At sea

What are the pleasures of the voyage?

The ship experience.  Being rocked to sleep, looking out at the ever changing sea and sky.  This morning the sea was fairly dark, with a few low whitecaps, and there were 3 layers of dramatic clouds -- with the waxing gibus moon.

Daily life.  No shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, or general maintenance activity.  No running around from place to place.  Go to the gym -- up 3 floors.  Library, computer room, and the union, up 2 floors.  dining rooms -- choice of 2, plus eating on the aft deck.  Health clinic, down 2 floors.  Forget something -- run back to the room.

Healthy living.  Fresh fruits and vegetables.  Fish every dinner.  Lots of stairs.  Treadmill (and other options).

Community living.  We are a self contained caring community.  Meals can be as leisurely as anyone would wish, and there are lots of interesting people to eat with every meal.  Nurse, doctor, resident advisers, trip planers, deans, 40 professors, slacker spouses, life-long learners, and 550 students.  Before each port, we hear many plans, and after, everyone has many experiences to share.

Honest work.  Teaching is meaningful, and the students are largely quite committed.  They appreciate getting to know faculty, and are open about sharing their experiences.  Psychology is a particularly relvant topic for these experiences.  Hard work, but rewarding.