crime rate in the world at .3.
- They are a transportation paradise…or hell. They have copious amounts of trains that are always on time but can be very crowded.
- Their pop culture is not bad
- Nor is their food and dining. They love presentation.
- They are a secular place with glorious shrines and temples
- They are densely populated with big cities. They have 850 people per square mile. But, if you take into account that most of the country is mountainous than they have 2500 people per livable square mile.
- They have a history of destruction, both human and nature
- The have close ties to America
- They have great baths and toilets. Many of their toilets are heated and taking a bath is treated as an event.
- There are too many old people and too few young. They live too long. The average lifespan for woman is 87 years and it is 80 years for men.
- Everyone goes to the Konbini, which is a convenience store. They love their convenience stores.
- Children matter, the Japanese love children!
I learned a lot about Japan in pre-port and I am really excited to go there and take in the culture. I am nervous for the language but I am sure it is going to be ok. I am traveling in a large group of people so we will figure it out and have each other for support.
After pre-port was over I went immediately to bed. I needed to sleep off the sea sickness. Only 1 more day till Japan!
