Day 62: Last Day of Classes

Today marked the last official day of classes.  It seems like we started so long ago but there has only been 22 days of actual class.  Tomorrow is the dreaded Global final which has many people pulling a pretty late night tonight.  The day after is a "study day" followed by our finals in other classes.  It's a relief to be almost done with school for the Summer but it plays into the overall bitter-sweet feeling as we near the end of the voyage.

Classes today focused on conclusions in terms of a "global perspective."  It sounds like a bunch of academic mush but it really makes all the difference when you get to apply a lot of this cultural reading and lecture to the actual ports (as we did the past 60 days).  I know I complained a lot about the many FDP papers and "reflections" but they are such an integral part of the program as it really gets you thinking.  Especially in the Summer where everything moves at warp speed, it's good to reflect on some the really profound things we've seen and done.  The afternoon was pretty typical; I hit the gym and did some studying.  I've been experimenting with group studying a bit more here; some of the history stuff is good to talk out a bit.  The evening was spent working thought the Global Studies curriculum with Mindy and a few others.  As time progressed and study burnout kicked in it was rather entertaining to see what strange tangential discussions arose, especially with the addition of caffeine.  My "sea" had a milk and cookie social tonight.  It's amazing how hard it was to find a decent cookie the past few months.

One of the things that has been a bit difficult through the voyage is keeping up musically.  I have my old marching clarinet here and have been getting it out occasionally to keep with with some technique, but I really miss the R-13.  I never realized how therapeutic regular practice was.  There's a bit of a void without the fun of chamber music and just being around a good music scene in general.  There's a few musicians on board I've talked with but it's so hard to find the time, resources, or location to put anything decent together.

I received my shuttle bus ticket from the port to the Norfolk Airport today and it was a surprising reminder of how we only have 5 days left.  It's going way too quick.  That's all for now, I should probably be well rested for a final tomorrow.