Just call me Captain Biebs--I'm ready to sail!

Greetings from the MV Explorer!

I am hoping to get these blogs up tomorrow, so please bear with me as I try to figure out internet on the ship.

Today was a great day! I started my day by sleeping in my super-comfy bed. I rolled out around 9 AM and started my first exploration of the great province of Nova Scotia. For anyone who has not been here, Halifax is absolutely gorgeous. The weather was not so cooperative today, but the images are just beautiful. I imagine that it’s pretty comparable to fishing/harbor towns in the northwest region of the U.S. I jaunted down to the pier and the first thing that emerged from the mist was the MV Explorer! And let me tell you what, this cruise ship is HUGE. I stared at it in wonder for a few seconds before snapping some pictures. I kept walking down the pier area just to take in the sights. The views reminded me a lot of back home in Marine City, where you can see Canada on the other side of the St. Clair river. To get to Halifax, you have to take the Angus McDonald bridge over the Halifax Harbor (which leads to the Atlantic Ocean), so when you look over the water while in Halifax, you see the city of Dartmouth and a very cute little island in the middle of the water and contains one house and a lighthouse. It was charming.

After further exploration, my stomach got the better of me and I went to find some food. After getting some yogurt at the local grocery store, I was headed back to the hotel when I noticed a Tim Hortons! Hooray!!! Folks, let me tell you, they are on every city block in Nova Scotia. After devouring a delicious chocolate chip muffin and some hot cocoa, I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the day’s festivities.

After checking out of my room promptly at noon, I had some time to kill before boarding the ship, so I sat in the lobby and read the Canadian national newspaper, the Globe and Mail. When the clock hit 1:15, I grabbed my bags, headed out the back door of the Westin and voila, I was at the cruise terminal in a matter of two minutes (and mind you this was walking in polka dot wedges) and boarded the ship!

My first stop was the Pursers Desk, where I received my ship ID. Once I received my ID. The Shipboard ID is very important as it is used to purchase items on the ship. Also, anytime I leave the ship or board the ship, I have to swipe my ID to be granted access on or off the ship. After getting my ID, I turned around to the Student Life desk and there was the whole Resident Director crew. There are eight of us total: Megan from Iowa, Kat from Indiana, Justin, Shauhin and Marco from California, and Laarni and David from New York. All good folks. I think that we are going to have a blast! Justin, Marco, David, Laarni and Kat all boarded in New York, so they had become my ship experts.

After a quick ship tour led by Justin, Kat took me to my cabin—by the way, I have a porthole—and I had some time to unpack. After unpacking, we had shipboard orientation at 4 PM (or 16:00 hours) with the Institute for Shipboard Education. We were introduced individually, and it was pretty cool to see how many children and spouses/partners were on board. We were also able to meet our captain and the part of the vessel’s crew. Some interesting facts that we found out about our students is that they total 583 from over 200 different colleges and universities. The top three schools sending students are the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado-Boulder. The most popular major on the ship is business administration, followed by undeclared. And the most staggering statistic of all—73% of the students are female and 27% are male. Watch out, boys!

After our orientation, we had a light reception and then dinner. After dinner, the RD crew and some of the Teaching Assistants went off the ship and headed down to the waterfront area for some ice cream at Cow Ice Cream…pretty cute place. After walking the pier, we went to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and then headed back to the ship. We all gathered later for a drink in the faculty/staff lounge and that it when I called it a night. We start training at 8 AM tomorrow morning, and for those of you who know me, I am not so much a night person, so that’s going to be a bit rough.

That’s all from today’s adventures, but it’s official…I am on the ship!