30 Miles to Kahuku, Part I

Anyone who knows me, knows I've had my share of lousy commutes: Germantown, Maryland to Georgetown; Ashburn, Virginia to downtwon D.C.; even Falls Church, Virginia to D.C. was exhausting on the days when the Metro just didn't seem to move. On the best days, my Germantown to Georgetown trip was 75 minutes one way. I recall a few icy days where my commute lasted nearly three hours each way.

At my new job in Hawaii, I have another long commute: almost exactly 30 miles and 45 minutes each way. Luckily, I consider this commute payback (the good kind) for all the lousy, broken-down-metro, traffic-jam, snowy, sweltering, no-seat, tired feet, crowded-bus days I've experienced during the past ten years. For that reason, I decided to take you all along for a ride. This entry will look at the first half of my commute: from Mililani to Hale'iwa, from central Oahu, across the pineapple fields and down to the North Shore. In part II, (coming soon) I'll take you along the North Shore from Waimea Bay to Kahuku.

So here I am every morning, at our new place in Mililani. Granted, its dark sometimes, but lovely nonetheless:

As I pull down to the end of the driveway, I can see the mountains in the distance:

As I leave Mililani, I pass its beautiful monkeypod trees, which line Mililani's main roads:

Then, I come upon Wheeler Army Airfield. On many mornings, there are soldiers in the midst of their morning PT. Sometimes the Chinook pilots are already involved in flight exercises, as they were today (note chopper at right in photo). Either way, the Waianae Mountains, where George and I have hiked, provide the backdrop:

If I'm running low on gas, I'll stop at the Aloha gas station in Wahiawa. Yes, there really is a gas station chain here called "Aloha"! The prices are about as good as it gets. I paid 3.15/gal this morning for regular 87. Yikes!

Then, I cross a quaint bridge over a small section of a reservoir that weaves through Wahiawa:

I go up a little hill and I find myself in the vast agricultural plain of Oahu. The area between the Waianae and Koolau mountain ranges is absolutely gorgeous. I've seen many a beautiful moonset over the mountains as I drive the miles from Wahiawa to the North Shore:

It is in this stretch of the Kamehameha Highway (known locally as "the Kam Highway") that the Dole Plantation makes its home. Its visitor center sits a few dozen yards from the road:


Then, miles and miles of pineapple, coffee, and sugar cane fields:

Midway across the plain, the ocean comes into view. On most days, you can see the ocean from 5 to 6 miles away. Within a 2-3 miles, you can begin to see the surf conditions. Today, like most summer days, the surf was very calm on the North Shore:

There are only a handful of stoplights on my entire 30-mile commute. Most of the way is just open road with sparse traffic:

At last, I approach Hale'iwa (pronounced HAH-lay EE-vuh):

On the way to work, I always bypass the historic town, but occasionally I stop in Hale'iwa on the way home at its unhurried post office or in its cute shopping district:

Then I take the fork on the Kam Highway towards Kahuku:



After only 2-3 minutes, I've passed my final opportunity to stop into to Hale'iwa:
In the stretch of the Kam Highway just past Hale'iwa, I always seem to see - or hear - chickens. Occasionally, I ask myself: "Why did the chicken cross the road?" I still don't know the answer:

Along this section of the Highway, there are many of the sirens that together comprise the Pacific Tsunami Warning System. They are tested at 11:45am on the first Monday of the Month. It reminds me of the Tornado Siren testings of my Missouri childhood!

In addition to chickens and sirens, I pass a horse ranch and see horses grazing in a big open field. Lucky horses:

In Part II (coming soon), I'll take you the rest of the way to Kahuku, starting at the approach to Waimea Bay. We'll pass Shark's Cove, the Banzai Pipeline, Sunset Beach, a dairy farm, Turtle Bay, a few Shrimp Trucks, and a wildlife preserve. Stay tuned!

Summer Arts and Crafts Project

My summer vacation came just after George and I bought our new house. And then George got deployed. Arggggggh!... but such is life. Thankfully, I talk to him every day and he'll be back in only 2 more months!

In the meantime, I've been itching to start the improvements on our new house. First on my list was begin to make our little courtyard a little more attractive. Before my project, the space I worked on looked like this:

Beautiful, right? So I'm thinking flowers, garden, basically anything less ugly than two-by-fours drilled into a block wall! I already had some oleander trees that needed a home, so I headed over to Home Depot with my design ideas and started to look for lumber to make a pretty flower box. I had to throw in this picture of the Home Depot in Pearl City. Check out the gorgeous sunset out the back door! This is why Hawaii is awesome.

After several hours of hemming and hawing and searching the store for just the right hardware and lumber for the job, I came home with this:


George and I had recently bought a new cordless drill which would going to be the perfect tool to get those ugly two-by-fours out of the block wall, right?

Wrong. I managed to get more torque by hand using a ratchet handle on a socket wrench. Good old fashioned muscle.

The next step was begin assembling the wood. I laid down my first row of carefully measured and cut pieces and began nailing them together using roof brackets.

I did the whole first layer by hand:


After about 45 minutes of hammering and probably driving my neighbors insane, it occurred to me...we have a nail gun! So, I lugged out our brand new air compressor, primed it for use, loaded up the nail gun, attached the hoses, etc., etc. After an hour or so of preparation, I was all ready to go.

Then, as I prepared to fire the first nail, I realized that the nail gun wasn't going to shoot the right size nails. The nail heads were WAY too small to hold the brackets in place. Argh! Since I had the nail gun out, I did some nail shooting into the first layer of my project - in an invisible spot - just for fun. That thing is loud!

After my playtime it was back to the old fashioned method again:


After about two more hours of hammering, I had the entire thing put together and ready for the trees. Little did I know that getting the trees out of the pots was going to be the biggest and dirtiest challenge of the day.


Ignorant of what was to come, I moved forward and laid down a layer of gravel to help aerate and drain the soil beneath the trees. Is that right, George? That gravel is for drainage, yes?


After tossing in a bit of soil, I was ready to take the trees out of their pots. Whoa, those things did NOT want to budge! I literally had to cut the dirt from the inside surface of the pots with a large kitchen knife. (That reminds me, I think I left that knife in the courtyard. I should go get that.) Anyway, after I cut...still nothing. Ugh! I pounded the sides of the pots with a shovel and shook the darn things upsidedown until I finally started to get them to come loose. After a looooooong and muddy struggle, I pulled the little trees out of their pots and placed them in their new home.

Then, another half-hour or so of filling the box with uber-stinky mulch and potting soil between thin layers of gravel, I had successfully provided a home for two of our new oleander trees. If you look closely, you can see just how dirty I got!


Here, you can see the finished project...complete with a totally flooded courtyard. Luckily, it dries up quickly back there and then I should be able to do the final cleanup with a shop-vac! Just kidding. I think a broom will work just fine.

Anyway, I'm very happy and proud of my summer project, and it will be so much nicer to wake up in the morning and look out the window to see these trees than a couple of half-rotted two-by-fours. Drop by sometime, and I'll show you in person. :-)

Movie Review: Who Killed the Electric Car?

Wow! I just watched this extremely compelling movie about how corporate greed can turn to absolute lunacy when a brilliant step toward the future threatens the corporate cash cow. The film shows, for example, how General Motors literally repossessed every last EV1 (its electric car of the late 1990s) and sent them off to an automobile shredding facility in the desert of Arizona. Despite long waiting lists for the car, GM claimed that consumer demand was insufficient to continue production. The oil industry's biggest players including Mobil and Chevron are also shown playing part in the ugly demise of the electric car. These entities created faux consumer groups that advocated against the creation of charging stations in California, among other below-the-belt antics. Although much of it is not news for folks who have been paying attention, the film gives helpful historical insight on the oil markets of the last 30 or so years.

Despite the persuasive indictment of the oil industry and automakers for undermining the growth of the electric car market, the movie ends on an optimistic note. Like it or not, Mobil, General Motors, and Chevron must face the reality that the technology exists for electric powered cars. Unlike hydrogen fuel cells and other "potential" fuels, electric technology is ready for the road right now. In fact, it was in mass production nearly ten years ago. While GM may have backed out on this alternative, many hobbyists and environmentalists have converted their gas-powered cars to electric. Toyota is in the midst of developing an even more fuel efficient version of its hybrid that relies on a plug-in rechargeable battery. After seeing this movie, I can see how my little "Carlita" (my Honda del Sol) would be a great candidate for conversion to electric power. Can I put a conversion kit on my wedding registry?? Oil independence, here I come!

The final word? This must-see movie gets Lisa's super five-flower rating!

My Letter to Lou Dobbs (of CNN)

I realize letters like this are usually pointless, but I had to say it, even if no one listens:

Dear Lou,

I am a 33-year-old teacher of ESL students (English as a Second Language) in a rural community on Oahu Hawaii. I used to be a fan of your show and major a cheerleader in your fight for the middle class. Your persistent tirade against the immigrant community, however, has turned me off. I wish you could see that the immigrant community - documented and undocumented - is not a "them" in the war against the middle class. They are part of the "us." They have the same struggles as the US-born middle class. They are striving to make a living, provide good education for their children and - believe it or not - to learn English, pay taxes, and become American citizens! They just didn't have the luck like you and I to born here. Take your fight to the real enemy: the Bush administration's war-hawks, the Enrons of our nation, the insurance industry, and big oil. Let the immigrant community do what "future Americans" have done for centuries: turn their hope and hard work against great hardship and adversity to become the next generation in the American dream.

Truly,

Lisa Rodvien

Me & Fuzzyhead: My Time Alone with This Guy:

I am going to take a break from the travel log format of my blog and write something a little more personal. I hope you enjoy!

There was a time in my life when what I am doing right now - spending several weeks completely alone in a place where I know virtually no one - would have been a very difficult challenge for me. I am very proud to say that this is no longer the case. While I still much prefer the company of my sweetie or my sister or another friend, it's been just great just me and kitty.

Many people would jump at the chance to spend a few weeks all alone in paradise. A few years back, I would have been completely unnerved by this possibility, but I have changed. Thanks to much therapy and a lot of hard work on my own, I now cherish time spent alone. A few years back, I imagine that would have wallowed in self-pity that I have no friends and no one to talk to, etc., etc. Maybe the frantic pace of my last the past year has made this alone-time a welcome break, too. At first, it was a shock not having to be anywhere and not having to answer to anyone. I felt a subconscious need to maintain my previous pace. As a result, I accomplished a half-dozen overdue errands and the house got very clean, very quickly. When I started to run out of those things, however, I started to really face myself and my time alone. Its been a very pleasant success. I've re-learned how to sleep late, how to take time to cook myself breakfast, watch brainless television, play games with my cat, enjoy leisure reading, take walks, and find ways to let my creative-side out. I admit, I have been doing a lot of emailing and making phone calls to friends back on the mainland. And of course, I jump whenever I get a text or a call from George. Still, those times are a small part of my day-to-day. Today, I am planning to head to the local hardware store to get the wood I need to build the planter that I've been dreaming up for our new oleander trees.

I have one week left of this blissful vacation before I head to DC to take my last two classes for my M.Ed. Believe me, I am going to enjoy every moment I have left of these dreamy days. What else am I going to do? I've been thinking about a surf lesson, but I'm taking things one day at a time for a change.

The Schwesters Take on Oahu

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but last week Susan and I had a great week cruising around the island of Oahu and having generally fun schwester bonding time. We saw some sights, chilled on the beach, and slept late every day! Summer vacation is the best invention ever, but its even better when you're in Hawaii and you sister comes to visit.

High School Graduation - Kahuku Style

This past Thursday, I attended Kahuku High & Intermediate School's graduation ceremony for the Class of 2007. I was totally initiated! Like many other things I'm experiencing in Hawaii, it was a unique mix of Western and Polynesian. Students wore the traditional gown and mortarboard, but the ceremony included singing, dancing, and Polynesian drumming. Afterwards, parents set up tents outside the gym with lavish buffet tables of traditional Hawaiian food. No graduate left for the evening without a lei around his or her neck - and more likely they left with five or ten. Among the graduates were seven students of the ELL program. Yay! Check out the pics of the evening, but don't miss video of the unique dance performance by the ENTIRE senior class.

Congratulations Schwester!

The main event during my trip to Washington, D.C. last weekend was my sister's law school graduation. It was part celebration and part nostalgia for me, as almost exactly seven years ago I graduated from the same law school! (Good heavens - that makes me sound OLD!) It was neat to visit my old stomping grounds. Even though I was living only a few miles away from the school until last year, I hardly ever had any reason to go back to campus. Seeing the changes as well as the same old places and faces was special.

Anyway, it was a very special occasion in its own right, as my sister has made so many sacrifices and overcome so many challenges to get her J.D. It was truly a day for celebrating her great accomplishment. Yay schwester! Click here for more graduation day pictures.

Family and DC Friends

In between my sister's graduation and Jess & Rob's wedding, I managed to eek out a little bit of time for dinner with my family and my DC friends. It was great. It was as if no time had passed since I saw my old pals last. Man - my heart is torn sometimes. Hawaii is really an amazing, wonderful, and special place, but my friends back East are irreplaceable. Luckily for now, I can feel the love from 4000 miles away. Here are a few pics of a dinner out together.

Jessie & Rob Get Hitched!

On the agenda for my Washington, DC Memorial Day weekend was Jess & Rob's wedding. It was a lovely ceremony on a perfect early summer day. It was a fun opportunity to see many of my DC friends and it was touching to see two close friends officially join their lives together. My camera battery died before most of the reception and the ceremony pics are a tad washed out, but I hope you enjoy my pictures of the wedding anyway.

Meeting Leo and Gabriel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and The Rodviens' Big Island Vacation . .

One of the most special things that happened in the past month was finally getting to meet George's two sons, Leo and Gabriel. After hearing so much about these two wonderful fellows and even talking to them on the phone, I was very excited to meet them in person. They were every bit as wonderful as George had described them. During their all-too-short visit, we managed to get to the beach, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Volcano National Park on the Big Island. George took leave from work to so he could spend more time with them and so the three of them could have some quality time together while I was at work.

Going to Volcano National Park was definitely the highlight of our visit together. Let's just say that Gabe, Leo, George, and I made a perfect little group to tromp around on the hardened lava, through a lava tube, and between the steam vents at the park. It was a great time, made very special spending it with my wonderful hubby and his two bright, talented, caring, thoughtful, and completely wonderful sons.

I've post pictures of our Big Island trip, but they are in a private online photo album. If you'd like to see the pics - and a few videos - shoot me an email and I'll be more than happy to share the link with you!

Kahuku's May Night in April

The school where I teach is awesome. I witnessed more evidence of its awesomeness at its annual May Night Celebration, held at the nearby Polynesian Cultural Center. At this event, students from the whole school - not just choir and theater students - perform a complete assortment of dances and songs from various Polynesian cultures. While many Samoan kids perform in the Samoan numbers, for example, there is also a lot of cultural mixing. Plenty of haoles (white folks) dance in the numbers and some Polynesian students perform in another culture's group. Pictures simply don't do it justice, but if you use your imagination, you can get a taste of this amazing annual school-wide event. Don't miss the videos I posted here along with pictures.

Quincy is Ridiculous

He likes to take naps in a flower box in the sun:

Beach Day!

Sometime in early April before the busy-ness in my life turned into complete chaos, George and I and two Army friends Jason and Angkiko went off in search of waves for our new boogie boards. We didn't find waves. Nonetheless, we managed to have a nice day at the beach. Actually, I challenge someone to have a NOT nice day at the beach in Oahu. Aside from forgetting sunscreen or some other equally essential item, it's pretty hard to screw up here. Its simply gorgeous. Way back when, I posted a few pics and you can see them here.

Holy Jebus, Batman!

Life has been unbelievably busy for the past two months. In the last sixty days, I have done the following:

1. Bought a house
2. Wrote a 20-ish-page paper and took a final exam for an education class
3. Moved into a new house
4. Escorted 25 ELL students/teenagers to a local Speech Festival on the bus with the driver from hell
5. Redesigned my school's ELL program/course-offerings
6. Met my (wonderful!) step-children, Gabriel and Leo
7. Spent a weekend on the Big Island of Hawaii with hubby and step-children
8. Grieved the loss of my family's 22-year-old cat, Chelsea
9. Flew to Washington, D.C.
10. Attended my sister's graduation
11. Visited with parents and my DC friends
12. Attended the wedding of two good friends
13. Chased around 30+ ELL students to ensure that they pass English (and graduate from high school!)
    
14. Suffered a 14-day-long sinus infection
15. Budgeted for and ordered a years' worth of ELL curriculum materials
16. Completed some long and random federal monitoring report
17. Wished Aloha Oe' (until we meet again) to my deploying hubby and sweetheart
18. And probably at least a dozen more things I can't remember right now...

Holy Jebus, Batman! How did this happen? When did life become so crazy? And can I really get off the crazy train now?

Its been a fun, but wild ride. Many good things have come into my life, even thought many came at a pace that I have barely been able to maintain physically or emotionally. For those blessings, I am thankful. Now that I am coming up for air, I hope to share a little about them with you in my next few blogs, even if they aren't exactly "news" at this point.

Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House....

with two cats in the yard....life used to be so hard... lalala.

If somehow you haven't already heard our news, George and I bought a house here in Hawaii! We hope to close and move in by the end of April. Hawaii real estate ain't cheap, so its no mansion, but it has plenty of room for visitors: an extra bedroom, extra bathroom, and a decent-sized loft. In other words, get your butts out here for a visit! We have lots of ideas for improvements and renovations, but since they are only ideas right now, I'll just let the pictures and house-tour video speak for itself. Oh - but we do plan to paint the outside of the house a bright yellow with white trim. The sea-foam green must go. :-) Pics are here, a silly house-tour video that I made is here.

Whale-Watching from Makapu'u Point

Over the weekend, our friend Doris (that I know from my brief time at University of Hawaii) took George, Jason, and I to Makapu'u Point at the Southeast corner of O'ahu. At Makapu'u Point, visitors hike up a short but steep trail from a parking area to a low peak that overlooks the channel between Oahu and Molokai, the next island in the Hawaiian island chain. In addition to the amazing views up both coasts of Oahu and out towards Molokai, Makapu'u Point is an excellent place to watch whales. We managed to see quite a few whales, even though it is very late in the whale-watching season. They were so cool! We saw a few jump completely out of the water and then splash back in. We also saw several good fin slaps, pec slaps, and tandem whale jumps. We were really far away, but the whales are so enormous that you can still see them reasonably well, even from a distance. Apparently, the humpback whales come to Hawaii every winter from Alaska to give birth to a new generation of whales. (Personally, I'd stay all year if I were a whale!) They can be seen in greater numbers in February - as many as 10,000 at a time, but they are still seen around the islands through late March and even early April. As many of the places we've seen in Hawaii, Makapu'u Point was beautiful. The sight and sound of the whales was amazing. On top of all that, the air was clear enough that we could see the island of Molokai from the lookout point. The pictures don't do it justice, but check them out here and you'll get a taste of our day.

The Polynesian Cultural Center

Yesterday, George & I took a little adventure to the Polynesian Cultural Center ("PCC") in La'ie, Hawaii. Although the place has been on the list for both of us, the visit was prompted as one of my students from Kahuku performs regularly in the evening show at the center. As a native Samoan, he performs with heart and enthusiasm with the group from his home country.

Having lived in Polynesia for about 8 months now, I am starting to think it is the best place on earth. Of course I have a lot more places to visit before I can say that definitively, but its pretty awesome here. Visiting the PCC enhanced my appreciation of indigenous Polynesian cultures. In these cultures - some of which have changed very little from centuries past, people eat a healthy diet of fish and tropical fruits. People build and make almost everything they need from the coconut tree. Houses and boats are built from the wood. The fronds are used to make roofing, bowls, and hats. and clothing. The shell of the coconuts is used to make bowls, small tools, and decorations and the meat is eaten or used to make coconut milk. The people spend their days fishing, boating, and cooking and their nights are spent singing, playing games, and dancing. The joy of Polynesian lifestyle is expressed plainly in many of the dances and songs/chants. Of course there are some more sombre and ritualistic songs and dances, but the majority are lively, playful, or just plain fun. What more does anyone need in life?

If you come to Hawaii, I recommend a trip to the PCC. It is a bit pricey, but your ticket includes entrance to the island exhibits, a luau with authentic Hawaiian food, and the evening show. When you think of how much you get for the price of a ticket, it is actually quite reasonable. The highlight of the PCC is the evening show in which groups from each of the Polynesian island nations perform their own dance and music in indigenous dress. It is a wonderful experience.

For more pictures and a few video clips, go here.

North Shore Waves

A few weeks back, the North Shore of Oahu saw some of the winter season's biggest waves. I took a lot of pictures, but they don't capture the scale of these waves. In the picture below, taken at "Sharks' Cove", the spray coming off the rocks is roughly 60-70 feet high. The waves themselves are roughly 25 feet. Try and picture a teeny person standing on the long rock out beyond the cove . If I had Photoshop I could put something out there to give a better idea of the scale, but you'll have to use your imagination. More pictures from a couple different days out on the North Shore are here. Oh - did I mention there were surfers out there? They were far away from the rocks of course, but they are still crazy! Oh - and one last thing - the only time I've seen a real traffic jam on the North Shore of Oahu was on the day I took this picture. People were lined up along all the beaches and the coastal road to watch the waves and the nutty surfers and traffic was essentially stopped. You gotta love a place where the only thing that causes traffic is people stopping in awe at mother nature.

Update on the 2007-2008 Job Situation

As predicted, my principal had to hire a tenured teacher to fill my position for next school year. Her email felt like a gut-punch to me, but I'm recovering from the initial disappointment and trying to move forward. On the positive side, she said she is keeping another position open for me for next year. The trouble is, it wouldn't be exclusively ELL (English Language Learning). I need more details, but it sounds like I would be a reading specialist who works with ELL students. I'm not sure how I feel about this because it is really not my specialty. There is, however, a lot of overlap between ELL and reading. I may just look for another full-time ELL job. On the flip side, since George and I will likely only be in Hawaii until 2009, I'm not sure I want to uproot again with the possibility of being bumped again the following year. Luckily, next school year is still far off, so I don't have to rush these decisions. I would love any and all thoughts on my situation. Sigh...

"Professional Educators are the Cornerstone of our Mission" - Hawaii Dep't of Ed. Website

I don't usually use my blog to write about "issues." However, I cannot let the absurdity of Hawaii's teacher-hiring system go untold.

Let me begin this story with some background on the school where I work school and the students in my classes. Three short weeks ago, I began working with the ELL classes (English Language Learner) at Kahuku High & Intermediate School, grades 7-12. Kahuku, Hawaii is a close-knit rural community on Oahu's North Shore. It has a mixed immigrant population with familes from, among others, Tonga, Samoa, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, and Laos. Across the U.S., ELLs are an oft-forgotten and neglected group of students. The approximately forty ELL students enrolled in ELL language arts classes at Kahuku have almost slipped through the cracks.

(Note: The following part of the story is a history that I have pieced together from conversations with various coworkers at Kahuku. I have done my best to be accurate, but of course I didn't experience any of the previous changes first hand.)

At the end of the 2005-2006 school year, Kahuku's ELL teacher of 10 years moved on to a position at the district level. I have spoken with her some and from what I can tell and have heard she was - and is - passionate about the education of ELL students. After she left Kahuku, however, things started falling apart. At the beginning of the new school-year, a former social studies teacher assumed the helm of the ELL program and the teaching of its 40 or so students. It is unclear whether this teacher lacked the training or motivation to work with this very high-need group of students. Perhaps he did not get the support needed to perform this new job, but by November, 2006 the ELL program had completely fallen into disarray. The teacher called in sick for two consecutive weeks and it became apparent that he was never coming back. The students have described feelings of hurt and abandonment due to this situation. An assortment of substitute teachers led the class for the remainder of the fall semester.

In January 2007, the school placed a long-term substitute teacher at the head of the ELL classes. This teacher, however, offered little instruction to the students. At last, in early February 2007, principal at Kahuku was able to draft the help of an experienced ELL teacher from a nearby high school to help undo the damage of the previous six months. This teacher remained in the classroom for a week and then another substitute teacher stayed with the students until I became the students' permanent full-time teacher on February 20, 2007.

While I have only been in my position for three weeks, I believe I have restored the order that was absent during the students' period of teacher turnover. Once again, the students are working on learning English. They have returned to the challenging task of becoming competent readers in their new language and learning to express themselves orally and in writing. They are developing listening skills while simultaneously trying to grasp the difficult nuances of English grammar.

Still, the chaos they have been through has left a mark on them. The students have had at least five different teachers since the beginning of the school year. It is no surprise that I have had students ask me questions such as, "Ms. Rodvien, are you going to stay with us?" or "Ms. Rodvien, will you at least stay until I graduate from high school in 2009?"

Until last week, the answer I gave was a resounding "Yes!" In three short weeks, I have grown so attached to my wonderful students. I spring out of bed at 5:30am ready to start the day, ready to challenge and serve them. I have worked hard on improving the physical environment of the classroom: repainting, cleaning, scrounging around for classroom furniture that wasn't broken and actually matches, and ordering very basic supplies that were missing. Students have begun to help. With only a little guidance, they have painted the words for "hello" in their first languages on the walls of the classroom alongside hibiscus flowers, all in bright Kahuku-red. At last, the students are starting to feel some stability again.

Unfortunately, thanks to the brilliant teacher-hiring system these lovely students may have yet another teacher come next fall. I am crushed to learn that I may have to tell these students that I indeed cannot stay with them until they graduate. You see, I am recently-licensed ELL teacher. For that reason, my position at Kahuku must be listed as vacant for next school year. More senior teachers from other schools have priority in filling this "vacancy." Basically, because I am new to the system, my job can be poached by more senior teachers.

Honestly, I am not that worried what will happen to me, although I do have a few concerns. As a new teacher, having to pick up and move to a different school only a few months into my professional teaching career is a heavy burden. Every school does things differently: schools have different materials and different program structures. There are no official state-wide curriculum or standards for ELL. ELL teachers must design curriculum on their own, from scratch, based on the needs of their students and the design of their school's chosen ELL program model. Most importantly, I will have another steep learning curve to face in getting to know the individual needs and abilities of the students I serve.

At this point, however, my bigger concern is the students. After a year of being tossed about like unwanted foster children, the last thing that will benefit these students is yet another teacher come fall. They need continuity. They need the stability of a teacher who has begun to learn about each of them as individuals. They need the stability of a teacher who is not in fear of her job security, even if she were the most successful teacher in history!

My question is: who does this absurd job-poaching system benefit? If yet another teacher comes to teach the ELL class, it will certainly not benefit the students. Once again, they will have lost any continuity and stability they regained in their classroom. It will certainly not benefit me as a new teacher. I will essentially have to start over in a new school. Did I mention that any job I get can be "poached" for the first two years of my teaching career? Even at a new school, I will have to live with the knowledge that I will have to start all over yet again in 2008-2009. The system does not benefit the students who will be losing their teacher to my school. Basically, everyone loses. Yet this is the system in place in Hawaii's schools.

Oh wait - maybe there is one person who benefits: the more senior teacher who now has a shorter commute to her new job than she did to her former school. Yes, it is a great system after all.

My New Job at Kahuku

At long, long last, I have begun my new professional life as a full-time ELL (English Language Learning) teacher at Kahuku High & Intermediate School. As far as schools go, Kahuku is a one-of-a-kind. Of course no two schools are exactly alike, but a place like Kahuku is rare. It is known as the "Pride of the North Shore." Kahuku is the sole secondary school for several rural communities lining Oahu's surf-famous North Shore. Besides being home to great surfers, the North Shore is home to Brigham Young University's Hawaii campus and a large mormon community. It is also home to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which is the preeminent place in the Pacific for all things Polynesian. Finally, Turtle Bay Resort and Golf Course takes a section of the coastline as well as the private vacation homes of many celebrities.

Adding to its unusual mix of residents, Kahuku High & Intermediate School (HIS) includes many immigrant students from across the Pacific and the Pacific rim. For that reason, it has been a fascinating place to begin a career teaching English. My students, grades 7-12, hail from Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, and Kiribati as well as China, Taiwan, Laos, and the Philippines. Kahuku's rural location make it an unlikely location for such cultural mixing, yet there it is. By the way, Kahuku is also home of the high-school state-champion football team. In Kahuku, they "bleed red" for Kahuku Red Raiders. Kahuku HIS has more alumni in the NFL than any other school in the ENTIRE U.S. I think I may have a future NFL-er in my grade 12 class.

All that said, the beginnings of my new career have been wonderful. I have felt eager and excited every day to wake up and get to work. George provided immense help in getting my classroom looking more like, well, a classroom! When I took my first steps there, it was instantly obvious how much work needed to be done. There were layers of dust and dirt and rust that needed to be scraped away from various parts of the classroom. There were student files from the early 1990s. We gave my desk and a file cabinet a fresh coat of paint. Since our initial effort, I've done more cleaning, painting, file-purging, and furniture-rearranging. I've ordered basic supplies that were absent (thank goodness there were funds in the budget!) and enlisted the help of many delighted students to make improvements here and there.

Aside from the physical environment, I've done my best to inform my wonderful students that ESL will no longer be an "easy A", but I've also let them know that I care immensely about their success and their general well-being. They are responding positively so far and I am thrilled to have encountered so many wonderful young people in my new position.

Well, I am sure I could find another hundred things to say about my experiences so far, but I will save more for another time. I have no doubt that Kahuku will offer many, many wonderful and fascinating experiences. I look forward to them all. Please look at my lovely new home away from home (away from home) over here.

Carrie and Paul Come to Hawaii

During a week in early February, we had the pleasure of visitors from back East. Carrie and Paul brought us in-person reminders of our fond friendships with DC-area pals. They also came ready to relax and take in the island. While both George and I had to work during their vacation week, we managed to have some nice free time with our visitors, including a trip up to the North Shore, the Dole Plantation in central Oahu, Chinatown in downtown Honolulu, and a windy hike up Kolekole Pass complete with a wild peacock sighting. Carrie and Paul took a lot more pictures than I did, but I captured a few that you can see here. We had a great time with our lovely and kind guests and we hope that many more will follow in their footsteps.

Great Times with Ladies from Pusan

At last, I have enough time to sit down and write about some of the wonderful experiences I am having here in Hawaii. In early February, I had a very special experience teaching a two-week intensive English class at Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu. My students were 8 women from a university in Pusan, Korea. With a small class size, we got to know each other very quickly. Its amazing how quickly the bonds between us grew. Despite language barrier, we managed to communicate very well, in thanks mostly to the ladies' outstanding English language efforts. (I know only two phrases in Korean: "ahn yeon ha say yo" (hello) and "soju" (a korean liquor!). At any rate, by the end of the two weeks, we were all very sad to say goodbye. We'd laughed and danced hula together and got to know each other very well.

Take a look the pictures that both and I the students took and you will get an idea of the wonderful time we had together. And oh - did I mention that Kapiolani Community College has one of the most beautiful views of any campus I've ever seen? Well, it is in Hawaii after all. A hui hou! (See ya later!)