glitter butt?

Umm...I just went to use the public restroom across the hall from my office. While I don't usually "sit" on these toilet seats, I tend to look to make sure they're clean nonetheless. Today I found green glitter sprinkled all around the seat.

Now, I don't know what the person before me had eaten for lunch... or if perhaps this was just someones idea of a joke... Regardless, I'm sure glad to have students back on campus for the start of classes today.

too much t.v.

You know you're watching too much Olympic coverage when Micheal Phelps shows up in your dreams at night.

Augh.

But, a good dream nonetheless.

gymnastics.

As it is with many people, watching Olympic gymnastic competitions is one of my favorite pastimes every four years. I have the utmost respect for these men and women and am in pain just thinking about doing what they do. But, for crying out loud, why are these gymnasts still wearing scrunchies in their hair? Maybe I'm mistaken, but aren't the 80s over?

Olympics.

I l.o.v.e. the Olympics and have for as long as I can remember. I love the people, from so many countries, putting aside differences and coming together to share one of the many things they have in common. I love the competition and the sweet taste of accomplishment when someone, who has trained so hard, is victorious. I love it when the underdog comes from behind to rule the day. I love the passion and the friendships, and I love the sense of global community.

One of the things I love most about the US is the fact that our athletes come from so many different walks of life, so many different states, countries and backgrounds. I love that people from such a variety of races, ethnicities and cultures are able to call the United States home. In my book, a very beautiful thing and one of the best parts of this nation.

How lucky we are to have the ability to expose ourselves to so many different cultures on a regular basis. But, do we take advantage of this gift? Do we allow ourselves to explore the unknown? Do we allow ourselves the opportunity to get to know people who are "not like us" or do we simply allow social stereotypes and constructs to help us build or maintain our walls? Walls that close us off to the unknown and to the wonderful possibilities that exist in learning about others. One of the things I like best about the Olympics is that it helps us chip away at these walls. It's never enough, but, I guess a little progress is better than no progress.

random student interaction

J, a 20 year old advisee of mine never really ceases to surprise me...

In the middle of a meeting...

J: Hey Kate, can I ask you a favor?
K: Sure J, what can I do for you.
J: (lowers his voice) uhh... will you be a reference for me so I can go to Prom with my girlfriend? (who is still in HS). They require references for dates not in high school.
K: (tries to show restraint, but can't help but laughing out loud). Sure J. I'll tell them that you should be allowed to go to Prom.

my last lecture...

Many universities have a program called the "last lecture" series. This is typically a monthly session in which a faculty or staff member will be asked to take an hour or so and give his/her "last lecture," or rather, a lecture on a topic of their choice. This is typically what he/she would choose if he/she knew if was going to be the final lecture of his/her life.

I was recently asked by the student planners to be the final speaker of the semester. Unfortunately, I didn't have a single evening free to a) plan it and b) actually give it. I have deferred this honor until next semester; however, it has really gotten me thinking. What would I speak about if I knew it was the last time I was going to speak to an audience? For nearly every speech/workshop/lecture I've ever given, I've always had a specific goal, topic or theme. This is utter and complete freedom and I'm really at a loss for what to focus on in this.

Do I pick a topic on which I'm very familiar and on which I have given many workshops? Do I speak about social injustices and use the time in front of a captive* audience to raise awareness? Do I get personal and talk about relationships/dating and other human social interactions? Do I practice my ever-evolving stand-up comedy routine? Do I talk about the benefits of travel and share stories from around the world?

Augh. It's somewhat overwhelming... but fun to think about. If you were asked to give your last lecture, what topic would you choose?

*I say "captive" because college students are never really captive, they are always multi-tasking. I would be competing for attention with facebook, instant/text messaging, email, web surfing etc.

today, yes.

Dear Legg,
This is, quite possibly, the funniest and most accurate blog post I've read in a long l-o-o-o-n-g time. I couldn't have said it better myself and it's basically what I would want to post today.

Thank you,
Kate

starting to get stir crazy.

Maybe its because it's April (read: ridiculously busy at work) or maybe it's because I have friends out gallivanting around the world, but whatever it is, I'm ready to get out of here. Get out of town, get out of the country - whatever. I want to go somewhere unknown, somewhere where I don't know the language. Anybody want to join?

No, this is not an April Fools joke.

there is hope.

In the past two days my faith in humanity and the true goodness of people has been revived. Additionally, I am thanking God for the true blessings He has recently rained down here in Oregon.

T, a loving and energetic woman who works for our campus dining company, has recently experienced a MAJOR family emergency. She is unable to afford a ticket to get home to the Philippines to be with her daughter (the injured party) much less afford to take the time off of work. The situation is dire enough, however, that she can't afford not to go.

The word about this went out to the students, faculty and staff and I am f.l.o.o.r.e.d by the out pouring of love and generosity from the campus community. Within a day and a half we had more than enough money to buy a ticket. And, as if that wasn't enough, the Lord helped someone step forward and donate an entire airline ticket through his frequent flier miles. More than $1300 has been collected and will be used to assist with the additional expenses and medical care. The money is still rolling in steadily and there has been the promise of more upon the return of many who are currently away for spring break. The abundance of God's work continues to bring tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.

I often get frustrated about the politics and practices etc. at the university. However, this is exactly the type of community I want to be a part of in my job. I have fallen in love with the WU family this week and T is going to be with her daughter by the end of this weekend. It is really amazing what can happen when everyone gives.

Keep it up. Pay it forward. Thank you WU. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Can anyone say double standard?

I was faced with a big sister reality this week. We all know that I'll take off gallivanting around the world anytime and not worry too much about it. And I've discovered that when my friends or students head abroad I'm nothing but excited for (and somewhat jealous of) them.

However, when my "baby" brother Nick (20) announced that he was heading to London over his spring break, I instantly started to worry. I was happy that he had decided to start traveling as he's always been a homebody, but dang... those big sister instincts sure did kick in.

He left this past Friday and we had a nice phone conversation before he took off... I was giving him some last minute (solicited) advice and that led to an "in case of an emergency, here are some options for you..." speech. After I'd given a few examples he started laughing and pointed out the statistical likelihood of my "possible scenarios." Maybe it's because I do too much work with risk management, maybe it's because I've found myself in situations that were a little sketchy while traveling or maybe it's because Nick has always had a wild streak to him. In any case, I was feeling protective and worried.

Upon further reflection I remembered that I had those same feelings when Dan (my other baby brother, 24) trekked across the country this past summer to move to a new state (approximately 5 months after I did the same thing).

I am so grateful for both of my younger brothers and love them dearly. Even though they are intelligent and completely capable men, I still get protective. I can only imagine what it'll be like if I ever have kids... heaven help them.

My Car is Growing Moss.

Not kidding. My car has moss growing on it. It is official, I dwell in rainy Oregon where moss apparently grows on everything. Tree branches, roof tops, my deck, my car. After another year or so I'm thinking it will probably start growing on my back.

Who wants to come visit?

Seriously? Seriously.

College students. First I was one. Then, I studied them. Now I work with them and there are still some days that I just don't understand them at all.

Today I was cleaning up our front office area and was dropping some papers into the files when I noticed an application from a freshman woman for an upcoming program. This application was stuck in with a few other apps and there was a picture lying on top of it (not stapled or paper clipped). The app that she had filled out required 3 photos to be attached (for ID purposes).

Well, this freshman student decided that the best photo of her to submit for id purposes was one of her (in sunglasses that covered half of her face) holding a Malibu Rum bottle up next to her face. Oh, but it gets better. She is apparently in a CAR according to the background. Winner. Please, will someone tell me what world is this an appropriate picture to submit with an application? ugh. I will say, however, I'm looking forward to that teaching moment.

I think I might be related to the Karate Kid.

As I was getting ready for bed tonight I noticed a fly buzzing around my bathroom. I'm not sure where said fly came from, as it's about 30 degrees outside and I was under the impression that flies are more abundant in the summer months. In any case, I realized that I don't actually own a fly swatter. Well, I decided that fly was not going to cohabitate with me this evening and decided to catch it. I grabbed a piece of TP, waited until it landed and BAM. Got it. First try. I am apparently stealth-like at midnight.

Next time, I will attempt this feat with chopsticks. That might be more impressive eh?

TIREd AND cold.

So, last Thursday I got up at 4 a.m., yes, there is a 4 a.m. A time I thought only existed in the college and breastfeeding years. I got up at this time so that I could take a group of four twenty-somethings to a conference in exotic Spokane, WA. (Now, how's that for an exciting destination on what was started as a travel blog?)

We've spent the last 4 days going strong from 9 a.m. until roughly 12 a.m.- 1 a.m. at this conference. It was a good time and they were a great group, but I'll admit, we were all sorts of ready to get home Sunday. Everything went smooth with the flight and such and as we shuttled back to the long term parking we laughed a lot and got into an interesting ethical discussion (about a seemingly pointless topic) which entertained a number of the other passengers on the bus (and probably irritated a few as well).

Much to B's dismay, the car was still parked in the same spot, but, upon closer examination ... oh yay. a flat tire. Fabulous. (This, by the way, is my third flat in 2 months). We got that changed (thank you AAA) and set off to find someone to either patch it or get a new tire (I was definitely hoping for the patching option as it's much more affordable for this ballah on a budget).

This proved to be a more difficult task than expected, but eventually (2 hours, 2 stops, and 3 towns later) we arrived at a tire service that was open on a Sunday and that wasn't creepy.

We went for a late lunch across the street while the car was being serviced and were told that they'd call as soon as it was finished. Well, an hour and a half later we were still sitting at our table waiting for the phone call. We headed back over just to check in and lo and behold, it had been finished for quite sometime. Sweet. Thanks for the call.

We got back to Salem with no major highway difficulties (luckily) and I headed home (finally) after dropping the students off. I arrived at the house and was greeted by a slip on my front door that read "your gas service has been disconnected" dated Friday. No explanation. I didn't initially think this was a big deal, I wasn't going to be cooking anything and I figured I'd just call in the morning, right?

Well, the house is new to me and it took me a bit to remember that in this place, unlike the old place, the gas bone's connected to the HEAT bone, the gas bone's connected to the water bone... etc. How nice that the water heater only came to mind about 10 minutes after I'd applied a cleansing face mask. How fun to wash my hardening face with frigid water.

So I bundled up and hunkered down for a chilly night. I called the gas co this morning (they apparently had no record of my account, I'm 98% sure I called to set it up the same day I called the electric company). They're coming to fix it, sometime ON WEDNESDAY. Burr. Thank goodness for friends who have futons.

Is anyone still reading this? Probably not. But if you are, thank you. I just got internet at my house and will be updating much more often. Check back this week for more stories!

how beautiful!

Hi friends!

Check out Pictures at Sea for some additional photos.

These are not photos that I took, rather, they are the incredible work of Patrick Cavan Brown, our staff photographer.

musings

Dear F06 RD staff,
One year ago today my life changed for the better. One year, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525,600 minutes ago you came into my life and I began "meeting" each of you via e-mail.

I had no idea that the new names rapidly appearing in my inbox, RM, JP, JG1, JG2, SH, GW, DB, TT and eventually NN, would, just a few months later come to mean so very much to me.

These early emails provided me with a mix of emotions that I now struggle to explain. I was in awe at the caliber of professionals I was going to be working with, I was eager to see if we'd just be colleagues, or if we'd be friends. I was intimidated by what you had all done in your pre-SAS lives and tried desperately to imagine how I was going to keep up with you.

I felt behind in researching our ports, as I had no money to buy travel books and had very limited access to internet last summer. I felt bad that a couple of you had to keep forwarding me SAS info that, for some reason, I never received! But the biggest emotion was how very lucky I was to have this opportunity and how excited I was to actually meet you all in person and share the unknown adventure that was waiting for us.

I never imagined that a year later I would view each of you as not colleagues, not as merely friends, but as family. I can't believe how close I feel to you, even though we may only talk periodically. How, I'd pretty much do anything for you or even just to spend time with you (including registering/training for a half-marathon) seriously, yes seriously (how did you talk me into that)?

I love you all and just wanted to say how grateful I am for your love, friendship and impact on my life. Rick, thank you so much for hiring me (us), I don't know that I can actually articulate how very grateful I am. Thank you all for giving my life a before and an after.

Happy one-year anniversary of our "meeting."

love,
kate

The girl I referenced in the previous post is the one in the green dress on my left. She and her friends spent a signifcant amount of time with us that morning. Also pictured are staff members Natalie (blonde) and Jenny (brunette). Danelle took this photo.

Myanmar/Burma: part 3

We arrived at the port and I struggle to describe the collision of nervousness and excitement. I remember thinking that I really didn't want to get off the ship - I was that nervous. After we finished distributing passports, I climbed off the ship with Natalie, Debbie, Nam and Jenny and we headed out to explore Yangon (Myanmar), also known as Rangoon (Burma).
We boarded the shuttle bus and headed into Yangon just shortly after we ported. The ride to the city was remarkably quiet, I can only imagine what was going on in the heads of my fellow shipmates, just based on what was in my own head. I prayed quietly to myself for the people that we were seeing along the way and for our own understanding and safety while in this country.

The bus deposited us at Traders Hotel which was along the lines of a Hilton - as Nam would say, it was "boo-gsee-la-la." We walked in, traded American dollars for local currency and then decided to see the real Burma, as we well knew Traders was not a good representation of it. I took a deep breath as we walked out into the somewhat paved streets and headed off to no where in particular. Instantly people surrounded us, welcomed us, stared at us, said hello/wanted to practice English, wanted to sell us postcards/flowers. The Burmese people were so welcoming and friendly most of my fears vanished quickly. We found sanctuary from the sales people by deciding to check out the pagoda at the end of the street (not the Shwedagon, but a smaller one).

We removed our shoes, and set foot inside the shrine area. No one was allowed to wear shoes when inside the pagoda. I figured that, in addition to respect, it would help keep it clean. Yeah, not so much. I could feel the layers of dirt under my feet mixed with a dampness that I assumed was rain. The floor was made of a cool (originally white) marble. It started to rain while we were wandering around and we then proceeded to slide across the marble floor. I remember thinking carefully about every step that I took. I did not want to fall and (inevitably) break a bone of some sort. I was guessing that Myanmar was not the place I wanted to visit a hospital.

There was a group of children that followed us through the whole thing, asking questions, giving us information etc. One of the young girls (about 13) spoke incredible English - and dang - was she intelligent. All I could think about during conversations with her was how much potential she had and wondering, what she could do if given the opportunity for a better education/college/etc. This young girl made more of an impact on me in 20 minutes than I thought was possible.

The rest of the day was spent walking the streets, meeting people, getting stared at, getting my hair pulled (see earlier post) and attempting to figure our way around - it was great. We went to get traditional Burmese food that night and hopped a cab to get to a place the port agent had recommended.


One of the streets we walked down

When we first got in the cab I feared that we would never make it to the restaurant. You could definitely see the road through the floorboards, there were no seat-belts and the engine's purr sounded like a hemorrhaging cat. The cab director talked to us (in broken English) and we were luckily able to communicate where we wanted to go. This man then put us in a cab with a different driver, and the two of them argued (not in English) for about 5 minutes. Yikes. I still don't know what was said, but we did make it there in one piece.


The view from our dinner table - and a full moon to boot

We bused back to the ship and I got ready to lead my first field excursion the next day.

Myanmar/Burma part 2:

I had a sense of nervousness with each port that we sailed into, Burma was no exception to this feeling. In fact, the nerves were actually multiplied for this port. As I mentioned, I knew very little about the country, the people and what to expect - this country was different that any other place I'd ever traveled.

As we sailed into the the 2000 year-old port of Thilawa I couldn't help but realize how much the water had changed, literally, overnight. Unlike the azure blue pictures I've posted priviously, the water near Burma was brown, thick and murky. The land was a lush green and there were tiny little fishing boats everywhere. As we sailed into the Yangon River and toward the port, the water seemed to thicken.

This was part of the reason that the ship and the passengers had been put into water conservation mode. We were instructed to take short showers (water on, rinse, water off, soap up/shampoo, water on, rinse, water off) and to use as little water as possible during our stay in Burma, the days between Burma and India and again while India. The ship produces its own fresh water, however, the ship was not able to process/filter the water that existed off the coasts of Burma and India. The ship was also not able to get fresh water pumped in from the port in either of those countries and the sailing time between the two didn't allow for enough time to replenish the supply. If we had started to run low, fresh water would have only been available on the ship for 2 hours a day. Luckily, people obliged and this didn't have to happen.

I remember standing on the back deck with Jonny watching as we sailed on the muddy water. As the crew began tying the ship to the dock we spotted the Shwedagon Pagoda in the distance - located in the center of Yangon (Rangoon). The Shwedagon Pagoda is one of Yangon's biggest tourist attractions and was built almost 2500 years ago. We'd heard much about this Buddhist shrine on the way to Myanmar/Burma, but I was surprised that we could see it as well as we could, as Yangon is about an hour by bus from the port.


The view on the sail into Burma

One of the most vivid images from sailing into that port was the fishing boats. Many of the fishing boats were made out of a dark wood and had a blue tarp on the top. That morning, I remember seeing one lone boat that had filled with water, and whose tarp was floating on top of the water. There was no one in sight and I can't help but wonder what happened to the fishermen on that boat, as there was no sign of life around that area. I hope that there was another fishing boat around him at the time and that he was taken to safety.

This voyage has made me even more grateful that we have fresh, clean water - from the tap - in the US. It is now something that I think of every single time I turn on a sink or hop in the shower - how many people will never experience that luxury? I know I've met a lot. How many others just waste it, as if it's not a precious commodoty? Unclean water is the cause of many diseases and, if clean water was available - think how many lives would be saved or, at the very least, changed.