I write this as we sail on the river on the way into Shanghai, where we should arrive in 90 minutes or so. Most reading this will have heard wonderful reports of Japan, where we had cold but wonderfully clear weather, often affording great views of Mt. Fuji. Last night at our logistical pre-port briefing for our Chinese ports my colleague, Dean John Tymitz, thanked everyone for generally splendid behavior during the days in Japan; there were exceptions, and a couple of complications of the sort that have kept me busy enough to be away from this blog (for which i apologize), but on the whole the students have been doing wonderfully. Between Japan and China we have had on board a wonderful visitor, Mr. William Duff, a quite distinguished State Department official, who seems to have spent every moment on board engaging with students: Semester at Sea's enduring connection with the State Department seems to me among its most appealing aspects. We are expecting cold weather again in Shanghai, and a stay to be complicated by new matters, including Google and its associated products not being available to any of us (so you shouldn't expect emails from the usual shipboard accounts) plus Chinese new year celebrations. But everyone's been well briefed, and you will no doubt have access to other accounts of genuinely thrilling times.
