Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Good Morning Beijing
Hello from Beijing! I am writing this blog from my Kindle - it is the only form of Internet I have right now. I arrived in Beijing last night around 9:15. One of our wonderful tour guides, Leonard, picked us up from the airport and drove us to our hotel just outside the city. Then we watched the world cup match before heading off to bed. Now its time to go to the Temple of Heaven. More later!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Last Day in the USA
Well, technically not the last day, but the last full day. But you get the point. Tomorrow at 1:00pm Hawaiian time, I leave for the Far East! Woohoo! I am very excited :) But before I get into details of my trip to China and Vietnam, it's time for a little recap of the events of the past week.
On Wednesday, my mom and I made it out to our wonderful hotel on Kauai. It had a bunch of pools, a water slide and a bar by the ocean. It was pretty awesome. Thursday, we spent our time relaxing by the pools, enjoying Pina Coladas and reading. Friday was our first big sightseeing day. We first ventured out to Waimea Canyon, driving along the 11 mile road that hugs the western side of the canyon. The weather was slightly overcast and it rained at times, but my mom and I loved the magnificent sights. Then we headed back east and stopped along the way at Kipu Falls. A small, 30-foot waterfall hidden off of a side road outside of Lihue, it was one of my favorite places in Kauai. I jumped off the rope swing into the clear pool below twice, and then we watched other tourists and locals do the same. We stopped back by the hotel for a few hours and then headed out for our last stop of the day: sunset dinner at the Beach House. The Beach House is an awesome restaurant in Poipu that sits right on the water and has stunning sunset views. Having reserved our table a few days before, my mother and I got a first-class table for two by the window. We enjoyed a delightful three course meal and watched the sun slip behind the Hawaiian mountains. As I went to sleep that night, I had little idea of what awaited me on Saturday.
On Sunday, I saw farewell to my mother, and I have been relaxing and packing in Honolulu ever since. I am excited to see China, nervous about my new teaching role and thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity. I hope that all my travels go well and safely, and I look forward to tell you all about them right here! Until then... goodbye!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Beginning of My Summer
Hello everyone! I hope that this posting finds you well. Ten days ago, I left my island home and set out to begin my summer adventures. After a quick five hour flight that was passed by sleeping, I said my final farewells to all my fellow island friends and made my way in the real United States - Honolulu. Although many people have tried to tell me that Hawaii does not count as the real US of A, I can assure that it does for two reasons: 1) Stoplights and 2) Buildings over 4 stories tall. So there.
I spent my first night in Honolulu with my boyfriend and his sister being mesmerized by the plethora of food and drink choices readily available. We made a pit stop on the way home to play a few rounds of bar trivia - we won once - and then got some sleep before our flight to Kauai. On Tuesday, Steve and I departed for the Garden Island.
We stayed in a wonderful condo in Poipu, a beach town on the south side of Kauai, and engaged in various sightseeing and nature activities. The highlights of the trip (in no particular order) were:
1. Swimming and tanning at Poipu Beach
2. Hiking along the northwest coast on Kauai to see a beautiful beach and an awesome waterfall
3. Walking five minutes through head-high grass to find a gorgeous 25 foot waterfall and then jumping off the waterfall rope swing into the pool below. (No pictures yet)
4. Visiting Waimea Canyon
5. Checking out the Hawaiian blowholes.
6. Relaxing :)
This past Saturday, Steve and I returned from Kauai and I made my way over to Waikiki to welcome my mother (!) to the island. Since it was late in the afternoon, Mom and I went for a stroll on the beach and around the different stores to get ourselves better acquainted with the area and grabbed some food. Sunday featured time lounging at Waikiki Beach and then watching the Celtics game - a great, relaxing day in Hawaii.
On Monday, we undertook our major cultural project for the trip - Pearl Harbor. Steve, my mom and I left early - around 7:30am - to beat the dreaded tour buses that TripAdvisor warned against. We arrived around 8:00am, purchased our tickets for the aviation museum, Mighty Mo and one of the submarines in the war and reserved our spot for the USS Arizona memorial. We diligently followed the self-guided audio tours for both the submarine and the battleship. Both were wonderfully informative, providing a lot of background knowledge and helping us appreciate the sites more. Touring each ship was a fantastic learning experience - to see firsthand the types of living and working conditions that the various military forces endured.
Submarine torpedoes and the submarine behind it
Inside the tiny submarine
The USS Missouri - the last battleship and the one that ended the War
After finishing up with the USS Missouri, we headed back to the main entrance to await our boat to the USS Arizona memorial. When the USS Arizona was bombed at Pearl Harbor, over 1,100 men died, including over 900 who are still entombed inside the sunken ship. Due to the severe damage done to the ship and the number of men who died there, the military and the families jointly decided to leave the ship in the harbor. The memorial for the ship lies perpendicularly above the ship, parts of which are still visible in the shallow 35-40' deep harbor. It is a beautiful memorial and allows for a wonderful view of the rest of the Pearl Harbor memorial site as well. I would highly recommend it.
The USS Missouri, part of Battleship Row and a portion of the sunken USS Arizona
Our flag above the memorial where the mast would have been
After visiting the USS Arizona, we made our final stop of the day at the Pacific Aviation Museum. It was an informative and interactive museum housed in a former airplane hangar. The majority of the information there described the first year of the war in the Pacific, from the Pearl Harbor attacks to the Doolittle raid and the Battle of Midway. It was a nice stop, but our group was worn out after 6 hours spent at Pearl Harbor.
Tuesday was my mother and I's last full day in Honolulu. We woke up rather early (early for me, at least) and hiked up the famous Diamond Head Crater just outside of the city. The trail was packed with many different types of people and we completed the round trip in just over an hour. The hike was well worth it - stunning views of Honolulu and Waikiki specifically from the top.
Now, last but not least, it is Wednesday and we have departed Oah'u for the Garden Island of Kauai. Mom and I checked into our awesome hotel today - three pools, one pool with sand to mimic a beach, and a water slide - and are looking forward to exploring Kauai for the next few days.
Coming up on tap: driving to Waimea Canyon, visiting Kipu Falls, sunset dinner in Poipu and a 5-hour rafting trip along the Na Pali coast. Should be lots of fun! I will definitely keep you updated! Hope everyone is having a good start to the summer! Tofa!
I spent my first night in Honolulu with my boyfriend and his sister being mesmerized by the plethora of food and drink choices readily available. We made a pit stop on the way home to play a few rounds of bar trivia - we won once - and then got some sleep before our flight to Kauai. On Tuesday, Steve and I departed for the Garden Island.
We stayed in a wonderful condo in Poipu, a beach town on the south side of Kauai, and engaged in various sightseeing and nature activities. The highlights of the trip (in no particular order) were:
1. Swimming and tanning at Poipu Beach
2. Hiking along the northwest coast on Kauai to see a beautiful beach and an awesome waterfall
3. Walking five minutes through head-high grass to find a gorgeous 25 foot waterfall and then jumping off the waterfall rope swing into the pool below. (No pictures yet)
4. Visiting Waimea Canyon
5. Checking out the Hawaiian blowholes.
6. Relaxing :)
This past Saturday, Steve and I returned from Kauai and I made my way over to Waikiki to welcome my mother (!) to the island. Since it was late in the afternoon, Mom and I went for a stroll on the beach and around the different stores to get ourselves better acquainted with the area and grabbed some food. Sunday featured time lounging at Waikiki Beach and then watching the Celtics game - a great, relaxing day in Hawaii.
On Monday, we undertook our major cultural project for the trip - Pearl Harbor. Steve, my mom and I left early - around 7:30am - to beat the dreaded tour buses that TripAdvisor warned against. We arrived around 8:00am, purchased our tickets for the aviation museum, Mighty Mo and one of the submarines in the war and reserved our spot for the USS Arizona memorial. We diligently followed the self-guided audio tours for both the submarine and the battleship. Both were wonderfully informative, providing a lot of background knowledge and helping us appreciate the sites more. Touring each ship was a fantastic learning experience - to see firsthand the types of living and working conditions that the various military forces endured.
Submarine torpedoes and the submarine behind it
Inside the tiny submarine
The USS Missouri - the last battleship and the one that ended the War After finishing up with the USS Missouri, we headed back to the main entrance to await our boat to the USS Arizona memorial. When the USS Arizona was bombed at Pearl Harbor, over 1,100 men died, including over 900 who are still entombed inside the sunken ship. Due to the severe damage done to the ship and the number of men who died there, the military and the families jointly decided to leave the ship in the harbor. The memorial for the ship lies perpendicularly above the ship, parts of which are still visible in the shallow 35-40' deep harbor. It is a beautiful memorial and allows for a wonderful view of the rest of the Pearl Harbor memorial site as well. I would highly recommend it.
The USS Missouri, part of Battleship Row and a portion of the sunken USS Arizona
Our flag above the memorial where the mast would have beenAfter visiting the USS Arizona, we made our final stop of the day at the Pacific Aviation Museum. It was an informative and interactive museum housed in a former airplane hangar. The majority of the information there described the first year of the war in the Pacific, from the Pearl Harbor attacks to the Doolittle raid and the Battle of Midway. It was a nice stop, but our group was worn out after 6 hours spent at Pearl Harbor.
Tuesday was my mother and I's last full day in Honolulu. We woke up rather early (early for me, at least) and hiked up the famous Diamond Head Crater just outside of the city. The trail was packed with many different types of people and we completed the round trip in just over an hour. The hike was well worth it - stunning views of Honolulu and Waikiki specifically from the top.
Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head
Coming up on tap: driving to Waimea Canyon, visiting Kipu Falls, sunset dinner in Poipu and a 5-hour rafting trip along the Na Pali coast. Should be lots of fun! I will definitely keep you updated! Hope everyone is having a good start to the summer! Tofa!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Tofa Soifua Samoa!
Hello again! As I am writing this new entry, I am sitting at the hotel across from my house and watching the clock tick down my final hours in American Samoa. Tonight at 11:20pm the last of my friends and I will finally depart this island. Right now, my feelings are mostly elation. I have spent the last week saying goodbye to students, teachers, friends and cool island spots and I'm ready to leave. I'm fairly certain that my departure will eventually be bittersweet, but I don't think that will come for another few days.
The last week of school was stress-free and rather uneventful. The students took their finals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was an awards ceremony - each teacher gave certificates to the top one or two students in each class. It was a wonderful way to recognize the dutiful students that had worked hard throughout the year. I greatly enjoyed handing my awards over to two students who were shocked and very grateful for the honor. It was one of those awesome teaching moments. Friday was our clean-up day. This meant that I had about 10 students in my classroom from 8am-12pm doing about one hour of cleaning and about three hours of singing and dancing. It was a nice, relaxing way to end the year and say goodbye. I exchanged emails and Facebook accounts with a number of students and we promised to stay in touch. It was very difficult to say goodbye to some of the students. As their teacher, I have pushed them and encouraged them all year, and it is tough for my (I have now realized) over-bearing personality to just let them go and hope they do well in the years to come. It often seems as if this experience was a mini-parenting experience.
The past week since school has been out has involved last trips to fun island locations, school graduation and celebrating/saying goodbye to friends. Leaving tonight makes me just about the last of my friends left. A few friends will be on the flight tonight, and we plan to enjoy our last Pizza Hut dinner together before boarding the plane.
Overall, this year has been a wonderful experience. It is quite easy for me to look at my time here through rose colored glasses right now, but I think it was very worthwhile. I truly loved teaching many of my students and hope to continue encouraging them onto bright futures. My staff at Tafuna High School was amazing, and it was hilarious to talk with them everyday and share stories about misbehaving students. But the thing that I will definitely miss the most about this island was the other volunteers I meet. Without them, I would not still be here. In this year of struggles and triumphs, we truly became a family and helped each other through it all. Luckily, most of them have the good sense to live on the East Coast next year, so staying in touch will be easy. But I believe that I have grown up a lot in the past year, and I do believe that this experience was a necessary stepping stone for me.
All that being said, without further ado, because my camera is broken and I cannot upload any new pictures, I will show you some older pictures of the island. Tofa soifua American Samoa!
Pictures from Secret Beach - about an hour's hike from Vatia and the site of my very first camping experience
The Vatia Pola Tai and tidal pools off a NPS trail
Spending a lazy Sunday at Tisa's Barefoot Bar - about 30 minutes east of Pago
Boat in Utulei harbor
View of Pago harbor from Mt. Alava and the sunrise over the Rainmaker
Waterfall in Faga'alu behind the hospital
Teaching my 4th period Chemistry students!
That's all for now! Hope you are all doing well. Back to the East coast in less than two months! Have a great summer until then!
The last week of school was stress-free and rather uneventful. The students took their finals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was an awards ceremony - each teacher gave certificates to the top one or two students in each class. It was a wonderful way to recognize the dutiful students that had worked hard throughout the year. I greatly enjoyed handing my awards over to two students who were shocked and very grateful for the honor. It was one of those awesome teaching moments. Friday was our clean-up day. This meant that I had about 10 students in my classroom from 8am-12pm doing about one hour of cleaning and about three hours of singing and dancing. It was a nice, relaxing way to end the year and say goodbye. I exchanged emails and Facebook accounts with a number of students and we promised to stay in touch. It was very difficult to say goodbye to some of the students. As their teacher, I have pushed them and encouraged them all year, and it is tough for my (I have now realized) over-bearing personality to just let them go and hope they do well in the years to come. It often seems as if this experience was a mini-parenting experience.
The past week since school has been out has involved last trips to fun island locations, school graduation and celebrating/saying goodbye to friends. Leaving tonight makes me just about the last of my friends left. A few friends will be on the flight tonight, and we plan to enjoy our last Pizza Hut dinner together before boarding the plane.
Overall, this year has been a wonderful experience. It is quite easy for me to look at my time here through rose colored glasses right now, but I think it was very worthwhile. I truly loved teaching many of my students and hope to continue encouraging them onto bright futures. My staff at Tafuna High School was amazing, and it was hilarious to talk with them everyday and share stories about misbehaving students. But the thing that I will definitely miss the most about this island was the other volunteers I meet. Without them, I would not still be here. In this year of struggles and triumphs, we truly became a family and helped each other through it all. Luckily, most of them have the good sense to live on the East Coast next year, so staying in touch will be easy. But I believe that I have grown up a lot in the past year, and I do believe that this experience was a necessary stepping stone for me.
All that being said, without further ado, because my camera is broken and I cannot upload any new pictures, I will show you some older pictures of the island. Tofa soifua American Samoa!
Pictures from Secret Beach - about an hour's hike from Vatia and the site of my very first camping experience
The Vatia Pola Tai and tidal pools off a NPS trail
Spending a lazy Sunday at Tisa's Barefoot Bar - about 30 minutes east of Pago
Boat in Utulei harbor
View of Pago harbor from Mt. Alava and the sunrise over the Rainmaker
Waterfall in Faga'alu behind the hospital
Teaching my 4th period Chemistry students!That's all for now! Hope you are all doing well. Back to the East coast in less than two months! Have a great summer until then!
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