Ways to tell you are living on a ship:

While many of us have done some sailing or boating around the great lakes of MN and WI and some have maybe even done a cruise or two there are some very unique aspects that accompany actually living on a ship.  Here are ten ways to tell that you are living on a ship, such as our beautiful MV Explorer:

1. You get yelled at for calling the ship a boat
2.  Most of the cabins have Murphy bed half-way up the wall that folds down to create "bunk-beds"
3.  There are barf bags conveniently located at the top of every staircase
4.  Everyone has bumped into every wall on deck 6.......at least three times
5.  It seems like your cabin is haunted because the drawers open and close, as if they were being manipulated by spirits*        
6.  Everyone does the SAS 2-step   in other words, whenever someone stands still for too long they get caught off guard by a wave and stumble for a step or two before regaining their balance
7.  The floor of the dining halls are usually covered in water, or iced tea, or juice, or whatever was on the drink cart that just got tipped over for the 7th time that day because we hit another wave
8.  You occasionally hear calls of "Whale off the port side" and "those birds are following us again today"
9.  Dean John announces an "Overheard in the______________ today......"**
10.  Students can always be found hanging out in the lounges, the dining halls, the Union, the computer lab, the snack bar, out on deck, by the pool, in the middle of the hallways, on/in the staircases, and occasionally the elevator.  No-one, however, can actually be found in their cabin. 


*note: this usually occurs while you are sleeping so you can count on getting woken up several times a night by loud banging
**For those of you who are unfamiliar there is a site that lists, for example, "Overheard at the UofM today" where students post stupid or ridiculous comments that they heard around their campus that day.  My favorite so far "Student One: Do we advance the clocks tongiht?  Student Two: Yes  Student One: Does that mean we set them forward or back?"