A G N

We just finished the closing ceremony of the Semester at Sea Olympic games. Intense is a good adjective. Competitive, fierce, nerve racking, heartbreaking. Those work too.

It began a couple weeks ago, when Deck 2 (70-something students, self-named the “peasants” for living on the least expensive but BEST floor) free-styled a chant and marched through the ship in our navy color representing the Aegean Sea, our assigned sea, one of 8. A high-pitched “A G N” piped from the women, followed by a manly (and outnumbered) “WE WILL WIN!” Heads turned with faces of confusion as we echoed through the whole ship. Some pulled out their cameras. We were the first to “bring it on”. Intimidation factor: High.

Other seas attempted to copy our initial outburst, but the idea had already been claimed, and anything to follow was just lame.  We had, and still have, the most team spirit on the ship. Red Sea, Yellow Sea, Caribbean Sea, Arabian Sea, Baltic Sea, and Bering Sea belonged to the students. The life long learners came up with a clever “Sea Salts”, while the family members of faculty and staff chose the “Luna Sea” (get it? Lunacy?). Each sea had their own color, own cheers and chants, own personality. Some excelled in athletic ability, some in team spirit, creativeness, some just drive. Some, to be honest, didn’t excel in much of anything, but as Dr. Bill, the mc for the Olympic games, said, “If you set your standards low, you won’t be disappointed when you lose. And if you win, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Either way, it’s like sleeping on a bed of feathers. If you push yourself too hard, you might as well be sleeping on rocks. No one wants to be a winner. Having fun and expecting loss is much better. The champions get to hold up the #1 sign in all of their pictures, but if the losers hold up two L’s with their hands, and then tilt them a little, it turns into a W anyways.” Good ol’ Dr. Bill. Always knows just what to say.

Last night the seas marched individually to the Union and to their assigned seats, chanting and showing their spirit, for the opening ceremony. After speeches from the deans and that well-presented message from Dr. Bill, each team was called up first to show their sea banner and be judged. They were given 30 seconds to explain what they had drawn.

        “The Aegean Sea is located between Greece and Turkey, as shown on our poster. Because of this, we have chosen as our mascot, the turkey greasers, appropriate because we, too, are a little gangster. The land and water were made by the handprints of every single member of our sea.  To the right you can see our graffitied sea name, and to the right, our motto, which is of course…” She pointed to us. That was our queue. “BOOM” we all replied. I know you are curious, and the answer is yes, we did shake the ceiling.

After the other seas had presented, it was time for the chanting competition. This time we were going last. The Sea Salts did a rendition of thriller and a human pyramid (we were nervous for them). The Arabian Sea brought up a Barack Obama impersonator. Connections in the AV booth gave us an edge, and as we stood at attention, Nelly’s Boom began to play and we stomped our feet to the beat as the lights faded. The judges gave us scores of 8, 9, 9, and 8. Not exactly what we had hoped for, but a good start.
Competitions today started at 1 pm with one of the most popular events, synchronized swimming. Ridiculous outfits, Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys greatest hits, and choreographed routines occupied the pool for an hour. The judges were splashed and hit on. A leopard leotard made an appearance. All in all, a strong competition. We placed 2nd. Not too shabby.

Other events throughout the day included SAS trivia, dodgeball, “HORSE” basketball, card house stacking, relay races, dress your LLC, and my shining star, crab soccer. Crab soccer is much harder than it sounds when you make it 3v3 full-court with a ball that moves according to the tilting of the ship and men with limbs twice as long as yours. The goals were lines on the court, and the yellow sea’s win over us was questionable. That’s all I have to say about that. It’s still a sensitive subject.

The points were tallied while we celebrated the day with what will probably be my favorite meal of the voyage. BBQ ribs, burgers, hot dogs, fruit, ice cream. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have more than one serving of ice cream. Worth it.

The closing ceremony was shorter that the opening, but packed the same amount of energy. Another inspiring speech by Dr. Bill and a sea of colors (many puns intended) made for a powerful summarization of the experience we’d all just shared.  I met so many people today from my deck. I had no idea I was living around such cool and individual kids. We really are so different from each other, coming from different parts of the country, growing up so far apart. And as cliché as this sounds, here we are, trapped on this ship together for the next 3 months, and loving every minute of it. I think the Sea Olympics have really brought us together as a family, which is just what I was beginning to need.  And corny as it sounds, in the end, we made a new team- the Uni-Sea. Whether it was for extra participation points or because we meant it, I’m not really sure. But the idea was cool.

Rereading this, is seems a little biased. We were legit. Legitter. The most legit. We placed a heartbreaking second place at the end of the day, to the Red Sea. We did it for Dustin, our LLC. We did it for the pictures and videos being taken of us. But most of all, we were wild and crazy for ourselves. We made our own fun today. And it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for each other.

BOOM

Ps. Not to kill the inspirational mood, but the dean lied to us. Macauley Culkin is not on the ship. Also this kid just told me a story for the reason he is on Semester at Sea. Summary: He killed a mountain lion while mountain biking in Canada. With a knife. Using his bike as a shield. Yes, it’s true. You meet some interesting people on this ship.