Back in America

Date: September 7, 2008
Location: Norfolk, Fairfax Station, and West Lafayette

I suppose I owe my reading public some final thoughts on my experience on Semester at Sea’s Summer 2008 voyage. How do you simple summarize two and a half months? I was able to see such a diverse number of places, from the stunning Norwegian Fjords, to Red Square, to Flanders Fields, to the Vatican to the Pyramids and the Acropolis; not to mention surviving the cliffs of Croatia. Despite the difficulty, I’ll try.

Europe is truly a fascinating place. The people are similar, yet also very different. Some were extremely friendly and helpful, such as the Belgians and Norwegians. Others were rather standoffish, such as the Russians. Some people were rather conniving and always trying to make a buck off you, such as the Egyptians. Despite these things it was very good to be able to see these things on my own. Semester at Sea is truly an unparalleled chance to see such a diverse spectrum of places and people.

The M/V Explorer finally made landfall at Norfolk a few weeks ago. We were all woken up by Neil Diamond’s ballad “America.” With lyrics like “On the boats and on the planes/They’re coming to America/Never looking back again/They’re coming to America” it was quite fitting. They blasted this song through the ship’s speakers so if one hadn’t woken up to see us sail in, they were up now.

It took a while for the ship to clear customs. The USS Wisconsin, a WWII era battleship that was turned into a museum ship, was docked next to where we pulled up so it was neat seeing that from the observation deck. This caused us to pretty much sit in the dock for some time waiting for the call over the PA system telling us we could get off. This was sort of a mixed blessing because it allowed us time to say our goodbyes to everyone. I met a ton of great people on the voyage and I miss them.

Once my Caribbean Sea was called, I grabbed my bags and headed for the gangway, walking off the ship for the final time. It felt great to finally set foot down on American soil again; however, there was also a tinge of sadness knowing I was leaving such a great place and such great people. I slowly worked through the customs line. After saying I had nothing to declare, I grabbed my bags and walked over the bridge that separated the dock from Norfolk proper.

As I walked across the bridge I quickly met my parents, who I’d last seen in Halifax. They were sure glad to see that I still had a head attached after my Croatian experience. It was great seeing them and we quickly started talking about all I had experienced. We then got in the car and began driving back home.

After the relatively short drive, we were finally home. It was sure great to sleep in my own bed and see my dog again. It’s kind of funny, I can be gone for two and a half months and see half the “old world” yet my dog will be happiest of all to see my dad, who had been gone for two days. I love that little guy.

The next day we loaded up the cars and we were off to West Lafayette, Indiana. We made it there and I began to move my things in and settle into life back on terra firma. It’s great seeing all my old friends from school again. Classes at Purdue have begun and it’s hard to believe I’m a senior now. Every now and then I’ll run into one of the other three Boilermakers who were on Semester at Sea. It’s nice to exchange stories with them for a little bit and remember the good times at sea.

I can’t believe it’s all over, but it sure is nice to be back in America.

I have a few photos that I'll try to put up later. My internet connection here is a bit spotty