Aloha aka Hello aka Konnichiwa aka Guten Tag aka Dobry dei

Hello everyone!

Well, Hawaii was wonderful! It was so good to see my family and friends. I had the perfect vacation and I hated to see it end. The flight wasn't that bad either, so that was a relief. I guess after flying to Japan from Pittsburgh (14 hours) a 7 hour flight to Hawaii was nothing!

Well, Sunday was fun, and I first met up with my friends before my family got to Oahu. Alison, Sara, Matt and I went out for a drink, and I got to eat a gyro! YAY! That was wonderful. After that, my family arrived at the hotel. It was so nice to see them all! I ran up to their shuttle as soon as I realized it was their car! I wish that moment didn't end. We had a nice dinner that night and spent a relaxing day.

Monday we went to Pearl Harbor, which was very somber, and probably not a good idea for our first public outing as a family...Michael and I had 18 months of brotherly teasing to get out of our system! The memorial was beautiful! I think all of us had a tear for that.

Tuesday was awesome because we rented mopeds and I FINALLY got to drive a little bit! Sara, Mikey, Matt, Alison and I took the mopeds and drove to some awesome beaches! One of the beaches had killer waves and that was sick aka clutch! It was so nice to be driving again, and I stayed on the right side of the road! I was a little worried about that after living in Japan!

Wednesday the family and I went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation and North Shore. That was so awesome! I have never seen so many pineapples! At North Shore, Mikey and I got mom and dad to go snorkeling! THAT WAS COOL! I am so proud of my parents for doing that! I do wish we went to a calmer spot to snorkel! We had a blast anyways and I loved every moment of that day. And what happened but my parents and grandma run into Hany and Stef! What a small world! It was so cool having dinner with them that night! I hope to make it out their way once I am back in America!

Thursday was the Luau aka Polynesian Cultural Center! We had a blast there and learned a lot about the Polynesian Islands. The Luau was a nice treat! Luckily no swine flu! Whew! The dancers were awesome and the canoe show was awesome!

Friday we did the dinner cruise and Mikey and I drank quite a bit! It's not a good idea to mix beer, wine, and mixed drinks...that's a lot of alcohol! The sunset cruise was beautiful even though it was cloudy. It was just nice being with the family. Michael and I danced the Hula in front of the diners during the cruise. All in all, we had a blast. We also went to the zoo earlier that day. They had some amazing tropical birds there.

Saturday was the hardest day...because we surfed and I had to say goodbye to everyone. I did manage to stand up on the surf board once, for like 2 or 3 seconds. Mikey and Matt were much better than me at it. But I had a blast trying. After saying goodbye to everyone I was left alone on the island. It was bittersweet. I wished no one had to leave but it was nice to do nothing and relax. There was a street fair and I went down to it, but I really wanted to be alone. I won't lie, I cried a little in my hotel room after everyone left! I can't believe it is going to be at least another year before I see anyone again!

Well, my trip back to Japan was good. I got to watch the Steelers game at the airport, so that was gnarly! At the airport, everyone at JAL kept asking me if I was on the right flight! I was like, yes! I live in Japan, I have a reservation! Everyone seemed quite surprised. I was the only foreigner on the flight back to Japan, so the stewardesses mostly spoke Japanese to me, and I was finally able to use it back!

Now that I am back in Japan, I had a lot of classes to make up! But in the end, I would do it all over again just to see my family! What a reunion!