A day in Hawaii

Here’s my day:

Got out of bed this morning at 7.15am. Or rather…. The alarm clock went off for the first time at 7.15 and after hitting the snooze button three-four times; I might have been out of my bed by 7.30. Jumped in the shower, defrosted a sesame bagel for breakfast, and walked the ten minutes down to the dive shop. I got my gear together. (I’ve been diving so many times now, that they have started letting me have all kinds of fancy gear I can’t control… Last time it took my a while to figure out how to get air in and out of the BCD, and on the first dive today down at 35 meters, I had absolutely no idea how much air was left in my tank, cause I’m too blond or whatever to work the dive computer they insisted on giving me. Even the dive instructor couldn’t figure out how to reset the dive computer, so he just told me to stay close to him, and for the rest of the dive I was just kind of… hoping that I wouldn’t have to use the out of air signal…) (And I didn’t – by the way!!)

The trip to Hawaii Kai where we usually dive is about 35 minutes, and the ride to the dive site from the harbor is another 20 minutes. Today we did the Corsair again which I think is always a success, and one the second and shallower dive I got to see tons of sea turtles and a huge moray eel… probably the biggest one I’ve ever seen, kind of scary… But no sharks… I wonder if I’ll ever get to see sharks!! When Christer gets here, I think we’ll do the shark encounter up at the North Shore. They put you in a huge cage, sink the cage into the water and throw out meet for the sharks to feed on. I’ve heard from many who’s done it that’ll you see many and big sharks! Can’t wait… Enough about sharks and diving, this blog has almost turned into dive blog… I never intended for that to happen!!

I was home in Waikiki around 2 pm and joined Hege, Per and Christina at the beach. I did bring my econ book, although I spend too much time chatting and floating around on Christina’s tube to understand any of the GDP and econ terminology I was supposed to be reading about. Well well… I’m not in Hawaii to study econ…. Or am I? Sometimes I tend to get all confused…

We left the beach around 5pm. Hege and I wanted to go running. Today I introduced Hege for the Diamond Head circle run, it’s 8,5 kilometers up and downhill, and we actually ran all the way and finished in less than one hour. We’re really proud of ourselves. And tired… hehe!

Tonight I’ve been so exhausted from all the wannabe holidaying, that I’ve been sitting in front of the computer on the lanai writing a few e-mail and now blogging. I never do homework after 7pm or in the weekends. That’s my time off. This semester is the easiest most relaxing ever… I only have classes on Thursday (occasionally on Fridays, and whenever I feel like it on Mondays. Buy I don’t really feel like it on Mondays, which means I only have to go the university once a week most weeks…. Niiiice!! I’m really enjoying it, cause I’m sure next semester will be a lot worse… It just gotta be!) It’s perfect timing, cause I got visitors coming up really soon. Maria is flying over from Vancouver the day after tomorrow – I can’t wait to see her! (I know I’ve been writing the same thing in every blog entry I’ve done since she told me she would come over, but I’m so exited!)

On Sunday we went to the Halloween store to get our Halloween costumes. I’m not sure why, but about a month ago Christina and I decided, totally out of the blue, that we were gonna dress up like insects. I have no idea why we came up with that idea. (We might have been exposed to a kaka roach or two??) Well, yesterday I was desperately running around the Halloween store to find my anticipated lady bird costume, and I found it! I can’t wait to Halloween to show off my costume… I almost told the lady in the store yesterday that I didn’t need a bag cause I would just leave it on. I came to my senses and didn’t. I brought it home in a bag, but now it hangs in my closet and every time I look at it I wanna put it on and wander around the apartment as a ladybird. I’d better not. There are probably around 200 hotel rooms that have a nice view into our apartment… I really should do my best not to walk around naked or dressed up as a lady bird!

Enough for tonight. Check out the nice (dive) pictures!

My Aloha life...

Today I did my last two midterms. That’s it. No more stress until finals begin in December. Both of them were multiple choice with a few essay questions. I think I did all right, it just nice that I don’t have to worry about them any more. I really don’t have too much school work this semester; I think next semester will be a lot worse though…

I’m sitting on the lanai with Hege, watching the moon and drinking red vine. Hege is going to Kauai for the weekend, so I’ll be here all by myself. I don’t have too many plans. Halloween is coming up, so Christiana and I’ll be going to Ala Moana to try on costumes on Sunday. We have decided that we should be insects… I’ll see if I can find a nice lady bird costume. Hege and I talked about hosting a Halloween party… The only thing is we don’t want to get kicked out of the apartment!

I’m a little bored these says cause lots of people are really busy with school and I wanna hang out and do stuff. Or maybe it’s just that the everyday has set inn, and nothing is new and exiting any more. That’s why I can’t wait till Maria and Christer is gonna get here.

Well – I’m exaggerating. It’s not like I’m not doing anything… I guess it just feels like that after a long day of midterms! Yesterday I did an Island Circle tour with Jonas and his parents, and tomorrow morning I’m going diving again. Yesterday we went everywhere… We started the day doing Tantalus drive, enjoying beautiful views of Waikiki and Honolulu. Next stop was Wahiawa Botanical Gardens and after that we had the best pineapple ice cream on the Dole Plantation. We also went to Haleiwa, Laniakea beach to watch the Sea Turtles, and Jonas jumped off the cliff at gorgeous Waimea Bay. We did the Waimea Bay waterfall hike, although there was too much water in the waterfall to swim in it. It’s ironic…. When I was there a month ago there wasn’t enough water in it to go swimming, this time there was too much! We had dinner at a really nice seafood restaurant near Kaneohe and drove home over the pali.

Sometimes I wonder what I’m supposed to do here the next two years. But then again… This morning when I headed to Starbucks to do the final desperate readings before the midterm I looked at the ocean, and I got the chills… Just looking at it makes me feel happy! It’s right outside my door, it’s turquoise and beautiful, and I’ll never grow tired of simply watching it. I can wear flip flops 365 days a year; I only go to school once a week, I get to sit on the lanai and watch the moon and write in my blog every night. At least those nights I don’t go out – hehe… A beer is $3 and a tropical drink is $6! (What else can you ask for having lived in Oslo for almost two years??)…. I never have to set the alarm clock – except on those days where I choose to get up early to go scuba diving or go on road trips. Most days I’ll get up whenever I fell like it. I’m living the good life. I know it, and I do my best to really appreciate it. Soon enough I might find myself in some cold Scandinavian country divorced with two kids and a nine to five job... Arghh!!

What’s new in Hawaii?

I bought a tennis racket and six tennis balls. Now I’m searching craigslist for a tennis coach. (Where’s Magnus when you need him??) Or someone who wants to play with a beginner like me. Anyone interested – just let me know. By the way – the racket is pink! That’s why I bought it… I’ve also started running. The thing is I signed up for membership in 24hourfitness, but since the Waikiki club is being renovated I’ve found it hard to pack up all my stuff and work out in down town. Queen Kapiolani Park is right outside my door, sp I try to run 5 kilometers 3-4 times a week. 24hour fitness in Waikiki is supposed to open in the beginning of November – that’ll make everything a lot simpler.

I got great news….. Maria is flying out from Canada to visit! She’ll be here in a little more than a week from today and stay for five days. I’m really exited to see her and show her everything. And that not all - in three weeks from now Christer will be here. He’s here for two weeks, and the plan is to go to Kauai for a long weekend. Kauai is known as “The Garden Isle”, and I think it is the most beautiful of the 8 major Hawaiian Islands. I was lucky enough to go there with Sisse three years ago. This time around I think we’ll rent a convertible and stay in a nice resort hotel. I need vacation!!

I’ve got midterms coming up this week. I’ve already finished one midterm for my Org Behavior Class – I did pretty well on that one. On Thursday I got a two midterms – one in Economics and one on Business Law. It’s mostly multiple choose and True/False so I’m really not too worried. Also, I kind of made up my mind... I don’t have to be a straight A student this time – there’s so much stuff I’d rather do than sit inside and study. So I guess it’s ok if I don’t do perfect. It’s all about prioritizing really.

I’d rather spent my time scuba diving. I did four awesome dives last week, and Jonas and I are going out again this Friday. On Wednesday we did a wreck dive called The Barge out of Hawaii Kai, and on Friday we did a wreck dive in Waikiki called OY 157. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any Sharks on The Barge, maybe next time. To Jonas delight we saw a spotted eagle ray, and of course… Lots of huge sea turtles! On Friday the OY 157 was maybe the best dive so far. The two wrecks were beautiful and we got to go inside one of them – twice actually. Lots of fish, sea turtles, huge moraine eels and eagle rays. On the second dive we came across the biggest octopus I’ve seen so far, I’ll upload pictures as soon as I get them from Jonas. Scuba diving really is tons of fun.

Saturday we went to Kualoa Ranch to do some fund raising for Danish Dynamite. It was my first time up there, and it was absolutely stunning. Lots of movies have been filmed up there, to name a few: Jurassic Park, 50 first Dates, Pearl Harbor, You, Me and Dupree, and the Lost series of course. The HPU cross country team had a race up there, and our job was to stand in the movie settings and make sure the runners were running in the right direction. Check out the pictures!

Sunday night I had arranged Sunset on the Beach for GSO. The films were really, really…. Really boring, but it’s always nice to sit one the beach, watch the sunset and a movie… I’m not complaining!

I miss all of you back home. Even though I’ve been really bad at writing personal e-mails I hope you all know that you’re in my thoughts every single day….

Bored in Hawaii

I’m bored today. I guess I’m not supposed to be bored in Hawaii, but I can’t help it. For the first time since I got here I’m a little bored. Maybe it’s healthy for a change. Well – at least I finally have time to update the blog… See – being bored is good for something at least!

I’m bored but panicking at the same time. The dollar exchange rate is sky rocketing, and I’m in chock every morning when I turn the computer on. It makes me wanna go home. When I did my budget back in May the dollar was 4,7 to the Danish krone, and now it has reached 5,5. If this trend continues with the same speed I might actually have to go home. My rent just keeps increasing but my student grant stays the same… Not good! And it’s kind of… or rather totally out of my control. I don’t like that. The financial crisis, or whatever makes the dollar exchange rate increase, has to stop. I simply can’t afford it!

So - what have I been doing since you heard from me the last time. Lots and lots of stuff!

Highlights:

Last Saturday we went to see an American Football game. When I lived in Atlanta I went to a baseball and a basketball game, but this was my first American Football game. I kind of thought skiing was the only sport where I have (or should I write had after two years in Norway??) absolutely no clue about the rules of the game. However, when the game started it hit me that I’m totally clueless when it comes to the rules of American Football, but two of the guys were very understanding and patiently tried (without much luck….) to explain the rules to me. Anyways – thanks for trying Michael and Jan! I’m sure you’re good at the rules, but I’m simply too indifferent (or maybe too blond??) when it comes to sports…. Nevertheless, after 30 minutes Christina and I got bored. First we tried to spot some cute players, but none of them were anything near cute and giving up on that we focused our attention on the Norwegians that somehow had ended up extremely drunk. (Isn’t that just typical Norwegians?? Haha….) They were actually a good deal more entertaining that the ballgame. However Hallvard and Susanne are always entertaining – in some way or another….!!

The best part of the game was the tailgating before the game. It’s an American tradition that you gather with friends and family on the parking lot before the game and drink beer and BBQ. I liked that part a lot better than the sports part – haha….

After the game we had another party at Anders and Jonas place. All the Danes were there, and it was good fun. Michael and I downloaded a bunch of Pink Floyd, and guarded the stereo the entire night while singing along to Wish you were Here and Comfortably Numb. I’ve finally found a Pink Floyd ally in Michael, and best of all, both of us are big Roger Waters fans. However, the rest of the party didn’t really share our passion for Pink Floyd, and soon they freed the stereo from our iron grip and played Nik and Jay… At that point I left the party, joined Hege and the Norwegian crowd at Nashville and line danced the rest of the night.

What else have I done… Jonas and I did another dive last Friday. He convinced me to buy unlimited diving, so now I can dive as much as I want the rest of the semester. Our goal is to dive at least once a week. This time we did another deep dive down to a wreck called The Sea Tiger. Visibility was poor on this dive, but better on the second dive. The second dive was a shallow reef dive, and we were lucky enough to see lots of moraine eels and to Jonas delight an octopus! The instructor grabbed me in the fin and kind of threw the octopus in my face…. I was so chocked that I screamed so loud in the mouth piece that the instructor claimed that he could he me underneath the water. The feeling of it sucking to my arms with its arms was really weird. We’re doing another dive this Wednesday and again Friday. Wednesday we’re going somewhere where they claim we’re likely to meet white tipped sharks. I’m so exited – I really want to see sharks! Although I know I’ll freak when I do, I can’t wait… If this is the last update on the blog – you now know why!!

What else. Friday we went to downtown for First Friday. On Saturday we hosted the Danish Student Organization at HPU welcome BBQ. It was a success, lots of people showed up, lots of fun and great food. Sunday I went to the beach with the girls in the morning and hiked Diamond Head in the afternoon. The view is absolutely amazing from up there – check out the pictures! Today I’ve pretty much done nothing but homework. That’s why I’m so bored. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d better get ahead of things and do my homework. It’s crazy – when this week is over half of this semester has gone by – I can’t believe time is flying so fast. Soon I’ll be back home for Christmas. I’m exited to see everybody – bur damn it’s gonna be cold…. I wanna go skiing – anyone who will go skiing with me?? I know I suck – but it so much fun!

Thanks for reading this far…. When I start I somehow can’t seem to stop…. I want to tell you everything about everything I experience. And make you want to come and see me here….