Panic Attack!

So my chair wants me to finish the dissertation this year. I was thrilled. I was euphoric. Then I realized all the work I had to do. I am now in a panic. How much work do I need to do? Well, here's the list:

1. Finish Chapter 8 (Conclusion)
2. Finish Chapter 1 (Introduction)
3. Develop a glossary for the Appendix
4. Revise all chapters (I thought I'd have more time for this)
5. Format everything to standard
6. Table of Contents

I need to have all of this done by 9/26. I'll send everything to the chair, and if it's all okay, I'll send a copy each to the readers. They in turn have four weeks to read the dissertation. If it's a go, I must defend during the last week of October, in order to submit everything in its completed form to the Graduate School by November 15. Feeling a little uneasy right now.

My Country tis of Thee

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

Yikes!

Well, school has started. I can't believe that I'm already so far behind. I'm teaching 16 hours this semester which is kind of a lot. I also have to finish the dissertation this semester. No pressure. Right. I'll post some pictures of my classes once I go to them.

Orientation Week

There's a buzz on campus during orientation week. There are so many people on campus, and there are tons of meetings and activities happening. My friend Rose, pictured above, led a meeting today, and she did a fantastic job. I am part of a group on student diversity. We had people from Haiti, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, South Korea, Japan, and Hawai'i at the meeting.

Meetings (and food)

The thing about orientation week is all the meetings you have to go to. However, there are meetings that have their perks. This meeting on student diversity was interesting, and they had food. Can't go wrong there.

I forced Eric to stop by my office today so I could take a picture for the blog. What a nice guy. Eric just bought a house in the area, and is now a slave to his mortgage. Welcome to my world.

Sherpa - Best Friend or Vicious Protector

Here's a shot of Sherpa. He really is a great dog. Very friendly and tons of energy. While I love the dog, he has been known to snap (read: bite) at a few people.

I think he's turning Japanese...

On Sunday Kevin wanted to go have Japanese food. I think he likes it more than I do. Anyway, we started off with the ika furai (fried squid) and then ordered an entree. I had the homemade gyoza and sushi combo, while Kevin just had sushi.

Sushi Man

Kevin decided to have the Sushi A Combo. Not bad. It really is a lot of sushi. In addition to the sushi, the restaurant served a seaweed salad, and miso soup. For dessert, they brought out cold pineapple chunks (3 chunks) and mandarin slices (4 slices) I guess it's not the quantity but the quality.

Kalama Days Festival

Today was the Kalama Days Festival. The festival is in honor of John Kalama who sailed on a fur trading ship from Hawai'i to the Pacific Northwest 175 years ago. Kalama settled here and married a Native American woman. Kalama and his descendants were honored at this historic event.

I attended and volunteered because my hula halau was a major sponsor of the event. 3 of my students came with me since it is still summer break for them. Here they are standing in front of the world's largest totem pole. See the next shot for a better idea of how tall this thing is.

World's Tallest Totem Pole

The totem pole is cool especially when you realize that it measures 140 feet and was carved from a single log. Notice the people standing in front of the pole.

Busted

Remember that old episode from 'Friends' where Phoebe dates the Health Inspector. She's attracted to him simply for his power; he can shut down a restaurant in no time flat. Well, there was a little bit of that today. The booth I was volunteering at was shut down by the Health Inspector. She was not satisfied with the conditions and we had to close down during peak hours. It was too bad, since we had some really great food.

Connecting and Re-Connecting

The biggest surprise of the day was connecting with another volunteer. Lori and I had been recruited to work in the food booth (yeah, the one that got shut down). We worked for 2 hours together, and I could barely remember her name. After the "incident" I went over to the volunteer's rest area where Lori and I got to talking.

Lori: Your students from Japan are nice.
Me: Yeah, I have a lot of fun with them.
Lori: It was fun talking in Japanese with them.
Me: Where did you learn Japanese?
Lori: Well, in Hawai'i they teach Japanese in the high schools.
Me: I'm from Hawai'i. What school did you go to?
Lori: Castle.
Me: Shut up! My brothers went to Castle.
Lori: Not!
Me: Yeah.
Lori: What's your last name?
Me: K**********
Lori: You related to Randall?
Me: He's my cousin.
Lori: Not!
Me: Yeah. Where did you live in Hawai'i?
Lori: Ahuimanu.
Me: Not!!!
Lori: Why, where you from?
Me: Kahalu'u.
Lori: Not!!

You can see how this progresses. We discovered we had many mutual friends, some going back to elementary school. Now really, what are the chances of that happening? One in a million? Well, as Lloyd Christmas (Dumb and Dumber) would say, "So you're telling me that there's a chance..."



Another highlight was reconnecting with my former student, Kanoe. Kanoe and his family were there to help out and volunteer at the same booth that I volunteered with. Unbelievable. Pictured from left to right are Kanoe, Yu, Yumi, and Ken.

Gettin' Back into the Groove

Well another student arrived today. Yu (on the left) is from Wakayama, Japan. Ken, the other guy, is just thrilled to have another friend on campus.

Tomorrow is the Kalama Days Festival so I am taking three students to southern Washington to experience this Native-American/Native-Hawaiian Festival. It'll be great! More pictures to come.

Welcome Back

With school right around the corner, students have been trickling back on to campus. Today Yukano, Chikano, Yumi and Ken (l-r) came to visit.

Good Times

Some friends from college came and visited today. Dean and Marlys. I went to school with both of them. In fact, Dean was my Japanese tutor for two years while I was a student. My Japanese sucked, and his didn't - he's fluent. Dean and Marlys have been married for 20 years and pastor in Provo, Utah. It was a jam packed day; we toured the campus, had lunch at the Acropolis, checked out the nursing program at school, met with the president of the university, and then shopped. Good times.

On the Road Again!

After lunch at the Acropolis, Dean and AJ headed back to Tacoma where they re-joined the Blue Knights, a group of law enforcement personnel on a motorbike tour.

Marlys, Angie, and I did a lot of shopping today starting at the university bookstore. We outgrew the bookstore quickly and made our way to Bellevue Square.

Hawaiian Immersion School

One of the last things I got to do in Hawai'i was visit a Hawaiian immersion K-12 school. My cousin who used to teach at this school took me on the visit. It was great. All the teachers spoke in Hawaiian and the children were responding. The classrooms were rich with print. The highlight was going to the back of the school to the lo'i. Here the students were growing taro, both wet and dry, and several other types of plants.

The Daily Chart

Each morning assigned students in this first grade class come to the front and write out on a flip chart the number of students present in class (on the large white poster paper). To the right is a pie chart with the current weather identified. On the extreme left is a graph where students mark down the weather for each day. At the end of the month, students will be able to tally up the number of days which were sunny, cloudy, windy, and rainy. Clever, no?

The Hawaiian Polar Express

Critical to the classrooms are books in Hawaiian. For now, books in English have the Hawaiian translations pasted into them. This one is the Polar Express.

The Bestest View

I can't believe I forgot to post this shot of Ka'a'wa. One of the reasons I love driving around the island is because of views like this.

Circle Island Tour

Today I did what I always do on a trip to Hawai'i - drive around the island with Kamaile, my childood friend. We started in Kahalu'u and drove north toward Ka'a'awa. While this pic was actually taken at end of the Circle Island Tour, it's also where we started...in Kahalu'u. This pic is the elementary school sign, but you can also see the Ko'olau Mountain Range in the background.

Old School-School

One of the first stops on our circle island tour was Waiahole Elementary School which is where my dad and his siblings went to school. Old School.

The Kingdom of Coral

On our drive around the island, Kamaile and I stopped by my mom's workplace...Coral Kingdom.

Smile!

I popped into the store and snapped a picture of mom while Kamaile waited in the car.

Blue Water Shrimp Truck

On our drive around the island, Kamaile and I broke habit and went to the Blue Water Shrimp Truck instead of Giovanni's. We drove all the way to Haleiwa where the Blue Water Shrimp Truck and Giovanni's Shrimp Truck were parked side by side.

Blue Water Menu

The Blue Water Shrimp menu offered not only the shrimp, but also a seared ahi, several salads, and a burger. Not bad.

Shrimp Scampi

On the menu was the shrimp scampi which was very garlicky and very good. The plate lunch was $10.95 and included 11 pieces of shrimp, a big scoop of rice, cabbage salad, and pineapple. I actually liked this shrimp a little better than Giovanni's Shrimp.

Crouching Lion

Dean and Sheri took me out to dinner at the Crouching Lion Restaurant. It has a great view of the Pacific. It's called the Crouching Lion because behind the restaurant along the mountain is a formation which resembles a crouching lion.

The Restaurant

On the menu tonight was Slovanic Steak (beef tenderloin cooked in lots of garlic), seasoned new potatoes, shrimp scampi, and vegetables. The steak was the best.

Stonehenge - Hawaiian Style

Across the street from the Crouching Lion Restaurant are these mini stone monuments.

Body Art

So my new thing is body art. Not necessarily for myself, but body art on others. I decided to take some pics and see what I can collect. I feel like there is a research paper in all of this so I'll start exploring.

The Family Scroll

I love this one because it's simple in design yet the name stands out. This is my brother's tattoo, and let me tell you, my mother was none to happy when she saw this. See in Japan, tats are normally worn by the yakuza or other social deviants. Having a tat is one thing; putting the family name on your tat is another. I still think it looks great.

Okinawan Tattoo

This one is pretty cool. It's an Okinawan tattoo of a dog/dragon. If you go to Okinawa, you'll see these creatures everywhere.

Thirsty? Have some Hawaiian Punch!

Remember this guy? Totally old school.

Nurse Dean - Medical Professional

I forgot to mention that when Dean, Sheri and I went to the movies, there was an incident where Dean's skills were used. After buying our tickets, we stood in the concession line. The man in front of us was talking to a woman, when he started to fall backward. I thought he would catch himself, but he fell to the floor. Dean swung into action, trying to talk to the man and feeling his pulse. The man did not want any medical help, so Dean was in the clear to enjoy the movie. Cool, huh? My brother has skills which can help in an emergency. I (ESL teacher), on the other hand, can only tell you how to say you are ill.

Hele on to Hilo Part II

I got in this morning at 8:30 am and picked up the rental car - Chevy Malibu. Iʻm here to see my cousin Tanya. Here she is perusing my dissertation work.

Ken's Pancake House - Breakfast of Champions

As soon as I picked up the rental car this morning I headed to Kenʻs for breakfast. On the menu? Homemade Corned Beef Hash with eggs and rice, with pancakes and lilikoi syrup. Carb overload. Iʻll need to rethink what I have for breakfast.

Big Island Candies

No trip to Hilo would be complete without a visit to Big Island Candies. Greeters meet you at the door with samples...an evil plan to surely make you spend money. Well, it worked. $152 later, I am now the proud owner of boxes of shortbread cookies.

Hele on to Hilo

It's 6:41 am and I'm at the Honolulu International Airport waiting for my flight to Hilo, HI. I happened on a kiosk of computers which allow you to use the internet. You either insert cash or a credit card. I've inserted $2 into the machine and get almost 10 minutes of use. Not bad. This kiosk is totally marketed to people like me...willing to pay cash immediately to see email (no delayed gratification for me).

Anyway, on my way to Hilo to visit my cousin Tanya. I'll visit the Hale Kuamo'o Center and hopefully learn a lot.

A Change of Plans

So we scrapped the plans for last night and went with Plan B. Dean, Sheri and I went to the movie and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was great! When it comes out on DVD I'm getting it...it'll be one of the movies I watch at Christmas time (along with ELF, and While you were sleeping). Go see it if you haven't done so already.

Still in Hawai'i

Well last night I submitted Chapters 6 & 7 to my chair. I am currently working on the conclusion. I'll do a bit more work on Chapter 8 today. Tonight Dean, Sheri, my cousin Reid and I are going to a restaurant in Waikiki called Petite Garlique. It's a great place. I take pics of the locale and of course, the food. On Thursday I fly to Hilo to see my cousin Tanya, and do some work related stuff. I've posted pics below of Hawai'i.

Farm View

This is a shot between the ocean and mountain view (see below). This is still family property and the crop is ti leaf, a durable leaf used for cooking, making hula skirts, and decorating. Tree in the immediate foreground is a plumeria tree. The house, incidentally, is my aunt's house, but it was also where my family used to live before we moved.

Ocean View

Here is the other view from my parents' lanai...the Pacific Ocean. Pretty neat. It's not visible in this shot, but there is a great sandbar out there where people can swim and walk around.

Mountain View

The mountain view from my parents' lanai. This is part of the Ko'olau Mountain Range. The cool thing is after a heavy rain, waterfalls will develop along the face of the range.