Hitorikiri no Book Club: The Thief

Brr!! It's been a bit chilly lately. Perfect for hot cocoa and reading books.

I managed some hot cocoa yesterday, but haven't been much for reading since the holidays!

However, the last book I read was a good one. I FINALLY managed to snag a copy of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner at the library! It's been recommended to me for years.

Thoughts: it was vaguely Greek (not knowing anything Greek, I appreciated the subtlety), vaguely fantastical, and very, very good. It started slowly, and I wasn't very enthusiastic, but it was worth the effort!

More thoughts on Greece: despite being a language major, and even with a minor in English, I never had the time nor the interest to learn Greek. For some reason, it doesn't make sense to me, and I don't like it.

More thoughts on languages that don't make sense: there is a town in central Oahu (halfway between Honolulu and North Shore) called "Wahiawa". My Hilo-trained Hawaiian-speaking brain automatically pronounced it as "wahi-ava", and thus I wondered for months where the mysterious town of "Wah-hee-wah" was. (Feel free to laugh at me.)

Hawaiian, you see, pronounces "w" in two ways: "w" as in "water", or "v" as in "vase". The reason is mostly dialectical (I THINK - don't quote me), but in the case of proper names such as people and places, there is only ONE correct pronunciation. In Wahiawa's case, neither I nor the apparent rest of the world were correct.

Therefore I was floored when an adult student (born and raised in Oahu) FINALLY pronounced it correctly. Wahiawa.

Apparently there's a cherry blossom festival there, so I may be headed that way soon!

A hui hou!

Akemashite omedetou!

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Happy New Year!

It's 2017, and so bright and shiny! I made a new friend (locked my keys in my car at Ala Moana - thank you good insurance!), got a little extra income from petsitting, and have a shiny new pile of books, courtesy of the Barnes and Noble employee discount.

Speaking of bright and shiny, they still have many a Christmas display up around the city. The stores have already flipped to Valentine's Day, but there remain giant light "trees" up at Tripler, the airport, the power plant, and on base. It's nice to drive around and catch the occasional sparkle.

Before Christmas we went to go see the Honolulu City Lights! It was a lot of fun, if packed as we went the Friday before Christmas. I brought my good camera along to try and get some good shots!

Harry Potter tree from the mayor's office!

Itty bitty holiday HART train! It looks so cute and inoffensive!

The great tree, complete with endless selfies

An even bigger "tree"!

My favorite tree.

Another highlight was the holiday trolley, which rang "Jingle Bells" with its bell as it went by. As a music teacher, I appreciated the demonstration of good rhythms.

On a side note, the Japanese greeting for the new year can be said in multiple ways. "Shinnen Omedetou" literally means "Happy New Year", but the more common "Akemashite Omedetou" is more along the lines of "Happy Dawning" or "Happy Beginning". I like that one a little better.

Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaimasu!

A hui hou!