We had an extra-thick layer of vog this past week. I am bad at noticing weather patterns (I tend to forget there's very little actual FOG here), but I did notice the sudden and abrupt change in my lungs resulting in a friendly visit to the doctor and pharmacist.
On the bright side, I did learn a few new interesting words in Japanese.
1. Kazanbai (kazan = volcano, hai/bai = ash) - volcanic ash, the closest equivalent to "vog" you can get in Japanese.
2. Sumoga - not "smog", the word I was looking for, this is "smorgasbord". Used for buffets. I've also heard the term "baikingu".
On the OTHER bright side, I have a new and better excuse to go to the beach tomorrow! I was going regardless, but now I can hopefully feel less guilty about it.
For now, I'm going back to sleep.
A hui hou!
Friday, February 10, 2017
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
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!
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!
Monday, January 2, 2017
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!
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!
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. |
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!
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Holiday Greetings!
It has been a while, but I finally have my computer back, am not frantically running around trying to balance a heavy workload and Christmas shopping, and actually had a day off today in which I stayed home as much as possible!
Tis the season for many, many holidays, some of which my work observes.
I spent my Thanksgiving in Hilo, demolishing a huge amount of meat and hanging out with Boyfriend's family. I missed Hilo terribly, and still do, so it was nice to visit (and not so nice to be reminded of what I definitely don't miss about Hilo) and not be caught in the madness of Black Friday.
We celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks on the 7th.Living so close to Pearl Harbor, I was one of many looking at the traffic with terror and hiding in my house... where I could hear the louder parts of the ceremony from my window. Interestingly enough, there was a lot of Japanese participation. They even interviewed my boss for a TV section regarding an old WWII era song.
Now Christmas is coming, and it is very different in Hawaii. This was made most clear to me as the holidays approached for my students. We had a very successful Christmas recital with a surprising variety of songs (we pared it down to only 3 separate renditions of "Jingle Bells", fortunately). However, when I decided to choose a few songs for my students to practice for fun, I was surprised to see the blank looks on their faces. I can understand if you don't know the words to "Sleigh Ride" or "Good King Wenceslas", but not recognizing "Silent Night"? Even when I sing it??
Luckily, everything sorted itself out and we managed to find a few songs here and there.
One of my students even told me, proudly, "Feliz Navilat!"
It seems there is a lack of relatable Christmas music for Hawaii. I have to be careful of religious (aka actually-about-Christmas) songs, unfortunately, so it's a lot of snow and warm fires and We Wish You A Merry Christmas Very Repetitively.
Moana just came out, though, so most of my kids would rather sing that anyway. Oh well.
A hui hou!
Tis the season for many, many holidays, some of which my work observes.
I spent my Thanksgiving in Hilo, demolishing a huge amount of meat and hanging out with Boyfriend's family. I missed Hilo terribly, and still do, so it was nice to visit (and not so nice to be reminded of what I definitely don't miss about Hilo) and not be caught in the madness of Black Friday.
We celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks on the 7th.Living so close to Pearl Harbor, I was one of many looking at the traffic with terror and hiding in my house... where I could hear the louder parts of the ceremony from my window. Interestingly enough, there was a lot of Japanese participation. They even interviewed my boss for a TV section regarding an old WWII era song.
Now Christmas is coming, and it is very different in Hawaii. This was made most clear to me as the holidays approached for my students. We had a very successful Christmas recital with a surprising variety of songs (we pared it down to only 3 separate renditions of "Jingle Bells", fortunately). However, when I decided to choose a few songs for my students to practice for fun, I was surprised to see the blank looks on their faces. I can understand if you don't know the words to "Sleigh Ride" or "Good King Wenceslas", but not recognizing "Silent Night"? Even when I sing it??
Luckily, everything sorted itself out and we managed to find a few songs here and there.
One of my students even told me, proudly, "Feliz Navilat!"
It seems there is a lack of relatable Christmas music for Hawaii. I have to be careful of religious (aka actually-about-Christmas) songs, unfortunately, so it's a lot of snow and warm fires and We Wish You A Merry Christmas Very Repetitively.
Moana just came out, though, so most of my kids would rather sing that anyway. Oh well.
A hui hou!
Thursday, November 3, 2016
PSA
Happy November!
It's been a while!
Highlights of the past weeks:
-Several rounds of dealing with Costco tech support trying to take care of my broken keyboard, which I'm finally able to send in tomorrow - they may or may not decide to fix it. At one point I was able to research and fix a problem while on hold.
-Getting lost all over the island in my lovely, slightly finicky little car
-Traipsing around to DMV's, insurance agents, mechanics, etc. for said car
-Dressing up as a pirate to emcee a Halloween recital (accidentally "stabbed" a coworker in the process with my plastic sword)
-Getting murdered by a serial killer
OK, that last one was a joke. It was a mildly horror-themed "escape room", a timed, interactive puzzle game that my coworkers and I (and boyfriend!) tried out. We did not succeed, but it was quite fun!
Halloween was on Monday (thus the serial killer), and in the spirit of spooky things, I went to the dentist!
It's a bit hard to be nervous when your dentist is dressed as a squirrel, though.
Until he tells you exactly how many cavities you have.
Apparently (I had no idea), sipping coffee over a long period, as I do with my very strong, very creamy, very bitter coffee, is incredibly bad for your teeth. In my case, it was enough to set off a whole horde of problems.
The next day, I went to Starbucks, and it still took me two hours to drink my tall coffee. It's a work in progress.
So there you have it! Drinking coffee is serious business.
It's been a while!
Highlights of the past weeks:
-Several rounds of dealing with Costco tech support trying to take care of my broken keyboard, which I'm finally able to send in tomorrow - they may or may not decide to fix it. At one point I was able to research and fix a problem while on hold.
-Getting lost all over the island in my lovely, slightly finicky little car
-Traipsing around to DMV's, insurance agents, mechanics, etc. for said car
-Dressing up as a pirate to emcee a Halloween recital (accidentally "stabbed" a coworker in the process with my plastic sword)
-Getting murdered by a serial killer
OK, that last one was a joke. It was a mildly horror-themed "escape room", a timed, interactive puzzle game that my coworkers and I (and boyfriend!) tried out. We did not succeed, but it was quite fun!
Halloween was on Monday (thus the serial killer), and in the spirit of spooky things, I went to the dentist!
It's a bit hard to be nervous when your dentist is dressed as a squirrel, though.
Until he tells you exactly how many cavities you have.
Apparently (I had no idea), sipping coffee over a long period, as I do with my very strong, very creamy, very bitter coffee, is incredibly bad for your teeth. In my case, it was enough to set off a whole horde of problems.
The next day, I went to Starbucks, and it still took me two hours to drink my tall coffee. It's a work in progress.
So there you have it! Drinking coffee is serious business.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Hitorikiri no Book Club: Briar Rose
This post began with a question from B:
"Do you ever do anything fun?"
Despite the fact that I enjoy cooking, playing the piano, and organizing my things with a slightly manic air, those are still things I have to do.
So in between bouts of paying bills, answering emails, making lesson plans, and furiously studying kanji, I decided to read a book. Thus began the Hitorikiri no Book Club!
"Hitorikiri" is a compound word. "Hitori" literally means "one person", or "alone." "Kiri" comes from the verb "to cut". Therefore, "hitorikiri" means something like "completely alone". However! When I started learning Japanese many years ago, my self-appointed "nickname" was Kiri, so it can also be read as "Kiri, alone", for some straight up nerdiness. (Hitorikiri is also much more fun to say!)
I love reading, but have not had great experiences with book clubs, as I rarely ever want to read what anyone else does. I like old, boring books full of history and deep thought. (I also like campy murder mysteries and Japanese comics. Shhh.)
My first book is Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen. I picked it at random from the library for a number of reasons: one, I love fairy tales, Sleeping beauty being one of my favorites; two, I really like Jane Yolen; and three, it's actually historical fiction and not fantasy.
-Jane_Yolen.jpg/220px-Briar_Rose_(1992)-Jane_Yolen.jpg)
Without ruining the story, it has much to do with the Holocaust and ancestry, and so it was full of history and deep thought, but never boring! Dark and quite adult for a book in the YA section, but I have the feeling it would do well in an English class. Althought there's a lot there, reading it for itself and not on a quest for Themes and Symbolism was much nicer.
And there you have it! (Sarah, if you see this, read this book.) Despite being picky and not having much time, I do take book suggestions, if there are any!
For now, going back to my regular schedule of "fun", I'll be cleaning the kitchen.
A hui hou!
"Do you ever do anything fun?"
Despite the fact that I enjoy cooking, playing the piano, and organizing my things with a slightly manic air, those are still things I have to do.
So in between bouts of paying bills, answering emails, making lesson plans, and furiously studying kanji, I decided to read a book. Thus began the Hitorikiri no Book Club!
"Hitorikiri" is a compound word. "Hitori" literally means "one person", or "alone." "Kiri" comes from the verb "to cut". Therefore, "hitorikiri" means something like "completely alone". However! When I started learning Japanese many years ago, my self-appointed "nickname" was Kiri, so it can also be read as "Kiri, alone", for some straight up nerdiness. (Hitorikiri is also much more fun to say!)
I love reading, but have not had great experiences with book clubs, as I rarely ever want to read what anyone else does. I like old, boring books full of history and deep thought. (I also like campy murder mysteries and Japanese comics. Shhh.)
My first book is Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen. I picked it at random from the library for a number of reasons: one, I love fairy tales, Sleeping beauty being one of my favorites; two, I really like Jane Yolen; and three, it's actually historical fiction and not fantasy.
Without ruining the story, it has much to do with the Holocaust and ancestry, and so it was full of history and deep thought, but never boring! Dark and quite adult for a book in the YA section, but I have the feeling it would do well in an English class. Althought there's a lot there, reading it for itself and not on a quest for Themes and Symbolism was much nicer.
And there you have it! (Sarah, if you see this, read this book.) Despite being picky and not having much time, I do take book suggestions, if there are any!
For now, going back to my regular schedule of "fun", I'll be cleaning the kitchen.
A hui hou!
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Blowin' in the wind
Aloha!
I got a shiny new phone! I'm blogging from it right now, because immediately after getting it set up my laptop keys started malfunctioning. Among others, the 'b' key, which means any sort of blogging activity has become a huge hassle. Luckily my work computer is fine, and it's not too much of a setback.
We had our first potential hurricane this week. We actually had two! Hurricanes Madeline and Lester came breezing through, flooding Hilo and then turning aside. While I'm happy that nothing bad happened, I can't help being a little annoyed to having prepared and waited anxiously for several days for not even a bit of rain to beat the extra humidity.
It has been very windy, though! Growing up in a valley, I am used to high winds, and it was a welcome change.
My house is midway up a hill, with the bus stop I take to work at the top of the hill. Getting off after work, I can see the ocean, Pearl Harbor, Aloha Stadium, Kapolei, and fabulous views of the airport and Target. It's started getting dark earlier (and I work later), so the view of the lights can be pretty spectacular. (If there's football games, however, it's blinding.) This past week as I was walking home, the wind was coming from the mauka side. As such, I could hear the wind blowing down the mountains before it got to me.
Today it's back to beautiful clear blue skies in paradise. I suppose I'll just have to suck it up.
Happy Labor Day weekend!
I got a shiny new phone! I'm blogging from it right now, because immediately after getting it set up my laptop keys started malfunctioning. Among others, the 'b' key, which means any sort of blogging activity has become a huge hassle. Luckily my work computer is fine, and it's not too much of a setback.
We had our first potential hurricane this week. We actually had two! Hurricanes Madeline and Lester came breezing through, flooding Hilo and then turning aside. While I'm happy that nothing bad happened, I can't help being a little annoyed to having prepared and waited anxiously for several days for not even a bit of rain to beat the extra humidity.
It has been very windy, though! Growing up in a valley, I am used to high winds, and it was a welcome change.
My house is midway up a hill, with the bus stop I take to work at the top of the hill. Getting off after work, I can see the ocean, Pearl Harbor, Aloha Stadium, Kapolei, and fabulous views of the airport and Target. It's started getting dark earlier (and I work later), so the view of the lights can be pretty spectacular. (If there's football games, however, it's blinding.) This past week as I was walking home, the wind was coming from the mauka side. As such, I could hear the wind blowing down the mountains before it got to me.
Today it's back to beautiful clear blue skies in paradise. I suppose I'll just have to suck it up.
Happy Labor Day weekend!
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