Rough waters

We finally hit our first stretch of rough waters as we crossed the equator, and unlike the many people who get sea sick, I love it. Here are my top seven things to do as we ride bigger waves.

7. Going to sleep. It is like being craddled all over again. The center of gravity of the ship is near the aft, so those of us living in the front are most affected by it all. I say we're not affected enough.

6. Taking a shower. There are two techniques to showering in rough waters. 1) Chase the water around with moderate success, or 2) Stay in one spot and wait for the water to hit you about 50% of the time. I definitely am a student of option #1. Who knew showers could be so much fun?! Actually, don't answer that.

5. Going to the bathroom. Ever lived with someone with bad aim? Good thing I have my own cabin.

4. Watching the mass of students change classes. There's a spot in the sixth deck between the classrooms that is full of students walking in both directions for about five minutes, several times a day. I need to static video camera to show everybody getting slammed one way before everybody gets slammed the other way. It is like everybody is drunk, but in a very uniform, organized way.

3. Running up and down the stairs. A more accurate term would be "chasing the steps". It's like a tag between humans and the stepkind, often with hilarious results. If only the staircase could trash-talk... "Think that step will be there when your foot arrive, eh? Think again, sucka!"

2. Playing basketball. If there is one thing I am terrible at in this world, it is basketball. The rough waters won't stop me from trying, however. A well-timed wave can my turn my a shot into a shotput and my layup into a Lebron-like dunk. The NBA should needs to find out about this... watching people play when the court and the basket are moving all over the place is beats the heck out of watching a real game. I think my free throw percentage is a ship-leading .0000001% (which is actually better than what I shoot on land, but that's another story).

1. Going to the seventh deck to watch the students try to run on the exercise machine. Or as I like to call it, the "Log Run". In a culture of fitness where everybody walks around in swimsuits, there's something really funny watching students figure out the hard way that perhaps there are safer machines available. An that proves that yes, I have an evil side.