"September 12th on the S. S. Universe Explorer"photo Elroy Christenson
We didn't find out about the events in New York until we were about two days out of Kobe, Japan. Since we had already crossed the international dateline we were ahead in calendar time but behind in information on what had happened. Some of the staff had found out at 3:00am so there were postings when we awoke for breakfast. We had a meeting in the morning to summarize the facts as we understood them and tried to deal with the emotional downs and consequences of the events. Much debate took place about what would happen to the voyage. The day was left free for personal grief and trying to get information on relatives in the states through the email link we had. Other groups made 1000 paper cranes as an appropriate peace symbol for the day which hung throughout the voyage in the Union. We were reminded frequently of the plight of our loved ones at home since this is where our main lectures and meetings were held. 
