Events in Hong Kong and Shanghai

The MV Explorer spent time in Hong Kong and Shanghai but Semester at Sea voyagers went far beyond those two cities. The greatest number went to Beijing where the Great Wall seems to have been the main attraction as well as Tiananmen Square. SAS students also had the opportunity to meet and interact with students from a number of Chinese universities.

What many voyagers have told me were the best experiences though were not the big tourist attractions, but the more intimate moments where they were able to experience China on a deeper level. It’s possible that the most fun was had by a group of students who were guided through Hong Kong by our interport student, Edmond.

Andrew Davis, Tomas Ramos, and Eric Stephenson were walking through Edmond’s neighborhood when they stumbled onto familiar territory, a basketball court. Within a few minutes, they had started a pickup game and pretty soon, the whole neighborhood had gathered to watch them play. “They were amazed…and yelling like I was some sort of hero,” Andrew said. The students were hugged and signed autographs, making them feel like they were celebrities. “It was a blessing for me to be able to do that and enjoy their company,” Andrew told the community last night at post-port reflection when describing how he felt that day.

There are also a number of students on board who are of Asian descent, and for them, our time in Hong Kong and Shanghai took on a more personal meaning. Some were able to become reacquainted with family, others saw the places where their parents were born or spent a large part of their lives. For others that had lived in Asia themselves, “it felt like home.”

In addition to the events taking place on shore while the MV Explorer was docked in China though, there was something very special transpiring on board the ship. Semester at Sea announced the launch of a milestone program in its academic history, the C.Y. Tung Program in Sino-U.S. Relations.

In the words of Les McCabe, our Executive Dean and the president of the Institute for Shipboard Education, “This program marks a new era by offering a timely and integrated study of China – one of the world’s most influential global powers – and its relations with the United States. It will bring together students, scholars, and prominent figures to explore the history and cultures of China and the United States, and to consider how to ensure productive economic and diplomatic relationships between the two in the future.”

This program will be an incredible opportunity to further develop Semester at Sea as an heir to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of an “academical village,” a place where students and scholars would come together and interact in the pursuit of knowledge. There is no more fitting an example of this vision than the MV Explorer, where students and faculty live together for months at a time, traveling the globe together in a journey of academic pursuit and personal introspection.

University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III remarked of the new program that, “Our collaboration with Semester at Sea has provided thousands of students from colleges and universities around the world with unique opportunities to experience and understand world cultures, political systems and literature. This program builds on Semester at Sea’s successful educational mission and dovetails with the University’s ongoing initiatives to expand its global footprint.”

The design of the program builds on the vision of its namesake, C.Y. Tung. Mr. Tung, a Chinese shipping magnate was a longtime supporter of Semester at Sea and one of the greatest proponents of shipboard education. He always believed that ships could transport more than cargo and that is why he founded the predecessor program to Semester at Sea, World Campus Afloat, in 1963. Under Mr. Tung’s vision, his ships began to transport ideas and advance the education of thousands of college students. More than 45,000 alumni, hailing from approximately 1,500 different academic institutions have benefitted from C.Y. Tung’s creation of the floating campus.

The C.Y. Tung Program on Sino-U.S. Relations will bring together distinguished faculty from the University of Virginia and Fudan University in Shanghai, China to lead upper level courses that will “serve as a forum for constructive analysis of Chinese and American worldviews, economies, and diplomacy.” Additionally, five Chinese and five American university students will be selected as C.Y. Tung Program Scholars, receiving scholarships that will cover the costs of tuition and room and board. It will be an exceptional forum for the best and brightest students of both nations to come together and examine the relations between their two countries.

Reuniting with the Past

First off, I’d like to apologize for the gaps in between posts. As I mentioned earlier on in the voyage, it is often difficult to get to a computer when I am off the ship and our travel schedule throughout Asia contains relatively short periods of time aboard the MV Explorer in between longer stretches in port.

We departed Hong Kong late last night after a two day stay in what can only be described as a remarkable city. However, we are short about five hundred Voyagers, as most are currently on trips to mainland China and will be meeting the rest of us in Shanghai in a few days.

I wanted to backtrack a little though and share an incredible story that Pamela Werner, one of our lifelong learners shared with me the other day. Twelve years ago, Pamela and her husband Michael traveled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to meet the newest member of their family, Tami, an 8 year old Vietnamese girl they had chosen to adopt.

The Werners already had four children at home but Pamela explained to me that she and her husband saw the hardships that people around the world endured and while they knew they could not help everybody, “we just wanted to reach out and help one [child]…and we were blessed to have gotten Tami.”

Today, Tami is about 20 years old and is in her sophomore year at a university in her home state of Florida. It was a long and difficult journey to get where she is today though. It was the warm embrace, love, and support that Tami received from her new family that allowed her to adjust and flourish in her new home.

Pamela explained how tough those first weeks were when everything was so new to Tami. She could barely speak any English, which only compounded all of the difficulties she faced in her new environment. Tami’s self-chosen guide through this period was her new sister, Hannah. Two years younger than Tami, Pamela described her as Tami’s “medium.” When Tami wanted something but couldn’t find the English words, Hannah was the one who understood what her sister wanted. “There’s just something about children, they know each other,” Pamela said. “Hannah also shared her room, clothes, games, books, toys, and friends,” with Tami.

America became Tami’s new home and the Werners became her family. However, the move had separated Tami from her birth family. Her closest relative was her sister Tu, who is five years older than Tami. For twelve years, they did not speak or have any contact with one another.

When Pamela saw her itinerary for her upcoming Semester at Sea voyage, she contacted the adoption agency that she had used to find Tami to see if it would be possible to contact Tu. Within days, she was provided with all of the information she needed. Pamela was able to reach Tu once our voyage began and they made arrangements to meet when the MV Explorer arrived in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tu, now 25 years old, traveled over 12 hours by bus with her husband, 4 year old son, and grandmother to meet Pamela when she arrived in Vietnam. There was absolute joy when they were finally together. “They treated me like I was a queen,” Pamela told me. She continued that the family could not show enough thanks and gratitude to both her and Michael for giving Tami a home and raising her as one of their own.

Pamela (center) with Tami's Vietnamese family. To her immediate left is Tu and to her immediate right is Tami's grandmother.

As wonderful as it was for Pamela to meet Tu and her family though, the rest of the Werners, including Tami, wanted to see and talk to them. I’m just going to say right here that you have to love technology. Pamela and Michael were able to set up webcams on opposite ends of the world and after twelve years, Tami and Tu were finally able to look into each other's eyes, see the other's face, and talk to one another.

According to Pamela, Tami was lectured to quite extensively by all of her Vietnamese relatives to be a good daughter and keep up with her studies. Tu also threw in some elderly-sister dating advice. The two sisters loved talking with one another and have made a commitment to keep their relationship going and growing.

Tami no longer speaks Vietnamese and Tu does not speak English (everyone spoke through a translator who was with Pamela) so each of them is taking lessons in the other’s language, and they will be able to put their new linguistic skills to use in June when Tami travels to Vietnam to spend the summer with her sister.

Pictured are Tu (left), her son (center) and Tami (right).