Days 3 and 4 at sea were filled with a complete ton of chaos. Not only
was it our first two days of classes, but it was also our two pre-port
days for Dominica. Basically, the way classes run here is that there are
A days and B days, and classes can run on any and all days of the week.
So, our first day of classes just happened to be a Saturday. On A days I
have two classes: History of Modern China and Mass Movement Media. On B
days, the first of which was a Sunday, I have Sociology of Marriage and
Family and Global Studies. Global Studies is a course required by all
voyagers.
History of Modern China is a course taught jointly by two professors, a
historian from the United States, and a Political Scientist from China.
This is the last class I need towards my major, and I was really excited
because of the potential it had. However, so far I have been rather
disappointed. The two professors do not seem very excited to be here,
the required FDPs seem completly irreveloent (each course has two
required FDPs in various countries - and for some reason I have yet to
figure out these FDPs for History of Modern CHINA are in Singapore and
South Africa) and the homework load is almost insurmountable. Seriously,
like more than I have had in four years of college and probably drier
than any content I've ever read. Also, the lectures have so far been
less of learning and more of struggling to stay awake (so far, so good,
but barely). Dain was in this class with me, our only one together, but
since it isn't required for his major he jumped on the opportunity to
switch out. I would if I could, too. It's so disappointing because
honestly if a history major can't find joy in a history class while
sailing around the world, it can't be good. Everyone I have talked to
taking any of these professors classes seem to also agree.
The rest of my classes, however, are quite enjoyable. Social Movement
Media is the first class I have ever taken in communications. It makes
me kind of worried since I am jumping right into an upper division,
3000-level course, but so far I am really interested in what we have
been discussing. It's basically about alternative movements and media
sources, and our FDPs involve visiting local college radios and
independent newspapers and the like. My professor has quite a resume,
having taught literally all over the world, and I feel very lucky to be
experiencing such a course.
Sociology of Marriage and Family is, hands down, the most enjoyable of
the three courses I chose on my own. We are studying different practices
of family structures, systems of marriage and doing case studies of
small groups of countries we will be visiting. My professor is from
Cornell, and this is her 4th voyage with SAS! She seems to really have
the ropes down and is very engaging and passionate about her subject.
She also really makes an effort to get to know her students, offering
lunch sessions and encouraging class discussion. I think this class will
be a favorite.
Global Studies...the required course. Some people might hate it, but I
happen to really love it. Of course, part of that comes from my passion
for history and another part comes from already knowing a lot of the
course content from taking 4 years of college history courses, but I am
even enjoying doing the reading because it really is very engaging and
interesting. My professor is also extremely passionate about the
subject. Something different for me though is that this is truly my
first college lecture hall experience. One of the few things I have
always enjoyed about Salem State is the lack of large classes. I think
my biggest college class has probably been around 25 students, but I
have had classes with as few as 7. Global Studies has 300. Quite the
difference. And it's a very weird thing to come across in a final
semester. It's kind of funny because I'll mention that to other people,
and most seem to think it is strange to have mostly smaller classes, but
I guess it is all relative on what you are used to. I do think I will
continue to enjoy this class, and I also think I'll be doing pretty well
grade-wise, which is always a bonus :).
Two days before we arrive in port, we have what is called a Cultural
Preport Meeting. This is voluntary, and is basically a lecture about the
culture of the country we are about to visit. I plan on goign to all of
these, especially seeing how informative and helpful the one on Dominica
was. The night before we port, we have a mandatory legistacial preport.
This basically goes over all of the SAS trips, contact information, dock
times and things like that. So on our first A day, I finished classes at
3:30, sat outside and basked in the crisp 90 (i am guessing) degree
January heat, and started my immense about of history homework until
2000 when I went to preport. The next day was rather similar, except
that I am in class only from 8am to 1035am on B days! It's kind of nice,
but it stinks to get up so early. Especially because of all the time
changes. Our first time change was on this first B day, where we jumped
forward an hour. Since we are traveling in this direction, we have time
advances every few hours. Eventually, this will lead to having a day
twice (April 20th) while heading from Japan to Hawaii, but until then we
loose precious sleep. It may seem like living on a ship I have all the
time in the world to do homework and sleep and play games and hang out,
but truthfully, that is SO far from the truth. I barely have time to do
anything, and for the first time in my life I am actually BEHIND on
homework. I'll talk about this more in my "life at sea" post that is
upcoming, but these first two days weren't just two classes and a
meeting each, but a whole lot more, contributing to what I feel will be
a semester of complete exhaustion..that is worth every second.
Friday, January 27, 2012
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