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Aussies!

Our friends from Glendal Primary School in Melbourne were finally able to visit us! Here are Roula, Antoinette, Alex, and Christina. We were able to visit their school back in 2010 through JEM, the Joint Environmental Mission. Here’s a blog link about that visit. Sheryl, Gay, Judy, Lehua, and I took turns hosting them throughout the week. I took them site seeing along the Makapu’u coast. We had dinner at the Kona Brewing Company at Koko Marina.

We laughed a whole lot. They are super nice, friendly, and amazing. They gave me an education on the slang, “Sheila.” A tip for the guys: don’t call a woman a “Sheila” in Australia. A tip for the gals: don’t wear a “flanny” (flannel shirt) when traveling in Australia.

I picked them up from their hotel in Waikiki and took them on a school tour. We visited the three campuses and enjoyed the view from atop the ‘Akahi Dining Hall.

Our Aloha dinner was at Duke’s in Waikiki. It was special. We had to wait a while for a table, but this is not a bad place to be “waiting” around for a few hours. Our friends had a great time here in Hawai’i, and we were blessed to have spent some time with them. Looking forward to our next meetup….

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No More New Year’s Resolutions….

….for me. Gonna go with bucket lists from now on. After reposting the same New Year’s Resolution from 2008-2012 without success,  I went with a bucket list in 2013.

Preface: At 12:05am on January 1st, 2013, I was lying face down in a cul-de-sac in Mililani Mauka after a fireworks accident (don’t ask.) I was thinking, sheesh, can 2013 be over with? Unlikely as it seemed then, I was blessed to meetup with my Compassion sponsored child in the Philippines and walk across the Great Wall of China by year’s end. All things are possible.

Here is my updated bucket list.

Resolutions are really great too. They help us set goals and be better. But I prefer bucket lists. Mine helps me to live life to the fullest. Wishing you an amazing 2014! Hau`oli Makahiki Hou & God Bless.

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Fave Shirt

Every guy has a favorite piece of clothing. It may be a cap, a pair of jeans, or a pair of kicks. For me, it’s this old flannel shirt that I bought 30 years ago from Liberty House. It’s well-worn, but still in great condition. And soooo comfortable. It’s been to YMCA sleepovers, camping trips, football games, and even Europe. It has gone out of style a few times, only to come back more fashionable than ever.

Don’t know what I’d do without it. Looking forward to wearing it for another 30 years….

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Day 1 & 2: Beijing Bound

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Blessed to have been invited to participate in the RDFZ Xishan International Summit in Beijing, China. I was fortunate to have met these amazing teachers from RDFZ this past summer at the Punahou Lab School. I attended the iSummit along with Liz and Doug from Punahou.

Liz and I flew out on Tuesday, November 19th on Korean Airlines. It was about 10 hours to Seoul, Korea, then another 1½ hours to Beijing. Somehow, we lost a day in between. Lance was able to take me to the airport. The flight wasn’t full, so we had the row of 4 seats to ourselves. I watched “Linsanity” on my iPad. (I won a gift card from EdCamp and was able to rent a few movies.)

We were picked up from the airport and stayed at the Holiday Inn. It was nice and only about 10 minutes from the school. (This photo was taken the next day, but we arrived at around midnight.)

I was greeted in my room with a plate of fresh fruit from the school.

Didn’t need to use the AC here. I left a window half-open and slept with a sweatshirt on. We experienced good weather throughout the week. It got a little smoggy at times, but it was really nice. It only got cold when there was wind.

There was free wi-fi in the hotel, and I quickly confirmed that Facebook and Twitter were blocked in China. Fortunately, I was able to post pics to Facebook and Twitter via Instagram.

So excited to be here! This is crazy….

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Day 3: Great Day

Great Wall. This was absolutely amazing, surreal, and one for the bucket list.

Had a hard time adjusting to the time zone, and I woke up at 3:30am. There was this cool coffee maker in the hotel’s restaurant. I had a bowl of rice congee and three cups of coffee for breakfast. We were picked up by our tour guide Dannis Li.

No one told me that climbing the Great Wall was like hiking Koko Head. What was sad (humiliating) was when these old grandmas started to overtake me. I tried to take deeper breaths and push, but I just couldn’t hang with them. Ahh….

Still, what an amazing experience!

There were these locks, snack bars, and even graffiti along the path of the wall.

What a great morning.

Then we went to visit a Chinese pottery factory.

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It’s an incredible process with skilled artists. I now have a deeper appreciation.

We had lunch at this massive restaurant. I was excited to have my first Chinese meal in China! Unbelievably, it was not good at all. Haha. It was a set menu geared toward foreign tourists. Broccoli? (Fortunately the rest of the food we had on the trip was excellent.)

We capped the tour with a visit to the Ming Dynasty Tombs.

Dannis gave us a lot of history and interesting information today. We also toured the museum of royal artifacts.

That evening we looked for the Hua Liang Mall, but got lost. I should mention here that the traffic is wild and the drivers are insane. I believe that their philosophy is “There’s a billion people here. We can do with one less.”

I also found that the puffy jacket is “all the rage” in China. I fit right in.

Reflected on the day of events. What a great, great day….