At 7am I ventured out with a large group of students and life long learners to Kaneohe Bay where we would explore the deep blue sea's majestic underwater beauty. Upon arrival rain was steadily falling and the sky was overcast. Many people were complaining, but I was quite happy; rainfall calms open waters, and the clouds give a slight protection against the sun. As I am a white red head with blue eyes, this helps me not get sun burned – UV rays are always present on the ocean, as I have already discovered, so massive amounts of sunscreen were still used.
Any ways… we got onto a little boat with a tour of Japanese people too. This was sort of neat, because as I listened my high school Japanese kicked in and I remembered how to say, "excuse me," in Japanese (sumimasen). The tour provided donuts (YAY!), and we slowly moved out into the bay.
When we reached our destination in the bay there were three activities. One was a banana boat (where you sit on a inflatable raft and get pulled around by a motorized launch). You could also play volleyball in the ocean (careful to not fall on the coral reef that is right behind you), and you can go for a leisurely snorkel. I went on the banana boat first and got so much seawater in my face that I could not open my eyes until the ride was over.
When that was done I got my fins, a mask, and a snorkel, and joined the fishes. This was my first time snorkeling so I didn't really know what to do. I began walking in the waist deep water, on the dust of dead coral reef, toward the coral reef that was still alive and multicolored. As I walked large military air transports (planes and helicopters) flew across the sky toward a nearby marine base. Then I heard someone talking about snorkeling, that you don't want to walk, but just float your way over. Instantly I took the overheard advice and plopped into the water. At first everything was murky and pale. Then I saw fish that blended in with the white sand and looked like sticks with big eyes. As I floated closer to the living coral I began to see more and more different kinds of fish. The water became clearer and I just floated and fish swam around me.
At first I was very scared to allow myself to float over the coral. Coral reefs are very sharp and at points this one was only a few feet below the surface of the water. I had no desire to hurt the coral, or (more of an immediate concern to me) my knees or feet. Eventually though, I just decided to take a big breath when the coral seemed too close (air in the lungs will increase my buoyancy). I floated and floated and took as many pictures as I could before the battery began to fail. I even got a few video clips. It was an amazing experience. I felt mesmerized by the calm social world of the sea, how everything just flowed with me as I floated with the waves. 
I got back to the boat, ate lunch and returned to the ship. There I cleaned up and took my computer out to find an Internet café. This was only half successful because so many other students were doing the same thing. The bandwidth was completely used up and my computer could not connect. I ended up using a friend's computer for a few things. I wrote some postcards and then boarded the ship to embark on a ten day journey across the sea to Japan.
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