Jan 12.
NOTE: this post was written about a week ago but didnt manage to make its way to my blog page. Sorry the chronological order has been ruined.
My room is a little tiny but definitely doable. Most rooms have a corner dresser with a TV and fridge at the foot of one bed and a corner desk and chair at the foot of the other. Our room basically has the wall of the closet directly against the foot of one bed and the wall of the bathroom against the foot of the other. Id say it’s a good 6 feet shorter than the other rooms on deck 2 (at least the outside ones). In between the 2 beds there is a pretty nice sized dresser type deal with the fridge in the middle, three drawers on either side and a good bit of desk space on top. The tv is mounted to the wall above my bed and that’s pretty much all the furniture we have. The’re are 2 closets, one with a place to hang clothes, (about 4 ft wide) and a smaller one (2 ft) with shelves. The larger closet has a space up top with our lifejackets, and a sliding shoe rack on the bottom. I was able to fit my shoes on the rack, which is really convenient, and then used the hanging organizer I brought for undershirts, socks and random stuff. The closet is pretty deep and I’m using a big space saver bag as a dirty clothes bag. There are also some hooks on the back of the closet door, which is nice for belts and towels and stuff. In the other closet I took half the shelves for my shirts, shorts and underwear. The space under the bed is actually pretty nice. I fit my 2 big duffels, some extra clothes, and my overnight pack and still have plenty of room for stuff ill buy along the way. The bed isn’t too bad; a little stiff but at least long enough for me to stretch out all the way. The bathroom is tiny, but at the same time plenty big, and the shower was surprisingly nice. I made a cool video, MTV Cribs style, which I will try to post eventually.
Today I had to get up at around 6am to grab breakfast, and make it to a meeting at 7 for the work-study kids. The other students, around 500, started arrive at eight. I was stationed inside the Union and was responsible for giving everyone their name cards. This was sweet because I got to meet everyone and find out where they were from. This was inside and not outside in the heat, and the other student who worked with me was pretty cool. There were 2 girls from UMD who I didn’t know and I probably talked to around 25 people with mutual friends and/or who were from Maryland. One of the professors on the ship is a professor at UMD and actually lives in Cambridge around 8 blocks from my house, but I had never heard of him before.
I got off work around 2 and spent the rest of the day meeting my roommate, setting up my email and internet, doing the life boat drill, and getting dinner. The food isn’t bad here but I definitely see it becoming repetitious in about a week. The water also tastes terrible but I’ll learn to cope. One thing good that can be said is that the crew certainly treats us like valued customers. Our plates are cleared for us, drinks are brought to our tables, and of course the giant chandeliers don’t hurt the fancy mood.
My roommate is Wade Wisler and he’s from Pennsylvania and goes to school in Scranton. No, he does not know Michael Scott. He seems like a really solid guy and I don’t expect drunkenness or rowdiness to be an issue. Im actually really excited we got matched up, and I think it will be fun sharing the tiny space we have.
It’s around 1900 now and we are set to depart in around an hour, so Im already posted up on the top deck overlooking the water typing this now. We have a few more meetings tonight and then have orientation all day tomorrow, with classes starting the next day (Friday). Itll be pretty crazy actually pulling away from land in a bit. Im sure there is some appropriately cheesy quote about starting a life adventure, but I kind of like not having words to describe my experiences. I try my best to communicate whats going on, but I’m not expecting to become Maryland’s next poet laureate.
Take it easy.
-Ben
Note: I’m finding it kind of tough to spilt up my thoughts between my handwritten journal, emails to my parents and my blog so this last post is a combination of all of them. We’ll see if that is the pattern Ill follow in the future but for now it seems to be working. Let me know if I get too personal.
More Important Note:
My new email is bcgarbus@semesteratsea.net. Send a brotha a message.
NOTE: this post was written about a week ago but didnt manage to make its way to my blog page. Sorry the chronological order has been ruined.
My room is a little tiny but definitely doable. Most rooms have a corner dresser with a TV and fridge at the foot of one bed and a corner desk and chair at the foot of the other. Our room basically has the wall of the closet directly against the foot of one bed and the wall of the bathroom against the foot of the other. Id say it’s a good 6 feet shorter than the other rooms on deck 2 (at least the outside ones). In between the 2 beds there is a pretty nice sized dresser type deal with the fridge in the middle, three drawers on either side and a good bit of desk space on top. The tv is mounted to the wall above my bed and that’s pretty much all the furniture we have. The’re are 2 closets, one with a place to hang clothes, (about 4 ft wide) and a smaller one (2 ft) with shelves. The larger closet has a space up top with our lifejackets, and a sliding shoe rack on the bottom. I was able to fit my shoes on the rack, which is really convenient, and then used the hanging organizer I brought for undershirts, socks and random stuff. The closet is pretty deep and I’m using a big space saver bag as a dirty clothes bag. There are also some hooks on the back of the closet door, which is nice for belts and towels and stuff. In the other closet I took half the shelves for my shirts, shorts and underwear. The space under the bed is actually pretty nice. I fit my 2 big duffels, some extra clothes, and my overnight pack and still have plenty of room for stuff ill buy along the way. The bed isn’t too bad; a little stiff but at least long enough for me to stretch out all the way. The bathroom is tiny, but at the same time plenty big, and the shower was surprisingly nice. I made a cool video, MTV Cribs style, which I will try to post eventually.
Today I had to get up at around 6am to grab breakfast, and make it to a meeting at 7 for the work-study kids. The other students, around 500, started arrive at eight. I was stationed inside the Union and was responsible for giving everyone their name cards. This was sweet because I got to meet everyone and find out where they were from. This was inside and not outside in the heat, and the other student who worked with me was pretty cool. There were 2 girls from UMD who I didn’t know and I probably talked to around 25 people with mutual friends and/or who were from Maryland. One of the professors on the ship is a professor at UMD and actually lives in Cambridge around 8 blocks from my house, but I had never heard of him before.
I got off work around 2 and spent the rest of the day meeting my roommate, setting up my email and internet, doing the life boat drill, and getting dinner. The food isn’t bad here but I definitely see it becoming repetitious in about a week. The water also tastes terrible but I’ll learn to cope. One thing good that can be said is that the crew certainly treats us like valued customers. Our plates are cleared for us, drinks are brought to our tables, and of course the giant chandeliers don’t hurt the fancy mood.
My roommate is Wade Wisler and he’s from Pennsylvania and goes to school in Scranton. No, he does not know Michael Scott. He seems like a really solid guy and I don’t expect drunkenness or rowdiness to be an issue. Im actually really excited we got matched up, and I think it will be fun sharing the tiny space we have.
It’s around 1900 now and we are set to depart in around an hour, so Im already posted up on the top deck overlooking the water typing this now. We have a few more meetings tonight and then have orientation all day tomorrow, with classes starting the next day (Friday). Itll be pretty crazy actually pulling away from land in a bit. Im sure there is some appropriately cheesy quote about starting a life adventure, but I kind of like not having words to describe my experiences. I try my best to communicate whats going on, but I’m not expecting to become Maryland’s next poet laureate.
Take it easy.
-Ben
Note: I’m finding it kind of tough to spilt up my thoughts between my handwritten journal, emails to my parents and my blog so this last post is a combination of all of them. We’ll see if that is the pattern Ill follow in the future but for now it seems to be working. Let me know if I get too personal.
More Important Note:
My new email is bcgarbus@semesteratsea.net. Send a brotha a message.
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