Well here it is... the day I have been dreading for the last few weeks, wait since I arrived; the day I leave to go back home. My time here has been packed with an occasional late night at the office or in my room working on things for Friend's of Hawai'i Robotics, filled with lots of good food (love the delicious pineapple, macadamia nuts, Yogurtland, Jamba Juice, and so much more), wonderful challenges at work, great learning opportunities, beautiful scenery, laying on the beach occasionally, but most of all wonderful people.
Life here in Honolulu was way too short. I could have stayed the whole summer (if the funds would have allowed)! Too bad I have to go back and finish up school, because otherwise I think I would have tried to find a job out here! Seriously one of the most amazing mentorships I have ever had. Corrie, you are an amazing woman and I am ever so thankful to have worked alongside of, and become one of your friends. Thank you also for introducing me to Lisa, your amazing housemate and best friend! Lisa and Corrie you both have impacted my life in more ways than ever thought possible. You both have made me feel at home here in Hawai'i and have really shown me the island of Oahu. I love and will miss you both dearly! Dont worry we will plan our trip together for the near future!
As for my future, I am still unsure about what to do after graduation next May. Do I want to pursue a degree in higher education/student affairs, work for a non-profit, find a job in human resources, or join AMERICORE for a year or two? These things I do not know. What I do know though is that God has been working at my heart for the last 8 weeks, and has given me calm over the upcoming decisions that I will have to make in the near future. I will be sure to let you know though where He continues to lead me in life. Until then Mahalo and Aloha Honolulu!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Weekend Fun & Beginnings of My Final Week
Well waking up last Saturday morning at 4am to go hike Stairway to Heaven was not fun; especially when we got to the place and was not able to climb due some crazy being outside threatening to call the cops on us. Oh well instead we went over to Lanikai and climbed up to the Pillboxes for sunrise. Absolutely beautiful and crossed off one watching a sunrise from my list of things to do while here. Lisa and I took some goofy pictures and then went to one of my favorite food places, Jamba Juice! I am in love with all the healthy fruit drink/food choices you can find here in Hawaii; trying to figure out a way to get them back in Illinois…
Then I came back and joined Shalea, Riana, and one of her Auntie Lynn for a hike back to Manoa Waterfall. To get there we had to hike through a rainforest . It reminded me of Costa Rica! Following the waterfall, we caught lunch before heading to the beach. The waves were huge on Saturday, about 5 feet or maybe a little bigger. This meant it was so much fun to ride them! After swimming, we took naps before sunset on the beach happened. So I guess at least once a month sunset on the beach happens. This entails a band singing some great songs starting around 5pm through 7:30pm, some recognition of public figures (sports teams this time) and then a movie on the beach (Field of Dreams)! To top off the evening we were able to get one of the amazing shaved ices with ice-cream while watching the movie under a full moon and star lit sky and hearing the waves roll in on the shore! Truly an amazing experience!
Sunday, I went to church with Lisa. Service was really good and inspiring, but saying goodbye to all the amazing people there was not fun. These wonderful people at church have made me feel so welcome and apart of Hope Chapel Church, and words cannot express how much they mean to me. Thank you so much, you all will always have a place in my heart! Following church I went with Lisa to the North Shore where we met up with some of her friends. What a great time we had. The guys grilled meat on the beach for us, we played some botchie ball, swam out into the water along with about 20 sea turtles, and then stayed for one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. The colors that God painted in the sky that night were some of the prettiest colors I have ever seen! My last weekend in Hawaii was one of the best ones I could have ever hoped for!
Monday was a bit hectic at work. We were trying to prepare for our board of directors meetings that we had today. Our goal was to get about 50 purchase orders ready so that we can move forward with our spending plan from the government along with some other forms that needed to be done. Let’s just say that things didn’t go as smooth as we wanted, and we ended up leaving the office around 10:20pm. This morning I arrived at the office before 8am so we could get everything ready and together by 11:15am because we were heading up for the meeting at 11:45am. Everything got done in time and then I met Friends of Hawaii board of directors. They all complimented on the article that was in the paper in Friday and gave me thanks of appreciation. Following that I spent the day drafting invoices and making a In-Kind-Donation form before I met Governor Lingle. She is such a down to earth woman and very personable. She also complimented me on my article! Following the meeting, I was done for the day.
Tomorrow I get to take Corrie out for a thank you dinner, so it should be a great time! I will to have one more post before I head home on Friday evening. If not I just want to say that this mentorship has been absolutely a blessing and I will never forget what an amazing opportunity I have been given!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Robots: One Goal, Many Paths
Well it’s Friday June 25, which means that the article I have been working on ran in the Honolulu Star Advertiser! After lots of hard work and long hours, the article that I put together with Corrie’s help looks fantastic. Especially in the hands of thousands of people! I really love the way the article came together. It was not easy though! I was working with Bill Mossman from the paper, and he kept pushing back his deadline, even though we did our absolutely best to meet his of Monday morning. We were supposed to receive a soft copy of our article by Tuesday morning, turned into Tuesday night, turned into Wednesday at 10am, and finally arrived at 12:45pm. Therefore we had to have it back to him by 5pm so that it could be ready for print at 6pm! After a first proofing, we submitted it back to him for edits, and then received a final soft copy to review and make edits to. Submitting that final soft copy was scary but also exciting at the same time. Exciting because I was done writing and I thought it looked great! Scary in the sense that perhaps I still had mistakes that needed to be fixed and that thousands of people would have a copy of it in their hands today!
But the day went well, and the ROC office did not have thousands of angry people pounding on our doors to inform me that the article was crap… maybe they are just waiting for Monday though! (I hope not!) So since Wednesday I have been working on getting things ready for Friends of Hawaii Robotics board of Directors meeting that we have coming up at 12pm on Tuesday. We have quite the work load cut out for us: about 62 purchase orders to make, things to be filed, lots of other things I can’t remember at the moment, and our office needs to be decorated.
As for this weekend though, I am going to try to enjoy it since it is my last weekend here before I come home. Riana and I are going to go get some Greek food, catch up with Shalea, and then probably go for a walk in Waikiki and on the beach. Tomorrow Lisa is picking me up at 4:30am and we are going to go do the “Stairway to Heaven” hike. Should be really good! Afterwards I think I will meet up with Riana and Shalea and perhaps take a bus over to Kailua and hit up one of the nicer beaches on the North-East side of the Island. Sunday, going to church and going to perhaps spend the afternoon at the beach for the my last time before I leave. It’s not fun thinking about leaving, but I will be excited to spend some good quality time with my family. Especially before Alyssa head’s of to UNCW for the start of her grad school program!
But the day went well, and the ROC office did not have thousands of angry people pounding on our doors to inform me that the article was crap… maybe they are just waiting for Monday though! (I hope not!) So since Wednesday I have been working on getting things ready for Friends of Hawaii Robotics board of Directors meeting that we have coming up at 12pm on Tuesday. We have quite the work load cut out for us: about 62 purchase orders to make, things to be filed, lots of other things I can’t remember at the moment, and our office needs to be decorated.
As for this weekend though, I am going to try to enjoy it since it is my last weekend here before I come home. Riana and I are going to go get some Greek food, catch up with Shalea, and then probably go for a walk in Waikiki and on the beach. Tomorrow Lisa is picking me up at 4:30am and we are going to go do the “Stairway to Heaven” hike. Should be really good! Afterwards I think I will meet up with Riana and Shalea and perhaps take a bus over to Kailua and hit up one of the nicer beaches on the North-East side of the Island. Sunday, going to church and going to perhaps spend the afternoon at the beach for the my last time before I leave. It’s not fun thinking about leaving, but I will be excited to spend some good quality time with my family. Especially before Alyssa head’s of to UNCW for the start of her grad school program!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
HECTIC ! ! ! ! !
Yes, I know I am long over-due for an update… Last week was one of the most insane weeks though in all my defense! We had Nancy McIntyre and her robotics team from Chaminade High School come in from California. This meant that I played travel agent. Now for those of you who know me, I love being an travel agent, well when it’s a trip for me! Last week was my time to step away from being selfish and focus on planning a great trip for 12 other people.
Using all my past experience with planning trips, I really did not have a hard time planning their trip and figuring out details, best prices, calling different car rentals and hotels, remember little details, and et al. One problem that I encountered was that I was informed of booking the final details of their trip on Monday (June 14) and they left for Hawaii on Wednesday (June 16). Yikes, crunch time it was! By Wednesday evening I had their trip completely finalized and everything booked.
While being travel agent, figuring out office details, helping Shalea Otto get familiarized with Honolulu (she was hired to work on the International Woman’s Leadership Conference), and I was also learning how to be a night-time journalist. Let me say not easy to do when you come home after being worn out by people on the phones all day demanding that you not be the middle man! I succeeded in turning a draft of my paper to Corrie on Friday night around 11:30pm.
Saturday, I went to St. Louis High School to learn about VEX robots and meet the Chaminade High School Robotics Team. Let me tell you these students blew me away with their presentations on their robots and what they are doing with technology! (I felt so dumb, but then again everyone has their area of expertise!) It was lots of fun to talk to the kids and become more educated in the field of what I have been trying to learn at the office. At the end of the workshop I got to drive one of the robots and play one of the games! The game they had us play was there were rings that we had to pick up and then place on a stand. Sounds easy, but actually harder than you would expect! The robots movements are very sensitive and so you end up moving far past the destination point than you actually want. Any who, not trying to brag at all, but I did amazing! I started about 10 minutes after several other people did because I was talking to a couple of students and in about 6 minutes, I had two rings on the stand! Whereas only one other person only had a ring on his stand! Yeah, go me! I loved my first robotics experience! Oh and watch out Illinois, Nancy is trying to get me to start my own robotics team…
Sunday, I went to church again with Lisa. I have to say I have grown to love this incredible Godly woman. She is going to be irreplaceable once I leave. Every week I look forward to Sunday because it means that I usually get to spend it with her company, and that time is always so much fun! Unfortunately, I did not get to spend it with her all day though because I had an article that needed to get submitted to the guy at the paper by midnight. Therefore, the rest of my Sunday was spent working on my article.
Today, I received some more feedback on my article, talked with the guy from the paper, was a travel agent again, worked on starting a proposal for our board of directors, and oh yeah finished the final draft! I can’t believe how many different “hats” I have gotten to put on over the last 4 weeks or so, but it has been a journey that is definitely been fun and kept me enjoying my experience so much! There is so much more I would love to share, but since it is now technically Tuesday and I have to be up in a couple of hours I am going to leave you hanging until later this week.
*****Article goes to press on Wednesday and is in the hands of people on Friday, June 25th, pray that it is good!*****
Using all my past experience with planning trips, I really did not have a hard time planning their trip and figuring out details, best prices, calling different car rentals and hotels, remember little details, and et al. One problem that I encountered was that I was informed of booking the final details of their trip on Monday (June 14) and they left for Hawaii on Wednesday (June 16). Yikes, crunch time it was! By Wednesday evening I had their trip completely finalized and everything booked.
While being travel agent, figuring out office details, helping Shalea Otto get familiarized with Honolulu (she was hired to work on the International Woman’s Leadership Conference), and I was also learning how to be a night-time journalist. Let me say not easy to do when you come home after being worn out by people on the phones all day demanding that you not be the middle man! I succeeded in turning a draft of my paper to Corrie on Friday night around 11:30pm.
Saturday, I went to St. Louis High School to learn about VEX robots and meet the Chaminade High School Robotics Team. Let me tell you these students blew me away with their presentations on their robots and what they are doing with technology! (I felt so dumb, but then again everyone has their area of expertise!) It was lots of fun to talk to the kids and become more educated in the field of what I have been trying to learn at the office. At the end of the workshop I got to drive one of the robots and play one of the games! The game they had us play was there were rings that we had to pick up and then place on a stand. Sounds easy, but actually harder than you would expect! The robots movements are very sensitive and so you end up moving far past the destination point than you actually want. Any who, not trying to brag at all, but I did amazing! I started about 10 minutes after several other people did because I was talking to a couple of students and in about 6 minutes, I had two rings on the stand! Whereas only one other person only had a ring on his stand! Yeah, go me! I loved my first robotics experience! Oh and watch out Illinois, Nancy is trying to get me to start my own robotics team…
Sunday, I went to church again with Lisa. I have to say I have grown to love this incredible Godly woman. She is going to be irreplaceable once I leave. Every week I look forward to Sunday because it means that I usually get to spend it with her company, and that time is always so much fun! Unfortunately, I did not get to spend it with her all day though because I had an article that needed to get submitted to the guy at the paper by midnight. Therefore, the rest of my Sunday was spent working on my article.
Today, I received some more feedback on my article, talked with the guy from the paper, was a travel agent again, worked on starting a proposal for our board of directors, and oh yeah finished the final draft! I can’t believe how many different “hats” I have gotten to put on over the last 4 weeks or so, but it has been a journey that is definitely been fun and kept me enjoying my experience so much! There is so much more I would love to share, but since it is now technically Tuesday and I have to be up in a couple of hours I am going to leave you hanging until later this week.
*****Article goes to press on Wednesday and is in the hands of people on Friday, June 25th, pray that it is good!*****
Monday, June 14, 2010
Week 3
Due to Corrie having to fly to New Hampshire for work and then to Illinois for a family wedding, this week work was different from the past two weeks. I was at the ROC office with Lee all week working on getting the rest of the office put together, figuring out suppliers for upcoming ROC events, contacting Lowes and Home Depot to see if they were interested in setting up a line of credit for the schools here in Hawaii to spend money on robotic equipment, writing drafts of stories for the paper, running some errands, making purchase orders, and whatever else came my way. It was a good week at the office, but I am looking forward to Corrie being back, so that we can really make way on these stories for the paper, and also finish up getting details sorted for the Robotics team coming in from California this next week. Therefore, this upcoming week might be a bit hectic (which I will love)!
Friday, June 11th, was King Kamehameha Day. Let me give you a bit of background. King Kamehameha the Great was the monarch of Hawaii between 1782 and 1819. He is known and respected for uniting and establishing the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810 and therefore the day is held in his honor each year. On this day each year the fire department put huge long leis on his statue that is located downtown in honor of him and then practically the entire state has the day off. Well I worked the first part of the day and then Zach picked me up and we went to Kailua and spent the afternoon on the beach. The drive there was fantastic and it always takes my breath away. So in order to get there we have to drive through the mountain ridges to get to the Northeast part of the island and the view once you come through to the other side is amazing! My pictures do not do it justice; therefore, everyone should come and see this beautiful creation of God’s. While out in the water, a sea turtle came up and started swimming with me! So awesome!
Saturday, I did some adventurous things on my own. First off, I went and tackled Koko Head. Koko Head is small mountain that was used during World War II. Basically, what happened is that at the top, there is a small little fort, and a rail-line was used to transfer information and down from the fort about possible upcoming attacks on Oahu. Let me tell you though, it was not an easy hike! To climb it, one must go straight the old rail line for probably ¾ a mile. Definitely, a little tiring, but the view from the top was well worth the sweat and soreness in my legs. After that hike, I traveled a little more around the east side of the island, stopped at some lookout points and climbed a few spots before heading more northeast. The next major hike I did was Makapu‘u Lighthouse Point. This hike wrapped around the coastline and ended upon the top of a mountain, so you could look down and see the lighthouse below on the cliff. From this point, I could see some of the smaller towns that lay nearby, Rabbit Island, and just more beautiful shoreline. Then to cool off and enjoy a little bit of the beach I headed to Kailua and enjoyed the ocean while watching canoe rowing teams practice.
Today, I went to church with Lisa again at Hope Chapel. Service was great and I really have learned a lot from God lately in my life and the work He is beginning in my life is so uplifting and is bringing a calm to my life that is indescribable. Following church, Lisa and I grabbed lunch at this amazing crepe restaurant in Kailua. My crepe had sliced strawberries, bananas, some granola, honey, and light plain yogurt in it. It was scrumptious! Once back, Zach picked me up and we went to Makapu‘u beach where I spent the remainder of my day.
In sum, I have realized a that I can honestly see myself doing non-profit work and would love to find a job for an organization that makes a positive impact on kids life, can pay enough to support me, and hopefully live somewhere as beautiful as this place is! I am absolutely in love with Hawaii and would love to stay here for more than just the 6 weeks. If you do not believe me ask my family, who I have barely been able to talk to since I have been out here; they can tell you that I am loving my time here. Therefore, I am so thankful for this wonderful opportunity I have been given.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Address
So my sister was asking if I had an address for while I am here; therefore, I decided to post it incase anyone else was wanting it.
Natalie Wetterauer
East-West Center Housing
Hale Kuahine #435D
1811 East-West Road
Honolulu, Hawaii 96848-1811
Natalie Wetterauer
East-West Center Housing
Hale Kuahine #435D
1811 East-West Road
Honolulu, Hawaii 96848-1811
Remembering the Past
Well this past weekend was another good one for the book. Saturday Riana and I got up at 5:30am to get ready and catch the 6:15am bus to Pearl Harbor. An hour later we arrived at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, got our tickets, and was so thankful that we showed up when we did. The tickets we got were for the 8:40am boat ride over to the Arizona Memorial. Those tickets go fast and to think that if we arrived maybe 30 minutes later our tickets would have only been good for the earliest of 10:30 probably. So other than just going out to the memorial the only other thing to do is pay for the submarine, or pay to go out to the U.S.S. Missouri is to watch the video they show. The video was good and following; we just kind of walked around and wasted time until our tickets were called.
The Arizona Memorial is more or less a huge open platform placed above the ship with names of the men engraved in the walls. Looking out through the walls, one can see parts of the ship above and below water. The whole time I was out there, I could hear the footsteps of others around me, the breeze blowing into my ears, and a faint few whispers of people. For the most part though, people are respectful and are giving tribute to all those who served and continue to serve our country. Thank you to all of those who do.
After visiting the memorial, we walked a couple of blocks to Aloha Stadium and hit the market for few. Of all places to go to, I really did not need to hit up a place like this but I could not resist! I got some things for my family, told myself that I could not buy some things, and got a good tan before heading back. We got back and then went to the beach to catch the still hot afternoon rays! What a great afternoon it was on the beach! That evening Zach, Riana, and I went out to dinner at Hard Rock Café, walked around Waikiki, and sat on the beach for a while before calling it a night.
Sunday, Riana and I went to church with Lisa (Corrie’s roommate). She attends Hope Chapel in Kaneohe Bay. The Church sat at the base of the mountain ridges and had a beautiful view overlooking the town and bay below it. Wow, to think that I can go to a church in such an amazing location is incredibly hard to grasp! Service was great and the message was something that was so fitting for where I am at in my life. We hung out with Lisa for a bit, and then in the afternoon I made my way back down to the beach to work on my news article, do some reading, and catching up with friends and family on the phone.
Today, I reported to the office to try to get more things set up in the office, worked on my news articles, and figured out some other things for ROC’s upcoming events. I have to say it is different though not working in the governor’s office, definitely less of a busy feel to the place. My goal is to look over my drafts tonight that I have written so that this paper starts really coming together. Well I know I have not even begun to talk to everyone from home, so please send me updates on how you have been! I miss you all so much, and also think and pray about you constantly!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Breaking News… ROC has an Office!
Well at the offices, yes offices, was a busy one. Tuesday, I went to the Capital and put in a day’s work there by working on putting together an outline for the upcoming newspaper article. This involved doing some more research on the different programs. I am beginning to have such an appreciation for journalist. All the work that goes into an article could/can really be a challenge! Besides working on an outline, I also worked on getting forms for the ROC office figured out and delivered so that we could move in as soon as possible.
Wednesday, I had to be at work early, like 7:30 instead of 9am. Corrie needed me to meet the tech people at our ROC office, to ensure that we could the wiring done in our office and be ready for moving in on Thursday. When I got back to the governor’s office, I got an approval from Corrie on my outline, so I started writing some of the stories. The rest of the day I spent working on getting more forms signed and working on stories.
*View from the stairway*
Thursday, was the big movie in. ROC officially got keys to the building! So exciting! Also meant that I was in for a busy day at the office… I spent the day trying to see if we had internet connection, figure out where out telephone was, hook it up, figure out what supplies we would need to get, and became the tech person. Yikes, I did not think I was qualified to do that. I know that my parents rely on me to do it at home, but that just a little router, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, and the occasional clock! Nothing like trying to set up an entire office space. Well around 5:30pm, Corrie and I left the office to go to Office Max. We ended up spending a good amount of time strolling the isles, getting repeatedly asked if we needed help finding anything, inspecting every possible buy for the best price, and coming out with a cart full of fun office supplies! Let me tell you just buying the basics to start a business can be quite expense, well actually really expensive. Note to self; if I ever start my own business make sure I have some good sponsors or a rich husband! Anyways, so when we got back to the office my goal was to set up our router and get wireless internet working. About 3 hours later, making it 9:30pm, Corrie and I finally left the office and stopped for the day, but we had internet and stocked desks with pens, pencils, paper and other necessities! Successful day!
*View from the stairway at night*
Today, Friday, I reported to my new office space. My goal for the morning was to get the internet connection faster, which I was successful at after changing the DSN address. Then to figure out our donated Xerox machine, and see if one of Corrie’s old computers would be able to work in the office. (Negative, just too old!) Around lunch Corrie came over to the office to go over the goals and necessary items to be taken care of for next week. After that I hacked away for a couple more hours until about 4pm. Then I walked over to the capital building so that Corrie and I could move ROC things over to our office space. After digging through the storage space in the capital we managed to hopefully grab all of ROCS stuff that we wanted to take over tonight. There is still things there, but we decided to leave it for another day. Upon unloading that stuff into the new office space, we stopped for the day around 7pm.
After work I met up with Riana and Zach. We went to this called First Friday. At the art museum on the first Friday of the month, they have an artsy event happen. Tonight they had silk ropedancers and music on the venue. It was a cool idea and many people showed up. As for this weekend’s plans, Riana and I are waking up early to take the bus to Pearl Harbor so that we can get a ticket to go out to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial and probably hitting up the beach afterwards. Sunday we might climb Diamond Head in the morning before church. Either way this weekend sounds like it will be good. Might have several early mornings, but just maybe being able to sleep on the beach will make up for its!
Wednesday, I had to be at work early, like 7:30 instead of 9am. Corrie needed me to meet the tech people at our ROC office, to ensure that we could the wiring done in our office and be ready for moving in on Thursday. When I got back to the governor’s office, I got an approval from Corrie on my outline, so I started writing some of the stories. The rest of the day I spent working on getting more forms signed and working on stories.
*View from the stairway*
Thursday, was the big movie in. ROC officially got keys to the building! So exciting! Also meant that I was in for a busy day at the office… I spent the day trying to see if we had internet connection, figure out where out telephone was, hook it up, figure out what supplies we would need to get, and became the tech person. Yikes, I did not think I was qualified to do that. I know that my parents rely on me to do it at home, but that just a little router, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, and the occasional clock! Nothing like trying to set up an entire office space. Well around 5:30pm, Corrie and I left the office to go to Office Max. We ended up spending a good amount of time strolling the isles, getting repeatedly asked if we needed help finding anything, inspecting every possible buy for the best price, and coming out with a cart full of fun office supplies! Let me tell you just buying the basics to start a business can be quite expense, well actually really expensive. Note to self; if I ever start my own business make sure I have some good sponsors or a rich husband! Anyways, so when we got back to the office my goal was to set up our router and get wireless internet working. About 3 hours later, making it 9:30pm, Corrie and I finally left the office and stopped for the day, but we had internet and stocked desks with pens, pencils, paper and other necessities! Successful day!
*View from the stairway at night*
Today, Friday, I reported to my new office space. My goal for the morning was to get the internet connection faster, which I was successful at after changing the DSN address. Then to figure out our donated Xerox machine, and see if one of Corrie’s old computers would be able to work in the office. (Negative, just too old!) Around lunch Corrie came over to the office to go over the goals and necessary items to be taken care of for next week. After that I hacked away for a couple more hours until about 4pm. Then I walked over to the capital building so that Corrie and I could move ROC things over to our office space. After digging through the storage space in the capital we managed to hopefully grab all of ROCS stuff that we wanted to take over tonight. There is still things there, but we decided to leave it for another day. Upon unloading that stuff into the new office space, we stopped for the day around 7pm.
After work I met up with Riana and Zach. We went to this called First Friday. At the art museum on the first Friday of the month, they have an artsy event happen. Tonight they had silk ropedancers and music on the venue. It was a cool idea and many people showed up. As for this weekend’s plans, Riana and I are waking up early to take the bus to Pearl Harbor so that we can get a ticket to go out to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial and probably hitting up the beach afterwards. Sunday we might climb Diamond Head in the morning before church. Either way this weekend sounds like it will be good. Might have several early mornings, but just maybe being able to sleep on the beach will make up for its!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Memorial Day Weekend
Wow! Where to begin? I cannot believe what a fabulous first weekend that I had here on the beautiful island, Oahu. Friday, I worked and then babysat for Corrie’s sister’s kids, so that all the adults could have a night to themselves. The kids were adorable, and I got to catch up on some Criminal Minds episodes.
Saturday morning I woke up early and headed down to Waikiki beach with Zach Tepper, a friend of my next-door neighbor that goes to school out here. We laid out, read on the beach, and of course got in the beautiful ocean water and floated for a while. Zach had to leave around 12pm to head into work at Jamba Juice, so I decided to stay at the beach a while longer. I walked the boardwalk for a good ways and walked the Waikiki shops for a bit. Then I headed back to campus to talk to the family. After a fun conversation, I headed to the huge Ala Moana Shopping Mall, because I heard about the great sales going on. A couple hours later with a couple of extra bags, I returned to school with some amazing purchases! (Banana Republic was my friend this weekend…)
On Sunday, I went along with Corrie and her family on their journey to the North Shore. Now for those of you that are not up on your Hawaiian geography or knowledge, the North Shore is known for the huge waves for the big surfing events that take place in January and February. On our drive to we took the scenic route, which was absolutely gorgeous. It reminded me of Highway 1 in California, and a little bit of the Great Ocean Road in Australia. Words and pictures cannot do the view justice! We stopped at a few lookout points, went through some small towns, went past Chinaman’s Hat, stopped at a shrimp shack, and arrived at a cute little town for some good shopping. I bought this beautiful necklace, a swimming suit wrap, and a Hawaii license plate to hang up in my room. Before we left the town, we grabbed the most amazing snow cones (shaved ice on top, homemade ice cream underneath, and great syrups to top it off) from a place called Matsumoto. I really need to find another place like it. Next stop was Turtle Beach. Here we found three Green Hawaiian Sea turtles sun bathing and many surfers. Then it was time to start heading back to Honolulu, but before we completely left the beauty, we stopped at this cute little restaurant and had an amazing meal.
Oh I forgot to add that by the shrimp shack there were these few little shops that had these creepy manikins! I had Corrie pose by one of them… take a look at them for yourself!
Don't these wonderful people make you want to shop there?
Monday, I joined Corrie and her family once again to the Polynesian Culture Center. This center was filled with information about the Pacific Islands. It had six villages in it: Samoa, Aotearoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Tahiti, and Tonga. Each village had different presentations, activities, and reconstructions of what a village would look like. I really enjoyed visiting the one from Fiji. Kim, they greeted us say Bula and there was hut that looked like the one we stayed in at Coral View! They had canoe rides as well, but we did not have enough time to take that. That evening following dinner, the performers put on a show. It was amazing. My favorite part was probably the fire dancing.
I have a feeling it’s going to be hard to beat my first weekend here in Hawaii, but then again there are still many things I want to do, hike Diamond Head, see Pearl Harbor, do some more hiking, surf, and whatever else is thrown my direction. I do know that I am absolutely thankful to Corrie, Lisa (Corrie’s housemate), and Corrie’s family (Lauren, Dan, Ashton, Tessa, and Claire). They were such a blessing to me this weekend, and reminded me so much of my family. Thank you all for being so wonderful to me!
Saturday morning I woke up early and headed down to Waikiki beach with Zach Tepper, a friend of my next-door neighbor that goes to school out here. We laid out, read on the beach, and of course got in the beautiful ocean water and floated for a while. Zach had to leave around 12pm to head into work at Jamba Juice, so I decided to stay at the beach a while longer. I walked the boardwalk for a good ways and walked the Waikiki shops for a bit. Then I headed back to campus to talk to the family. After a fun conversation, I headed to the huge Ala Moana Shopping Mall, because I heard about the great sales going on. A couple hours later with a couple of extra bags, I returned to school with some amazing purchases! (Banana Republic was my friend this weekend…)
On Sunday, I went along with Corrie and her family on their journey to the North Shore. Now for those of you that are not up on your Hawaiian geography or knowledge, the North Shore is known for the huge waves for the big surfing events that take place in January and February. On our drive to we took the scenic route, which was absolutely gorgeous. It reminded me of Highway 1 in California, and a little bit of the Great Ocean Road in Australia. Words and pictures cannot do the view justice! We stopped at a few lookout points, went through some small towns, went past Chinaman’s Hat, stopped at a shrimp shack, and arrived at a cute little town for some good shopping. I bought this beautiful necklace, a swimming suit wrap, and a Hawaii license plate to hang up in my room. Before we left the town, we grabbed the most amazing snow cones (shaved ice on top, homemade ice cream underneath, and great syrups to top it off) from a place called Matsumoto. I really need to find another place like it. Next stop was Turtle Beach. Here we found three Green Hawaiian Sea turtles sun bathing and many surfers. Then it was time to start heading back to Honolulu, but before we completely left the beauty, we stopped at this cute little restaurant and had an amazing meal.
Oh I forgot to add that by the shrimp shack there were these few little shops that had these creepy manikins! I had Corrie pose by one of them… take a look at them for yourself!
Don't these wonderful people make you want to shop there?
Monday, I joined Corrie and her family once again to the Polynesian Culture Center. This center was filled with information about the Pacific Islands. It had six villages in it: Samoa, Aotearoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Tahiti, and Tonga. Each village had different presentations, activities, and reconstructions of what a village would look like. I really enjoyed visiting the one from Fiji. Kim, they greeted us say Bula and there was hut that looked like the one we stayed in at Coral View! They had canoe rides as well, but we did not have enough time to take that. That evening following dinner, the performers put on a show. It was amazing. My favorite part was probably the fire dancing.
I have a feeling it’s going to be hard to beat my first weekend here in Hawaii, but then again there are still many things I want to do, hike Diamond Head, see Pearl Harbor, do some more hiking, surf, and whatever else is thrown my direction. I do know that I am absolutely thankful to Corrie, Lisa (Corrie’s housemate), and Corrie’s family (Lauren, Dan, Ashton, Tessa, and Claire). They were such a blessing to me this weekend, and reminded me so much of my family. Thank you all for being so wonderful to me!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Week One Complete!
Wow! I can't believe how fast this week went by! I have learned so much and have stayed extremely busy in the office. This week I sent out letters to individuals, ROC events, and even drafted a press release for the International Women's Leadership Conference (IWLC). As for specific ROC related work, I have been pulling general information from the website www.hawaiiroc.org in order to gain a better understanding of the organization, had several meetings figuring out details for upcoming events, talked to a couple of people with the Honolulu Advertiser about the 4-page article I am in charge of, and figured out some information regarding our office space.
In the evenings Riana and I have done some more exploring, especially regarding food eateries! YUM! We tried out this place called Yogurtland. Basically it is like a ColdStone Creamery, but with Yogurt based ice cream = so good! I will definitely be stopping there a couple more times. We also met one of my next door neighbor's friends from school named Zach. He is such a funny kid and will probably join Riana and I on several of our adventures. As for this Memorial Day weekend, I am looking forward to hitting up the beach at least a little bit everyday, do some exploring, try finding the farmer's market, and whatever else may come my way! I just know that I need to hit up the beach and get a little bit of tan, so that way when I come home I hopefully wont get crap about not having a tan and being in Hawaii for 6 weeks.
I have also learned a few lessons this week.
1.) Make sure you understand that bus drivers don't always know what they are talking about.
2.) Make sure that I know the address of where I am supposed to be delivering packages. (Google map it before I leave also helps!)
3.) Working for the Governor's office can be a bit hectic (understatement).
4.) I thought I knew what busy meant until I met Corrie.
5.) Carrying an umbrella in Hawaii can be useful for their daily light showers.
Well I hope you are all well and I will update you again soon!
In the evenings Riana and I have done some more exploring, especially regarding food eateries! YUM! We tried out this place called Yogurtland. Basically it is like a ColdStone Creamery, but with Yogurt based ice cream = so good! I will definitely be stopping there a couple more times. We also met one of my next door neighbor's friends from school named Zach. He is such a funny kid and will probably join Riana and I on several of our adventures. As for this Memorial Day weekend, I am looking forward to hitting up the beach at least a little bit everyday, do some exploring, try finding the farmer's market, and whatever else may come my way! I just know that I need to hit up the beach and get a little bit of tan, so that way when I come home I hopefully wont get crap about not having a tan and being in Hawaii for 6 weeks.
I have also learned a few lessons this week.
1.) Make sure you understand that bus drivers don't always know what they are talking about.
2.) Make sure that I know the address of where I am supposed to be delivering packages. (Google map it before I leave also helps!)
3.) Working for the Governor's office can be a bit hectic (understatement).
4.) I thought I knew what busy meant until I met Corrie.
5.) Carrying an umbrella in Hawaii can be useful for their daily light showers.
Well I hope you are all well and I will update you again soon!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The work has begun...
Well yesterday (Monday) I met up with Corrie to discuss things for the next 6 weeks. Upon our meeting she informed me that the office building for Robotics Organization Committee (ROC) where I would be working is still not open due to insurance reasons, so she offered for me to work with her in the State Capital Building till it opens up next week sometime. Of course I am not going to pass up an offer to try new things and work in the executive office of the Hawaii government! So for the past 2 days I have been reporting to Corrie in the Capital Building!
Yesterday didn't involve too much work since Corrie and I had to discuss details, go to a few meetings and she arranged for Riana and I to take a tour of the Iolani Palace with her family. It was such a cool palace and I absolutely fell in love with all the woodwork in it. (Dad you would have loved to have toured it!) Sorry I would show you pictures, but no photography allowed. After the tour Riana and I went out to California Pizza Kitchen with my neighbors friend, Zach, from university here. He was such a nice guy and I am sure we will hang out with him again.
Today I met Corrie at 8am to go over and meet Lee, a guy that I am going to be working with for ROC and went over some details and projects. Then we headed to the Capital Building to do some more work. Corrie has been having me practice my journalism through writing letters to various people for ROC events and their Women's Conference Organization. Several drafts later, Corrie decides that the letters are worthy enough to be submitted to Lennie for a final reading before we send them out. I also had to run an errand for Corrie while she was in a meeting. Let's just say that with a little bit of difficulty I managed to find the building, get security to open up the suite so I could grab the needed stuff, and then deliver it to the person. Finally the other big event for the day was a press conference by Governor Lindle about the Education Furlong Fridays. In the conference she announced that the eight month furlong were finally over. It was a really crowded press conference according to Corrie and afterwards I met Governor Lindle.
Overall, I am enjoying Hawaii. I do miss being able to talk to everyone back at home. It is very hard to talk to everyone with a five hour time difference when I have to get up in the morning early, catch the bus, and work. It is okay though people will just have to realize that they will have to wait till the weekend before I can talk for long periods of time. I have to say though that I remember how much I despise public transportation and it brings back all my times using Australian public transportation. Oh yeah cockroaches, lizards, and other bugs are a regular around here, but surprisingly I don't freak out. I guess maybe there was some benefit to surrounded by all of these wonderful creatures in Australia?!?!
*A corner of the Capital building with the city in the background*
*The middle of the Capital Building. Yes it is a different building.*
*The Capital Building*
Yesterday didn't involve too much work since Corrie and I had to discuss details, go to a few meetings and she arranged for Riana and I to take a tour of the Iolani Palace with her family. It was such a cool palace and I absolutely fell in love with all the woodwork in it. (Dad you would have loved to have toured it!) Sorry I would show you pictures, but no photography allowed. After the tour Riana and I went out to California Pizza Kitchen with my neighbors friend, Zach, from university here. He was such a nice guy and I am sure we will hang out with him again.
Today I met Corrie at 8am to go over and meet Lee, a guy that I am going to be working with for ROC and went over some details and projects. Then we headed to the Capital Building to do some more work. Corrie has been having me practice my journalism through writing letters to various people for ROC events and their Women's Conference Organization. Several drafts later, Corrie decides that the letters are worthy enough to be submitted to Lennie for a final reading before we send them out. I also had to run an errand for Corrie while she was in a meeting. Let's just say that with a little bit of difficulty I managed to find the building, get security to open up the suite so I could grab the needed stuff, and then deliver it to the person. Finally the other big event for the day was a press conference by Governor Lindle about the Education Furlong Fridays. In the conference she announced that the eight month furlong were finally over. It was a really crowded press conference according to Corrie and afterwards I met Governor Lindle.
Overall, I am enjoying Hawaii. I do miss being able to talk to everyone back at home. It is very hard to talk to everyone with a five hour time difference when I have to get up in the morning early, catch the bus, and work. It is okay though people will just have to realize that they will have to wait till the weekend before I can talk for long periods of time. I have to say though that I remember how much I despise public transportation and it brings back all my times using Australian public transportation. Oh yeah cockroaches, lizards, and other bugs are a regular around here, but surprisingly I don't freak out. I guess maybe there was some benefit to surrounded by all of these wonderful creatures in Australia?!?!
*A corner of the Capital building with the city in the background*
*The middle of the Capital Building. Yes it is a different building.*
*The Capital Building*
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