Halifax - Port 1
Day 1 (2010/08/25)
After making red-eye connections in Calgary and Montreal I arrived at around 1030 (24 hour clocks from now on) in our first port of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ive been to Canada before but this was my first time in the east. After short ride to the city I checked into the HI Halifax hostel and grabbed lunch. I happened to be roomed with some French-Canadians and we decided to go grab some food. My French is lacking, but it was nice to hear the language again. A local alehouse had a special including 10 chicken wings and a pitcher for $11 which we couldnt pass up. There was an un-official Semester at Sea meet-and-greet later in the night but the weather was bad, the drinks expensive and the mood was awkward at best.
Day 2 (2010/08/26)
I grabbed breakfast with Cody who is an international SAS student from mainland China. Upon returning to the hostel I was relieved to find that my delayed bag had made it from Calgary. It was already time to board the ship since I was awarded a work-study position in the on-board IT lab. After a series of metal detectors, pat-searches and x-ray machines I was allowed to board. I tossed my stuff on what I figured was the better side of the room (sorry then unknown roommate Eric) and went to some mandatory work-study meetings. It was easy to makes friends with anyone who was even remotely outgoing so we had a crew almost immediately. Once we were done with work things we went to the grocery store a few blocks from the port to stock up on snacks. After dinner we decided to hit up a few of Halifaxs many pubs. I didnt want to get drunk but I took the opportunity to try out some of the local brews. In my opinion Keiths Brewery tasted good enough but very light. I was in bed before midnight for 0600 wakeup the following morning.
Day 3 (2010/08/27)
The crew and I grabbed breakfast and went to our mandatory meeting in the Union (the largest conference/ballroom). Work-study students finished the registration process and then we prepared for general boarding at our respective positions. I spent some time in the computer lab where I will generally work, but that got a little slow so I helped direct people. Once everyone was aboard we but on our life-vests and were directed to our muster stations for an emergency drill. Some kid in my muster didnt show up. It turns out he was blacked-out and couldnt be woken. First-hand sources say they found something in his room; looks like we have some winners on the ship. Before I knew it we embarked and within a few hours land was out of sight. at sea
