CURRENTS07

Home Sweet Home

Well here i am back at GNG NYC. Being back feels like i am in a dream. I really had the most amazing time traveling on SAS and working in the field for GNG. We met so many amazing people along the way who i will never forget. Some of my favorite moments were spent with students we met along the way who took us into their homes and shared their lives with us. I will also cherish the memories of all the fun times i had interacting with students, faculty, staff, life long learners and their partners who traveled on the ship with us.

I think the most important thing which i realized along the way is that the world isn't a big scary place. Everywhere is within our reach and people are warm, friendly and gracious on every corner of the earth.

Thanks everyone for tuning in for this GNG adventure!

Peace Out!
Joanna

Ps- The picture below was taken when Mark, Ben and I along with our SAS buddies caught up with the ship in Qingdao after disembarking in Hong Kong to travel to Beijing. After our travels in China there was no place like home...the MV EXPLORER.

The return of the cell phone and the Archbishop

The night before reaching Hawaii some students rediscovered the joys of cell phone service! Yes that’s right there we were cruising the Pacific not far from the shores of Hawaii and the decks were crowded with students cell phones in hand. They were everywhere! It felt funny at first but by the next morning I too found myself texting away!

So we landed in Hawaii very early in the morning. Went through the usual passport business and set up for our broadcast. Yes that’s right we did an early morning broadcast from the MV EXPLORER in Hawaii! The Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has been sailing with us graciously agreed to participate in the broadcast. So before heading to the beach we connected the Archbishop along with some SASers to students in the USA or shall I say continental USA. It was fabulous. What a man let me tell ya. The Archbishop lights up the room. He is so funny charismatic and a wonderful speaker. I feel really fortunate to have been a part of the broadcast. It was so amazing to watch him interact with the students and share his wisdom.

I spent the rest of my day lounging around Waikiki beach....but really Archbishop Tutu is the man!

-Joanna

KING OF BEEF

Kobe My Beef

I wanted a restaurant that would be able to serve me a small affordable piece of what I had been told was the best beef in the world. So much of the actual meal is the ambiance and this was as important to me as the food itself. I hoped to find a nice, friendly, small, elegantly lit place, full of charm. It was our last day in Kobe and I was on a mission. Three hours before having to be on board the MV explorer….I turned the corner to a small side street and spotted this big fat silver dude…a sign perhaps?

I peered past the white scrolls and opened the wooden door and what a scene…..just what I was looking for.

I walked in and took a place in the corner at the counter.

What a charming place. The counter and the surrounding tables were all so nicely set up.

People were grilling their food right in front of themselves on these hot plates…a Japanese style of cooking called Hibatchi.

Well, I guess my Kobi beef was too important for me to cook. The chef took care of it…

Out it came, placed in front of me, KOBE BEEF, garnished with all kinds of exotic vegetables.

The first bite said it all. Truly the best piece of meat I have ever had. So good that I had to stare at the last piece for quite some time, before saying goodbye to it and popping it in my mouth.

If any of you ever make it to Kobe, below are the details. Drop by and order some Kobe beef…you will not regret it.

A picture with Yuki, and a big thank you for the best meal I have had in months and off I was back to the MV Explorer.

When Tomorrow is....Today?

I gotta change speeds here.  Stop (wait for it.....) monkeying around  More posts, less verbage.  I love writing, but it's actually pretty difficult for me.  I feel like it takes a lot to get the engine going.  Once I do, everything's peachy, but getting to that point, battling writer's block, trying to avoid my natural inclination for schmaltz with a layer of cheese on top, is pretty exhausting.  And then once I finally start writing, I feel like I'm vomiting up a ton of pseudo existential wannabe streewise mish-mash all over the page.  I even got a little on my shirt.

Anyway, I think maybe rather than reading Moby Dick lite, all three readers of this blog would probably prefer shorter posts more often.  At least I would, and that's all that counts, right?  Thanks to Saul for lighting a fire under my butt(that's figuratively, not literal folks). Right, so...on with the show.

Today is May 2nd.  So is tomorrow.  awesome!  In other words, tonight we cross the international date line, so we repeat the same day twice.  Trippy.  It'll be like my own mini Groundhog Day(a highly underrated film...how great is Bill Murray.  If  "I Got You Babe" starts playing on my alarm, I'll know I'm in trouble.  Especially since my alarm clock doesn't have a radio). 

But I digress.  I'm backed up on countries to write about, but I wanted to get a chance to mention Penang, Malaysia. One interesting aspect of our mini docs for the Global Nomads Group is our initial concern about balance in who we portrayed in the pieces.  What I mean is, after South Africa, we felt like we had too many strong male subjects, and not enough female subjects.  Yet, ironically, from Cape Town on, we only have female subjects.  It wasn't really planned, just the way things ended up.  But also interestingly, in the broadcasts I found in the port cities that it was the girls that really stood out for me, in terms of what they had to say and how eloquent they were in saying it.  This isn't to say that they overshadowed the boys, but probably has more to do with my expectations of male/female roles in societies other than that of the western world.  Nowhere else was this more surprising than in Malaysia.

Being a Muslim country, perhaps I expected the women to be more quiet, deferring more to the men in social situations and discussions.  Whoa was I wrong.  Our main subject, Alia, was great.  So smart, charismatic, and not afraid to speak her mind at all.  She was everything we could have asked for in a subject for our piece.  And she wasn't alone.  Her friend Wali, as well as many of the other female students that took part in our broadcasts from Penang, we exceptional in representing themselves.  They brought up some really fascinating points about Islam, particularly in Asia.  They are allowed to drive, they dress in much more colorful outfits and headscarves, and are allowed to show their face and feet, unlike many Muslim women in Arab countries apparently. 

But the biggest issue they addressed was the need for understanding, for not judging all Muslims by the terrible actions of a few(just as I hope they don't judge us by the few Americans-unfortunately those in power, that have tore apart Iraq), for people to educate themselves, not just through books or films, but on a personal level, to reach out and get to know those(in this case Muslims) in your community that would give us a better and more real appreciation of what the culture and religion is all about. It's been an education for me, seeing firsthand what GNG is able to do in its' video conferences. For people of different cultures to see each other and talk, face to face, about misperceptions they may have about each other, and realize they're not so different. 

It's just really powerful to bear witness to.  I guess that's what GNG is all about, trying to make those personal connections, the kind, in this world of Internet, video games, TV and movies, I feel like we could all use more of.  They say the world is getting smaller all the time.  If that's so, we better get to know our neighbors, and not draw the blinds and shut ourselves up in our little condo.  Cus you never know when we'll need to borrow some sugar.  And besides, we smell them cooking some awesome food, and we heard they throw a pretty good party, so they might fun to hang out with after all.

(I have no idea what that means, but I think you get the idea).

~Ben

Joanna, a student, Wali, Alia, and some weird dude who just rolled up last minute