After nearly two weeks at sea aboard the MV Explorer for a Semester at Sea, Levittown resident Korey Kleovoulou gained much more than knowledge normally aquired at college. He gained a newfound respect for life.

"I am glad to be alive," Kleovoulou began in his most recent entry to his online live journal.

Kleovoulou is a sophomore at the College of Mount St. Vincent majoring in history with an international studies minor. The ship he was attending a Semester at Sea aboard left Vancouver, Canada on Jan. 18. The vessel Kleovoulou and other students were to call their "college campus" for 100 days in a voyage to 11 ports around the world, was caught in an unexpected storm over Northern Japan that had passengers fearing for their lives.

"I think it was the first time I was really scared," Kleovoulou, a 2003 Island Trees High School graduate, wrote. "Scared enough that you find it hard to breathe."

Waves rocked their floating university, the MV Explorer, back and forth with such force it heaved passengers out of their beds and furniture across their cabins. Kleovoulou explained that people were screaming and the scene was chaotic when the captain came over the loudspeaker.

"He ordered all passengers to put on life jackets and proceed to muster stations beside our assigned lifeboats," Kleovoulou explained. "I scrambled back into the cabin to get dressed. I had to jump over the bed to get to the dresser. I turned the dresser right side up and grabbed a pair of thermal socks (thanks mom). I grabbed my gloves, thermal underwear, winter hat, my coat. Me and Francisco [Kleovoulou's roommate] filled up all my water bottles and I grabbed some granola bars in case the worst happened. It was a mad house to rush upstairs."

The passengers were asked to form a human chain so that none would slip off the teetering deck.

"During that time the sounds of broken glass from smashing windows echoed through the vessel," Kleovoulou wrote. "Plates and silverware from the kitchen rained down on the decks like shrapnel. Crewmen were running to unrig the lifeboats waiting vigilantly for Captain Buzz's orders."

After remaining on the deck for hours, Captain Buzz made an announcement that they "almost lost her" and for crewmembers to report any damages. The captain put out a distress call and the vessel remained in that port for the evening.

"He went on to say that a giant rogue wave crashed into the control bridge, knocking out two windows, and flooding the area, which blew out all the ship's electronics and caused a small fire," Kleovoulou reported. "I saw them taking down a crew member whose face was full of blood from when the windows smashed open on the bridge."

The Institute of Shipboard Education then decided that the program would cancel all ports of call to Korea and Japan and the vessel would be diverted to Hawaii. An announcement on the Semester at Sea website as of Feb. 9 read that passengers would be flown in groups to China, where they would visit Hong Kong. Once repairs were made and tests are completed on the MV Explorer, it was slated to meet up with the shipboard community at the Vietnam port.

"Tomorrow is Monday, Feb. 1 and the MV Explorer will be docking after two weeks at sea," Kleovoulou revealed. "I will be very happy to feel the earth again."

If the ship sticks to the remainder of its itinerary, the vessel should continue on traveling to Cambodia, India, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil and Venezuela. According to Kleovoulou, they are scheduled to return to Fort Lauderdale, FL on April 28. He is most excited about going to East Africa.

"I am taking a five-day safari to the Serengeti Nature Reserve," Kleovoulou explained in an email interview. "I will be traveling around trying to spot elephants, lions and monkeys while sleeping in the back of a Land Rover. I am also looking forward to taking an Amazon River trip. I booked this trip and will be spending my days on a river boat sleeping in hammocks. We will also be given a jungle survival course by native Indians. I really hope that this trip opens my eyes not only to the world, but to the daily lives of individual people who make up our great planet. Seeing people in other countries live, work and play will really make this trip worthwhile."

Semester at Sea is administered by the Institute for Shipboard Education and academically sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh. The program takes approximately 640 students from college and universities, both in the United States and abroad, around the world each fall and spring semester. Since 1963, more than 35,000 students have studied and traveled to 60 countries around the world through this program. Students attend classes and live in cabins with roommates, just as they do at their regular college or university. The 24,300-ton ship is equipped with all the same utilities and features as a college campus on land.

The Semester at Sea program first peaked Kleovoulou's interest back in 1999. He was watching a television show on MTV called Road Rules Semester at Sea.

"My senior year of high school I called and requested an information packet," he wrote. "Even when I started college I always knew that I would want to participate in Semester at Sea. In April 2004 I met with my teachers and academic advisors and it was decided that Spring 2005 was the only semester to do it. Any other semester abroad would conflict with my student teaching and/or education courses."

Kleovoulou's parents, Colleen and Kleo and his sister, Ashlee, a senior at Island Trees High School, currently reside in Levittown. To follow Kleovoulou on his journey around the globe, visit his live journal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/hellenic19/. To learn more about the Semester at Sea program visit www.semesteratsea.com.