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<h1>Semester at Sea<big><b>®</b></big></h1>
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During the fall semester of 1984, when I was a senior at the
University of Colorado in Boulder, I participated in a program called
Semester at Sea<big><b>®</b></big>
<p>
<table border=2 align=center cellpadding=2>
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<td>
"Semester at Sea" is a registered trademark of the Institute
for Shipboard Education<big><b>®</b></big>
<!-- <p> I was told that I have to make you aware of this or I would not be
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<p>
which consisted of travelling around the world on a ship named the
S.S. Universe and taking college classes, most of which had something to teach
us about the cultures we encountered during the voyage. Our ports of call
were
<ul>
<li> Kobe, Japan
<li> Pusan, Korea
<li> Keelung, Taiwan
<li> Hong Kong
<li> Colombo, Sri Lanka
<li> Bombay, India<sup>*</sup>
<li> Alexandria, Egypt
<li> Istanbul, Turkey
<li> Piraeus, Greece
<li> Cadiz, Spain
</ul>
<!--<p>
<table border=2 align=center cellpadding=2>
<caption align=bottom>Ports of Call for the Fall 1984 Voyage</caption>
<tr><td align=center>Kobe, Japan
<tr><td align=center>Pusan, Korea
<tr><td align=center>Keelung, Taiwan
<tr><td align=center>Hong Kong
<tr><td align=center>Colombo, Sri Lanka
<tr><td align=center>Bombay, India<sup>*</sup>
<tr><td align=center>Alexandria, Egypt
<tr><td align=center>Istanbul, Turkey
<tr><td align=center>Piraeus, Greece
<tr><td align=center>Cadiz, Spain
</table>-->
<p>
<sup>*</sup>We never made it to India since Indira Gandi was
assassinated while we were in Sri Lanka. We spent extra time in Sri
Lanka and one day in Crete instead.
<p>
Once we arrived in a port, classes were adjourned for the duration of
our stay and we were free to travel wherever we wished and could
afford to go. There were pre-arranged trips which cost varying
amounts which we could sign up for, a certain number of which we were
required to take, but most of the time our travel was entirely up to
us. I tended to focus on points of cultural, historical,
archeological, and naturalistic interest. The following lists some
highlights from my experiences.
<ul>
<li>Japan
<ul>
<li>Tokyo and Mt. Fuji via Shinkansen (Bullet Train).
<li>Toured Kyoto alone on foot.
</ul>
<li>Korea
<ul>
<li>Historical sites of interest in Kyongju.
</ul>
<li>Taiwan
<ul>
<li>National Museum.
</ul>
<li>Hong Kong
<ul>
<li>Travelled to Shanghai and Hangzhou in People's Republic of China.
<li>Toured a nature reserve in Hong Kong.
</ul>
<li>Sri Lanka
<ul>
<li> Visited excavations of the ancient kingdoms of Sri Lanka.
<li> Toured the two wildlife refuges of Sri Lanka.
</ul>
<li>Crete
<ul>
<li>Toured the ruins of what is thought to have inspired the myth of
Atlantis.
</ul>
<li>Egypt
<ul>
<li>Toured the ruins in Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.
<li>Visited the pyramids in Giza.
</ul>
<li>Turkey
<ul>
<li>Took a cruise in the Sea of Marmara on the University of Istanbul's
oceanographic research vessel.
<li>Visited the Blue Mosque.
</ul>
<li>Greece
<ul>
<li>Visited the ruins at Corinth, Mycenae, and the Theatre at Epidauros.
<li>Toured the Acropolis in Athens.
<li>Travelled to the island of Santorini which is thought to be the
site of the volcanic explosion that destroyed Atlantis.
</ul>
<li>Spain
<ul>
<li>Visited Sevilla.
</ul>
</ul>
<p>
Classes were interesting and the faculty were very good. A new
faculty was hired every term and there was fierce competition for the
faculty positions. I took elective classes in ethnomusicology,
cultural anthropology, and marine biology. All students were required
to take the core course which gave cultural and historical information
about the ports of call. The professors were quite well-known in
their fields. I took cultural anthropology from Ed Norbeck, who was
one of the founders of the field of the anthropology of play, marine
biology from Lorus and Margarie Milne, a husband and wife team from
the University of New Hampshire who had done photographic work for
National Geographic, and ethnomusicology from
<a href="http://www.asu.edu/cfa/music/sub/academ/faculty/solis.html"
target="_blank">Ted Solis</a>, a specialist in the field. The courses
were very engaging. By working very hard while we were at sea, I made
sure that I didn't have any school work to do while we were in port.
Working hard while we were at sea also helped pass the long days of
confinement on the ship.
<p>
It didn't take long to make friends on the ship. I met Jeff in
Boulder in the few weeks before leaving and, after the first week or
so, I met Luke and Chris. Most of my travelling was done with these
three or with subsets of our group. Occasionally, other people joined
us and sometimes I travelled alone. We'd usually plan where we were
going before arriving at a port using the extensive schedules and
travel books available on the ship. Sometimes it was important to
book flights or other modes of transportation from the ship before
arriving in a country. As you might imagine, we had many adventures,
some incredible, some less than inspiring, and some incredibly
embarrassing. Follow the links below to read about some of the more
notable examples.
<p>
<table align=center cellpadding=2 border=2>
<caption align=bottom>Some of Mark, Luke, Chris and Jeff's Adventures
</caption>
<tr><th align=center><b>Title</b><th align=center><b>Description</b>
<tr>
<td align=center>Up in Seattle
<td align=center>I visit my first mysterious city.
<tr>
<td align=center>
<a href="contact.html">First Contact: Arrival in Japan</a>
<td align=center>We make our first landing in a foriegn place and have a
little trouble reading signs.
<tr>
<td align=center><a href="expect.html">Exactly What You'd Expect</a>
<td align=center>Tokyo, Kyoto, and Luke and Chris experience fine dining
in Japan.
<tr>
<td align=center><a href="what.html">What's This?!?</a>
<td align=center>Luke and Mark enjoy coffee in Istanbul.
<tr>
<td align=center>The Way Home
<td align=center>We head for Florida and home.
</table>
<p>
Below are a few of my favorite photos from this trip. (And, "yes", I
did take all of these myself.)
<p>
<hr>
<p>
<table align=center cellpadding=0 border=1>
<caption align=bottom>This picture was taken early in the morning in
Hangzhou, China on the way to a tour of the silk factory.</caption>
<tr>
<td align=center>
<a href="images/china2.jpg">
<img src="images/china3.jpg"
alt="[Reflections of people through the mist]"></a>
</table>
<p>
<hr>
<p>
<center>
<table align=center cellpadding=0 border=1>
<caption align=bottom>These shots show the S.S. Universe docked in Hong Kong
Harbor. They are essentially the same shot taken from across the water on
Victoria Peak a few hours apart.</caption>
<tr>
<td align=center><a href="images/hk4.jpg">
<img src="images/hk6.jpg" alt="[The ship during the day]"></a>
<td align=center><a href="images/hk3.jpg">
<img src="images/hk5.jpg" alt="[The ship at night]"></a>
</table>
</center>
<p>
<hr>
<p>
<table align=center cellpadding=0 border=1>
<caption align=bottom> King's Concubines in the Palace at Anuradhapura,
Sri Lanka </caption>
<tr>
<td align=center><a href="images/srilanka.jpg">
<img src="images/srilank2.jpg" alt="[Concubines]"></a>
</table>
<p>
This painting was part of the dwelling of the King's concubines in the
palace of the first king of Sri Lanka in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It
was painted in the neighborhood of 10,000 years ago on the side of the
cliff that served as the foundation for the palace. The palace was
constructed in the shape of an enormous lion and visitors entered
through the mouth. The paintings endured the intervening centuries due
to their placement underneath a rock overhang which protected them
from rain. A British soldier spotted the paintings around the turn of
the century as he was riding by on horseback and the British colonial
government began excavations soon after.
<p>
<hr>
<p>
<table align=center cellpadding=0 border=1>
<caption align=bottom>Man fishing in the harbor at Istanbul on the misty
morning we arrived.</caption>
<tr>
<td align=center><a href="images/istnbul3.jpg">
<img src="images/istnbul5.jpg" alt="[Man and boat in a sea of light]"></a>
</table>
<p>
<hr>
<p>
<table align=center cellpadding=0 border=1>
<caption align=bottom>Sunset over a Mosque in Istanbul</caption>
<tr>
<td align=center><a href="images/istnbul4.jpg">
<img src="images/istnbul6.jpg" alt="[Sunset over the mosque]"></a>
</table>
<p>
This sunset in Istanbul was one of the many spectacular sunsets that
we experienced on our journey.
<p>
<hr>
<p>
<table align=center cellpadding=0 border=1>
<caption align=bottom>Greek Peloponnesus looking Southeast toward the Greek
Islands</caption>
<tr>
<td align=center><a href="images/greece2.jpg">
<img src="images/greece3.jpg" alt="[Islands in the distance]"></a>
</table>
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This page and all pages and photographs on mark-a-martin.us are<br>
© 1994-2004 Mark A. Martin,<br>
except where indicated. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
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<a href="mailto:mark@mark-a-martin.us">
Mark A. Martin <mark@mark-a-martin.us></a>
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Last modified: Tue Jul 25 16:50:09 CDT 2000
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