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Wednesday, January 27, 2016
I had an active day with Qi Jong, walking a mile around deck, a lecture on the peoples of the South Pacific---(Polynesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians), a tour of the ship's floral arrangements, both trivia games, and of course, 3 meals, fun ballroom dancing, and a production show of Elton-John themed music and dance. I am truly disappointed with the design of the shows, the weakest I have seen. The singers borderline skilled and there are only 3 female and 2 male dancers. The overall quality of the production is lackluster.
After winning trivia, we discovered a contest many had been playing since yesterday evening: list all of the names of bands with a one word name. Even though we began one day later, only 2 hours before time to turn it in, obsession and focus helped us produce 150 group names including Aerosmith, Abba, Journey, Bangles, Oasis, Platters, Wham, Jacksons, Stylistics, Eurthymics, Monkeys, and more. We won 30 DAM dollars, the most at any seating. I love thinking games that draw upon my knowledge of pop culture.
It was slightly cooler today, devoid of humidity. I signed up for a kayaking tour in Bay of Islands, our next port of call.
I danced until the Ocean Bar closed and had a nice conversation with Robert S. (from Idaho) the gentleman host dancer. He has danced on several world cruises including this ship and a Crystal Cruise ship. He found out about gentlemen hosts positions almost by accident. Several years ago, he stepped in to serve as a dance contest partner (on very short notice) for a friend whose original partner did not show up. They later discovered the other gentleman had died. That man, Bob learned, had been a gentleman host dancer. Having retired, Bob decided to explore this opportunity so he brushed up on his ballroom dance steps and made the right phone calls to agencies.
Bob told me about his careers. First he was a respiratory therapist then grew tired of that. He taught sciences for 5 years (6 courses at a time) and found the workload grueling and overwhelming. His work was never done with grading papers and designing coursework.
He also worked in several African nations including Ghana, Sudan, and Chad. I will ask him to elaborate on his time in Africa later. He said as a child, he always wanted to go to Africa.
I look forward to 3 more relaxing yet activity-filled sea days.
