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….