Saturday, October 5, 2013

Eight Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Oahu

Hey Jessica!

I'm sorry you were so sick last week, I really hope you're feeling better.

I've been in Hawaii for about a month now and so I thought I would share with you some things that I learned about Hawaii. Here it is:

Eight Things You (Probably) Didn't know About Oahu
  1. Chickens. There are stray chickens everywhere. Apparently some were wild and some not, but they mated and you just don't know which is which anymore, so I think they are basically all wild. If you ever go off of campus in the morning you will hear all the roosters crowing. If you leave campus any other time of the day, you'll see the hens, and the roosters, and their baby chicks just walking around. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's kinda cool, and different, and unexpected.
  2. Stray Animals. I don't know if this is universal (islandversal?) but there are stray animals here. More than I am used to. We have at least three stray cats and two stray dogs on campus. It is definitely a possibility that this is just a campus thing . . . but since when are there stray animals on a college campus? I've never heard of such a thing before. The biggest thing to know about said stray animals is not to feed them. You can get fined by the campus police if you do.
  3. Small Beach. Maybe I'm just used to the beaches we normally go to when we go to California, but there's not a ton of sand here. Like in California there is about what 50 feet of sand before you get to the water? Here (excepting Waikiki) there is more like 10-20 feet of sand. Maybe that is just the beaches by campus, but once again, I wasn't expecting that.
  4. Rain. Contrary to popular belief, it does rain in Hawaii. On this side of the island it rains more than on the other side, but it does rain. It just rains for five minutes than stops. Seriously, it's like the sky has a timer that goes off "oh! It's been five minutes! Better stop raining!"
  5. Flower in the Hair. Wearing a flower of the left side of your hair means you are "taken" wearing it on the right side means you are "available". So don't screw it up, unless you want to deceive everyone.
  6. Shrimp Trucks. There are shrimp trucks all along the North Shore. They get their shrimp fresh from the ocean and they are good! They all kinda look like unprofessional vendor trucks, but trust me, some of them are DELICIOUS.
  7. Foodland and Walmart. These are the places to be. Foodland is the closest grocery store near campus and Walmart is the cheapest place on the island. However, Walmart is at least an hour away, sometimes two. If you are ever bored you can just go to Foodland, or you can take your whole Saturday to go down to Walmart. I don't think I have ever been so excited to go to Walmart before coming here. It's crazy. On a related note, I don't think anything here (that isn't like a pack of gum or a granola bar) that's under $4. Crazy, eh?
  8. Height. I put this one in here because my friend Brooke (who's 5' 7") says that she was really surprised by how short people are here. Even I noticed that, a bit. There are a greater amount of shorter people here than I was used to at home. I was used to being the shortest person around, however, now I'm not! (And it isn't just all the Asians here.) No. All sorts of people are short! It definitely helps my self-esteem.
I was bored and watching videos on YouTube one day when I stumbled across this. I know you like this song so I thought I'd share it with you. 




At a one of the devotionals here the speaker talked about meeting new people. I can't remember what they whole talk was about but he mentioned this. He talked about sitting next to the lonely people at meals. Now, I  am usually that lonely person. I had a moment where I could've brushed off the council he was giving us and thought "it isn't for me. People should be coming to sit by me" but I listened. I decided that, whenever I went to a meal alone, I was going to sit by a someone who was sitting alone. It's been ok, I've been meeting new people, many of who I never see again, and I haven't sat alone in a while. But the other day I was really rewarded. I sat by a girl named Abigail, we talked and I found out she is in two of my classes and I had fun with her. After dinner she said she was going to buy Hi-Chews and when I said I had never had them before, she decided to share then with me. We walked over to the Seasider, she bought Hi-Chews, ate one or two of them, and gave the rest of the pack to me! It was really nice of her. The moral of this story is, listen to your leaders and follow their advice, even if you think you may be excused from it. Truth is, you're not. You'll be blessed if you follow their council, it comes from God.

Love,
Melissa

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