Getting Ready for Norway

Greetings friends! I hope that each of you are doing well and thanks to all of you who are following my adventures in Halifax. I have not been keeping on my blog as much as I would have liked, but we are officially on our way to Bergen, Norway. We are expected to arrive in port next Tuesday, June 24th. So for now, we are sailing the North Atlantic, where the water temperature is a very chilly 39 degrees. Life has been pretty busy the past four days, packed with lots of training/information/orientation/work and preparation

All 583 students arrived safely and soundly to the ship, although due to weather problems in New York, the captain had to push our departure time back two hours as there were students en route. When we sailed off last night, 31 students are currently sailing without any luggage; hopefully it will arrive safely in Norway. They all seem very excited and it was really great to meet them. I officially have 80 residents from all over the country, and so far, so good!

The students had a lot of ship orientatino all day today, so while they were reviewing some academic information, my friends David, Marco and I all snuck off the spa for a little "treat" to ourselves :) It was definitely worth it; Doug, you were so right!

Seas
Each Resident Director is in charge of anywhere from 62-88 residents. While in housing lingo we would typically place students on a “floor,” they are on a “sea” while on the ship. I have the Mediterranean and that’s pretty sweet considering we will be cruising around the Atlantic in late July-early August.

New Lingo
Front of ship=bow
Back of ship=aft
Starboard=right side of the ship
Port=left side of the ship

I figured out today that my room is on the port side of the ship and I have a gorgeous view.

So today, as I previously mentioned, was all business. There is a great deal of information to ingest in such a small amount of time; I would liken it to Hall Director training condensed into two solid days. That’s it—the students arrive on Sunday to board…I just can’t believe it. Our work study students arrived this evening and I was very pleased to see a familiar and smiling face. Amanda Werling, who worked as a RA last year, is joining us for the summer voyage. I also got to meet two of my residents, who are also in the work study program.

During orientation on Thursday, we found out some exciting news about trips that several faculty, staff and students have signed up while in port. I took advantage of purchasing some trips back in May and am pleased to announce that I am going to be BUSY! Staff and faculty can also serve as Trip Leaders and Bus Leaders for various trips. The bonus to that is that you get your trips for 50%--what a steal J Thus far, I have signed up to go on a hiking trip to Mt. Flørein in Norway, a cycling trip in Belgium, a ballet performance, Hermitage museum and city tour in St. Petersburg, a two day trip to Rome, and a two day trip to the site of Troy and Gallipoli in Turkey. I am pretty excited as I get to serve as trip and bus leaders for some of these adventures, which is fantastic! More spending money for me! I will keep you posted as these dates pop up throughout the summer. I will also be including pictures in the very near future. I have not gotten a lot of use out of my camera, just yet, but I think that will quickly change.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!