Stalkin' the Ship

It took me a little while to get my email figured out. I have come to realize that it does not work in our cabin, which is why I am sitting in the hallway outside our door doing this. Anyway we have orientation today and not much going on. I wanted to share a link that my dad emailed to me. Of course he would find this. Basically you can follow the ship and see where we are! http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/home?mmsi=311705000&centerx=-71.0297&centery=42.3433&zoom=10&type_color=6

Suite Life on Deck

Today we woke up and packed everything up to go down to catch our
shuttle outside of the hotel. We got our name tags and boarded the
shuttle around 8:45. It honestly looked like driving through New Jersey
for the hour and a half ride, lot of farms and cows. It wasn't a very
exciting ride until we got a first sight of the ship. We made it to the
docks around 10:15 and we were through security and were on the ship by
11. We went through check-in and then made it up to our room. We are all
the way at the end of the hall. The only room past us is an emergency
exit. The room is small, but not extremely, it is a nice size to live in
for 2 and a half months. Our luggage got here super fast so we were able
to unpack. No more living out of a suitcase for us. We met our neighbors
to the other side and they seem really nice. We had lunch and got our
email fixed and of course took a nap. Around 5 we had to gather in our
muster stations to practice an emergency drill. Those life jackets are
so attractive, at least they are my favorite color; orange. There we met
a lot more people. It is now 7:20 and we just finished dinner. The food
is buffet style, not that great but not terrible either. At 8 we have an
introduction meeting and the ship leaves at 9 tonight! Tomorrow we have
an orientation before classes start the next day. Once we leave tonight
we are on our way to our first port; Lisbon, Portugal!!

Taking on London!

After a much needed nap we got up and headed for the tube. We took the Piccadilly Line to Piccadilly Circus and basically walked and walked around London for 4 and a half hours. We had Swedish meatball sandwiches (our first food of the day besides our 7am in flight muffins). We wandered and took touristy pictures at phone booths and old buildings. We kept walking and found Big Ben and the London Eye, which was cool because we weren't really looking for it. We stopped so I could get an "I love London" tshirt and keychains (we want to collect one from each country). Of course we sat and people watched before heading a long way back to the Piccadilly Line. We stopped at a pharmacy and a food store and picked up some Europeanish candy. Like a Kit Kat with peanut butter?! So good. And of course croissants and I got blackcurrant juice which I loved the last time I was here. We didn't get lost at all and now we're back at the hotel to get ready for tomorrow!! 

What's Good London?

We made it to the airport yesterday and through security and on our night flight to London without any problems.The flight felt so long and we're so tired. We walked like 10 miles I think in the airport and terminals (maybe more, I'm probably exaggerating, but it never ended). And our bags are so heavy! It's only 10:50am right now so 5:50am at home. We are at the hotel and laying down. It is raining! So much for sunny and 70 :( Once we get energy I think we are going to adventure out into the city for a while before crashing for the night. Another long day ahead of us tomorrow!! See ya. 

Bye USA

I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW FAST IT HAS COME! I've always wanted to study abroad and now it's here. My flight leaves tonight at 7:30pm. While I'm so excited (why I'm doing this instead of sleeping) I'm also nervous. But who wouldn't be a little nervous?! I finished packing and got it all in one bag and at the right weight. So proud. I can't believe it's here. Just one more day of finishing last minute things before I'm off to the airport in the afternoon. It's been real TR!! This girl is going international! See you "across the pond" in London. 

Packing!

I am 3 days away from leaving! And almost over this cold that I got at the perfect time of course. I'm not that excited or nervous yet because it hasn't really hit me. I have always wanted to study abroad and I don't think it's actually going to hit me until I'm boarding the plane! It just doesn't feel real yet! 

Yesterday I began packing and hopefully today I will be (almost) finishing. Of course I am making a housewide mess. It's hard trying to pack your life into a bag. My next post probably won't be until I am either done packing or I'm on my way to the airport. That last sentence got me excited there. See ya! 

Contact Me Abroad!

So I am leaving in 12 days!!

There will plenty of ways to get in contact with me! These are in a random order as I think of them...

1. Download the app called What's App. It is free for a year and whenever and if I get WiFi I can use it to text you! (If you have an iPhone, I should be able to text or face time other iPhones as well as use social media if I get WiFi.)

2. E-mail me! My e-mail for the ship is: blaire.ennis.su14@semesteratsea.org. If you send to my school e-mail or personal e-mail address it will all be fowarded to that address, so hopefully I won't miss anything. 

3. I will have an international cell phone to call my family! So family and close friends, if you see a strange number at a weird hour of the day PICK UP!! 

4. Then there is my blog which you are on right now : http://blairealyson.blogspot.com/

You should add your e-mail and "follow" my blog so you will get an e-mail every time I make a new post!

5. (My favorite number) Google Doc! JoEllen and I have created a Google Doc that includes our entire schedule! So for our family and friends, feel to print it out or link it so you can see what we are doing each day!! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjstCmgVc-qrdG5Ed3NGVVl2MFB1ZEYzeHo0SnhqSmc&usp=sharing#gid=1

Hopefully the Google Doc and blog will be useful for communicating because along with traveling the world I will be trying to disconnect from the USA to immerse myself, as much as I can, in Europe and Scandinavia. So don't expect too many e-mails or social media updates! Follow me around instead!!