Here on the Rock

I've been on what the locals call "this rock" now for a month. Here's a collection of some things I've experienced:

The Words:

The Rock- the Island. A very large rock it is.
Slippers- what I grew up calling flip flops.
Ha - The breath of life. When ancient Hawaiians would greet each other they would be close enough to feel each others breath, their Ha.
Hauli - a white person. Its original meaning is a person with no 'Ha' as white people wouldn't get close to a Hawaiian in greetings and thus wouldn't feel their 'Ha".
Aloha - Bishop Burton explained it well:

"Aloha means displaying warmth and affection without obligation in return. It means acknowledging the importance of each person for the collective existence of the community. It also means “to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.” The Aloha Spirit encompasses beautiful gospel principles—principles of faith, principles surrounding “judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). It stresses the importance of the individual and compassion." CES Fireside May 2, 2010 David Burton

The Weather:

Hawaii is a humid place, especially on my side of the Island. It rains everyday. It is also hot. Today, the first day of Fall, is as summery as ever. The air is so wet when I try to use makeup only the waterproof kind will do. Otherwise it just melts off. The workout room on campus requires that you have a towel because you will surely sweat a lot here. Sometimes it is so hot that the only solution is to walk out of the house and down to the beach to catch some ocean breezes and enjoy a few buggly-eyed crabs for company.

The Culture:

There is no majority here. Today the word 'foreigner' came up in class and it came out as an odd concept because here we are all from all over. At the front of BYUH campus is a ring of flags. I like to run around them (when I run which I do for exercise and not because I love running). I tell myself "hey, today I ran around the world a few times". BYUH is known as a very multicultural place. I didn't realize the degree to which that would infiltrate my life. It breathes culture here. Last week my teacher starts a story with "as to not offend a person in the room, the Eastern European country will not be named..." Today I sat between a boy from Japan and a girl from Hong Kong. Where else do you walk out of class to some drums ringing over the fence of the Polynesian Cultural Center? Sunday dinner was at a friends house. We had Chicken Adobo from the Philippines made by a girl from the Philippines. We also had Chicken Masala from India and Curry and wraps from Thailand. After the meal we sat around and played the "talking drums" from Nigeria that are used for communication between tribes and among tribes. We used authentic Nigerian drumsticks too made with rubber from rubber tree sap. The conversation was literally jumping all around the world. David O. Mckay prophesied of BYUH “From this school will go men and women whose influence will be felt for good toward the establishment of peace internationally." This was one of the main reasons I came here. Where else do you get to mingle with people who are as interested collectively in such a mission? I was talking to one girl about a project I'd heard an alumni student was involved in and she said "Oh yeah, just like everybody else." I think there are a lot of people in this world interested in what happens internationally. I've lived in some pretty ambitious places. But I don't think it is as common as she thinks, certainly not to the concentration and degree to which I've seen it here. It is really quite remarkable.

Plopped down and scouting around

A week ago today I hopped on a plane and landed on an island in the middle of the pacific ocean. The trip over was nice. For the long flight I had an exit row seat window seat behind the bathrooms so I had tons of leg room/spread your stuff out room, and the ability to get up without disturbing my neighbors. It was a beautiful arrangement. I especially enjoyed watching the people. Many were Japanese and one girl amused me by looking at the big words on the bathroom door latch (which was currently occupied) and jostled it to see if it would open. 'Vacant' and 'Occupied" really aren't common English words that people from other countries would necessarily learn first in an English conversation class. I arrived safely. I live in a cute little house that is owned by a senior Sister missionary who just left for Germany. I was really blessed to find housing as there is a shortage and they are scrambling to place 350 over-enrolled students who arrive in a few weeks. I will have two roommates and I have met them both. They are really cool girls. One took off for a four day adventure and the other hasn't officially moved in yet so I spent the first four week days scouting out the new surroundings alone. A few random things:

There are geckos here that will eat the ants. They have spooked me several times as I've entered my room. Unfortunately, one died and it took me a little while to find it even though it was sending off quite a lot of SOS scent signals. My room is now dead gecko free.

BYU Hawaii is a SMALL campus. It's about a 10 minute walk from my house and only has a few buildings. I guess that's to be expected for a student population of 2,400. The town of Laie is only about 4,500 from the 2000 census. I've never lived in a place so small. That's not a problem.

I found the Library (where they have a place for you to take your shoes off at the front door), Walmart (an hour away drive), the farmers market, the shrimp farms, the Dole pineapple plantation, a freindly mechanic, and all the closest beach accesses to my house. Yes, the milk can be $7-$8 a gallon.

It rains off and on throughout the day. The driver window on my car is broken so it doesn't stay up while I'm driving. I did get wet the other day. I love the little, good running, clunker car that I get to drive around for the next year. It makes me feel like I fit right in.

I'm also enjoying the extra time to read, write in my journal, and visit with friends back on the mainland.

Hawaii is beautiful! It's also peaceful, friendly, and exudes a very happy spirit. It's happy to be here!

10,300 feet and working

Transition

It's been a month now since I distributed, packed, and stored my un-tote-able belongings and flew on a one way ticket home to Utah ready for a new adventure. I loved my life in DC. I had a great ward, some of the dearest friends I've ever had, and a fantastic job.

I worked as a self-employed freelance ASL interpreter. I loved seeing life as a fly on the wall. I worked in University classes which are fun because I got paid to learn. I haven't really missed school because I feel like I've never left it. The only thing is I had a limited selection of classes and never got to make any comments. Still, if I could have gotten credit for all the classes I've sat through I would have a very eclectic Masters degree, several Bachelors, and even a Phd level class on Population Genetics to add to my real degree. (Someone once said that I hated school and a rumor got around. This if anything should dispel that one. I did have a hard time deciding what classes to take in my undergrad and wasn't a huge fan of the stress of deadlines and due dates but my job solved both those problems.)

I worked around in the government. The Census Bureau was genealogist's delight as it's an important tool for that. The FDA held fun and challenging technical meetings about devices, recalls, and a few trainings. One day I was in a lab and the deaf consumer couldn't get a piece of hair out to look at under a super cool microscope. I lent them one of mine and got to see it magnified 400x! It looked healthy. One of my favorite jobs at NASA was a three day overview of NASA's mission for one of their departments. I worked with the map people, the satellite people, the mining regulators, the Fish and Wildlife staff, the Labor crew, the US Institute of Peace, the FCC, the Pentagon, occasionally a military base, and the Lobbyists on Capital Hill.

I worked in the community. My first job there was at a Farmer's Market where, after sampling the wares, I bought a cloth card holder that became my Metro card's home. I helped give tours at the Smithsonian by hands and voice to people of all ages. One day in the Natural History Museum a school was late so they gave me the tour instead (prep work you see). I worked in private grade schools. I enjoyed watching a Lasik surgery from behind the shoulder of a doctor. He even gave me a detailed explanation of everything he was doing as he did it (the deaf person was fine and couldn't have seen me anyway). I saw tender family moments in hospitals, ones that would make your heart cry. I worked at a Mosque dressed in a white Burka. I volunteered at the White House Easter Egg roll and met Elmo. I did several mom and me classes for toddlers at various locations. Dinners, birthday parties, adoption agencies, rehab and counseling services, personality and technical trainings, several businesses, I got around.

I LOVED my job. Not only was it fascinating opportunity-wise but it let me make a difference in the lives of other people. I loved meeting new people and seeing how their lives ticked, if only for a moment.

So why did I leave? It felt right. I think that was the fastest big decision I ever made. It helped that my arms hurt so bad that I couldn't open a door without some pain. I also found myself so use to repeating whatever was said that I would repeat what I'd heard instead of what I felt when talking to close friends. I was burned out. One day a new person I met told me about a certificate program in Intercultural Peacebuilding at BYU Hawaii. I'd kept the option of going back to school on the back burner to be brought forward if the right program ever came up. This one felt right. The more I looked into it the better I felt. Although with anxiety about people I would leave behind, I went forward with it and everything has fallen into place ridiculously well. It did take some trust (and still does), but I know that "this is good" feeling.

Between DC and Hawaii I am in Utah enjoying my family and working for BYU classes, the MTC, EFY, and a few other freelance jobs. It's good to be home. I missed family the most in DC. There's a good ward here and I'm catching up with some of my old friends. I'd forgotten how amazing the food is my family can make. There's no conversation like family conversation. I agree with George Washington when he said he'd rather be home with his family than before Governments and Kings. (That's paraphrased and the real quote is at the entrance to the Theater at Mount Vernon.)

It will be weird to actually pay to go to class in the Fall but I'm excited to actually be able to raise my hand and make comments and learn from classes that I have picked. I will still work part-time freelancing. I may go back to DC someday. I'm looking into doing a Masters in International Education after Hawaii but we'll see what I can put together, or what opportunities arise. For right now, I'm having a delightful summer. I have a list of goals and a one way ticket to Hawaii for August.

The Hawaiian Sunshine Market

When traveling I like to get the local experience as much as possible. I also really love to try different fruits and foods that aren't available in a typical back home grocery store. That said, the farmers market today was a real treat. Some lady told us to be there by 11:45 even though it opened at noon. I walked up to a crowed of people standing in front of a line of orange cones separating the crowd from a road leading to an unseen land of goods. It resembled the beginning of a race only a very slow-paced courteous one. A man with a big straw hat and a very long gray beard was making announcements. He urged us to make sure and ask about the food, where it was grown, and who grew it so that we could have a connection with it. (After all, this is Hawaii). He had all of the elderly, disabled, and pregnant persons go first so that they could situate themselves and be included in the purchasing. After they had disappeared up the road, he let the rest of us follow to a small area with tables and car trunks and lots of fruit and flowers. We weren't allowed to buy though until the sound of the whistle(didn't I tell you it felt like a race?)Below are my findings:

The Lychee (Lie-chee) fruit has the same texture of a grape once you peel off its' skin but is a lot sweeter and has one big pit in the middle. It looks a little creepy peeled, kinda like an eyeball or something.


These are called Apple Bananas. They taste like regular bananas.







The far right fruits are called Mountain Apples. They may be competing with some Utah company but these are the Hawaiian sibling. I haven't tried them yet.



These last ones were my greatest find. The lady calls them "Wing Beans". She got the seeds from some many from Uruguay. How he got the seeds from Uruguay and through Hawaii customs I don't know. They are bitter and have pea-like seeds in them. they are really rare around here. She may be the only lady who has a Wing Bean plant on the Island. It was a fun day at the market.

Linguistics

I've been looking around at several school programs in the UK lately. Just for fun for right now, but I think it would be a great experience to get a Masters Degree in England. I did my Undergraduate in Linguistics at BYU. Oxford had the best explanation of what Linguists study that I'd seen in awhile:

Linguistics is the study of language in all its aspects. Linguists are interested in the structure and history of languages; the meaning underlying instances of language use (semantics); how languages are related; how children learn language; what goes on when people are speaking; how people understand, mentally represent and generate language; what features are shared by all languages; why languages differ; how language is used in literature, the media and by various social groups; what happens to language abilities when the brain is damaged by stroke or injury; whether computers will ever be able to understand language; how we can model human language use. http://www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/prospective

I love linguistics! Yes I did study all that. One reason I did is that it is through language that we learn about all the other things around us and build bonds with other people. That was my undergrad experience and it made me happy to revisit it for a moment and remember the cool things I learned. Someday I hope to know many more languages than I do now. For now though, I enjoy knowing a bit more how Language works in general. Delightful stuff!

Easter

This Easter was like none before.

We had a ward musical fireside with about ten songs performed celebrating the Savior Jesus Christ. I sang "Abide with Me Tis Eventide" in a duet with a friend. It's been a long time since I performed anything singing. It's far more frightening to me than getting up in front of thousands interpreting. After some serious sweaty hands I felt like I'd done well and it was a great evening.



I volunteered at the White House Easter Egg Roll as an interpreter. There were 300 people dressed up in Character costumes. They had numerous activities including Yoga, Hula Hoops, Football, Storytime, and a Music Stage. Most of these I only briefly grazed with my eyes. I was assigned to the music stage, which meant I spend all my time in a secure area with all the visiting talent, the VIP tent stocked with food, and twenty minutes between each show to meet people. Michelle Obama walked past me and tapped me on the shoulder and said "Happy Easter." It took a moment to register who that familiar face was and by then she was gone. I also met Sarah Bareilles, Justin Beiber, The Jonas Brothers, and several Sesame Street Cast members including Maria and Gordon. I found them to be pleasant and personable. Maria was as excited to see how I signed certain things as I was to meet her. By far, Elmo was the highlight of the day. A friend of mine has a niece who loves Elmo dearly. Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, kindly made this movie for me when had asked for merely a picture.



Yes, Elmo ate my Blackberry.

I enjoyed a fun Easter Egg Hunt and a big Easter dinner with friends (you are never too old for some things). After all this excitement, I must say that the best part and best celebration of Easter still occurred in a simple Sacrament Meeting at Church as I took the bread and water and remembered Christ's resurrection and Atonement. It was the most powerful experience of all and the most pure celebration of Easter. The cool thing is anyone can have that experience and they don't need a talented voice, a ticket to the White House, or hard boiled eggs to enjoy it.