Class Day "A15" at sea

Today is class meeting day "A15."

On the agenda for me is the following:

• Teach "Mass Media Systems Around the World" (Time:  0800 - 0915)
• Sit in on the Global Studies core course that the entire ship "shuts down for" daily - it is held in the Student Union area of the ship with the lecture being broadcast on the closed-circuit TV system of the ship to the various satellite classrooms on the ship for those students who can't fit in the Union (Time:  0920 - 1040)
• Teach "Intercultural Communication" (Time:  1045 - 1200)
• Post-Port Open Mic Night for people to share experiences they had in Malaysia and Singapore (Time: 1900 - 2000)

Update:

The only thing of note today is that there is some organization being done regarding the "Ambassador's Ball" event that will take place on May 4.  Essentially, it is a formal dinner that the entire shipboard community can attend and people get dressed up and there is dancing.  It costs $25 to attend and the profits from the event go to a charity that the shipboard community decides upon.  The committee who organizes the event has already decided on a theme and a menu and we are told that we need to sign up for tables either today or tomorrow.  You can sign up for a table of four or six and you can also staple together several forms if you have a large party who all want to sit in the same area.  The group from the "Dalit Village" area of the ship had talked about organizing us to sit together and there was a note on my door from Emily saying that if I wanted to sign up with everyone to meet in Purser's Square at 6:00 pm.  I met up with everyone then and signed up for the group of seats that included Tom & Emily (one of the resident directors and his girlfriend), John Paul & Shannon (the AV coordinator and his wife), Micah & Theresa (the photographer and his wife), Kristen (the assistant field office coordinator), Mark, Ben, Joanna (the Global Nomads Group people), Emily (the nurse), Matt (the IT guy) and Joe (the videographer).  Brenda (the other nurse who is in her 50s) is also going to join our tables as well.

The only other things of note that occurred today is that the ship's crew did a man overboard drill where the ship had to quickly turn around and then at around 7:00 pm, there was an announcement by the captain saying that we were going to go at full speed through the Straits of Malacca (an area that is known for having a lot of pirate activity).  When I went to dinner shortly thereafter, the dining area toward the back of the ship was filled with people watching the back of the ship as we sped up.  We saw several dolphins jumping in the wake of waves from the increased speed.

We will anchor off the coast of Singapore for most of the day tomorrow to take on more fuel.