Almost in Japan!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

We arrive tomorrow in Yokohama at 8 AM on Wednesday. That should be around when you are asleep in Bancroft on Tuesday! The time difference is quite significant now.

Although our ship stops in Yokohama, my friends and are I are planning to travel to Tokyo.

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and is considered the largest metropolitan area in the world. You may think of it as one big city, but it is actually made up of 23 smaller cities that all merged into one. Approximately 13 million people live in Tokyo! In comparison, about 2.8 million people live in Toronto. I think Toronto is a big city, so I'm quite nervous to explore Tokyo.

After Tokyo we are traveling to Kyoto. Kyoto has a population of 1.5 million, and was the capital of Japan for almost a thousand years. It is famous for being full of Japanese history, including castles and shrines.

Finally, we will travel to Kobe and spend a couple days there, where we will meet up with the ship (it's traveling over sea while we travel over land).

Here are a couple important Japanese words that I've been learning!

Good day - Konichiwa
Good bye - Sayonara
Thank you - Arigatou
I don't understand - Wakarimasen

I can't wait to tell you about all my adventures in Japan!

Sayonara!

Rebecca

Answers to your questions!

Dear Mrs. Simpson's class,

I just got a message about your questions! I'll do my best to answer.

1. How did you take a picture of the turtles in the water so that you were able to see them without scaring them?

When I took the photos I was sitting on a ledge of rock above the tide pool which you can see in this photo. You could get really close to the turtles- you can even see the boy in the water- he was right next to them! However, you're not supposed to touch them.

2. How many gallons of gas do you think it will take to get from Hawaii to Japan?

I had to do a bit of research and math to figure this out! The Bridge of the MV Explorer publishes a Noon Report every other day, and I learned that we use approximately 92 metric tons of fuel daily while traveling across the Pacific. If I assume we use about the same amount for each of the 9 days in takes us to get to Japan, that's approximately 828 metric tons. There are 31.75 gallons in one metric ton. So, we will use approximately 26, 289 gallons of gas! WOW!

3. How many turtles were in the tide pool?

There was one turtle initially and then another joined it. That's when I got a picture of the two of them. The second one swam away shortly after. I was told there were more around, but those were the only ones I saw.

Great questions! I'll try to write once more before I land in Japan,

Rebecca

What did you do on January 21st?

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

What did you do you January 21st? Was it really cold in Bancroft? Did anything really exciting happen?

I'm asking because here on the MV Explorer, January 21st never happened! We skipped it! Yesterday it was January 20th and today it is January 22nd. January 21st was our Lost Day.

I already told you that there is a time difference between Bancroft and where I am. This is because we have been moving farther and farther west on the Pacific Ocean, passing through many time zones. However, last night we passed the International Date Line.

I've been learning about this in my Astronomy class, so I am going to give you a short lesson. The world is divided up into many sections, kind of like the inside of an orange after you peel it (only in scientist's imagination though, there aren't actually visible lines running all around the world). 

These are called meridians of longitude. The starting line is called the Prime Meridian- it runs through a town in England named Greenwich (also a place in Ghana where I might be visiting!). Starting at this line, you add or subtract hours as you travel either west or east! This is where time zones come from. On the complete opposite side of the world of the Prime Meridian is the International Date Line.

Because we've been adding so many hours to our day (the past three days I've set my watch back an hour every night), those hours had to come from somewhere! So we're skipping a day!

Two students on the ship had their birthday on January 21st so they skipped their birthdays!

We arrive in Japan in 7 days!

Rebecca

Aloha from Hawaii!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

Yesterday was my first port, Hilo, Hawaii! As you may know, there are eight islands in Hawaii (actually, there were many other islands in Hawaii thousands of years ago, but they have since slid into the ocean. A new island will emerge in Hawaii in about thirty thousand years). Hilo is on the Big Island. Did you know that Hawaii is the only state in the USA that has a royal palace? That's because it was once a monarchy, ruled by a king named Kamehameha and his descendants.

When we were arriving in Hawaii the full moon was just setting at sunrise. It was beautiful. Those mountains you see in the distance are two volcanos named Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

'Aloha' means 'hello', but it also means 'goodbye'. It can also mean 'friendship' and 'love'. It is a very happy word! Another important word is 'mahalo'. That means 'thank you'. The state fish is called 'Humuhumunukunukuapua'a'! Try saying that out loud!

Because we only had one day in Hawaii, it was very busy! I visited a famous waterfall called Rainbow Falls. It is 24 metres tall.

My friends and I spent the afternoon at Richardson Beach State Park. It is a black sand beach because the sand was formed by volcanic ash! On the rocks, you can see the folds where the lava cooled and hardened many years ago.

 Because there were many rocks, it was quite difficult to walk around in the water. That didn't stop me from doing some swimming though. A friend and I (always swim in buddies for safety!) went a little out into the ocean. When the waves came in we would be pushed forward and when it went back out we were pulled out away from the beach. I have never felt the ocean move so strongly! There was also a tide pool where we saw sea turtles. They were huge! If you got Mr. Freeman (or someone equally tall with long arms) to make their arms into a big circle, that's approximately the size their shells were.

My legs are very sore from all the walking I did. I am very excited for Japan but it takes us 9 days to get there! Today we are in Honolulu, Hawaii, but we are not allowed to get off the ship. We are "bunkering", or refuelling - imagine how much gas it takes to get from Hawaii to Japan! 

Something very cool coming up on the MV Explorer is our "Lost Day". Can you guess what that is? I'll tell you next time I write!

Until then,

Rebecca

Hello from California!

Hello Mrs. Simpson's class!

I hope you all had a wonderful break from school. I also hope you are as excited as I am to get back to classes!

In two days I will board the MV Explorer to begin Semester at Sea. I have spent the last few weeks with my family in California. Even though my Californian relatives think it is cold here now, I'm wearing shorts! There are lots beaches and palm trees. Many people in California, including my uncle, love to go surfing!

The next time I will write to you I will be on the ship!

Rebecca