Thursday, November 6 ("Hong Kong or New York?"/ Hong Kong): Another country: China. I looked out my window and saw tons and tons of tall buildings. Hong Kong could be mistaken for New York. I got dressed, ate breakfast, and went outside to look at all the tall, shiny buildings. Once the ship was cleared for disembarkation, several staff members debated how to explore the city. Earlier in the day I told Kesho I would go with her to see the big Buddha, ...

Tuesday, November 4 ("Passing Grade"/ sailing to China): My temperature was fine, so I can travel no problem. I am traveling through China with Curtis and Kedren, a student who tried to organize independent travel to The Great Wall. Kedren attempted to organize 20 students, but everyone in the group fell through. Initially I considered joining her independent group because the SAS trips were sold out. But as I thought about it I knew I would end up work...

Friday, October 31 ( "The Longest Day—EVER!"/ Phnom Penh, Cambodia): Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, was once considered one of the prettiest French built cities. When the Vietnam War spread to Cambodia, the city's population swelled with refugees, reaching nearly two million in early 1975. The Khmer Rouge took over the city in April 1975 and immediately forced the entire population into the countryside as part of a radical social program. During...

Monday, October 27 ("Avian Flu"/ sailing to Vietnam): During our team meeting Cindy told us all passengers would have their temperatures taken two nights before we arrive in Hong Kong. The Chinese Immigration Officials stated that anyone with a high temperature would not be allowed to disembark the ship. So Avian Flu and I meet again. At UMD we spent so much time discussing how to manage if a pandemic occurred...I thought it was behind me and here I am ...

Sunday, October 19 ("Now what?"/sailing to Malaysia): I received snail mail from Vernon and he sent me a few quotes with a nice card. I can't get away from my experiences in India…I've been thinking nonstop about my responsibility as a global citizen. It occurred to me that students may also be struggling to process their experiences just as much as I was, so I decided to write a note to everyone on our trip. I said to students: "Travel is fata...