Important Update

Hey, so I got on the ship and got myself situated. My roomate seems really nice and the cabin is comfortable. I came back off the ship a) to take advantage of the free internet at the hotel lobby and b) to spend some time with my parents before I leave. I'll post more about the ship, my classes, itinerary, etc. on the boat but I wanted to post my new email that they gave me. Its " Cxmayuga@semesteratsea.net " and that is free for me to use (regular internet is charged). If you want a postcard or something, email me your address there. Next time I update this I'll probably be on the ship.

Canada and Etc.

Lobster at a restaurant
View from boat in lake
I'm writing this the night before I leave in the hotel lobby next to the dock where the ship is. Again, this is really a brief description of the past few days and not the whole picture.
Since I last wrote, we successfully got into Canada via the NY to Toronto to Halifax flight. We
spent one night in Halifax and the next morning drove up north a couple hours to what is called Cape Breton where we stayed in a scenic hotel next to Bras d'Or lake. The first day (24th) we visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum (he moved here after inventing the telephone) and then took a short boat ride around one of the islands in the lake at dusk. The next day (25th) we went to the French fort called Louisburg which also served as a port during the 18th century. Our last whole day in Cape Breton we spent hiking a trail to a tall waterfall with a name that translated to "Whisky Falls" and poking around town. While driving to and from Cape Breton,
I realized that it looks a lot like the midwest (if you've been there), except a way nicer version
in which everything is cleaner and less poverty.

Here's the link for my Canada pictures- " http://s907.photobucket.com/albums/ac278/Cxmayuga/ ". I'll try and get most of them on Photobucket. As for pictures
from other countries I will try to post as many as I can but mainly just the ones with scenic content.My internet on the ship is very limited and I only have an allotted time to be on. So I will probablybe on the internet for a little bit to update the blog, upload pictures to photobucket, and check emails.I really wanted to be more descriptive with these first few entries, but so far they're just crappy summaries of whats been going on. Hopefully when I get everything sorted out/set up I can make the blog more interesting.
This is all very last minute btw so there's probably a lot of errors everywhere.

So far, so bad

We woke up today, Saturday 21, and got to the airport, got checked in and through security w/o any problems. We boarded our flight to JFK airport in NY and got there on time. Everything was fine until our flight from NY to Halifax was canceled due to the Hurricane Bill threat. So we try and find our luggage and it isn't at baggage claim. We decided to go to customer service to see if we could find a new flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia in the meantime. WE eventually find one but for some reason they leave my name off the check-in so we still have to get that sorted out tomorrow(22nd). So we're stuck in NY till tomorrow when we fly to Toronto which is west (yes, we are backtracking some couple hundred miles) and then back east from Toronto to stormy Nova Scotia. Hopefully this isn't an early indication of how the rest of my trip will be.
On the bright side... JFK, though its staff is horrible, actually has interesting architecture that looks like the inside of a circus tent... on steroids. Also, as I was getting off the plane and into the terminal, my near ADD mind saw this cool effect that was a projected image of a fishtank on a wall that if you walk past it it ripples like water(I have a picture but it turned out poorly). Hopefully next time I write here I'll be in Nova Scotia, away from hurricanes, and not dead.

Testing adding images

This is a map of Nova Scotia up in eastern Canada which is where I am flying Saturday morning. (I mainly put this up to test adding images). The ship, the MV Explorer, is docked up here. I depart from the port in Halifax (the capital), Nova Scotia on August 28th which gives me about 5 or 6 days to tour around Nova Scotia. What is there to do in Nova Scotia? I'll tell you when I get there. Wikipedia didn't tell me much. I know they have lobsters and good seafood so guess that'll be fun... I guess.

Intro/Figuring this out

This blog is meant to tell about my experience studying abroad throughout the world on the Semester at Sea program. This is my first blog and I meant to have this set up and ready before I leave but here it is one day before I have to leave and I'm trying to get this set up still. I'm not so much concerned about the look and layout, but more that it actually works and I can upload photos of my trip and keep everyone updated. There's two possible outcomes for this blog within the next few months- I keep my blog up to date and it ends up really nicely... or I get really lazy and stop blogging. Chances are I'll have a lot that I'll want to write about.
First off, the name was something last minute and since 'The Scenic Route' was already taken, the computer suggested I add my initials (CXM) and there you go.
I am a junior at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks California. My major is multimedia and I spend my time playing Rugby and video games. This upcoming Fall 2009 semester I decided to study abroad through the Semester at Sea program. For those that don't know what SAS is, it is a unique study abroad program in which a cruise ship has been converted into a 'floating campus' and about 800 students attend classes aboard the ship for one semester. The ship sets a course all the way around the world, visiting different countries' ports along the way. The ship changes its route every semester. I'll go into my itinerary, classes, schedules, etc. in later posts and more about how the program works and other details.
Note: I'm not sure how this post is going to look- this is more of a test than an actual post. I'm going to try to keep my posts somewhat short so people don't get bored, but still try and make them descriptive. Chances are people will probably just look at the pictures I post. I know I would.