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….

It's time for updates on the Aloha blog! According to Hallvard at least...

I think it’s about time for some action on this blog. Well - that’s not exactly true. Hallvard, my Norwegian friend, thinks it’s about time for me to update the blog, so I’d better just do it before my fellow bloggers get another chance to bug me for missing updates. If you scroll down on the left side you’ll find a link to Hallvard and Susannes blog and Christinas blog. Christina, Hallvard and Susanne and I are kind of competitive when it comes to blogging. Since we do most things together, we’re always trying to be first on the blog with the breaking Hawaii news. Also, if I haven’t been blogging for a few days you are likely to be able to get an update on my life through their blogs, and you’ll get to hear the same story from three different perspectives. I don’t know where I’m going with this; however, Hallvard and Susanne have posted the coolest video ever on their blog! It turns out that the water from the tap here in Hawaii is so clean that it doesn’t freeze when you put it in the freezer! It doesn’t freeze until it comes into contact with something else than water, so when they poured the ice cold water in a glass with ice tea in it the water froze immediately. It’s really cool, you should check out the video. It looks really weird… Hawaii is actually one of the places in the world with the cleanest water. Although I think I liked the Norwegian water better…

Well – I guess this blog should be about what I’ve been up to lately. Lots and lots and lots of stuff… But nothing that interesting really. Lots of fun though! I haven’t done any cool dives or interesting road trips, but I’ve been trying to get into the new routine of living in Hawaii again. I’ve been dooing some school work of course. In my law class I’m working on a big Enron case, and in my Econ class I have to do a presentation on Denmark and the Euro. Both cases are really interesting. But that’s not so interesting to blog about or read about I guess. Other from that I’ve been playing tennis a few times. We have tennis courts five minutes from where I live that we can use whenever they are available. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s exhausting to play tennis in the sun when it’s 25-30 degrees outside. It’s good exercise though, as I’m not a very good tennis player, so I really get to do a lot of running trying to get the ball over the net…

I almost forgot… I’ve been taking Ukulele classes! A ukulele is a very small Hawaiian guitar with only four strings. It’s the one Iz is playing on the Somewhere over the Rainbow song – I really like the sound of it. And it’s a lot of fun, but it’s hard for me not to play guitar on it cause I’m so used to playing the guitar. But I’ll get better and if you come and see me here I’ll play the ukulele for you. It was Mette who suggested we should take ukulele classes together. Mette is a Danish girl who’s been living in Hawaii for five years. I met her coincidently one day at Mooses. She came to Hawaii on vacation five years ago, fell in love with her surfing instructor, married him and she’s been out here ever since. It’s kind of a crazy story, but I’m so glad I’ve met her because she’s been here so long that she is almost local… She plays the ukulele and dances hula!

I guess another thing that has been taking up some time is… partying and going out. Surprisingly! Today we were talking about how cheap it is to go out over here. Drinks and beers are about one third of the price you’d have paid in Norway for the same thing. Well – after a few minutes it kind of struck me that it might be cheap over here… But if I go out twice as often as I did living in Oslo… I’m not really saving any money. (And I do go out a lot more!) I’m just having a lot more fun for less money… I guess that counts too!! Hehe….

Also, the first visitor has announced his arrival to the Sandwich Isles! Christer is visiting for two weeks in November. I can’t wait to see him and show him Hawaii. Maria who’s right now doing an exchange program in Canada has also talked about coming out for a long weekend. I really hope she will, I absolutely love being able to show people why I love these Islands! I also thought about going to see her in Canada for a long weekend. I’ve never been to Canada so this would be a good chance to go there.

I guess that’s it for now. I think Hallvard will be very pleased with my blogging efforts. If not, I’ll hear from him tomorrow. We’re going to watch American Football tomorrow – I’m exited.

Something totally unexpected seems to be interfering with my Hawaii vacation...

I’m sorry you haven’t heard from me for quite a while, however, something totally unexpected has been taking up a lot of my time: School! (Can you believe that??) As my good friend Christina expressed it yesterday while tanning on the beach: School is seriously interfering with our Hawaii vacation! I just realized that I have no time for school. I mean, why waste time on school when all I really wanna do is to go to the beach with friends (without text books…), go diving with sea turtles, play the ukulele with Mette and Christina, dance hula, play tennis with Jonas, work out with Hege, more importantly drink beers on the lanai with Hege, plan events with Danish Dynamite and GSO, go on road trips around the island with everybody, drink ice coffee at Starbucks, have dinner at Cheescake Factory, and last but not least: Go to Mooses for 1$ drinks on Tuesdays, go to Magoose for cheap beer on Thursdays, go out dancing on Saturdays and relax by the pool with hangovers on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays… School just doesn’t fit into my life right now! Suggestions anyone? (I can tell Hege totally agrees. While I've been blogging she’s been making seriously frustrated noises while trying to complete an assignment. And she doesn’t look to happy either. I just don’t think school is our kind of thing at this point in our lives…)

Well, apart from getting frustrated about the fact that I actually have to attend school 6 hours every Thursday, I’m doing… pretty good! I’m getting the best of my life in Hawaii these days. I feel kind of stressed out, but really… I shouldn’t complain. I get a little stressed out every time I feel my tan is fading cuz I don’t get to go to the beach for a few days. Tomorrow morning I’ll be taking Ukulele lesson with Mette, and Wednesday morning Jonas will kick my ass in a tennis match. Tuesday night all the Danes meet up at Mooses for one dollar drinks, and every Tuesday night I will spent a considerable amount of time contemplating about the fact that I can drink around twelve gin and tonics in Hawaii for the price of one in Oslo. So – why not drink twelve? (Because if I did…. Jonas would really kick my ass in tennis Wednesday morning. Not that he isn’t doing that anyways….) So, my life is kind of getting into a routine. A good one though!

Anyways… I’ve joined 24hourfitness without really having the time to go there. And I feel bad about not working out, living in Norway I used to go to the gym at least four days a week. Thinking about it, I guess I just didn’t have anything better to do up there in the snow. Over here I might get fat – but Hey! I’m having the time of my life, so who cares anyways.

Another thing… I really wish I had more time to write personal emails to all of you back home. I hope it will get better when things settle down a little bit. Or maybe when I drop out of school? (Don’t be surprised if I drop out and pursue a career in hula dancing or Ukulele playing. Or maybe I should rather do my MBA concentration in scuba diving with sea turtles?)

Diving Corsair

Today Jonas and I did two beautiful dives out of Hawaii Kai. Both dive sites were unique in their own way. The first site was The Corsair Wreck, a plane that was sunk back in 1948. Here’s a little history on that:

The plane was sunk , well actually ditched back in 1948. On a routine mission from Pearl Harbor the Captain suddenly realized his fuel gauge needle was falling quickly. Thinking it was just a faulty gauge he pressed on. Soon after he began to experience engine sputter then ultimately failure set it. He landed the plane in flying configuration with the wheels up and flaps slightly extended. The water landing was perfect, the plane actually sunk intake with no damage whatsoever. The Captain was rescued later alive in his life jacket.

Visibility was great, and even though this wreck is considered an advanced dive, I had no problems what so ever. (I’m only Padi Open Water certified…) 40 meters below the surface the wreck emerged from the blue, and plenty of Hawaiian fish surrounded the sunken plane just to make the setting absolutely beautiful. This was my first dive since Florida last December, and every time I do another dive I’m reminded of why I’m doing it… The underwater world is so … different! Down there I forget everything that’s above the surface, and the only world that exists is fish, bubbles, turtles, wrecks, colorful corals etc. It’s hard to explain. You haven’t tried it, that’s something I’d recommend to everybody.

The second dive was very different, but equally good. It was a shallow dive (around 15-18 meters). Corals and fish weren’t so special, but we got to see and swim with humongous sea turtles! I think I recall I wrote the exact same thing last night on this blog, nevertheless, I’ve never seen sea turtles that big! They were HUGE! And I was there, right next to them, swimming with them… I think we saw at least ten of them today. The instructor took lots of pictures of me and the turtles; I’ll post them as soon as we get them. Me and Jonas will probably go down to the dive shop and get them on Wednesday.

I’m a litlle disappointed that I didn’t get to see any sharks today, I really wanna see sharks when scuba diving. The only time I’ve seen a shark was while snorkeling in Florida Keys, and I have to admit that I hurried back to the boat that day. I don’t want to be floating around the surface like a sea turtle when I see sharks (Sharks feed on turtles…), but I would looove to see sharks while scuba diving. Next time!!

Road Trip to North Shore

This weekend has been great! I’ve got so much to tell, and I don’t know where to begin… I guess I’ll try to at least get the highlights.

On Friday we decided to go on a road trip. When I say “we” that would include me of course, My Norwegian roommate Hege, my Danish girlfriend Christina, my Danish friend Per, My two Norwegian friends Susanne and Hallvard, and a German guy called Jan. We rented an old mini van and left urban Honolulu on 9 Saturday morning, and headed toward the North Shore. I’ve been there many times before, but I can’t get enough of that place. Cruising on Kamehameha highway while listening to Jack Johnson is magic! (Jack Johnson is from Hawaii and he’s got a house up there. I’m always looking for a mail box with “Johnson” on it, but I still haven’t succeeded in locating him…)

There’s really something about North Shore. It’s pretty rural, and there’s only one single resort hotel (Turtle Bay) and one lone hostel, so it’s not crowded with Japanese tourists like Waikiki is. Also, the shore isn’t packed with huge American houses and filthy rich people. Of course you’ll find a few nice neighborhoods with big homes, but mostly there are old, shabby houses, and you can tell that the people living there are more concerned with the surf forecast than with maintaining the house. Maybe you’ve been watching the show Lost? It’s filmed on the North Shore. I’ll come back to that.

The atmosphere is totally different from that in Waikiki and Honolulu. It’s very casual up there. On the North Shore you’ll find wild chickens running around everywhere. (I call them Jungle Chickens.) Another thing you’ll find are the locals. Local surfers on their bikes with their surf boards on a rack on their way to Banzai Pipeline or one of the other world famous surfing spots. During winter time the famous Triple Crown surfing competition is taking place on the North Shore. I consider paddling into those waves on a tiny board nothing less than suicide! Luckily most of the surfers actually do survive. Well… When I was here in 2005 one professional surfer got killed.

However, during the summer months North Shore is more or less flat. There’s practically no waves, which makes the numerous beaches perfect for swimming and snorkeling. And that’s more or less what I’ve been doing all through the weekend! After checking in at the hostel yesterday morning, we went to Laniakea Beach where we were told we would have a good chance of finding sea turtles. We were taken aback when we got there. I think we saw around 50 huge sea turtles in the water and on the beach. I’ve seen turtles here before, but never so many and so big. Check out the pictures!

After a few hours of snorkeling and tanning with the turtles we went to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset. Later we went into Haleiwa and had dinner and margaritas at a Mexican restaurant.

This morning I woke up to a really weird sound… Half a sleep I figured it was the sound of a crowing rooster; however, I was positive that it was one of my friends’ cell phone that was making the disturbing noise. The rooster kept crowing, and I wanted to yell to my friends to turn off that damn cell phone. It wasn’t until after morning coffee at Starbucks I realized that the really annoying alarm that went off this morning actually was a real and alive rooster… Half a sleep I just don’t expect to be woken up by a real rooster crowing right outside my window. An annoying cell phone is usually a lot more likely to crow than rooster outside your window. When something like that happens, you know you’re at North Shore!

After breakfast at Starbucks we went snorkeling in Sharks Cove before setting off in search of Police Beach where the first episode of Lost was filmed. I’m not a huge Lost fan myself, but a few of my friends are fans, and with the help of an iPhone GPS we located the spot and went off in search of the exact location. We found it pretty easily because there is security guarding the area, but all Hawaiian beaches are open to the public, so we could walk along the beach and see the jungle where the plane crashed in the first episode. The security guards told us that they would be filming again this Wednesday and Thursday at the same location, and we were welcome to come back and watch it from the beach if we wanted to. They even pointed out some of the settings, and as the tourists we are we took pictures, and did our best to look Lost… Haha…

On our way back home to Waikiki we passed by Chinamans hat and beautiful Kailua Beach. I was the only one who had done that trip before, so I finally had the chance to be a tour guide.

It’s Sunday night and another week is about to begin. I haven’t opened a book since Thursday, so I’m guessing it’s about time to get serious about school. When I think about it, I guess that’s kind of why I’m here… Well… Tomorrow morning I’ll meet up with Jonas at 8 am. We’re going diving! I’m exited but also a little nervous cause I’ve never been down so deep before. I think it’s a 40 meter dive site. It’s an old plane wreck from the Second World War, and I was told it should be a really beautiful dive.

What a great weekend!

Hanauma Bay & BBQ

I’ve spent the entire weekend on the beach in the sun. It’s been great. Especially when I hear from people back home that fall is on its way. I’m so relieved that I won’t have to live though another Norwegian winter. Damn…. Those winters are looooong, cooold and daaaaark! (I’m sorry if I’ll make all you guys back home feel bad now… That’s really not what I’m trying to do, I’m just trying to tell you how much I like the whole idea of the Hawaiian seasons... Summer, summer, summer and.... Summer).

On Saturday we went to Hanauma Bay. I’ve probably been there ten times before, but the bay is beautiful and we had a great time. Although the visibility was poor we did some snorkeling, and two of the Norwegians even spotted a sea turtle.

It’s funny how I’m mostly spending time with Norwegians now. Having lived in Oslo for almost two years I feel the same sense of connectedness with Norwegians as I do with Danes. Probably because I understand the language almost perfectly, and because I know the culture so well. However… I thought leaving Oslo would be the end of “Vi forstår hinanden ikke” og “Kamoloso” jokes, but with 98 Norwegians at HPU that’s still all I hear when they’ve had a drink or two! And even though I’ve heard that joke at least 200 times before, I still smile politely every time a Norwegian makes fun of the Danish language. No… I actually do think it’s fun. At least most of the time. And if nothing else, it’s a good icebreaker. And Norwegians do sound kind of cute (Or rather stupid??) when they think they speak Danish – ha ha…

Today we had a GSO (Graduate Student Organization) BBQ at the beach for all the new graduate students. There was plenty of food and drinks and a lot of people showed up. We stayed at the beach for five-six hours just mingling and getting to know people. Lots of Scandinavians were there, so now I know quite a few Norwegians and Swedes, not so many Danes though. Most of the Danes here are undergrad and only here for one semester, which is really too bad. Anyways – I guess I didn’t move out here to hang out with Danish people… It’s so easy ending up doing that though!

It’s Sunday night and I’ve been trying to do some reading for my ECON 6000 class. I’ve read a chapter, and all of it is stuff I’ve had before. I’d better go and get some sleep now. Tomorrow waits another day on the beach… With my ECON book!!

My first day of school

I’d completely forgotten how exhausting school is! What am I doing going back to school? Whose crazy idea was that? How come nobody warned me about this whole MBA thing? I thought working was exhausting, but no…. School is a lot worse! I wanna go back to my fulltime job… Well… I guess I just have to get into the routine again. After a few weeks I’ll be fine. I think there’s gonna be a lot of work, but I have the feeling that it is not gonna be too hard. I’ll manage.

I’m taking four classes this semester. Most Master Students only take three classes which is the requirement for full time studies, but since I’m in the MBA program I need to take a few more classes. I’ll definitely have enough to do, but that’s ok, cause I really do like to learn new stuff. I’m taking an Economics class which I think is pretty basic micro and macro economics. But I really enjoy economics, I’ve always thought macro economics to be extremely interesting, so I have a feeling that this class will be one of my favorites this semester.

I’m also taking a Business Law class disguised as a management class. It’s American law, so I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to use what I learn in this class out there in the real world. But I’ll learn something new. The third class is a management class called Individuals, Group Dynamics and Teams. I’m really exited about this one, since the professor is one of my favorite professors from my BA. I have a feeling this class will be very interesting, but my first lecture is not until Monday. My last class is a MBA seminar. I have absolutely no idea what that is, but I’ll find out tomorrow.

I went to get my books today. Even though I know how expensive books are, I’m outraged every time I leave the book store with four used books at price of… $500! I’ll never get over how expensive that is. I got to remember to get my books from ebay or Amazon next semester. I just didn’t have the time to wait for handling and shipping this time. I’m all ready behind with the reading in most classes. Most professors expect you to have read the two first chapters in the book even before the first day of school, so I’d better get to it!

I was really anxious too meet the other MBA students. I was a little worried that I might be one of the oldest in the program, but I’m really not. There are lots of people in my classes that are older than I am, and most have some working experience, so it’s a really good mix I think.

Also, the thing that makes Hawaii Pacific University so special is the diversity. Even though I’m used to it, it still amazes me to find myself in a classroom with Americans, Canadians, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders like Samoans, Malaysians, Africans, Iraqis, Germans, Indians, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Thai, etc… And of course lots of Scandinavians! HPU state on their homepage that they’ve got more than 100 nationalities gathered here in Hawaii, and it is supposedly the most diverse university in the world. I believe that to be true. Sometimes the culture clash can be frustrating when you do group work with one from Samoa, one from Gambia and one from Japan, but usually you’ll end up finding it really rewarding.

Here I am!

I’m finally here. So much has happened since you heard from me the last time, and I almost don’t know where to begin. I’m still a little jetlagged, and by forcing myself to stay awake now, I hope to be able to sleep inn tomorrow and get on to the Pacific time zone.

My flight went ok. Well - it was a bit stressful, and I almost didn’t make my LA-Honolulu flight, but I ran through LAX and jumped onto the plane as the very last passenger. Once again, the immigration officer took me into that little dark room and had me sit there for a long time, while he was trying to figure out why in the world I have four different US visas in my passport. Same thing happened when Magnus and I went to Florida in December last year. I’ll sit in that room with all the (other) weird looking (illegal ??) immigrants, and I’ll bite my nails like crazy and pray that they’re gonna let me in. And for some reason, after having answered too many questions like: Why are you entering the US? What was the purpose of the trip you made in 2003 to Florida? When was the last time you entered the US last? Are you going to apply for citizenship? etc. they always have mercy, and let me through the gates. Nevertheless, having travelled for 20 hours, you’re really not up for that kind of interrogation. But Hey – I’m here now! And that’s what really matters.

Today Hege and I finally moved into our new apartment in Waikiki Beach. It really feels good to have unpacked at last, and have a place you can call your own. The apartment is great. The location is even better. For those of you who know your way around Waikiki, we’re right on Kuhio and Paoakalani Avenue. Paoakalini is the street where Tiki’s is right on the corner on Kalakaua, and we’re less than 100 meters from the beach, and very close to Lilioukalani Park and Diamond Head. It’s really perfect!

We’re on the 10th floor in the Scandia Tower building, and from the lanai (Hawaiian for balcony) we have a great view of Diamond Head. The apartment is a two bedroom/two bathroom so I have my own room and my own bathroom. Hege and I share a pretty large kitchen and living room, and last but not least a lanai that is a least 10 square meters. The apartment is furnished and fully equipped. It even has snorkeling equipment, body boards and air mattresses, and of course three TVs. Nothing less is fully furnished here in Hawaii J So please… I have plenty of room and even a bunk bed if someone feels like stopping by!
(Even better…. Starbucks is pretty much just around the corner. I can finally have all the tall-non-fat-decaf- iced-caramel-macchiatos-up-side-down that I can drink!)

I guess that’s it for today. I will go and inaugurate the bunk bed and enjoy that I (almost) have my own place. I feel so lucky. I live on the beach in Hawaii! I almost can’t believe it myself. But it feels right. A lot “righter” than Oslo ever did. (Don’t get me wrong. I somehow did end up loving Norway). But this is where I belong – at least for a few more years. Having spent just a few days here, I now know why I decided to come back here. Hawaii really is beautiful.

All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go...

Today is the big day. I just finished packing, and surprisingly I managed to close the bag. It only weights 27 kilos. Taking into consideration I’m off for two years, I really don’t think that’s too bad. I’m almost proud of myself actually! 27 kilos of clothes, shoes, toiletries, jewellery and accessories. But it’s scary. It’s basically my entire life that is in that bag now. If it gets lost somewhere between Billund-Copenhagen-London-LA and Honolulu I’ll die! And I do have a history of loosing checked bags. Cross your fingers…

It’s a 35 hour trip. It’s normally closer to 24 hours with 19 hours of fight time, but I have a long layover in Copenhagen. I’ll sleep over at Nina’s place on Nørrebro, and that way I’ll get to see her and say goodbye. One more time :-)
I’ll leave for London tomorrow morning at 7.25 and almost precisely 24 hours later I’ll be in Honolulu. I hope! I’m still a little nervous about that whole name issue on my ticket. Expedia.com somehow managed to change my name in their system, so now the name in the airline system is Katrineses, and Expedia claims that it can’t be changed. So we’ll see if I’ll mange to get any further than Billund airport. One more reason to cross your fingers for me!

When I land in Honolulu after 35 hours of travelling it’s still Thursday and it’s 8 p.m. hawaiian time. There’s a 12 hour time difference. Hawaii is literally on the other side of the globe! My good friend John will pick me up in the airport, and he’ll take me to his house in St. Louis Heights where I’ll stay. It is such a relief to have a familiar face welcoming me, and not having to worry about accommodation is awesome. Staying in a hotel the first few nights would have been a really weird feeling, since moving back to Hawaii feels like moving back home.

On Friday and Saturday I’ll be busy with Graduate Student Orientation, but I won’t have classes until Thursday next week since Monday is a holiday. So when I get there I’ll have about a week to settle in (and get a nice tan of course….) before school starts.

Enough from me for now. Next time I’ll blog I’ll be in Hawaii J (I hope…) Now I’ll do my best to survive this long and exhausting trip I have in front of me…

Take care!

Too much planning

Most people have absolutely no idea how much time and preparation you have to put into moving to the other side of the world. And, I’ll put it like this; it doesn’t make it any simpler that Hawaii is a part of the US. I’ve been planning this for many months now, and not until yesterday, I started to get the feeling that this might actually work out, it does seem as if things eventually will fall into place. I’m exhausted from all the planning, but hey, I know Hawaii is worth it...

I’ll just have to keep up the good work. I’ll spend the next few days’ talking to insurance companies... Sitting on hold with SU-Styrelsen... Applying for scholarships... Talking to my bank about the whole financing issue... Worrying about Expedia messing up my flight tickets... And finally, I’ll be trying to figure out whether I should move out of Norway, into Denmark, out of Denmark again 5 days later, and into the US. (And if I do, will I still be covered by the Danish health insurance when I’ll be back on holiday??) Arrrrrgggghhhh..... There should be one single phone number you could dial, and get hold of some oracle that could tell you everything. About everything. Does anyone know that number??

My first blog...

So - this is how it works... This would qualify as the first post for my first blog. I guess I never really thought my life was that interesting. Nothing to write about. Or rather... Nothing to read about! But now things are beginning to get a little interesting. Today my visa was finally approved. I had started to get a little anxious about that, but now things seem to start falling into places, and it finally seems as if I'll be moving back to Hawaii. Although, I’m still working on getting used to the thought of moving back. If everything works out as it should, I’ll be back in the Aloha State in just three weeks from today. Unbelievable...

So here I am - blogging. I would like for people back home to have a chance to see what my life will be like in Hawaii. And maybe feel as if they’re not that far away, and that they can somehow still be a part of the life I’ll be living. At least, that thought is somewhat comforting to me. Even though I’ll be moving to the other side of the world, literally, I have no intention of leaving my present life and friends all behind. I have a strong wish to stay in touch with everyone of you, and in most cases, I’m confident I’ll succeed. Therefore - this blog!