The International Date Line is Crazy!!!

Greeting from the middle of the Pacific!

Heard Edmond just survived ice/snow storm #2 this winter so I hope you all enjoyed that. My dad informed me that Shaun White 3-peated at the Winter X Games and I am super mad I didn’t get the chance to see his run. But oh well, there will always be YouTube when I get back to the states!! I just hope he carries through the Olympics and stays healthy enough to bring home another U.S. Gold baby!!

Alright you guys and your comments are hilarious!! Love it!! Nat Attack – Girl you totally know I will be your dance party date!! You just gotta ask! I wouldn’t call it planning…simply deciding what I am going to do and then people wanting to tag along cause I know what I am doing haha. And congrats on no injuries, I must say I am impressed! Although Chris says you are lying… Courtney – Love you too Sista!! Daryl – Thanx man!! Hope all is well with the family, miss you guys!! Sara – whoa whoa whoa…you are definitely still the dancing diva, don’t pin your title on me haha! You would rub it in that I can’t watch criminal minds…but that is good to know that it is still going strong and the episodes are good!! That’s a bummer that you didn’t get to go to Denver, but I am sure Chicago will be stinking awesome!! God is good and that is so cool that He provided for you! Esther – duh…Latin Dancing is sooooo AWESOME…don’t be hatin!! I’m not struggling as much as I thought I would, but a couple of the steps take some serious practice to get down. And yeah that is totally cool that you gave your friend this website…not a problem at all. A lot of people are giving it out to friends and stuff so that is all good! And we will just see, it might be too hard for Kayla to figure out with an OSU education…haha just kidding…well kinda. Chris – dude I totally know what you mean, sometimes Natalie has to be put in her place….haha jk Nat, you know I love ya! Yeah touché, 6:1 is definitely good numbers…and last night it was more like 12:1 cause a lot more people came and even fewer guys lol. Yeah everyone loves the shirt…I just need you here wearing yours so we can rock em together! Wes – you would about the girl comment haha…dude I miss you and mike man. Definitely wish I could have been there for the LOST watch party, and haha I knew you would get hooked eventually!! Oh and thanx for not ruining it…I appreciate it bro. I actually was just with Kaylin and I told her “hey” for ya and she says “hey” back!

Oh and my wonderful little sister Courtney (don’t know what I would do without her sometimes) and Sara have informed me that I need to explain the pictures I put up…like what was going on in them and who was in them with me. The above picture for this blog is of a group of us right after the huge group picture. We wanted to take advantage of the blue sky (I still think nothing tops a perfect Western Texas sky on a good day), really pretty water, and great weather. From left to right you have Courtney, Emily, Amy, Edwin (he is one of the British kids with a crazy cool accent!!), and then me on the end. We all took a bunch of pics with our friends after the big group picture and this is one of the ones I like the best!!

So the other day we crossed the International Date Line. This line is the other half of the prime meridian which acts as a line of longitude toward the middle of the Pacific. The cool thing about this line is that since we are moving from east to west across the line we lost a day of our lives. Literally when I went to bed last night it was Tuesday, February 2, but when I woke up this morning it was Thursday, February 4. Weird huh?!?!?!? February 3, 2010 did not exist for us on the ship. Okay so I know you all are like how is that even possible. Well here is my best explanation. As we are moving around the world we are continually changing time zones; because of the direction we are going, every time we cross a time-zone we fall back an hour (which by the way is really nice cause we keep getting extra hours of sleep…it’s awesome!). However this also presents a problem. How can we travel around the world and continually keep gaining hours without ever losing them? The answer…we cross the International Date Line and simply lose a whole day!!!!! So a couple days ago I was like 6-7 hours behind all of you people back in the states, but now I am like 17-18 ahead of all you guys. Haha SAWEET!!! So now everytime we “fall-back” an hour as we move from time zone to time zone, we are simply moving closer and closer to the time that it is back in the States. So I know this might not make complete sense because let’s face it, I’m no expert….but this is the best I can do in trying to explain it. Hope you guys understood all that haha.

Last blog I briefly mentioned how once we got back on the ship after Hawaii everyone got much more settled in and it is starting to feel more routine and more like a college campus. People are actually having to do homework and study because papers are due, quizzes are happening, and even some tests are starting to happen. Other people have gotten into similar routines such as working out and eating schedules. It’s also really cool because when people aren’t doing homework there are card games and all kinds of board games going on. Austin and I joke that shipboard life consists of sleeping, eating the same food over and over, doing homework, and playing cards. I have found people that are very good at spades so that was exciting!! Then I found out that Courtney knows how to play Gin and she is really good so that is cool cause that is another card game that I can play with her. Oh and I also found a girl who knows how to play Screw Your Buddy!! (for those of you that aren’t familiar with this game, it is just a card game that is very similar to spades…if you thought differently then please remove your head form the gutter hahahaha). So yeah the card game groups are in full swing and it is really nice cause you just kinda walk through the piano lounge and you can find a game to jump into, and you are always playing with a different group of people so that is a great way to meet more people (although I think I scared this one girl yesterday because I got super competitive over a spades game, guess Newkirk and Daryl have rubbed off on me…haha who am I kinding, Smith’s are just too competitive lol). Oh and Egyptian Rat Screw is also a very popular game on the ship!!

I told you all last time that all the clubs and organizations were getting started. Well since then I have also joined/started two new ones. There is the one group called Zoomba that I joined and it is crazy awesome!! I had never heard of Zoomba before but apparently it is like a big thing in some parts of the country. What it is, is a type of “workout dance.” Now you are probably thinking what I was originally thinking, “So it’s like Taebo right?” At first this was my thought process and I was not too interested in going to do Taebo. Let me just tell you, I am really glad I decided to go get involved cause it was nothing like Taebo. The girl who organized it and is our “instructor/leader” started out by saying, “Alright if you have never done Zoomba, you are going to be sore tomorrow!” I was like alright this must be legit then!! Basically you do aerobic dance moves to really upbeat music. Stuff like really upbeat Latin style music and then also stuff really similar to Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas. It was super intense! All of us were like drenched in sweat by the end of the hour. The biggest muscles that I think that it worked out (at least) in my case, are your abs, upper thighs, quads, and back muscles. So we do that on every B day from now on and it is soooooooo fun and surprisingly a very effective workout. And it’s also very fun with a bunch of friends doing it with me.

In addition to Zoomba I am also still doing Latin Dancing which just happens to be right after Zoomba…so basically we all just walk from Zoomba across the ship to Latin Dancing. Most people who are doing Zoomba also do Latin Dancing so it is a lot of the same people, which is cool cause we are getting to know them all really well. Between the two I am definitely getting a serious workout and not being just a big lazy bum on the ship haha. Oh and intramurals start today/tomorrow!! Right now we are doing intramural basketball and volleyball. I didn’t sign up for basketball (if you have even seen me with a basketball you know why, my brother got all the basketball genes in the family haha) but I am on a volleyball team. It is coed so our team name is Team Lightening Rod and it consists of Adam, Austin, Nicci, Theresa, Michelle, Tammy, and me. Our first game is tomorrow and it is gunna be intense!! So I am definitely involved in plenty of things to keep me busy besides school.

Yesterday was a NO CLASS day aboard the ship; what this means is that it was neither an A nor a B day and there were no classes scheduled. On all of our large stretches of sailing, they give us a day off in the middle so that we aren’t just swamped with school work and get overwhelmed. The ship took this first No Class Day as an opportunity to take the ship wide photo since we had a sunny day and good weather. It actually went pretty smoothly considering they took a picture of 700+ students and faculty. And it was also school pictures day where you take a picture with the other people from your university so everyone was decked out in their school gear. It was a great day for pictures, the sun was out, no clouds, and relatively calm seas compared to what we have been having haha. They took the picture with all of us tiered on the back decks of the ship and the camera above all of us looking down. It was actually a really tight setup for a pic…I’m sure my dad and Mr. Wilson would have approved haha.

Then last night we had our first movie night in the Union. They showed JAWS on the bigger Union projector and we actually had good audio, rather than watching movies on our laptops like we have been doing. It was totally optional but there were around 150 people that showed up and it was a lot of fun! I had never seen Jaws in its entirety and surprisingly neither had a lot of people!! It’s always funny to me at like certain parts when everyone in the audience is leaning forward and then they all jump back at the same time at a jumpy part. I mean you know it’s coming…so why does it still make you jump haha?!?! Oh and I also didn’t know that it shows JAWS dismantle a shark diving cage with a guy in it. Yeah my buddy turns to me and goes “Hey aren’t you doing that in South Africa? How does that make you feel?” I was like “Yep I sure am, although I wish I didn’t just watch that haha.” But oh well I’m totally still doing it!! I need an adrenaline fix…sky diving was like 2 years ago!!

The days are going by a little faster now with the increased school work load and all the various activities going on, but there is still the unreal conception of there being “no-time” on the ship. I mean we just do so much in a day that it is so confusing what happened yesterday or this morning. It’s really cool!! But I have talked about that before so enough of that.

The other day I was reflecting on the beauty of Hawaii and comparing it to the wide open ocean. The differences are staggering but one thing remains constant, the evidence of God’s hands crafting both in their entirety. I mean c’mon, it’s indescribably and staggering to think about!! In Nehemiah 9:5-6, it says “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.” Take this verse at face value, how can we keep silent and not praise the God who created everything around us?!? Look around, God created everything (or put the idea in someone’s head to create it). He is worthy to be praised. Even the heavens and rocks cry out. We should constantly and unceasingly be treating God the way He deserves…with praise from Everlasting to Everlasting!!

I hope everything is going well with all of you reading this! I appreciate all of your guys’ prayers!! You all are awesome and I don’t know what I would do without you.

I love you guys and am praying for each and every one of you!!

T

Hawaii to Japan

Hello again all!

Dude everytime I read your guys comments I just wanna talk to you all in person and hang out so bad! Zac – dude I was just bragging about you the other day to a buddy of mine on the ship who has a friend at the Air Force Academy. I forgot the kids name but he was 2 years older than us or something so I doubt you know him. Yeah it is crazy at night and during the day because we literally can’t see anything but wide open ocean. Like the other day we saw a ship on the horizon and everyone on the ship like ran outside to the rails just cause we were pumped to see evidence of life lol. There aren’t even birds once we get like 2 days away from land; maybe one or two albatross every-now-and-then but nothing on any kind of consistent level. It’s eerie man but at the same time I think it’s cool cause it’s a new experience. Daryl – that’s tight that they did that special LOST episode, you know everyone was watching it lol. That sucks about Jeffcoat but I have faith, we will find another stud linebacker. Keep me posted on recruiting man! I really appreciate it!! JT - haha thanx girl! Alex – dude I know! I am having MAJOR settlers withdraws and that is definitely one of the first things we are doing when I get back. Ahhhh I can’t wait lol. You should get my sister to play with you guys tho…she is bomb at settlers! Haha yeah dude the LOST stuff was tight! It made me totally fine with missing the last season cause I got to experience that. I mean they will have the DVD’s out soon enough. Dr. Wood – (or at least I’m assuming that the Mark that commented is the good Doctor himself) man mountain biking was sick!! Although I’m sure you and your marathon legs would have shown us all up. We were all dying the next day haha. Dad – heck yeah it was like a good Cussler novel. Everywhere is so new and exotic that it reminds me so much of those books. And don’t you even worry, I am watching my back. Always be suspicious right lol…some slick doctor told me that sometime ago haha.

Okay so I guess I have real short story to add since so many people are commenting on the LOST stuff. I didn’t put it in the last blog but I also drove around the warehouse that was used as the setting for a lot of the bunker/Darma building scenes. So yeah I got to see another major shooting location while I was in Honolulu. So yeah I went LOST crazy haha.

Well Hawaii is in our wake and we have begun our 11 day journey to Japan. For 11 days we will see nothing but the high seas and the people on the ship with us. Some people are really upset about this but I don’t see what the big deal is; I mean, I like everyone on the ship so I’m fine. I think some people are just upset cause they don’t get to see land for awhile and it bums them out that they won’t have cell service for awhile now. Personally I think its kinda cool because how many people can say they have gone 11 days without seeing land, with the exception of sailors that number is very, very small! And now I get to say I am part of that group too!!! So I am just viewing it as another adventure within this grand adventure and I am going to enjoy every minute of it!

After leaving Hawaii, everyone on the ship was exhausted; so for the first day and a half back the ship was so dead. There was like no one anywhere and nothing was really going on. I played a lot of cards with people and got ahead on some of my homework. There are these British guys on the ship and they are freaking awesome at Nerts (although in England they call it Pounce). So like the other night they invited me, Austin, Santa Fe, and Sarah to play with them and it was a blast. I had played before so I was able to hold my own but it was really funny watching Austin and some of the other guys learn had to play. We had about 9 people playing so if you have ever played Nerts you definitely know how that goes haha. It was crazy awesome!!!! There are other popular card games that we play on the ship but Nerts is spreading like wildfire! I don’t know if it’s because people wanna play with the British kids or what but everyone is starting to ask what is up with this crazy card game cause they hear us talking about it all the time. Oh and I watched FRIENDS…my friend Natalie is a die-hard FRIENDS watcher like myself and just so happened to bring all 10 seasons on DVD!! So now I can watch FRIENDS babay!!!!!!! Definitely a plus, especially when I need some time to just relax by myself for like an hour or two. Ok so here is a story that some of my you guys back home will appreciate. So I was wearing my “How You Doin’?” FRIENDS shirt the other day (just for you Chris) and was doing some homework in the piano lounge when this girl came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. She was like “Hi, you don’t know me but can I take a picture of your shirt.” I was like “Oh heck yeah you can take a pic of my shirt.” I had not met this girl yet (I mean obviously we have now, after this little experience) but she wanted a picture of MY shirt. That’s right everyone, probably your most UNFASHIONABLE friend, the kid who always wears a beat up ball-cap, t-shirts, and tennis shoes…yeah people wanted pictures of my clothes! That’s what’s up baby!!!!!

One of the coolest parts about leaving Hawaii was getting to hear everyone’s CRAZY stories, and I mean CRAZY is like a light word. Some stories were incredible to hear and it was so cool getting to talk with students and professors about what they learned and saw along the way. It was just a really cool experience cause no one did the same thing and everyone had their own personal adventures the way that they wanted to. It was like one giant continuous storytelling session for 2 days, and even longer on some occasions. People would just be sharing what they did and someone across the room would jump in and be like “Hey I did something similar” or “I did this instead,” and pretty soon you heard 3 more stories and made a new friends just cause they heard someone tell a cool story and wanted people to hear theirs. Just another example of how you are always meeting new people on this ship and it’s awesome!

Ever since leaving Hawaii everyone is now in “Plan-for-Japan” mode. All the travel books are checked out of the library and people are burning through their internet minutes booking hotel rooms and bus/train tickets in the hopes of planning the perfect 5 days. A lot of my friends are doing an intense 5 day trek across the whole country with a lot of time focused in Japan but I don’t really want to spend that much money in Japan. I am spending my money in other countries like Africa and China; besides, all the stuff I want to see in Japan I can see for cheap and not spend nearly as much money as them. I personally don’t see how anyone could have a bad time in these countries so I’m not too worried about it. It’s just funny seeing all these people who didn’t do any research at home run around like chickens-with-their-heads-cut-off trying to pull plans together at the last minute. Hahaha oh I am so glad my parents taught me how to travel cause some people are hilarious to watch plan stuff!! Thanks mom and dad!!

So I mentioned in a previous blog that there are various clubs and organizations that students on the ship can join and participate in as often and as much as they like. A couple nights ago the Latin Dancing club started and I totally went. That’s right…I went to a dancing club and learned how to Salsa!! Me, Tyler Smith!! And it was sooooo stinking fun! I mean I have always wanted to be able to dance well but I can’t freestyle to save my life (all of my friends know this all too well)…but I have always been able to learn a choreographed dance if it was taught to me. I mean I’m no pro or anything but I was able to get the basic steps down and just had a blast with it. The class is taught by two students, Beaa who is my friend from Puerto Rico, and Ben who I hadn’t met until I was at the dance class. They each are very good at Latin dancing and were really cool with teaching everyone that showed up. It was kind of a bummer cause only like 10 guys showed up and then like 60 girls. And for Salsa you obviously have to have a partner, so it was very easy for the guys but a lot of girls had to learn the “lead” roll as Beaa calls it. But anyways, it was cool cause we would learn a step, practice with our partner, then switch partners, learn another step, combine the steps, and repeat the process. It was a blast cause we got to meet new people and then also have fun learning how to Salsa. My last partner for the night was Aisha (again not quite sure how to spell that lol) and we had a lot of fun dancing together, partly cause we got to put all the steps together and we both were really excited to be able to do…and we both just had a lot of fun with it so that made the whole thing more fun. But anyways I just thought you should know that I am participating in a Latin Dancing club every other day I am at sea and it is freaking awesome!! I’m gunna come home a dancing fool haha!!! Anyways…next week…THE TANGO!

After being at sea and going through the process of enjoying a port, everyone has settled into life on the ship and the routines have been established. Everyone has figured out that they can get anywhere on the ship in about a minute and a half so no one is early to anything anymore. Similarly all the clubs and organizations have gotten into full swing so people have more things available to do in the evenings and early mornings. Now that people have settled into ship board life, I can’t help but think that living on this ship is so much like living in the dorms freshman year. I mean everything is so close together and every aspect of daily life is easily accessible, and even to a simpler degree because everything on the ship is even more compact. I don’t know about the other college kids, but anyone from OU who is reading this, don’t you remember just chilling on a study floor late at night or calling someone who lives a couple floors away and being like “hey what are you doing, wanna chill?” Okay so imagine that times 600 and that is what I have on this ship! There are like 4 main areas where people congregate to hang out and so whenever I am not doing anything, I just wander into one of those areas, and I am at the point where I know enough people now that I am guaranteed to find someone to chill with and play cards, or talk, or even do homework together. And on the off chance that I don’t know anyone, we are all like one huge shipboard family that I can just sit down, meet someone new and boom, new friend right there! It’s the coolest environment in the world and no one day is boring. I mean just today I met a girl on the deck after dinner whose name was Taylor and her family has a cabin on the mountain in Beaver Creek. It’s such a small world that we have probably been on that mountain at the same time and not even known it. And now a friendship is forming that started from a simple situation that back at our respected homes, most people would consider “awkward” or “social-weird” to just walk up and start a conversation with a random person or a random group. But out here in the middle of the ocean on a ship, no one really cares and everyone wants to meet new people. This makes for some awesome days and I can honestly say that between meeting new friends and strengthening existing friendships, not one single day on this ship has been boring.

Probably the most consistent theme that I personally feel on this ship is the drastically different spiritual opinions present from every corner of the United States. People are now comfortable enough around each other that you are getting into more serious conversations and people aren’t afraid to ask, “Well hey why don’t you drink?” or “You know, I have never heard you swear, why is that?” Just simple stuff like that is a consistent gateway into being able to express what I believe and why. There is also a Sunday Service group that has started and every Sunday night that we aren’t in port, we meet in the Union for an hour and hold a simple Sunday Service. It’s really nice to have that group of believers that I have found on the ship and to be able to participate in a routine group setting to worship our God and dwell on His Word.

As I look around the ship and realize that I am just one person in a group of over 800 people, it’s intimidating but also really exciting. The thing is I have 3.5 months to make a difference and then we are all going to get off this ship and go our separate ways. As I experience these mixed feelings I can’t help but think of the following lyrics to a popular song by Casting Crowns:

“Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin…would look on me with love…and watch me rise again. Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea…would call out through the rain…and calm the storm in me. Not because of who I am…but because of what you’ve done…not because of what I’ve done…but because of who You are!!!! I am, a flower quickly fading…here today and gone tomorrow…a wave tossed in the ocean… a vapor in the wind, still You, hear me when I’m calling…Lord you catch me when I’m falling…and You told me who I am…I AM YOURS!”

I am embarking on the adventure of a lifetime and I have 3.5 short months to make friendships that will last forever and an impact that can make a difference. This is scary, overwhelming, wonderful, unique, and extraordinary all at the same time! It is an amazing flood of emotions and opportunity and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!!!!

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you all are enjoying this blog! You all are in my prayers!! Love you all and I miss you guys!!

T