Entering a New World: Leaving Hawai’i
Hawai’i vs. The Mainland ~ A comparison of the Hawaiian Islands to the east coast of the U.S. mainlandArchive for Personal
Homesick
I’ve been feeling really homesick for a little while now. No matter what state you’re from, if you move away, you’re likely to feel this way. But being from Hawai’i, where the world is so different from New Jersey, makes it a little harder. The weather is changing drastically. It’s getting really cold. In the past two winters I have experienced in New Jersey, I have a feeling this one is going to be rough. People have often told me that winters have been mild the past couple years, so I think this one is going to be a real one.
Every time the season changes from warm to bitter cold (in my experience, at least) I get a little sick; my throat hurts and my nose gets stuffed. Currently, my nose is not stuffed but my throat hurts. I have been told that I am sick, but if these are the only symptoms and when one is stuffed the other isn’t sore and vice versa, than isn’t it just my tropical island immune system adapting and most likely saying, “What do you think you are doing here?”
Anyway, prospects of going home are despairing, at best. I really just want to see my friends, especially my dog, Maka (pictured above at my beach) and feel like I’m me for a little while. I don’t know how many people feel this but my friends here know me as I was from 20 years old and on. I was a different person before that, not necessarily better, but I feel more like myself when I am in the islands. Like I don’t have to hesitate before saying something, think before I speak, look before I leap. Plus…winter? What winter? Winter is an absurd notion only mainlanders talk about.
I think the main reason, however, is because after Halloween, even before Thanksgiving, the Christmas spirit enters the islands in such a different way than here, in the mainland. Its still warm and a Hawaiian Christmas is celebrated. I will touch more on that later, but I was just feeling homesick, so I thought I would post on it. Thanks.
Good Luck and Happy living!
Opportunity Comes-A-Knockin’
So, if you’re curious, I got the job I had wrote about earlier.
I am working for a newspaper that has an average circulation of 150,000 on weekdays and Saturdays, double that amount on Sundays and has a readership of about 650,000, not including the online readers. So there is a substantial audience and I am very happy to be a part of this company. Needless to say, I’m writing obituaries and taking care of the events calendar, but it’s definitely a start. I do have a theory about newspapers and how much longer they will be in existence, but that’s a whole different article. Read the rest of this entry »
Making A Comeback
Geez, I’m slightly understanding how those old 80’s celebs feel when they’re asked ‘Where have you been?’
I don’t know how much readership is still entrusting that I will keep up the good work but here I am, settled and ready to tackle the world.
Quick update, during the months I wasn’t posting (and they were very…long months) I was actually working at a dental office, making pretty good money, since I couldn’t launch a journalism career right away without a vehicle and this dental office was conveniently right next door to where I was living in beautiful Lumberton, New Jersey. (For anyone that knows or lives in Lumberton that is supposed to be a joke, Lumberton is a miserable little place haha.)
Slight Setback
I haven’t been keeping up with at least 2 posts a week because I didn’t have wireless internet for a while and I was using a friends computer and couldn’t download pictures.
Plus, I am currently adapting to my new life and living situation. So as soon as I get used to the swing of things I should be back posting regularly as usual.
In the meantime, I ask that you be patient and don’t forget to check up on my page every few days.
Thanks for understanding!
Good luck and happy living
All Pau (finished)! This Is My Story
(pictured above: my hometown in Hawaii, Kailua)
So I am officially done with Rowan University and will receive my Bachelor’s very shortly! I was completely done with finals and classes this past Monday and presented this blog to my class. People were very interested in why I chose Rowan and what my future plans are.
It lead me to believe that I should be blogging about that. We were asked to do something original and that would seem pretty original and there is a reader base for it.
Back home in Hawaii, it is pretty common knowledge that after high school you go away to the mainland for college. I don’t know why there is this stigma that you must leave for school. I know the University of Hawaii would rather retain their Hawaii residents and have them attend school in Hawaii, but the majority of young adults choose to leave.
I stayed in Hawaii for two years after high school due to the request (and demand) of my father. He knew better than to let me leave after the rebellious antics I pulled during my high school years. Read the rest of this entry »
Road Trippin’
Before I embark on the journey of “the real world” as I have been putting it, I figured I would get in some time to travel along the east coast. I am a native of Hawaii, if you don’t already know, and haven’t been to Boston yet—a place I’ve always wanted to see. Today I am driving there with my boyfriend (a New Jersey native). It’s a nice 5-HOUR-drive but we get to pass through New York City, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
College is the BEST time to take road trips and that crazy spring break. It will be long before you have your parents money at your disposal (if ever again at all) and absolutely no ties, like your career, family and bills to pay.
I’m excited and will be posting again soon.
Good luck and happy living
It’s Sunny And 65˚
It is a warm sixty-five degrees outside of my townhouse in New Jersey and I remember a time when anything in the sixty’s was considered winter weather.
Of course I am speaking of the time when I lived in Hawaii—not too long ago.
Hawaii weather patterns don’t vary much; a nice 85 or 82 is the typical temperature and anything lower than 68 was definitely a bring-out-the-sweaters kind of weather.
I have more than adapted to the weather in New Jersey, currently sporting shorts and a tank top when Hawaii Renée would be donning long pants and a hoodie.
This weather is not helping my case of Senioritis, however. I am sitting outside doing work, watching friends and neighbors walk by and offering some chit chat.
Admitting Denial
Facing the new world of the Internet. 
Very weird, very new. Never thought it’d happen to me. It’s inevitable, right? This blog was created for a class assignment but I guess I am actually quite pleased we were assigned it. I don’t believe that I would have created a blog so soon without being assigned it. I did voluntarily sign up for online journalism, right? What did I think was going to happen in the class? I guess I didn’t know and that may be half the reason why I signed up. The other half being that I am entering a very new but very real world of technology in a few months and I think I need to prepare myself as best I can. I have been avoiding the Internet and online journalism for too long. Read the rest of this entry »
