A Simple "Thank You"

When was the last time you said "thank you" to someone? To your parents, a teacher, or a friend? A simple "thank you" can have such a great impact on a person, sometimes more than you would expect. When someone thanks you after doing a favor or good deed, don't you just feel good. Good that you helped someone out. Your spirits seem to raise and sometimes, an occasional smile on your face. I have always tried to make an effort to thank people for helping me out or something, but I didn't truly understand how much weight and meaning those two little words beared.
This past Sunday at church, Pastor Wayne talked about the power of words. He said that the one thing that everyone has in common is the "hunger for sincere appreciation". He told a story about how even people who do heroic acts need appreciation whether it is just a simple "thank you". It is a story that will remain in my heart. It was around the 1860's when a passenger boat was crossing Lake Michigan, going from Chicago to Milwaukee. A lumber schooner collided with it and caused the boat to sink, killing 279 people. It wasn't far from land and a North Western University student named Edward Spence was on shore and saw the whole thing happen. He dove into the water and tried to save as many people as he could. He made seventeen trips back and forth, saving seventeen people. Unfortunately, on the seventeenth returning trip, he went unconsious from the freezing cold water. For the rest of his life, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Many years later, the univeristy awarded him a plaque honoring his bravery and courage. When a newspaper interviewed him for an article, they asked him, "What is the one thing that has stuck with you about the whole experience?" He took a moment and answered, "The one thing that has remained with me for all these years is that, not one of those seventeen people ever said 'thank you'".

Music of Our Lives

As I was sitting on the side of Alexander Hall the other day, all that could be heard was the constant opening and closing of those swinging doors, distant footsteps of students walking by, and the sound of an ukelele. As I focused on the chords and strumming of the strings, I couldn't help but think about how much music has become a part of our everyday lives. If you were to ask anyone when the last time they heard or played music, probably everyone would say at the most, today. Try to imagine what it would be like without the sound of music, I know that's the title of the famous musical, "The Sound of Music", but really, what would life be like without music. It just wouldn't be the same. People have based their entire lives off of music, artists, composers, etc. Like in the documentary "Rize", music and dance was all that those people had. In the place that they lived in, the kind of place that if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could cost you your life. In that kind of neighborhood, dancing was their life, their identity. One of the guys in the documentary said that music was an outlet for them. Each person's life has been touched by music in some shape or form. Whether it was a way of life or just something that brings you joy. My sister just bought the "Happy Feet" DVD and we were watching it at our grandma's house last night. My favorite part is when the baby penguins were together and they had to close their eyes and find their inner song. Mumble couldn't sing but he could dance. It's just who he is. Throughout the movie, my baby cousin who's a little older than two years old, would periodically stand up and start dancing. He would jump and hop all over the place and even raise his hands like the penguins were doing with their flippers. It was such a cute sight to see. All of us couldn't help but to admire him and cheer him on. My aunty even grapped her video camera and video tapped his little dances.
Music is something everyone knows. Everyone has listened to it, turned to it when there was nothing else to turn to, danced to it, sung to it, or just lived by it. It's a fact of life, music is everywhere. It has embedded itself into our hearts and into our souls. It's the music of our lives.

It's Over Already?

As the third quarter is ending, with only one quarter to go, I ask myself "Where has the time gone?". I can't believe that its the last fourth quarter for the seniors in their high school careers. It's the last months before we all move on to the next steps in our lives. Whether it is becoming a freshmen in high school or becoming one in college. It's the last months of this school year. I always heard that you must cherish every moment, every smile, and every experience, because life is constantly changing and it doesn't stop for a second. I see that now, noticing how fast the years are passing. The thing I will hate the most about leaving this school will be leaving the experiences, the best of times, friends and teachers, and basically my comfort zone. I know things won't be bad, but I will just miss creating memories. Of course there will be memories beyond high school and stuff, but they won't be the same.
Remember that every end is just the beginning. I can't wait to become a senior, but I just know that by this time a year from now, I will be asking myself the very same question that I am now, "Where has the time gone?".

It's Long Gone

Ok, ok, I know I haven't posted anything in a very long time. Since the week before spring break,to be more specific. It's just that week was so stressful and seemed to take forever that I didn't have much time. Anyways, now that spring break is way over, and I am getting accustomed to the whole 'wake up before noon' school schedule, I can do work again. The break was just way too short. I think we can all agree on that. Before I knew it, it was Monday night, and I still had homework to be finished. That is total procrastination. I am so proud though, because I managed to fill each day with some kind of activity that got me out of the house. For me that is a great accomplishment. If I hadn't tried, I would have spent the majority of my hours sleeping or in front of the tv. I went skating at Ice Palace (the first in a very very long time), went to the beach with my friends and had a potluck, saw "Wild Hogs", went hiking with my dad, and just spent time with my cousins. I almost forgot, I went to the dentist...fun. Now that this week is about finished, I couldn't be any more excited for the weekend. I am in desperate need of sleeping in. Why is it that time just passes by so fast?

Almost There

Yes, just one more week till Spring Break. Of course though, this last week is going to be the slowest and is surely going to feel like the longest, that's how it always is. The light at the end of the tunnel is right there, but to reach it is another story. There are so many tests and assignments due this week that it's going to take some serious effort to make it through. Many are going off island, to the mainland, and some are leaving the country. Lucky. I'm basically going as far as the downstairs couch. I think I'm going to plant myself there infront of the tv and just relax, something I have been wanting to do for a very long time. Whatever I do, the main objective is to relax and have fun. Like this past weekend. It was Junior Function for our school. I can still remember when everybody started to talk about it, like couple months ago, what seemed a mile away. But it came around and passed by way too fast.
It was really fun except for the fact that my mom decided to volunteer to be a chaparone, it was kind of embarrasing. To add to it, at dinner, she sat at the table right next to the one that my friends and I were sitting at. Ahhh. It wasn't that horrible though, because most of the time she was doing her job, patrolling the hotel grounds making sure all the students remained in the main area. I really enjoyed spending time with my friends and of course, the food. It was so good. Some of the highlights were, like I said, the food, and the funny/random pictures that my friends took, which by the way I was really mad because I had forgotten my camera at home and realized that I did when I got to school. The fifteen-person zoo that we played toward the ending of the night was the best. There were animals from a cockroach, to a worm, to a whale, to even a spaz (how that's an animal I don't know, but it was fun). By the end of the night, I had lost all possible energy. I slept on the bus ride back to school, replaying the whole night in my head. It was a great last weekend before spring break.

Hike to the Lighthouse

This past weekend on the way out to Bellows, my dad and I passed by the Makapu'u Lighthouse. Our eyes were met with an overflowing parking lot, full like I had never seen it before. I mean cars were lining the street. Our first reactions were "wow, what's going on?", but then we remembered, the whales. My dad had read it in the newspaper sometime and had told me that the humpback whales were in Hawaii. I wanted to go see the whales so badly, but my dad said that we could go back the next day.
It was Sunday, the sun well on its way to setting already, and both my parents and I prepared for the hike to the lighthouse. We each had our own waterbottle and dad had the binoculars. We set off on the winding pavement ahead of us. It wasn't long before we spotted the whales. They remained near the surface of the water for a very long time before disappearing into the blueness. We stopped along the way many times to look out into the ocean and just take a breather. It was so beautiful. At a point along the hike, it was only my parents and I when we saw few more whales. It was so quiet and peaceful, and all that could be heard was the wind and the whales exhaling through their blowholes. As I looked through the binoculars, it all seemed fake, but when I looked with my own eyes, it reminded me that it was all real.
Along the way, I noticed that there were alot of cacti. When I got a closer look, they were pretty hard. I always wondered why people say that they contain alot of water and that when you are thirsty, find a catus. It might be totally untrue, but that's what I've heard. Anyway, when we reached the lookout, the view made the entire hike worth it. You could see the Ko'olau Mountain Range and the entire shore for miles. If you looked out into the ocean, all you could see was blue, with a few boats here and there.

Boys Will Be Boys

I never really understood what this meant until this past weekend. My nine year old cousin had a party with a few close friends at Bellows and stayed overnight in one of the cabbins. All the parents of the boys who were invited came for dinner, so my dad volunteered to pick up the food and take it over. Aunty asked me if I wanted to come for dinner too (not knowing what I was getting myself into and unable to turn down food), I said ok.
As I walked in and out of the cabbin off loading the food, all the boys and their parents were sitting infront of the tv, just watching cartoons. I thought, wow these boys are really well behaved, but then my dad told me, "Aunty sure has her hands full." I didn't know what he meant until it was time to eat.
"Come on boys, wash your hands," one of the moms tell them. They all slowly peel their eyes away from the tv. Dinner was a fast one, for once they had eaten, they were full of energy again. Some were eating more food, a couple were fighting in the bedroom, and my cousin was smashing bugs on the wall, with the rest of them cheering him on. It was crazy. Each parent had to literally track down their kid and get them ready for the cake. Once the candles were lit, the singing began. When it was time to blow out the candles, my cousin went wild. Instead of blowing the candles out, he started to spray them out. And to add to it all, the candles were trick candles, so when they wouldn't burn out, all of his friends started to help him. I was a little scared to eat the cake after it had gone through all of that, for I could assume that there was another layer of "frosting" on it.
When it was time to open gifts, they all gathered around and watched as each present was opened. When my cousin was faced with a Macy's box, he put it on the side without even opening it and said that it was only clothes. Turns out it wasn't only clothes, but filled with fishing stuff, things I didn't even know what they were. At the end, it turned into a wrapping paper fight, then a basketball game, then a leave it to the parents to clean up game.
Later that night, they went out in the back and were toasting marshmallows. I am glad that there were parents watching them otherwise the backyard might have gone into flames. As the time passed by, I thought they would all get tired and want to go to sleep, but I was wrong. The kept going and going, yelling and fighting. I finally had to teach them a card game to settle them down, but they would still yell when they lost. One of the boys had brought a scary stories book so they were reading for a good fifteen minutes. During one of the stories, my sister's friend (who also came for dinner) started to knock on the wall to scare the them. At first, it got their attention but then one of the boys saw who was knocking. So then he started to knock on the wall and then before long, they all started knocking. It was kind of funny until my dad said that there were people on the other side of the wall, for two cabbins are connected.
They all finally went to sleep at around 11:30. On the way home, my dad told me again, "Aunty sure has her hands full", then I passed out in the passenger seat.