You know you live in Hawai'i when....

I couldn't resist from writing this. Here are a few of the things I have noticed about Hawai'i that are a little different than Bountiful, Utah!

 

You know you live in Hawai'i when...

 

• You hang your clothes on a clothesline to dry because its so windy...constantly
• You can't walk around the streets or campus without seeing 40 stray dogs that like to follow you everywhere....

My main squeeze, Jiffy

• ......you end up going to the store and buying dog food for the doggies.....
• Everyone you see in public is barefoot. At subway, the store, walking down the road, getting their hair cut, ect.
• You never start a meeting or class without everyone yelling "ALLLLLLOOOOOOOOOHA!!"
• You fall asleep to the sound of the drums and chants at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
• You can't go on a nice run around the neighborhood without getting attacked by a herd of freaking chickens
• ....you destine to become a chicken slayer....
• You have no idea how to describe directions because everything is in Hawaiian.
• You are 2 minutes away from a white sand and turquoise waters.
• You have classes held at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
• You get wonderful 20-30 foot waves that bring our every beautiful surfer on the island.

 



• You have coconuts laying on the side of the road..
• Every bird you see looks like something from Avatar.
• You are weird if you get ready for the day/wear lots of makeup (best thing ever)
• You get into bed and there is sand in it
• Its beautifully sunny one second, and windy and pouring rain the next.



• You crave POG (passion, orange, and guava juice) like a mad pregnant woman.
• Going on dates doesn't mean going to a movie and dinner at a nice restaurant , it means you are going surfing on the North Shore and eating shrimp out of an old van.
• You see people carrying pounds of bananas on their shoulders.
• No one owns a bike that ISN'T rusty!
• You add boys that go to your school on Facebook and see this-

 

• Basically every boy you see makes you want to cry they are so cut and beautiful.
• The wind is so strong it blows through your dorm..
• Your attire consists of flip flops or bare feet, shorts, and a baggy t-shirt.
• White people become the minority...



• You always wear a swimsuit underneath your clothes.
• You see a sea turtle almost every time you go out to the beach and it isn't that big of a deal..
• The bottom of your jeans get crusty and stiff from the salt water.
• Your campus store carries 90% ethnic food.... 10% American food...

 













• There are always boys singing and playing their ukes outside your window.
• Everyone is beautifully sunkissed... except for me of course.
• Everyone has gardens full of extremely gorgeous and exotic flowers

• DID I MENTION IT NEVER STOPS RAINING?!!????!!!!
• No one needs a car... all you need is a bike or a longboard and your set!
• You have freaky looking Hawaiian dishes... but they actually make you cry they are so delicious..

• Fresh pineapple is always on hand.
• If you don't get a Melona (melon or mango flavored ice bars) at least once a day you are nuts.

 

And most importantly..

 

*You are EASILY the happiest person because you live in pure paradise.*

 

 

Even though things here are completely different than my little bubble in Bountiful, Utah... I couldn't ask for a better place to live. I love every weird, interesting, and beautiful thing about this amazing island!

 

Except the chickens... i'd be fine without the chickens....

 

 







Aloha to my first week!

 

 

First week in Hawai'i

 

What an amazing first week I have had in paradise! I'm sorry I have been hobo and haven't posted anything about this beautiful island yet though. S/O to my amazing sis Mikell Gordon for getting this page started up for me! I can't wait to share all of my adventures I have here with all of you!

 

 

I left super snowy Bountiful on December 30th, 2012 and headed out for the biggest adventure of my life. I flew to Phoenix and then an hour later headed for Honolulu. Both of my flights were COMPLETLEY full so it was sooo packed. The person next to me on the flight to Honolulu had the genius idea of wearing a huge fur coat on the plane.. which was CONSTANTLY rubbing on me! I swear I about lost it. I usually sleep super well on flights but I probably got about 30 minutes of some shut eye. When we started making the descent for Honolulu, my heart was pounding! We got out of the clouds and I saw my new home for the first time. I tried so hard to hold back my tears. I could not believe that I was actually going to live in a place full of so much beauty. I stepped outside the airport and legitimately thought I was going to DIE! The heat and the 95% humidity was something I definitely was NOT used to! A family that I got hooked up with picked me up at the airport and took me to campus. Laie, the town I live in, is about 45 minutes from Honolulu and literally has nothing in it! If I want to go shopping or hit up Wal-Mart or a big store like that, I have to hitch a ride and drive 45 minutes! I got to campus and the first thing I saw that literally blew me away was the Laie Hawai'i Temple. I am SO lucky to live so close to such an amazing place! The fountains, palm trees, exotic flowers, and green grounds makes the temple even more beautiful.

 

 

Luckily, my campus is only a couple minutes away from the temple! We turned down the street and I saw my campus and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Hundreds of palm trees, groomed gardens, the large green mountains, and so many flags surrounding the school representing the incredible melting pot of students we have at our campus.

 

 

I got to my dorm and was kind of disappointed about how small it was, but I wasn't expecting anything outstanding! I was SOOO relieved when I came into my dorm and saw New Moon poster on my roommates wall and a zombie magnet hanging on her desk. Instantly I knew we were going to get along just fine! I found her on facebook and she told me that she wasn't going to be here until the 4th since she was home for Christmas vacation. Which I was pretty bummed about. After I brought my suitcases into my dorm, I went to my RA and asked if I could get the boxes I had sent over to my dorm a week prior. Inside those boxes I had all of my bedding, towels, most of my clothes, ect. She informed me that I wouldn't be able to get that stuff until Monday or Tuesday and I was PISSED. I knew there had to be ONE person that could help me get my FREAKING stuff! But nope! My bed consisted of a hoodie for my pillow, a beach towel I had luckily packed in my suitcase, and a beach cover up for my blanket. It was a LOOOONG night..

 

The next morning I woke up to blue sunny skies! I was so excited because I knew that meant BEACH DAY!!! I got all of my stuff ready for the beach and hurried to the dining center to eat. Just my luck... I get in there and they tell me that my meal plan doesn't start until January. So there I was with NO food and NONE of my stuff from home and I just lost it. It couldn't get any worse! I had to walk about a mile to the closet grocery store and had to buy a bunch of food to get me through the week which WASN'T cheap. After I got some food I hurried to the beach because I knew being in the water would make everything better. My inner mermaid came out and as soon as I saw the ocean I dropped everything and dove right in. The salt water in my mouth and eyes was seriously the best. It had been so long since I had been in the ocean and I forgot how much I loved it. I stayed at the beach for about 6 hours that day snorkeling, laying on the beach, and taking in all of the beauty around me.

 

The next day wasn't the best day to go to the beach........

 

 

Its now been raining for 5 days straight.......

 

 

The other night we had a game night for all of the new students. Everyone was super awkward and weird and me not being shy in any way went around the room introducing myself and finding out where everyone was from. I was seriously shocked! Out of the 50+ students that were there.. I only talked with one boy that I was from America! Everyone else was from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Poland, Germany, China, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Kenya, Brazil, Philippines,  ect! I am pretty sure I played every person there in Just Dance. It was so interesting because none of them had heard the songs or the game. Later that night, I was asked to join the dance club after everyone saw my moves on Just Dance... HAHAH! Im not THAT good guys. It was such a blast though.  I am so lucky to be at such an amazing place where I am able to learn so much from people that are from every corner of the earth. For the first time in my life, I am now the minority!

 

 

Today we had a campus tour and I met the 3 funniest girls from Texas and Arizona. (Finally some people from America!) We were inseparable throughout the tour and ended up hanging out all morning. We had quite the adventure today at the beach in the rain! When we were walking back to campus, we were walking down a residential street and we heard clicking on the ground... we turned around to see a bunch of dogs running right towards us. We all started screaming and jumping on each other as the dogs came up and started jumping up at us. We tried running but one dog would take you down to the ground. We were all laughing to the point where we couldn't breathe. We had to temporarily tie the dogs up to the fence so that we could get a head start of them. We BOOKED it back to campus and we were almost there when we turned around and saw the herd of dogs running towards us again. We were all screaming and ran into the Aloha Center where we sat there and laughed about how we legit about got eaten by wild dogs. Tonight, we are going to a pizza Pa"ina and then headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. So Stoked!  I am so happy I have finally found some girls I love hanging out with! Its going to be quite the adventure with them!

 

Sorry for such a long post.. thanks so much to all of you for all of your good luck wishes to me. I love and miss you all so much!

 My amaazzing campus.