Day 15: Surfing

May 21, 2012

After class today we went surfing!

Our instructors were surfers who worked for the Surf the Nation organization that we had helped earlier on our trip. One of the girls, Kristin, employed by Surf the Nation graduated from Cedarville…what a small world.

Upon hearing that Kristen graduated from Cedarville, I thought of the Small World Hypothesis that we learned about in class today. According to the hypothesis, everyone in the world is separated by six people.

It truly amazes me that everyone in the world is connected through just six people. And with the addition of social media, people are only separated by four.

I really wasn’t planning on going since I’m not the best swimmer in the world, but as I was watching everyone else have fun, I decided to give it a try too.

In class we also talked about networking and how people come together. One of the ways people come together is through homophily, people are attracted to other people based on similarity.

Now that I think about it, I applied homophily today at the surfing lesson.

There were five possible instructors: an American woman, two American men, and two men from Bangladesh.

I wanted the women or one of the American guys. And now that I think about it that’s probably due to homophily.

My instructor’s name was Chris, one of the white guys, and he was super nice. My face must have been revealing some nonverbal cues because right a way he asked me if I was scared. I told him about my lack skills but he assured me that everything would be all right.

And it was. I didn’t drowned. I didn’t see any sharks. And I was able to catch a wave.

After surfing we came back to the conference center, ate some diner, and went to bed. We were exhausted!

Day 14: What! Class on Sunday?!

May 20, 2012

Today the girls in my room woke-up to another girl yelling, “You have class in about 2 minutes.”

Miscommunication at its finest.  We thought that we didn’t have class, but our professor thought we did. So like the good students we rushed to get ready and ran over to class.

In class today, we talked about conflict. A few of the girls gave example of conflicts in their lives.

Our discussions made me think about the different conflicts I’ve had in my own life.  

Mostly I’m a drama free person, but I can think of two example of conflict in my life.

1. In high school my two best friends and I had a falling out

2. Freshman year of college one of my best friends all the sudden didn’t want to be friends anymore.

Those are not my favorite memories, but I’ve learned a lot from the conflict.

- Forgiveness is not overrated

- Talking is necessary

So now, whenever a conflict arises I go through a few steps in my head to evaluate if I’m just overacting. Then if I decided that I’m not, I take action.

I talk to the person, and then if it works out, it works out. If it doesn’t, well at least I tried.

After class we walked over the a little Baptist church that took place in the same building as the Samoan church.

This little Baptist church may have taken place in the same building as the Samoan church, but that was basically the only thing that the two had in common.

After church we went to grab a bit to eat at McDonalds.  While we were at McDonalds we talked about the different things we were going to do that day. It was decided that we would go visit a beach where a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean Four was filmed. 

Before we left for the beach we worked on some homework.

After a few hours of homework we piled in the vans and headed to the cove. On the way, we stopped for dinner. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant we went to was, it was a local restaurant. I kind of reminded me of a Paneras type of restaurant because you ordered at a counter then you the brought the food over. It was delicious.

Then we went to the beach and watched the sunset.

Day 13: Eat, Beach, Sleep

May 19, 2012

Even though it is the weekend today, we still had class.  But since it’s the weekend we got to sleep in an extra hour.

After we had class and lunch we went to the military beach, which is about a 5-minute walk from the conference center we are staying at.

Today the beach was absolutely beautiful! It was so sunny and warm. It was the perfect beach day!

We sat on the beach, took naps, talked on the phone, read books and talked to each other.

It is absolutely beautiful here, but I think I’ll be ready to go home in a week. As much as I love the people and love it here, it’s not home. I’m not homesick and I don’t really think that I’m experiencing culture shock, although the culture is different than I expected. I’m just ready to be home and see my family and sleep in my own bed.

Being here has been an amazing experience. Hawaii isn’t the Hawaii I had in my mind. I pictured a lush beautiful Island, fruit at every meal and people that were basically the same as those on the mainland, just a little darker.

I was wrong about all of the above.

The side of the island we are staying on is brown. It hardly ever rains on this side. However there is a green side that fits with my image of a lush beautiful island.

We haven’t had very much fruit while we have been here, but what we have had has been amazing.

The Hawaiian people probably the furthest away from the image that I had in my head of Hawaiian people. I thought that everyone would be one race, except for the occasional white or black person. I wrong.

Hawaii is made of people several different nationalities: Fiji, Japan, China, Pilipino, European, Korean, ect. No one looks the same.

I also thought that the people would speak the same as Americans on the mainland. I was wrong, while they do speak English; they also speak other languages as well. This gives the Hawaiian people an accent like I’ve never heard before.

It is has been hard for me at times to even thing of Hawaii as part of the United States, but then I’ll see someone pay with American money.

After the beach we had dinner, fish and chips. Then we went back to the Bungalow. We tried to watch a movie, The Proposal.

I lasted only about half of the movie. By 9:30 I was dead to the world.

Day 12: Vacation Day

May 18, 2012

Today we spent the day in Waikiki. This excursion was much different than the others we’ve been on. It appears like a completely different world than other parts of the island that we have visited.

I loved Waikiki. I actually felt like I was on vacation while we were walking around.

The whole town is filled with people enjoying life. Most of the people we saw while we were walking around appeared to be in a great mood, probably because they were on vacation. Most people moved at an easy pace, not in a rush at all.

Although the tourist trait was common among the majority of the people we saw, no one looked the same. There were honeymooners, elderly couples, brides to be, sober people, drunk people, children, homeless, locals, sales people and waiters.

With all of these different people it was easy to observe different the nonverbal signs we learned in class.

I noticed lots of different postures.

1. Approach – waiters

2. Withdrawal – people when they walked past homeless people

3. Contraction – the homeless people

4. Expansion – rich preppy guys on vacation

I also noticed that I was beginning to be able to spot the locals. The locals didn’t have the eagerness in their eyes like the locals did. And they usually didn’t look in stores.

Eyes reveal a lot about a person.

Lindsey, Alyssa, our friend Carolyn, and myself were walking through a few stores. In each new store we walked into Carolyn’s eyes would sparkle with excitement.

In one of the stores we convinced her to try on a dress. She didn’t even have to open her mouth her eyes said it all. She was excited, but a bit uneasy. After assuring her she looked great. We asked her why she looked so uneasy. She told use that she usually doesn’t shop much and that she doesn’t own any dresses. So this was all a new experience for her.

In addition to seeing excitement spoken by the eyes, we also able to see fear.

When we were gathering at the van to leave. A homeless lady sat curled up about 15-feet away from our van.

Josh a guy from our group must have felt convicted because he walked over to the woman and offered her a drink and some money.

To his surprise and ours, the women jumped up, started waving her hands back and forth, yelling I don’t want your help. Even though I was about 10-feet away, I could see the anger and disgust in the women’s eyes.

Josh’s eyes were speaking too. His were full of surprise and fear. And I don’t blame him. He was probably expecting compassion and gratitude.

But people really aren’t predictable especially when they live under stereotypes.

Day 11: Rainforest Hike

May 17, 2012

Just like every other day, we started off with class.

Today in class we took a field trip to McDonald’s so that we could get a better Internet connection.

During the two hours we were at the restaurant, there were tons of different people coming in and out. It was fascinating to watch the different interactions between people and to compare them to people I see on the mainland.

Conveniently in class today we were talking about different forms of communication and how language affects culture and forms reality.

The reality is that Hawaii has it’s own culture apart from the Mainland. People on the Island live by Island time, so about 15 minutes late. They also are very nice and kind hearted.

Example:

Today at McDonald’s there was a group of about seven teenagers. They were talking in normal voices, but at one point they got a little rowdy. Moments after the commotion they all looked over and apologized to us for the disruption.

I don’t think a group of teens on the Mainland would have done this…it was a pleasant surprise!

After class, everyone went on a rainforest hike.

Before we left for the hike we were warned about the parasites living in water.  We were told to cover any wounds and to refrain from getting water in our mouths.

As soon as we arrived at the entrance to the trail there was a huge parasite warning sign. This didn’t make me feel very safe.

But we still went in. Some people in our group even jumped off a 50ft. cliff. I didn’t jump off the cliff, but I did win a dollar. Dr. Miller and I had a bet about whether one of the girls would jump off the cliff or not. I won.

Overall, today was another beautiful day in Hawaii!

Day 10: Harbors and Beaches

May 16, 2012

There wasn’t any class today. We took the day off to go to Pearl Harbor and the North Shore.

Since history class in elementary school, I’ve heard about Pearl Harbor. So it was sort of a surreal experience actually being there.

 

It is hard to believe that only a few decades ago, the event of Pearl Harbor took place. 

Our tour started with a 20-minute movie describing what took place December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  Once the lights came back on in the theater I noticed that there were several groups of Japanese tourists.

I find it sort of odd that they would come visit the base that their country helped destruct. I really wonder what was going through their minds while they were watching the movie, because since we are in America the movie definitely took the American viewpoint. 

 

We were all shuffled out of the theater onto a boat that took us the remains of the U.S.S. Arizona.

The mood of the group instantly switched from a fun-touring day to a day of remembering the lost and reliving the events. While on the memorial we could still see oil bubbling out to the Arizona into the Ocean. The air smelled like a gas station.

The smell worsened in the middle of the platform where a big square hole was cut out that viewed into the Pacific. Many gathered around the cutout to pay tribute to the fallen by throwing flower petals in the opening.

Past the opening was a room containing names of all who lost their lives due to the tragedy on December 7, 1941. 

After being at the memorial for around 10 minutes we were all herded back onto the boat.

While on the boat I kind of forgot that I was in Hawaii because there were so many military personnel and tourists. For tourists, or those living on the Mainland, Pearl Harbor is a big deal because it is an event we have heard about all of our lives. But as I think about it more, the people on the Island were probably affected even more by the tragedy.

When Pearl Harbor occurred, Hawaii wasn’t even a state yet. I often forget that little nugget of information when talking about Pearl Harbor. The people of Hawaii were basically dragged into the war, and her people were put in harms way.  

I think the event helped unify the Hawaiian people and culture. It also brought them closer to America because both the Hawaiian people and the United States military were both attacked. The two groups were able to relate and suffer together.

Besides the memorial, everything else at Pearl Harbor cost extra money, so as a group we decided to save our money by spending the rest of the day at the North Shore.

The North Shore is on the green side of the Island. It is one of the prettiest places I’ve even been; so green, sunny and the water is amazing!

At the North Shore we had shaved ice, shopped, and went to two different beaches.

The first beach we went to was Turtle Beach. This is not a beach that you go to relax; it is a beach you go to see Sea Turtles. We saw at least four Sea Turtles. It was so cool to see these animals in their natural environment.

After observing these animals for a little while we hoped in the car and traveled about 10 minutes to another beach called Shark Cove Beach.

There weren’t any sharks at this beach but there were plenty of fish and rocks. Lots of people went snorkeling, the rest of us wadded and just cooled off from the sun.

Today was a wonderful day filled with fun adventures and new friends!

Day 9: Leaning to Swim

May 15, 2012

Today we had class then we spent the rest of the day at the beach.

In class today we were learning about attributions, and preconceived ideas and beliefs that we give to cultural groups. Attribution is how we find reason behind an action.

During class we heard a ton of yelling. Some of the members of my class attributed the yelling to the natives attempting to take over a beach.

Before our trip we were warned that sometimes the locals do not react well to tourists so they kick them off the buses or the beaches.

So instead of thinking that the yelling was coming from people having fun at the beach, our minds quickly jumped to beaches being taken over and our afternoon being destroyed. We were planning on spending the day at the beach.

Luckily the beaches were not being taken over, so we were able to spend the entire day at the beach.  

In class today we also learned about egocentric bias. This is when we compare our own behavior to other people. Before class today, I didn’t realize that that is exactly what I do. I use myself as a reference point quite frequently in situations.

Since I like to travel and I plan to do a ton more in the future, I’m thankful that I’ve learned this quality about myself, because now I can work on improvement. I realize now that people are different because of the cultures they grow up in and it is not fair to compare them to myself.

In addition to trying to fix that flaw in my life, I worked on fixing another flaw in my life.

Confession time:

I am 20-years-old and I can’t swim.

I’m not exactly sure how I don’t know how to swim. I took lessons. I guess we must have just moved before I made it to the deep end.

So for the last 20 years of my life I’ve had to make up excuses for not knowing how to swim. I used excuses like:

- “I’m just really tired today”

- “I don’t feel like getting my hair wet”

- “I don’t really like lakes, I’m more of a pool girl”

These were all lies. I was just embarrassed that I didn’t know how to swim, but this summer I’ve decided to overcome this fear.

Today I learned how to tread water, do the breaststroke and do the sidestroke. It was a very productive day.

I learned a lot about myself, and others today. It was also a beautiful beach day!

I love Hawaii!