port days

July 18, 2012
I got off in Juneau today and actually did a bit of stuff. First I got on the internet because I wanted to talk to people. I was headed back towards the ship to change and get lunch before heading back out without my laptop when I was stopped by a sighting of an Eiffel Tower on a shop along the row of outdoor food places. I got closer and saw that it was a creperie!! YES! It was very exciting! A girl in line and I began talking somehow; she lives in Juneau and works with the tours and she just discovered the creperie last week! We had good conversation, she spent three weeks in Europe with her school last fall so we had a LOT to talk about while I waited in line and she waited for them to finish her order. I might meet her again next week there because she really likes going there now that she’s found it. I got a strawberry nutella crepe and ate it on a bench next to the road; I may have inspired several people passing to go get one too because I heard a few comments like “oh cool, we can get crepes!”

After going back on the ship to switch out my laptop for my camera, I began to wander around town to find the fire station. I couldn’t find it even after wandering around for about an hour. Caitlin (the girl I met in line for crepes) gave me some directions, but I just couldn’t find it for some reason; I’ll try again next week though, once I get some more exact directions. I went shopping for a while and got Mom a present :) then I just walked around browsing the various shops before going back to the ship. Jessica and I hung out for a while before dinner and then going to get her name badge finally made. We checked for our shore excursions and I got one! I get to go on the “Sea Otter Quest” tomorrow. Taking a boat and seeing wildlife: otters, seals, etc. The boat is heated and has restrooms; I’ll be doing that at 7:30 in the morning and it’ll last about 2.5 hours, so I won’t have much time in Sitka, but I’m okay with that if I get to see some otters!

July 19, 2012
Early morning. I had to be in the Vista Lounge at 7:30 to be directed to my excursion. I didn’t get breakfast, but Cheyane (she’s one of the ones in charge of excursions) was talking to me while I waited and told me that they’d have snacks onboard. We got directly onto the tour boat from the ship.

Sadly, it was raining, but it was still a great trip! I had a really good thing of hot chocolate and a muffin for breakfast on board; the people who ran the tour were really nice, they made sure everyone knew what was going on. The boat had two stories, the bottom was windowed-in, heated and had the food, restrooms, gift shop and of course all the seats. The upper part was mostly open, there was a section for the captain, a covered section with a few seats and then three tiers of open area (with rails). Despite the rain, I was in the open area a lot because the windows had water drops all over them making it difficult to see out and get good pictures.
There were about 60 people from the Oosterdam on this excursion. We saw harbor seals, otters (twice), humpback whales, a grey whale, jellyfish, salmon, and quite a few eagles. I’d say it was a very productive trip! God’s creation is truly wonderful, seeing all these intricate creatures that He showed me today just brings chills because they’re all so different, but all survive together. I’ve now seen otters swimming around playing in the middle of the water, eagles take off the top of trees, whales rolling near the surface and flipping their tails, seals asleep on buoys and salmon jumping out of the water!

I did talk quite a bit to the passengers, they were all rather nice once we got used to our surroundings. I met people from Florida and Michigan; both couples told me they’re impressed with the youth staff because of all the kids we take care of!
Speaking of the kids, I worked this afternoon. I arrived and there were 14 there, a lot for a port day (probably because of the rain). The 14 never left and others just came. Noone wanted to do the same thing, so some were playing wii, other xbox, others doing crafts and still others still deciding. My attention was divided so many ways, it was confusing. I had to fix the wii, turn on an Xbox, unlock the cabinet with the xbox games, and get out the markers all at the same time. It was crazy. Finally I convinced most of them to watch a movie; half ended up playing xbox instead of watching though. About halfway through the movie, only 5 of us were watching, others were wandering around, taking craft supplies out of the cabinet, running around playing a game and yelling at each other about an xbox game. I did my best to maintain control; it eventually worked. It probably would have been better if there was a set schedule I feel like, because over 20 kids and just me trying to keep them all calm doesn’t work too well.

Time for a nap now; or time to go through my pictures from this morning!

July 20, 2012
Apparently my teens adore me. Megan was talking to the front office and they told her that a lot of parents were even saying good things about me. I’m kind of amazed; I just sit around with them mostly, and tell them to pick up whatever game is spread across the room, don’t let them curse, and make them take dirty dishes back to the kitchen. I’m teaching them about the cursing thing. One was cursing accidently all the time at the start of the week and said he couldn’t help it, last night I noticed he didn’t and when he almost let it slip, he stopped himself!

I got to work last night and no one was there. About an hour later, only one teen was there playing xbox and the rest came back, turns out that they had gone to the show at 8. We sat around for a while and they suggested we all go to the dessert extravaganza. I ended up wandering around by myself for a while because the group divided up into groups of 3-4. They had SO much chocolate, even chocolate fountains which was very exciting! I ended up sitting with three of the more mature teens and listening to the band until they stopped playing. We went back to the Loft and the other teens surprisingly hadn’t made a mess everywhere! There were about 10 of us who sat and talked until I closed at1. We’re having prom later today, basically just dancing to music; I don’t think I’m even going to make them dress up if they don’t want to. Maybe they’ll want to go to the show tonight too.

I’m now in Ketchikan at a coffee shop getting internet(I bought a pepsi) and hanging out with Jessica and Ashley since Ashley leaves on Sunday!