I'm not late, I'm right on time

Okay, so I started this blog in April, and I'm just now getting to the second post. And I haven't told any of you about it. So, it's time to start for real.

Hawai'i has been amazing for me. I love my classes, I'm learning so much about the world and business and poverty and economics (if any of you want to talk about the benefits and drawbacks of economic globalization, you've come to the right place!). I love my current professor, who's the chair of my program. I ended up needing to find a new place to live, and it was a blessing in disguise. I found a room in a gorgeous house with its own lanai (porch) that overlooks downtown Honolulu. I can see the ocean from my room. I feel incredibly blessed. And busy.

It's beautiful here. There are mountains with waterfalls and hiking trails that end in lagoons and stretches of beach and the beautiful turquoise ocean. During whale migration, you can stand on the shore and see their massive shadows moving through the water. The native dolphins are spinner dolphins, which travel in pods of about 15 and, as their name implies, jump out of the water and spin around and dive back in. There are cute geckos all over and little zebra doves that sit in poofy balls on the sidewalk. There are rainbows every day, and sunshowers, and trade winds (sometimes) to keep you cool. People grow mangos and coconuts and avocados (my favorite) and star fruit in their yards. Then, there's my neighbor down the hill. She hordes cats rather than growing fruit (the animal police people raided her house a couple of years ago and found 325 cats living there! They took most of them away, and left her with 30 or so. My roommate said that, after they raided her house, there was a little mouse problem in the neighborhood. lol). But, it's still paradise.

I've been learning more about my Hawaiian heritage, as well. I'm sure I'll write more about it as I go on. Living here is like living in another country--which made perfect sense when I remembered that it was only added as a state in 1959. There is a completely different culture here. Whenever I've traveled I've noticed that, in every other country (even more affluent countries: England, Scotland, Ireland), there's a higher number of disabled/disfigured people. I don't know if it's America's obsession with outer perfection, but I see many more people out and about, living life, on crutches or in wheelchairs or missing body parts in non-American countries. That is true of here. The young, sweet girl at the Mexican restaurant has only one eye, several people walk with severe limps, etc. So, by my main judging factor, Hawai'i is not like America.

Statistic boring (or interesting, depending who you are) stuff: Over half of the population is Asian, whites are a minority, and Hawaiians are both hard to find and protective of their culture. It's been difficult for me to break into the culture and find out more about my heritage, though people are generally receptive when they find that I'm Hawaiian. There is, sadly, a sense of defeat and anger among the locals (Hawaiian and other). They feel their island has been taken away from them. There is a fair amount of interest in race--everyone asks everyone else where they're from, mostly because everyone is from elsewhere. There is an undercurrent of racism (I've seen at least one shopkeeper get told to "Go back to Japan!"), and there is social discontent. These are things that you wouldn't notice on vacation, but that you can sense over time. Like any tourist destination, there are problems with drugs and prostitution and homelessness. The government in southern California will actually give its "problem" homeless people a one-way ticket to Hawai'i when they can't handle them anymore. But, we're guilty of it too because the "problem" homeless on O'ahu get one-way tickets to other, less populated Hawaiian islands. Also, young kids on the mainland who are running away from home will come here, thinking they can just sleep on the beach and take it easy. For the young girls, when they find that's not the case they turn to prostitution. There are a lot of homeless in Hawai'i.

Well, I've probably ignored my homework long enough. And I think that's enough preliminary stuff. Mahalo (thanks) for reading the looong post. :) I'll try to update this frequently--every week or so. Take care!

Starting Out

I've been in Hawai'i for a while now, and have meant to start a blog for just as long. Today, with a test looming tomorrow afternoon and a paper due tomorrow night, I've decided to start the blog. I'm not procrastinating, I'm just trying to still live my life in the midst of obligations. Or so I'll tell myself.

Background: After graduating from University of Iowa and working/traveling for a few years, I decided to return to school, to get my Masters in Global Leadership from Hawai'i Pacific University. I live in an apartment in Honolulu, near Chinatown, in a semi-rough neighborhood (lots of homeless, which most of you know is right up my alley), and I feel very much at home. There's a little dispute over the lease right now, so pray that I can stay here. I love my place--it's small and homey, and I have the best roommates ever. I live with a married couple and another grad student. I'm the only native english speaker--the husband is Mexican, the wife German, and the student is from both CapeVerde (Africa) and Sweden. Makes for some great conversations.

Lately I've over-commited myself, which is one reason I'm starting this--because I decided that I should live my priorities rather than other people's priorities. It rained for over 40 days and nights when I first moved here, so I haven't gotten out and around the island as much as I'd like. And I'm still really white. But I'm determined to do more stuff now that it's nice and sunny. Or, at least not rainy.

There's a lot more I could say, but I should really get started on school stuff. I might go to my favorite study spot for a while. It's sort of gloomy today, so it's a good day to drink coffee and listen to jazz.