Yes friends, Romans, countrymen/women, and family units of various sources…..
I have indeed completed the first year of my ‘new’ life and not only survived, but thrived. Can you believe it? I knew it would go quickly, but not even I predicted it would be this quick. From my arrival on August 7 to today, the whirlwind of a major move to Hawaii and to Hilo specifically has been ongoing with no obvious slowdown in sight until now. It has been many things…. The usual ‘exciting’ ‘enlightening’ ‘educational’ and other such adjectives clearly apply. But more importantly to me it has been liberating, rejuvenating, and restorative in both body and spirit. These and other benefits were the bonus outcomes from this impetuous move, and several people, including my sister, have told me I needed these bonus results more than I had realized. Who said I had become a grouch? OK, Donna, the sister who tells me what I don’t want to hear, did. As I mulled over her comments and others by family and friends, it occurred to me that they were right! It was hard to admit that my usually delightfully wacky personality had taken a severe turn south and was not present in my day to day encounters as much as I thought. However, looking back at the last couple of years in Austin, it is with humility and apologies to any and all that I encountered that I ask you to forgive me for my impatience and bullheadedness. I can only claim ‘burnout’ and a serious need for new beginnings.
They speak of the “Hawaiian Way” here as being laid back, relaxed, unhurried, and kind. The “Aloha Spirit” is the guiding force, and it is incumbent upon islanders to spread that spirit to all they encounter. I truly believe that God knew what He was doing when He set up this opportunity for me. As I have said in my earlier blogs, the path was clear and the necessary steps were placed in front of me. All I had to do was continue putting one foot in front of the other along this, dare I say preordained, pathway. I didn’t question it when it was happening, but I only now realize why and how much I needed to follow that path.
Friends were left in the Austin area. No doubt about it, I miss them all dearly. But thankfully the online technology and cell phone eras are here and working pretty well. So I am able to keep in touch with almost everyone on a reasonably frequent basis. I got to see wedding pictures of a couple who met in my clinical group two years ago. I would have been at the wedding, but the pictures were almost as good, and she was a beautiful bride with a very handsome groom. I have seen my hanai family of Pam and David (no longer my ‘pseudo-children’ but my hanai children) begin raising their son and daughter respectively with gentleness and patience gained from watching Diane and Wayne in their parental roles. A new great niece has also grown before my eyes through texts and online pictures. I have used Skype to stay in touch with Alisa and Kathleen. Some of those Skype visits were the basis for timely contacts and the ability to participate in decisions and follow-ups of activities discussed over the Skype system. My only regret is that it didn’t come while Kirke was alive to enjoy seeing family in distant places. While I’m not addicted to Facebook as some are, it has also been a way of staying ‘in the know’ about past students and family. Pictures posted there also help me to feel a part of life in Austin or Texas.
But I have also made new friends here. One of the joys of teaching adults in the community college setting and in my world of nursing that I love is that it’s easy to have former students become new friends and colleagues after they finish my courses. It was true in Austin, and it’s again true here. What a lucky woman I am that students enjoy my teaching style and recognize the rigueur of the disciplined clinical work I expect from them. They seem to appreciate it and some actually thrive within it. I’ve already shared getting a sunburn at the Merrie Monarch Festival Parade with two students and family members, and watched the Festival international Hula competition on TV live from down town Hilo with about 6 students who brought dinner and I put out the paper napkins!! So going into the summer, I have many invitations from students (and faculty) to occasionally meet for lunch, spend a day on a car trip out of Hilo, to sit and visit at the beach, to watch them surf, or to even meet for a weekend in Kona and get a personally guided tour of that west side of the island. I do love what I do as a ‘job’ and it seems that the enjoyment is apparent to the students. For that I am thankful.
Faculty have also become friends and colleagues and even mentors. Who would have thought that I needed a mentor at this stage of my teaching life? But it turns out that old dogs can learn new tricks, and believe me I am learning from the best. The level coordinator for this year and next is Sharon, and I have been so very impressed with her insights and standards and relaxed teaching style. She has shown me how to be more creative, and has listened to my ideas with respect and openness. We have built on some of the ideas and she has helped me to see even better ways of doing things. The student – faculty interactions here are totally different in the classroom and lab than they were at ACC. And as a result, I have broadened my teaching skills and enjoyed class much more.
Laura is the third Musketeer here in Hilo, and she has become a dear friend who listens and shares and supports and helps me reframe Ideas and reactions to more realistic perspectives. We have tried to eat dinner or lunch together almost weekly (well, at least about 3 times a month) and those evening visits have also helped ground me here and facilitated my becoming a member of the community and state. The other day, I wore a new pair of seersucker blue and white striped capris pants and a collage like print top with blues, browns, and some white. I asked her if she thought they went together since there were some stripe areas in the collage top…..I barely finished the sentence when she firmly said ‘No’. I laughed and told her that she had just become the surrogate for Kathleen who would say to me “You are not leaving the house dressed like that!” But, that is what a friend does. I just wonder how hard she had to fight to stay mum on the mismatch until I actually asked about it late in the afternoon? Laura and Sharon live in Wimea, which is about an hour and 15 minutes west of Hilo. The drive is absolutely gorgeous as you spend most of the time skimming along the ocean on the Hammakua Coast Highway. So, the two of them head home each weekend if they don’t drive back and forth on a daily basis. Several faculty do that from Wimea. I just think of it as ‘rush hour’ drive from Eastview Campus to home, but less traffic and much better scenery. But new friends abound on the teaching team beyond just my own level faculty. I am lucky again in that regard.
Nooli has come into my life, and he is a great companion. He is still only 10 lbs, and has a darling expressive face. I continue to work on the house breaking. Those books that tell you to stop and take the puppy out every 30 minutes are nuts. But he is getting better at letting me know he wants to go out, and I’m more in tune to his communication style. But he only has me so he is close by all the time I’m home, or if I’m on the computer, he is either here in the study lying down quietly or he’s at the living room window sitting guard. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is sneaking up on this house when I’m here. But he is less aggressive when I let people come in, and he’s being less paranoid about being left alone when I go to work or out somewhere. He can not possibly get any cuter, and he snuggles beside me on the love seat at night if I’m watching TV. He also will curl up with his back against my back at night when we go to sleep....my own little heating pad who wakes me by licking my eyes when he thinks I need to get up.
One last thing to let you know how well I am acclimating into my new paradise. I have taken some cooking classes on the Community College campus. They are taught by faculty in the Culinary Arts Program or chefs from the community. So, Korean cooking was one, and another was an island blend of cultures. There is an Eggplant here that is called a Japanese Eggplant. It’s purple on the outside like the ones you see in Texas, but it’s long and shaped similarly to a zucchini. It is less tart and much easier to cook with. We diagonally sliced and battered and coated it (Panko bread crumbs are the BEST), and then deep fried them. The last step was to layer them in a casserole with Marinara Sauce and lots of cheese between layers before baking. UMMMM!! GOOD! But I’ve also been introduced to foods I’ve never heard of but were delicious. We also fried whole fish at the last class I took. Me!! Cooking and eating a whole fish! Yep, I’m not in Texas any more.
Enough for now. I am sending my love to you along with my aloha spirit. But I’m also sending the message that I’m here for a while. The process to apply for Tenure has been started, and that is a 5 year process. I plan to be here at least that long. SO….WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU??? IT MEANS YOU NEED TO COME VISIT ME OVER HERE!! Door is always open, and a guest room is waiting. The hall bath has two sinks, so bring a friend!
Take care, and have a great summer.
Aloha,
Janene
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Whirlwind Holidays 2010
You Hoo!! Over here!! Yep, your eyes don’t deceive you….it’s a blog posting from none-other than ME!! I’m sure you all thought that I had fallen off the lip of the volcano or somehow been sucked out to sea by the Hilo Bay tides……No, none of those things have happened (Thank Goodness!). It’s just been a whirlwind couple of months, and I’m finally discovering a window of time that lets me sit and write an entry for the blog.
You know, when I announced my plan to move over here, I was told that it would initiate an endless stream of visitors, so “Be prepared.” Well, I’m so glad for the warning because it let me ‘be prepared’ with places to go, things to do, gas in the car, batteries in the camera, snacks and wine in the house. Since mid-Fall it’s been a wonderful stream of loving friends and family, and I hope they have had as much fun as I have had showing them around my new home. Visits have come from church friends, a former student who has just finished the ACC nsg program, a fellow faculty member and good buddy, and, of course, family. A couple of the visits were less than a day and involved a bit of driving around Hilo and wonderful dinners at my favorite restaurant, Café Pesto. Marnie, my teaching colleague from ACC was here a week. She got in on the end of the semester fun and even helped me proctor and grade the Final Exam. Ahhh, a teacher’s work is never done!! Even if you are on vacation! Marnie is a wonderful guest, and one of those people who looks at her watch and says “We’ve got an extra 15 minutes, what else can we go see?” So with that outlook and her detailed perusal of Island Info, we went to the other side of the Big Island and saw the Pacific Ocean from that perspective, down to the volcano area and steam vents, and up to Mauna Loa Observatory Visitors Center and several other places in between. It was fun, educational, breathtaking, and one laugh after another with two old retirement age ladies gadding about like we had some sense. Nooli, the pup, went with us of course, and that added an entirely new dimension to the sightseeing.
Then my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Craig and Susan Jeffery, came for Thanksgiving. It was truly a time for giving thanks…..for family, new beginnings, fast friends in the new world of Hawaii, beautiful views, and most importantly, thanks that Susan fixed the Thanksgiving Meal!! It was my proportional job to ensure that the table was set JUST RIGHT…..napkins folded ever so carefully, silverware on the right sides of the plate so our mothers would all approve, glasses with water situated at the exact angle to allow for easy access but not so easy as to block the wine glass. Whewww!! It was a tough job, but someone had to step up to the charge. Craig did his part by washing dishes after dinner……are these two just the BEST guests a woman could ask for??? YES, I say!!
The highlight of the holiday break, tho, came on Christmas Day when Alisa and Kathleen flew in from Austin. It was so good to see them and to finally show off the world they had heard about but not seen. We went to many of the same places that Marnie and I had gone to in Mid-Dec. but added some new fun to the mix. By Jan. 1, lava was actively flowing near the far south east corner of the island and we were able to view it from areas set up and monitored by security. Actually getting near and standing on ‘cooled’ lava of only a couple of days age can be quite dangerous. But, trails had been marked across firmer lava that had flowed over that spot only 2 days earlier…..we could feel the deep heat through our shoes. It was incredible to watch as new earth was being created by this lava flow. Literally, the Big Island is still growing. It was almost mystical to watch steam rise, and red hot slowly rolling blobs of lava moved along. Pele is still an active goddess, and she is letting us know that.
Kathleen has been interested in Astronomy since she took a college class on it, so we headed up to the Mouna Kea Observatory Visitor’s Center for a night time ‘star gazing party’ that is held each evening. It’s staffed by faculty and students from the Astronomy dept at Univ. of Hawaii – Hilo. You may not know it but this mountain, Mauna Kea, is the tallest mountain in the world – 4 x taller than Everest. But the catch is that the measurement is from the floor of the ocean. That’s just a little trivia tip to help you on your next round of Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy….whatever! Because this mountain is in the middle of the island, and there are only two real ‘cities’ on the island (Kona and Hilo) the night sky is easily seen without interference from urban lights. For that reason, and the thinness of the atmosphere at just under 14,000 ft above sea level, and other reasons that apply to optics, and stuff I can’t explain they put some internationally owned and run observatories up on the top. For questions, contact Wayne Schade, he will be able to explain this stuff along with the inverse squared ratio. He’s a genius science teacher. The star gazing was really fun. It was fairly cool….about low 60’s or upper 50’s, but they had set up several small but high grade telescopes so we could see a variety of things. Great lessons given in short presentations about what we were seeing, etc. It was another highlight of the trip.
Additionally, the girls went snorkeling and Alisa was treated to a surfing lesson by two of my students. We also had some student company to watch the Rose Bowl on NY Day….TCU played Wisconsin just in case you weren’t aware…..shame on you!!....and TCU WON!!! One of my students was visiting family in Pasadena and saw the Rose Bowl Parade. She brought me back a pennant to commemorate the event. It was such fun having students, some of their incredibly well behaved kids, one boyfriend and more food than an army could eat all gathered at the house. I had a purple and white lei given to me by the daughters, and they wore their TCU shirts. A fun time was had by all!
Well, now the Spring Semester has begun. Same students, just different teaching content and increased pressure to perform in the clinical area (on them and on me). However, faculty is given a voucher for one free class each semester, and I decided to take advantage of it. In some fatigue induced trance –like state, I began to think that I should take an Hawaiian Language class…..sort of Hawaiian 101. Well, what do you know??? There IS a class called “Hawaiian Language 101”. A sure sign from God, you say! Well, God was joking and I didn’t see the twinkle in His eye to know that. Thus….I moved mountains to get the voucher in place and get accepted into an already full class that worked with my teaching schedule. HOORAY!! Well…. It’s eating my lunch y’all!! I mean that seriously, this is a tough language, and just because they only have 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet and have no silent letters in any words does not make it simpler or completely phonetic. There are okinos and kahakos and ….stuff! An okino is a glottal stop sound and looks like a backwards apostrophe but isn’t and is used to separate two vowels when they come together in a word. It’s written like you were writing a teeny tiny 6. It sounds like the break in the phrase uh-oh, almost a small hiccup type sound. So, my puppy’s Hawaiian name is Kino’ole and is pronounced Kee-no-oh-lay with the pause glottal stop sound between no and oh. Got that ? Good, cause now we’re off to kahakos. They are the line over a letter that shows the sound should be an elongation of the natural sound of that letter. So as you say a word, you slightly stretch out the sound within the full pronouncing of the word. Example: the state bird is a goose that is called a Nene…but written with a line over each of the Es. It’s pronounced Nay-nay. So, my name in Hawaiian could be shortened to Nene….which Craig immediately did. There is no J in the Hawaiian alphabet, so it becomes essentially an I. Thus Janene = Ianene with the lines over the two Es. Craig now calls me Nene, and the house Hotel Nene. I have honored his wisdom and humor by purchasing small “warning yellow” window signs that warn you not to feed the Nenes. They are very very strictly protected by the state since they are an endangered bird. But……I digress! The class is wonderfully taught by a delightful new faculty member and who is full Hawaiian. She is using the class to teach us about Hawaii, both the state and the island Hawaii, the culture, the myths, and the chants. Ah, yes, the chants!! We have one to learn and be able to do without cheat sheets…..yeah, that’ll happen in my lifetime. The chant we are learning is one of the many mythical stories of the birth of the islands, and includes names of gods, goddesses, and their children as well as each of the main 8 islands. It actually a fun chant to do, but I’m still looking at the sheet due to the specificity of the spelling of the words and names. There are even two field trips planned. The first is to a taro farm. Poi is made from taro, just in case you are wondering what the big deal about taro is. So, I’ll have to keep you posted on my ongoing language development.
I’m going to close out now. You’ve been stuck at the computer reading this blog for long enough.
By the way, the National League of Nursing Accreditation survey went very well, and we were given another 8 years which is Full Accreditation Status. It’s been a real stressor for all the faculty, and we celebrated with lunch on Thursday. Much relief had by all.
Aloha,
Janene ( Nene )
You know, when I announced my plan to move over here, I was told that it would initiate an endless stream of visitors, so “Be prepared.” Well, I’m so glad for the warning because it let me ‘be prepared’ with places to go, things to do, gas in the car, batteries in the camera, snacks and wine in the house. Since mid-Fall it’s been a wonderful stream of loving friends and family, and I hope they have had as much fun as I have had showing them around my new home. Visits have come from church friends, a former student who has just finished the ACC nsg program, a fellow faculty member and good buddy, and, of course, family. A couple of the visits were less than a day and involved a bit of driving around Hilo and wonderful dinners at my favorite restaurant, Café Pesto. Marnie, my teaching colleague from ACC was here a week. She got in on the end of the semester fun and even helped me proctor and grade the Final Exam. Ahhh, a teacher’s work is never done!! Even if you are on vacation! Marnie is a wonderful guest, and one of those people who looks at her watch and says “We’ve got an extra 15 minutes, what else can we go see?” So with that outlook and her detailed perusal of Island Info, we went to the other side of the Big Island and saw the Pacific Ocean from that perspective, down to the volcano area and steam vents, and up to Mauna Loa Observatory Visitors Center and several other places in between. It was fun, educational, breathtaking, and one laugh after another with two old retirement age ladies gadding about like we had some sense. Nooli, the pup, went with us of course, and that added an entirely new dimension to the sightseeing.
Then my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Craig and Susan Jeffery, came for Thanksgiving. It was truly a time for giving thanks…..for family, new beginnings, fast friends in the new world of Hawaii, beautiful views, and most importantly, thanks that Susan fixed the Thanksgiving Meal!! It was my proportional job to ensure that the table was set JUST RIGHT…..napkins folded ever so carefully, silverware on the right sides of the plate so our mothers would all approve, glasses with water situated at the exact angle to allow for easy access but not so easy as to block the wine glass. Whewww!! It was a tough job, but someone had to step up to the charge. Craig did his part by washing dishes after dinner……are these two just the BEST guests a woman could ask for??? YES, I say!!
The highlight of the holiday break, tho, came on Christmas Day when Alisa and Kathleen flew in from Austin. It was so good to see them and to finally show off the world they had heard about but not seen. We went to many of the same places that Marnie and I had gone to in Mid-Dec. but added some new fun to the mix. By Jan. 1, lava was actively flowing near the far south east corner of the island and we were able to view it from areas set up and monitored by security. Actually getting near and standing on ‘cooled’ lava of only a couple of days age can be quite dangerous. But, trails had been marked across firmer lava that had flowed over that spot only 2 days earlier…..we could feel the deep heat through our shoes. It was incredible to watch as new earth was being created by this lava flow. Literally, the Big Island is still growing. It was almost mystical to watch steam rise, and red hot slowly rolling blobs of lava moved along. Pele is still an active goddess, and she is letting us know that.
Kathleen has been interested in Astronomy since she took a college class on it, so we headed up to the Mouna Kea Observatory Visitor’s Center for a night time ‘star gazing party’ that is held each evening. It’s staffed by faculty and students from the Astronomy dept at Univ. of Hawaii – Hilo. You may not know it but this mountain, Mauna Kea, is the tallest mountain in the world – 4 x taller than Everest. But the catch is that the measurement is from the floor of the ocean. That’s just a little trivia tip to help you on your next round of Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy….whatever! Because this mountain is in the middle of the island, and there are only two real ‘cities’ on the island (Kona and Hilo) the night sky is easily seen without interference from urban lights. For that reason, and the thinness of the atmosphere at just under 14,000 ft above sea level, and other reasons that apply to optics, and stuff I can’t explain they put some internationally owned and run observatories up on the top. For questions, contact Wayne Schade, he will be able to explain this stuff along with the inverse squared ratio. He’s a genius science teacher. The star gazing was really fun. It was fairly cool….about low 60’s or upper 50’s, but they had set up several small but high grade telescopes so we could see a variety of things. Great lessons given in short presentations about what we were seeing, etc. It was another highlight of the trip.
Additionally, the girls went snorkeling and Alisa was treated to a surfing lesson by two of my students. We also had some student company to watch the Rose Bowl on NY Day….TCU played Wisconsin just in case you weren’t aware…..shame on you!!....and TCU WON!!! One of my students was visiting family in Pasadena and saw the Rose Bowl Parade. She brought me back a pennant to commemorate the event. It was such fun having students, some of their incredibly well behaved kids, one boyfriend and more food than an army could eat all gathered at the house. I had a purple and white lei given to me by the daughters, and they wore their TCU shirts. A fun time was had by all!
Well, now the Spring Semester has begun. Same students, just different teaching content and increased pressure to perform in the clinical area (on them and on me). However, faculty is given a voucher for one free class each semester, and I decided to take advantage of it. In some fatigue induced trance –like state, I began to think that I should take an Hawaiian Language class…..sort of Hawaiian 101. Well, what do you know??? There IS a class called “Hawaiian Language 101”. A sure sign from God, you say! Well, God was joking and I didn’t see the twinkle in His eye to know that. Thus….I moved mountains to get the voucher in place and get accepted into an already full class that worked with my teaching schedule. HOORAY!! Well…. It’s eating my lunch y’all!! I mean that seriously, this is a tough language, and just because they only have 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet and have no silent letters in any words does not make it simpler or completely phonetic. There are okinos and kahakos and ….stuff! An okino is a glottal stop sound and looks like a backwards apostrophe but isn’t and is used to separate two vowels when they come together in a word. It’s written like you were writing a teeny tiny 6. It sounds like the break in the phrase uh-oh, almost a small hiccup type sound. So, my puppy’s Hawaiian name is Kino’ole and is pronounced Kee-no-oh-lay with the pause glottal stop sound between no and oh. Got that ? Good, cause now we’re off to kahakos. They are the line over a letter that shows the sound should be an elongation of the natural sound of that letter. So as you say a word, you slightly stretch out the sound within the full pronouncing of the word. Example: the state bird is a goose that is called a Nene…but written with a line over each of the Es. It’s pronounced Nay-nay. So, my name in Hawaiian could be shortened to Nene….which Craig immediately did. There is no J in the Hawaiian alphabet, so it becomes essentially an I. Thus Janene = Ianene with the lines over the two Es. Craig now calls me Nene, and the house Hotel Nene. I have honored his wisdom and humor by purchasing small “warning yellow” window signs that warn you not to feed the Nenes. They are very very strictly protected by the state since they are an endangered bird. But……I digress! The class is wonderfully taught by a delightful new faculty member and who is full Hawaiian. She is using the class to teach us about Hawaii, both the state and the island Hawaii, the culture, the myths, and the chants. Ah, yes, the chants!! We have one to learn and be able to do without cheat sheets…..yeah, that’ll happen in my lifetime. The chant we are learning is one of the many mythical stories of the birth of the islands, and includes names of gods, goddesses, and their children as well as each of the main 8 islands. It actually a fun chant to do, but I’m still looking at the sheet due to the specificity of the spelling of the words and names. There are even two field trips planned. The first is to a taro farm. Poi is made from taro, just in case you are wondering what the big deal about taro is. So, I’ll have to keep you posted on my ongoing language development.
I’m going to close out now. You’ve been stuck at the computer reading this blog for long enough.
By the way, the National League of Nursing Accreditation survey went very well, and we were given another 8 years which is Full Accreditation Status. It’s been a real stressor for all the faculty, and we celebrated with lunch on Thursday. Much relief had by all.
Aloha,
Janene ( Nene )
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