Hawaii: Culture shock in the U.S.

HAWAII April 19-20th

We arrived in Hawaii at 6am and it was soo beautiful outside!! Everyone was all really excited!! Also, EVERYONE was on their cell phones! We could finally get U.S. phone service and so the majority of the people had there phones turned back on again and we’re calling friends and family back home. I wasn’t one of those people. Everyone was attached to a phone, and honestly I really didn’t like it. What once used to be a place where only a few we’re on their phones, now everyone was talking on a phone. It was an interesting look at things, we we’re back in America, back to the U.S. life of being attached to a cell phone. I understand though this is the first time people could use their phones and call home and such. For some others and I, we weren’t ready for all that yet, we wanted to remain detached from the phone and experience this trip for real. What really bugged me about it I will say is that when we we’re out touring, people we’re on their cell phones. We toured Pearl Harbor and people we’re on their phone talking to their friends. I’m like seriously We’re at Pearl Harbor!! Get off the cell phone and take it in!

It was really nice to be back in the U.S. however, it was still a culture shock like the rest of the places but this one seemed the most foreign of them all now. I was in the biggest culture shock so far. And it was only the beginning…getting to that later… Anyways….I loved Hawaii!!! Everyone was so excited to get off!! I couldn’t wait! It was beautiful out! Most we’re heading to the beach. It was a long process of getting of the ship. The U.S. security is tight, we each had to do a face-to-face inspection and go through security. After I went through, I waited on the stairs until my sea was called and I could get off the ship. My friend Dave stopped and talked with me for awhile, we exchanged phone numbers and sat with each other for awhile. We both agreed that we weren’t ready for the whole cell phone thing to start again, to come back home. We even had a hard time trying to remember just how to work our phones, we were so slow at it. Once our seas were called we got off the ship, I met up with Courtney to go walk around the city for awhile. It was so pretty out and so quiet because it was a Sunday. We walked down the main road off of where our ship was docked and we looked out into the harbor and were excited to see tropical fish in the water!! I was really excited! We can only see that stuff in aquariums, but here they were so close, right in front of us in their natural waters! The water was so clear and such a pretty blue-turquoise color. I loved it! I had a lot of time to myself really to reflect on things because Courtney had been on her cell phone since she got off the ship talking to her friends. I wasn’t ready to do that yet. I wouldn’t know what to say and I didn’t want to be attached to my cell phone. I really got a reality check on this voyage. Cell phones aren’t a part of what really matters and how people should spend there time. There is so much to see and do; you don’t have to be attached to a phone. Especially when you’re out doing and seeing great things, like at Pearl Harbor for instance as I mentioned earlier. Anyway, I understand everyone missed everyone back home and were calling. But still, take some time and think about what we’ve learned on this trip. Don’t fall back into the same habits of being attached to the phone and materialistic things and the drama back home…I just didn’t care, it didn’t matter. It was not that big of deal, there are worse things going on in this world, people need to realize that. I know, I’ve seen it. And even if they haven’t, they need to open up their eyes and look around as well.

Anyways, tangent…we took a lot of pictures and watched the fish for awhile before walking around some more. After awhile of walking around we had to head back to the ship where we we’re going to be picked up, we were scheduled to go skydiving today. We waited for awhile with some others but noone was showing up. We knew they were coming because we had talked to them that morning when they picked up the first group and they said they’d be back. One girl had the company’s number so she called them, they said the driver was on the way to talk to us about what was going on. Apparently it was too windy to go and they had cancelled everything for that day. The driver arrived and we talked to him and he explained what was going on. We were so incredibly bummed!! We had been looking forward to this for such a long time, since we saw people’s skydiving videos from when they did it in Namibia. Well this is where flexibility comes into play. It really sucked but there was nothing we could do about it, obviously it just wasn’t meant to be today. We ended up calling the place back on the phone and rescheduled our jumps for the next day. They weren’t sure if it would work out but they really hoped so, it would all just depend on the direction of the winds. I guess out of all the ways the wind can blow, there is only one that they can’t let you skydive in and that was today. Perfect. Oh well, we signed up for tomorrow and hopefully it all works out. Que sera sera I say…


Because we couldn’t go skydiving today we headed back inside to the ship to get some lunch and change into our suits and get things together for going to the beach. Courtney and Nora skipped the ship lunch, but I went upstairs to get it so I could save cash. It was spaghetti for lunch so I was excited. We all got our stuff and headed down to the gangway to go through security and then catch a bus to the beach. There was a bunch of us waiting for the bus. We got to the main drag in front of the beach and there was a ton of little shops and restaurants there. We went to the international market and walked around in there for awhile and bought some things. Courtney and Nora got something to eat while I sat at the table with them and fed some birds some crumbs. One of the birds only had one leg he could use, the other one was badly hurt and look cut off. I felt really bad for it, and I just wanted to take it home and care for it. It made me really sad to watch it continue to limp around, but I couldn’t take my eyes from it.


After lunch we walked out of the market and across the street to the beachfront. It was so cramped and crowded, there was hardly any beach. The hotels came right up to the shore basically. It was nothing like Destin. We found a spot in the middle of a bunch of people and set our things down and set up our towels. The water was so pretty! What a perfect day to go to the beach! It was so nice to just be able to sit and relax for awhile and go swimming at the beach. We needed a break from all of our schoolwork, studying, papers and projects that get crammed into the days we are at sea when we are not on constant foot traveling non-stop. We stayed out on the beach for awhile and layed out. There were some other SAS-ers there to that we said Hi to but it was mainly hotel goers since we were in front of all the beachfront hotels. Around 6 we decided to head back to the ship because we each had dinner plans.


It didn’t take too long to get back. I hurried back to my cabin. Courtney and I were going to go out to dinner with a family from Hawaii that was sort of family friends with her Aunt back home. They picked us up pretty soon after we got back to the ship. I took the quickest shower ever, put a dress on, mousse in my hair and ran out with it still wet. They were really nice and had two kids, a boy about 11 and a younger daughter who was 2 and she was so cute. They took us to a local seafood restaurant. Courtney and I aren’t big seafood eaters so we got steak and chicken with patatoes. It was really good! It was so nice to have real food again, good food. We were stuffed pretty quickly though, and couldn’t finish. The portion sizes in Hawaii are so big! Or atleast they were at this restaurant. They ordered off the kids menu for Kyra (pronounced like Kiera) (2 year old) and the size of her meal is what we consider to be an adult me. I couldn’t believe that was from the kid’s menu. I never could have even finished that. Wow. The food was great though. We had a really nice conversation at dinner and they were really easy to talk to. They wondered a lot about Courtney’s family and we asked what things were like in Hawaii, such as things to do, weather, school and about Semester at Sea and what we’ve done and seen. It was the first time that we had to try and explain something to someone back home, and like SAS told us before, it really was impossible to convey in words.

After dinner they took us to Walmart so Courtney and I could look at external harddrives, I have so many pictures and videos on my computer that I have no more space left on it and I need to transfer my things elsewhere so I can upload the rest of my stuff to take home and have room on my computer so that I can use it. Walmart was interesting. What a culture shock that was too. Back to the U.S. prices and I thought they were ridiculous. We walked by racks of clothes that were made in Thailand, China, Vietnam and India and it was surreal to know that we were in those places, that we had seen the people that helped to make these. That they put so much work into making materials for us to wear and use and we still take it all for granted back home. That we would spend twenty dollars on a shirt they hand made and they wouldn’t get near that much in their conversion back.

We walked by people buying a bunch of food, CD’s, pop, magazines etc. Filling up their carts with things that they need or not. I don’t know what I thought. It was just really different. A totally different environment than what I was now used to. And it was weird because this is where I came from, I should feel comfortable here. But I wasn’t anymore; it seemed so trivial, so materialistic. We have all this “stuff”. And so many people I met have nothing. Why do we need “stuff”? I just didn’t get it anymore. After the Wal-Mart experience they dropped us back off at the ship, we thanked them for taking us out for a nice meal and to Wal-Mart and they wished us a good rest of our journey. That night Courtney came over to my room and we watched Pride and Prejudice because it was playing on the t.v.’s and finished exchanging music, project that we started after South Africa and hadn’t gotten the time to finish yet. After that, Courtney left and I headed to bed leaving on Pride and Prejudice to fall asleep to. Val wasn’t there, she had gone out as she always does and wouldn’t be back till about 4am or so. So I had the cabin to myself until I’d be woken up when she got back. I had a busy day tomorrow with skydiving and visiting Pearl Harbor. I was so excited to do both, I couldn’t wait!


SKYDIVING:

Getting high on 4/20: Above the clouds, Hawaii from the sky…


The next morning we got up early and headed down to where the skydiving vans were waiting. They were here, and the winds were good so skydiving was a Go! WOOT!!! We were so excited we got in the van with a bunch of others and were on our way. On the way there I was getting kinda nervous. I really wanted to do it but the nerves still set in and the “what ifs” start coming. I knew I’d be okay hopefully, but still I was going to jump out of a plane on a whim just for the heck of it. It’s not really something you just get up in the morning and decide to do. But then again this whole life journey called Semester at Sea is something extra-ordinary in itself. You just go with it. Skydiving wasn’t something I originally planned to do on this trip or do ever in my life. To be honest, it didn’t interest me initially and I was afraid to do it. But being on SAS has really taught me to not be afraid of things any more, to take chances even if you’re scared, to just go out and do something, something you normally wouldn’t do, maybe you’ll like it. Semester at Sea is either all or nothing. If you’re gonna come all this way and do this then you just go all the way. It’s about facing your fears, challenging yourself, pushing yourself, coming out of your bubble, leaving your world behind and growing up out of the life that we live in, were here to see the world, the REAL world and experience it, learn from it and live it to the fullest and savor every moment of it.

We got to the place, Skydive Hawaii and there were people coming down in parachutes. I ran into my friends Candance and Megan and they had already gone and said it was amazing. They came left at 6am with that group. Eeek!! Here we go!! We headed inside and sat down infront of a t.v. that was playing an informational video that basically scares you because it tells you all the risks involved such as death which they said over and over again and showed people in ambulances and such. Hmmm…should I really do this? Ha, the place was pretty crowded with SAS-ers who were there that had already gone and they were so happy and said it was the best time the’ve had. They obviously made it through okay so I had more assurance that I would too. Then I started reading this contract we had to sign, it was more like a packet that gave us all the risks. We had to circle yes to all of them saying we accept the risks of serious injury and death page after page it was all in caps and bold type. It was serious, as it should be. I brought a copy home to show people. Basically I was signing my life away and saying they are not responsible if anything happens. I’ve never had to do that before. That was something new and interesting. I handed in my forms, told them I wanted pictures and video with it as well and they wrote me down for it. I headed out front with Courtney to take pictures in front of the building and van and stuff. It was quick and then she was back on her phone again. Everyone was on there phone, I found it really annoying actually and rude to an extent. Everyone was back in the U.S. bubble. I popped my bubble, and it wasn’t coming back.

Everything happened so quickly, all of a sudden soon after, they called my name. It was my tandem, he introduced himself, his name was Brendan. He seemed like a really fun guy. He came over and started strapping a harness and gear on me and told me what he was doing and how it all worked. He made small talk with me to get to know me better, we talked about where I was from and SAS and stuff and he explained to me what was going to happen and taught me how everything was going to work and we practiced how we had to hold our bodies while jumping out and then while in the air, the particular positions. I paid close attention, but my mind was still scattered and it was all happening so fast. While all of this was going on my camera man was circling around me filming all of this and the building and signs and filmed us practicing our skydiving moves, once I was done being taught, Mikey my camera guy started talking to me and asking me questions about myself, what I was doing, about SAS, just getting me to warm up to the camera and then we started talking about this being my first jump and how I was nervous and scared, we didn’t even have time to finish before Brendan called me over and said we gotta go, I ran to him and ran with him to the field where the plane was just pulling up to and Mikey followed us taking pictures and filming the whole thing.



I didn’t even have time to think all of a sudden it was Go time and we were in front of the plane, Brendan turned me around to take some quick pictures and then he helped me into the plane with the rest of the group. I was jumping with Megan, Sylvie, Nora and Courtney so we were all in the plane together. I went in second to last, Courtney was last which meant she was jumping first. They were quick about this stuff, once the plane landed the next group got in and they were off. We were all squeezed in the plane with our tandems who immediately started strapping us to themselves and their harnesses and attached us to the parachutes along with them. They adjusted our goggles for us and went through the drill again of what was to happen. Mikey was filming me and taking pictures the whole time. I had really good guys who were joking around and made it a lot of fun for me, which was great!

The view from the plane was incredible We could see the entire island and it was gorgeous! The water sparkled the blue green color in the sunlight! It was beautiful; once again I couldn’t believe what I was doing. I looked down at the island as we started flying above the clouds and could see everything on it, the beaches, the mountains, the sea life, it was unbelievable I forgot what I was doing for a second and then I started to get a little nervous. Then all of a sudden it was time! Brendan secured my goggles for me and then the door opened right in front of me. Courtney’s camera man got on the outside and jumped out! I COULD NOT believe it, this was INSANE! Was I really doing this!?!? AHH!! Then Courtney’s tandem and her got up, he pulled her head back and they jumped and disappeared!! If Courtney could do this and go first than I knew I could too! Right after they jumped, Mikey got in the door and filmed Brendan and I get in the door too. Right when Brendan tilted my head back Mikey jumped and then before I knew it we were jumping too! AHHHH!!! I was in complete shock! I don’t think I even screamed, I just remember my jaw dropping and staring out at the sky as I jumped from this plane.

IT WAS INCREDIBLE!! I felt the falling feeling for a second until Brendan pulled the first little chute, that basically keeps you upright while falling. I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I WAS DOING!! THIS WAS THE COOLEST THING THAT I HAVE EVER DONE!!! I was on the clouds literally! I don’t remember ever being so happy and excited all at once that I can’t even speak, and my jaw is literally dropped open permanently. This was unbelievable And it all happened so fast. Once we assumed the skydiving position, I saw Mikey!! I was so excited that I tried waving at him to come towards me, but it was hard to move my arms a certain way because of the pressure of the wind!! I was simply in AMAZEMENT the whole time!!!

My video and pictures capture everything I was feeling in those short moments. I don’t know the last time I was so excited to see someone Haha, but I was so excited to see Mikey with my camera. I felt like a little kid again! Like when they are so happy about something they did like ride a bike for the first time and are waving there arms to their mom and dad with the biggest smile on their face saying “look at me, look at me!, look what I did!” and they are so excited and the happiest they’ve ever been! That was me in these moments and I will never forget it!!! I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing and waving. Brendan was talking in my ear telling me to do different things like wave my arms, do thumbs up, peace sign, hang loose etc. I think their favorite was to stick your tongue out which I thought was funny but I did it!! I did everything!!

The views from the sky were breathtaking There was no other way to see Hawaii than this! This was the best thing I’ve done!!! I can’t even put it into words! You’ll just have to see the pictures and watch the video! They capture it all!!! AHHHH!!!! I FELT AMAZING!!! I had so much fun!! I had the most fun I’ve ever had in my life doing this!! It was unbelievable! Seconds later Mikey waved goodbye and Brendan checked his pressure watch and then all of a sudden we flew upright into a seated position. I looked up and it was the parachute. Oh yea!! I totally forgot about that whole part, I was having so much fun. I was having the best time of my life that I didn’t even notice I was still falling to the ground and the parachute wasn’t up yet, but he pulled it and it worked. Thank God! Haha.


All of a sudden the whole world stopped, my ears were popped so bad that I could barely hear anything. After hearing the wind soaring by, when it stops, it’s a big contrast. All of a sudden things got incredibly peaceful and we floated down slowly to the ground. We were still insanely high up and I couldn’t stop smiling still and just gaping out at the views I was seeing. How beautiful!!!! That was AMAZING!!! Brendan let me help him steer the parachute too!! How cool is that!! I kept wanting to look down but we were doing kinda like figure eights in the sky so that we could narrow our way down to a specific place on the landing field, but I kept getting dizzy Ha so I had to keep looking up and the horizon so I wouldn’t get motion sick, everything was moving so fast. I took everything in during my last moments and I felt so good!!!

What an accomplishment!!!! Something I thought I’d never do and I did it!! I just wanted to jump up and down! I was elated! I was on an incredible high right now! The time came for landing and I saw Mikey down there with the camera following us filming and taking pictures of the whole thing. I was so excited!!! I put my legs up parallel to the ground like Brendan said, we didn’t really go over the whole landing part so when he said run, I was confused and I put my feet down and tried but we definatley started sliding into home plate and fell and rolled over. HAHA!! I totally biffed that one up! It was a rough landing haha, but Brendan unclipped me and Mikey was right there to film the whole thing, and was laughing it was great!!! Mikey started talking to me afterwards asking me what it was like and if I had fun and I was literally speechless!! My mouth was just wide open with the biggest smile on my face I think I’ve ever had!! What a true state of happiness I was in!!!! I ran over to Brendan and gave him a big hug and thanked him so much for everything!! That I just had the time of my life doing that and they made it so great for me!!!

I got my last pictures with Brendan and then we headed in!! Courtney had already landed before me and I ran upto her screaming!! How great to experience our first time together. Nora was just landing and she was just as excited!! We didn’t even have to say anything, we all felt exactly the same way and it was great!! That’s whats so great about this trip and the people here! You know them so well you don’t even have to say anything! We just had the best time of our lives doing that and it was so great to experience it all together!!

AHHH!!! That was SO MUCH FUN!!!! We ran off the field and were got our gear taken off of us and the new people who had just arrived started asking us all the same questions that we asked those before us!! We just said that it was amazing and so much fun, you’ll have the time of your life. It happens SO FAST so just take it all in and make it the best. You’ll LOVE IT!!! We told them, to get the video and pictures because it is way worth it and the views of Hawaii here are breathtaking!!! We waited around for awhile afterwards and our tandems gave us each our own certificate that says we completed our first jump!! How exciting! Of course I got my picture with it!! We waited for awhile for others to jump and in the meantime our pictures and videos were being edited and uploaded to CD’s and DVD’s for us to take home. We each picked out a t-shirt and paid. And by noon we were off to Pearl Harbor!

I HAD THE MOST FUN I’VE EVER HAD SKYDIVING!!! I can’t even explain it! It was the best time of my life right there. I’ve never smiled so much and was so excited and happy!!! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! I can’t wait to do it again!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!! So excited, so happy!!! ☺ I can’t wait to show everyone the pictures and video!! Can’t wait!! ☺ I captured every moment having the time of my life!!! ☺





PEARL HARBOR

After skydiving a group of us SAS-ers got in the van that was taking us back to the ship. Courtney, Nora and I convinced him to drop six of us off at Pearl Harbor because it was on the way. Originally we we’re signed up for the SAS trip that was in the morning but because skydiving got moved we weren’t able to go in the morning with SAS so our only chance to go was this afternoon. I was so glad we were able to fit it in. Things were pretty stressful when the skydiving didn’t work out yesterday and the only time to go was this morning, which meant we’d miss the trip, and have to try and get there on our own, but everything worked out and I was so relieved. I really was looking forward to Pearl Harbor and knew it would be really good to go see.

We got there and checked our bags at the front. Because it was a military base we weren’t allowed to bring any sort of bag on the property or anything that could conceal something. The security was really tight there. We walked around and looked at all the monuments, the old planes, and submarine. We saw the battleship but didn’t go inside. We didn’t have too much time here because we had to get back for on ship time. I had already been in the battleship U.S.S. Alabama and it was really cool, I figured they were similar. It would have been neat to see and tour one again but I also knew it takes a long time to get through, atleast it did for my family when we visited one. We grabbed some lunch and looked around the bookstore and then headed over to the Arizona Memorial site.

The anchor from the ship was displayed right outside. It was so big. A lady at the desk called us over and handed us some tickets, she said the next show and Arizona tour was starting soon and that we should get in line so we did. We all walked into a giant movie theater and a woman came and spoke to us a little bit about the history and the memorial and how it came about. She also mentioned something which stood out to me which I really hadn’t taken in to heart yet, but that we must be very quiet, we can take pictures and everything but to remember that this place is more than just a monument and a memorial but first and foremost it is a grave and to remember that and respect that. The movie began and it was very interesting. It told the story of Pearl Harbor and the history of all of it using real footage from the base and home videos that people took that day. It was unreal. It was intense and very moving; I’m glad I was able to see it because now I have a better sense of what happened and understand more.


Again, it was interesting because just as in Hiroshima, here I was surrounded by Americans and Japanese people. It was just interesting to know that so many years ago we were at war and yet here we were together again learning from our history and could be here together in peace. After the film, we were quietly escorted out to the ferry that we were taking over to the location of the Arizona Memorial and the sunken battleship. We got there and everyone was so quiet. It was such a sad place yet it was so beautiful and peaceful at the same time. We got off the ferry and walked in to the memorial and I had this strange feeling come over me. Everything was just hitting me at once, I didn’t speak to anyone or look at anyone, I wasn’t even sure what to think about. I just walked over to the railing and looked at the battleship under water. I couldn’t believe where I was or what I was seeing, I couldn’t believe what had happened here.

As I looked over the railing at the fish swimming in the water in the Arizona, I said a prayer for all those who we’re lost, it was so sad to know that so many people died right where I was standing, that their life was taken from them by surprise in minutes. People who had visited here before told me it was very moving and that you could still see the oil in the water from the ships that sunk here 80 some years ago. I believed them, I had no reason to doubt them but actually being there and seeing it for myself overwhelmed me and my thoughts and feelings. I took some videos to bring back home and show people who haven’t gone or might now be able to go and pictures as well. I was sure not to smile in my pictures, it just didn’t feel right to smile at a gravesite.


For the rest of my time there I just walked around and stared in awe looking out at the water and reflected on the whole thing. I wanted to spend more time there at the memorial, but the guards were pretty persistent about getting us out of there and the next group in. I felt rushed a little bit, but I got my time in and I decided that I would love to come back someday. I think its important for Americans especially to learn about it and see it first hand. It moves you in ways a book cannot, to actually be there and feel it. After we got back to the mainland we headed back to the front gate to pick up our bags, taking our last pictures on our way.

We headed back to the bus pick up and waited about an hour for the bus. There were other SAS-ers there that we talked to and they asked about our skydiving experience and we were really excited to talk about it. The bus ride was long, and I’ve never been on a bus with SO many people. We picked up people at every bus stop. We were so crammed in the bus, some people got off just to get off even if it wasn’t their intended stop just because it was so crowded.

When we finally got back to the port we had some extra time, about an hour and a half or so before we needed to head back to the ship and get in line to be on time for the “on-ship time”. We walked around the shops outside of the port and got some ice cream from a small ice cream store and wrote our postcards. Courtney and I talked about going home and how that process was going to work out on the last day with getting off the ship and all. I’m supposed to meet up with her parents when I get off with my bags and then were gonna wait for Courtney, go back the the hotel. I have to get to a store at some point because its imperative that I get another suitcase. I can bring off my things from the ship in bookbags and trashbags, but I have no room in my suitcases for all of my stuff, and I need atleast one more big one or something. Right now I’m not really sure what I’m going to do still. I can’t believe we only have about two weeks left, it seems like we just got here