Semester at Sea Fall 2006 Voyage 

• Home Page
• My bio
• Multisited Ethnography Project: Youth Culture Across the World & Their Perceptions of the United States (Japan, Egypt, Croatia)
• Shipboard Interview
• Hawaii
  
• Japan: Notions of Japan
  
• Burma: Discussion & Interpretation with burmese Monks
  
• India: Rickshaw Rides and Revelations
  
• Egypt: American Politics Through Egyptian Eyes
  
• Turkey: You Don't Know Me At All, Do You?
  
• Croatia: Coffee and Policy Dilemmas
  
• Open Letter

Hawaii

     The scene slowly unfolded as the afternoon progressed.  It was a beautiful Saturday on the island of Oahu and there was much activity.  There was tension in the air as everyone was milling about in the small building next to Dillingham Airfield on Oahu’s North Shore.  The building is the headquarters for Pacific Skydiving; one of three skydiving locations on the island.  This was likely the busiest day that the staff at Pacific had seen in quite a long time.  Shortly after noon, almost one hundred and twenty people had shown up, all anxiously waiting to jump out of an airplane.  At first, everyone was walking around unsure of what to do.  Slowly the reality began to sink in – they would get to jump, but would most likely be spending the entire day waiting for that moment.  The staff was frantic as more and more people began to show up.  They organized everyone, myself included, into smaller groups.  Forms were filled out and wavers were signed.  Then came the waiting.  Almost three hours later it was time for the group just ahead of my own to meet their tandem masters and suit up.  Their names were called over the loudspeaker and their faces quickly changed as they filed over to the preparation area.  It was a group of four girls.  One of them - a small brunette girl with a blue t-shirt - started to panic.  Her eyes darted around nervously as she clung to a pole.  Her tandem partner came over and was able to calm her down and then it was on with the harness and they were off to the plane.  As the plane ascended into the clouds all of the anxious spectators were arching their necks, trying to follow it.  Shortly after they lost sight of it, the chutes were visible in the air.  Before long they were all back on the ground, ecstatic.