Sunday, August 30, 2009

Celebrating Statehood Day

Hawaii has been a full-fledged U.S. state for 50 years. I asked one of the parents in my class if that was a day of mourning, since it was forced upon the Hawaiian nation by the U.S. and she said, "No, we just celebrate everything here." Interestingly, the Hawaiian flag looks like a combination of the U.S. and British flag. Both nations have occupied Hawaii and left their mark. How sad, though, that there is nothing Hawiian about the state flag. We think it should have turtles on it and be the color of the ocean...like Lydia's shirt in this picture. The three munchkins belong to our friends, the Woods.



Friday, August 21, 2009

What's For Lunch?

Everyday is classroom lunch day at Trinity. My students enjoy a Jim Weiss story on CD while munching on their lunches. It amused me to look around the room yesterday and compare the typical mainland lunch to a typical Hawaiian lunch.
                Mainland Mainstay- Peanut butter and jelly


              Hawaiian equivalent - Mana Pua





              Mainland Mainstay - Chicken Noodle Soup



              Hawaiian equivalent - Miso Soup



              Mainland Mainstay - Turkey Sandwich

              Hawaiian equivalent - Sushi Handroll



              Mainland Snackfare - Potato Chips


              Hawaiian equivalent - Norikake (dried seaweed)


              I can't tell you how cute my little students are as they eat these Asian treats. The staff are equally Asian in their food selections. It's not at all unusual to see a staff member eating their lunch with chopsticks in the staff lounge.

              Wednesday, August 12, 2009

              Weather Alert


              I hadn't realized that we'd still get the excitement of snow days here...only in hurricane form. Everyone was in a flurry on Sunday because there was a hurricane coming. We were encouraged to get ready with water, canned goods and a flashlight in case the electricity was shut off. After all, they said, when Obama was here, there was such a surge that the electricity shut off. They were really fast getting it back on then...it only took 12-15 hours. So, off we went to buy a gas grill with a burner. Several hundred dollars later, we were ready for the weather. The possibility of school closing on the first day was strong and we had contingency plans in place. Very exciting stuff, only not white and fluffy, just lots and lots of warm rain and humidity. Our kids were quite excited about the storm. They had heard the waves were at their peak right before a hurricane so Laura made dinner, allowing us to have a picnic at the beach. The surf WAS great. I've never seen so many surfers. And each one we passed on our way to the beach as they were leaving had a huge grin on their face as if to say "you are gonna have a blast, man!" We did. Only problem was she forgot to pack plates and utensils. So we showed up at the door of our co-workers who live by the beach and bummed plates and utensils from them. Guess we're beach bums now.