China...

I have contemplated for quite a while now how I was going to go about writing this blog entry.  As many of you know, a fellow shipmate, hall-mate and friend of mine, Kurt Leswing, was struck and killed by a drunk driver in Hong Kong early in the morning on November 8^th.  Besides having to deal with the pain of losing Kurt, I was incredibly sick with something flu-like for my entire stay in China.  Despite the emotional and physical issues I had to deal with, I still managed to have a good time for the most part.  Unlike all my other blog entries, I don’t think this one will contain the detail and vivid imagery as the others.  I apologize.

 

I want to save what I have to say about Kurt’s death until the end of this blog.  For now, I will tell you about all that I did over my five-day stay in China.  First off, for any of those who are planning on doing Semester at Sea sometime in the future, I want to tell you that if you do any trips through Semester at Sea in China, be prepared to be emotionally, physically, and mentally drained afterwards.  Almost every person I know who was on my trip was drained in all ways possible come day 5.  Our itinerary was packed and I felt that we were in constant motion.  With this being said, I wouldn’t have wanted to do any other trip in China because the things I saw and the things I did were amazing.  Here is a list of the things I did (hopefully I didn’t skip any): climbed the Great Wall in Beijing, visited the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, a few different pagodas and burial sites, and I spent a few days in Xi’an Province where I saw the Terracotta Soldiers.

           

Climbing the Great Wall is definitely one of the highlights of my trip.  I was pretty sick the day we climbed, so I didn’t think I was going to make it very far up the wall but I pushed myself (probably shouldn’t have) and I made it almost to the top.  There was one section I did not climb and I’m glad I didn’t because I probably would have collapsed.  It is amazing how much less you can push your body when you are sick.  I cannot remember what days we did what activities for the life of me, but I know what I did nonetheless.  Our group visited Tiananmen Square and I was amazed at how prominent Mao is in China.  It’s as if there is an obsession with him.  Everywhere we went in the area we were swarmed with vendors selling little red Mao books.  I passed on the purchase.

 

The day after we visited Tiananmen Square, we spent a few hours walking through the Forbidden City.  It was a very interesting place- the architecture was beautiful and I was awe-struck at how immaculate the grounds were.  I wish I knew more about Chinese history- I would have had a better understanding of the dynasties, their emperors and their reigns.

           

I wish I could remember the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace in greater depth than what I do.  I can look back on my pictures for help, but it’s just not the same as it has been in all the other countries I’ve visited.  The five days I spent in China are so foggy in my memory that I can hardly make sense of what days I was in Beijing and what days I was in Xi’an.  I do remember the Terracotta Soldiers very well.  There are three separate pits that they have excavated…the first being the largest and the third being the smallest.  The shear size of the pits was astonishing.  It’s amazing that each one of the terracotta soldiers were crafted to be life sized and each one has distinct facial features.  Something like 6000 soldiers have been excavated to date and there are still more to be unearthed. 

 

I’m sure when I look through my pictures in a few weeks, I’ll be able to recall the things I did in China in a bit greater detail, but until then I won’t keep trying to dig in my memory.  I do want to say that I had some amazing food in China but I am definitely looking forward to American Chinese food when I get home.  All I want is chicken and broccoli and pepper steak :-)

 

Kurt’s death hung heavy on my heart for quite a few days and I can still see his face in my memory as if he is right in front of me.  I’ve known very few people in my life who have passed away and they were all older and had lived a good life.  Kurt had his entire life ahead of him.  His death made every single one of us here on Semester at Sea realize that any one of us could have been him that night.  It could be my parents having to deal with my death as easily as it could be anyone else’s child.  I would never wish that pain on anyone.  I have never been one to take life for granted but I am guilty of forgetting to pay attention to the little things life offers on a daily basis.  I realize more so now than ever that our time here on Earth is never guaranteed.  We can’t live life thinking that we’ll have another day to do what we didn’t do today or say tomorrow what we didn’t say today.

 

Our entire shipboard community has pulled together over the past few days and we’ve all shed tears, hugged strangers for comfort, and communicated into each other’s souls without ever saying a word.  Death is never easy to deal with but living in such close quarters with over 650 students made it nearly impossible to feel its affects.  Even for those students who didn’t know Kurt, they still were feeling the pain of others hovering in the air. 

 

Tonight, my hall, the Adriatic Sea, had a small gathering to take a picture to send to Kurt’s family to let them know that we are thinking of them and of Kurt.  As one of our fellow hall-mates said tonight in our Logistical Preport, Kurt will be a permanent character in our life’s story as will everyone else whom we’ve encountered along our life’s path.  We need to remember him for the role he played, whether it is as simple as a fellow SASer, a person who was able to make us all happy with a flash of his smile, or a life-long friend.  For me, I will always know Kurt as a warm-hearted, genuine guy who went out of his way to make sure others needs were met before his own.

Rest in Peace, Kurt…