Saturday, June 11, 2011

Hawaii in a Nutshell

I am sitting here, wondering how to recap all of the things that I have experienced, wondering how to express all the things I have learned, and wondering how to explain how grateful I am to have come to Hawaii this year, and I have NO idea where to even begin.

This was my very first day in H awaii- crazy how fast time flys! and notice my paleness haha



Hawaii has taught me SO much. Here is my top five things I have learned from Hawaii
1.) Happiness does not stem from material things. I live in a SMALL city where giant families cram into little baby houses with no air conditioning and the city consists of a foodland, tacobell, subway, and angels ice cream shop all consisting in one shopping strip. I have learned that I dont need material things to be happy, but that happines comes from the people around you.
2.) I havent had a car all year- I have hitch hiked, or ridden my bike, or taken the bus, everywhere I have gone. Ive learned again, material things dont matter.
3.) Experience New things!! I tried shrimp, surfing, I jumped off of HUGE cliffs, I got pounded by some waves, and I wanted to just puke a ton of sea water out, but hey, it was worth every second of it.
4.) Hard work pays off. I was able to experience a lot of things from hard work. We are put through some tough times, and its important to just gut it out, and work through it. Whether it was school for me, or tennis, I learned for the nth time that hard work is crucial. I think this is a lesson I will continually be learning.
5.) Culture is AWESOME. At my school, 75 countries are represented. I have met people from Ghana, Fiji, Samoa, England, Australia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Slovakia, Papau New Guinea, Korea, Tonga, and New Zealand. I have met soooo many cool people and learned sooo much about them and about myself through getting to know them.




Speaking of Cultures- The girls that live next to me have taught me SO much. Here are the things they have taught me.
1.) It is your choice to be offended- This is a quote that Salie tells me at least once or twice a week!!! She is always joking around with me and other people and says this to me all the time, so I have learned, to not get offended!! She's right. Its our choice if we take things too seriously or not =)

2.) Service is key. One day i get back to my room, and Mere, a girl from Fiji, folded ALL of my laundry, cleaned my room, made my bed, the whole shebang! IT was so amazing, and I was so shocked.

3.) One thing that Fijians do best, is LAUGH. My last night in Hawaii was not how I imagined it would be. I thought I would  be out on the beach- night swimming and staying out til who knows what time, but I ended up being exactly where I wanted to be. Standing on my next door neighbors bed, singing all OLD OLD love songs at the top of my lungs- many of my fajian friends and my room mate was there and all they did was LAUGH sooo hard. I think I got a false sense of how funny I am, haha because I miss that laughter soo much!!! So life is about fun, and happiness, and Laughter.



Well- I am home now, in Marietta Georgia. I couldnt be Happier.

Sooo I guess Life keeps changing all the time- one day you are in Hawaii looking at an INCREDIBLE view that words cant describe, but for some reason - I think the view above is the BEST view in the whole world. Feels Good to be Home =).

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