October 1, 1999 -- Kobe, Japan
Dear Friends,
Konichiwa. I'm finally in Japan, after spending 12 days crossing the
Pacific -- probably 12 of the best days of my life. We're about to go
explore Kyoto, one of the old capitals of Japan. But I thought I should
take this time to say hello.
It seems ages ago since I left Atlanta. So much has happened since, but
here it is in a nutshell...
We spent the first few days in Vancouver getting oriented. That involved a
few meetings with faculty and staff -- all wonderful people from all walks
of life. We got to board the ship on the second day, and had the ship all
to ourselves. It was kind of eerie because we were in the middle of this
shipping yard. (The passenger terminal wasn't ready for us.) So all around
us, containers were being loaded and unloaded from ships 24 hours straight.
Dave and I got two cabins on the very top deck (lucky us!), which are small
but comfy. And we don't have to share rooms, which is a plus.
We spent the next couple of days relaxing, knowing that when the students
arrive, the place would be a mad house. And indeed it was. On September
14, they started lining up at 6am to go through check in. That's also when
we started shooting, and we didn't stop until 11pm that night. It was such
an exciting and emotional day. They were laughing, screaming, crying -- a
full range of emotions.
At around 430pm, we released the lines, and departed Vancouver. I was
focused on shooting, but I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the
excitement around me, and the event itself. It was a beautiful day too,
with the sun setting in front of us. Nothing could be more magical.
For some reason, the ship scheduled a lifeboat drill half an hour after
departure -- I think that's to stress how important safety is on the ship.
No one was really prepared for that. People showed up in shorts, and tank
tops underneath their life jackets (which is against the rules). I wasn't
shooting then, so that was the first time I was able to relax. I tuned out
everything around me and just stared at the water. It was then that I
realized what an amazing experience this was. We were leaving all our
worries behind to begin a new adventure. I don't think I've ever felt so
cut off from the world -- and so liberated.
We spent the next few days taping everything -- sunsets, classes,
seasickness, students hanging out in their rooms, etc. But then I had to
start writing my first piece. It was difficult at first because we had so
much stuff and we weren't done shooting. But once I got the opening done,
everything else sort of fell into place. If I got stuck, I would simply go
onto the decks and stare at the waves. That didn't always help, but I got
to appreciate the beauty around me.
Because everyone was coming up to me to ask what our series was about, we
scheduled a meeting in the theater to explain it in detail. When I walked
in, the place was packed. There must have been about 250 students there.
People were sitting in the aisles and standing outside. We showed them the
Dan Eldon piece Dave and I did, and talked about what we were looking for
from them. Many were inspired by Dan's life of course. And I expected
that. What I didn't expect was that many students took something else away
from that meeting -- they were really impressed by how much we seemed to
enjoy our work. I guess they're at a stage in their life where they need to
decide what they want to do for a career. Seeing us there probably gave
them a few ideas. I haven't decided at this point whether I want to steer
people to our profession. I've been somewhat disillusioned ever since our
show got cancelled. But it's hard to be too disillusioned when you're on
one of the best assignments anyone has had.
If you're wondering whether I got seasick, the answer is NO. :) I'd say
half the ship got sick by the third or fourth day. That:s when the ocean
was really rough and our ship didn't stop rocking. I decided to tough it
out. I didn't even take any medication or use wrist bands. And
fortunately, I was fine. I feel bad though for the people who did get sick.
Some were throwing up so much that they had to get shots. But by the
sixth day, everything was calm again, and it remained calm all the way till
Japan.
As for the students, they're a great bunch of kids -- even though one in
four have their tongue pierced. I mix in fairly well because I'm also young
(relatively speaking). Well, one student thought I was 35 or 40, but most
thought I was 25 or 27. So they don't see me as being too old. I hang out
with them quite a bit, especially since I need them to give me ideas for
stories. But I also hang out with the staff and faculty. Everyone's great,
and we all know we're going through a bonding experience that will make many
of us life-long friends.
The most exciting day for me came the day before we arrived in Japan. The
school had one last meeting to prepare everyone for what they were about to
encounter. It started at 8pm, and Dave and I were down in our edit bay
finishing our first piece -- which sums up the first two weeks. We got done
at 830pm and decided to run it upstairs to show everyone. We hadn't planned
on doing that but it occured to us that night that it would be the perfect
time to do so because it would put a closure (a word I hate, but you get the
idea) to the first part of the journey. So we put it on all the monitors
and in all the rooms and we watched as 627 students watched our piece in the
Union. They laughed and cried through the whole thing and applauded at the
end. (Some even came up to me afterwards to tell me that I helped put their
trip in perspective for them.) Never in my years at CNN have I received
that kind of instant feedback from a group so big. So naturally, I was
elated. Dave was too. It made arriving in Japan less sad than it would
have been. I didn't really want to get here because I was having such a
good time being isolated from the world. But here we are.
Anyway, if you would like to check out the first show, set your VCT to CNN
NEWSROOM on October 29, 430am ET on cnn. If you're receiving it in Asia or
Europe on CNNI, it would be the following Monday, very early in the morning.
I have to wrap this up. Stories from Japan will be in the next email.
Hope you are all doing well.
Charles
