My first time on Hawai'i as an Adult

One night in early 2003, I left my yoga class and headed to a (now defunct) art gallery for an opening hosted by 'Gay City'. I knew some people going, and decided to swing by before grabbing dinner and going home.

That night at the gallery show, my friend Gary asked me if I wanted to stay for free in Hawai'i. He'd rented a house that was incredibly cheap, and had already booked his flights and a rental car. I just needed to get my own flight, pay a bit if I wanted to use the car, and handle incidentals like food and drink. It was a bit unlike me, but I went for it - and even scored a seat next to him on the NWA flight. So in April, we flew to Hawai'i.

Our final destination was the Big Island, at a house in the Puna area, but we had a long layover in Honolulu. So we grabbed a bus to Waikiki beach and sipped some cocktails while watching the hordes of people sunbathe, play frisbee, and otherwise frolic. It seems a bit packed, but the drinks were good and it felt good to be in the sun after a long Northwest winter.

When we arrived on the Big Island, it was already very late - so we had to find the house in the dark - during a rainstorm. As we made it to the Kehena area and turned up the street, we found the roads were covered in toads. Big toads. Bigger than your fist toads. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Gary did his best to not hit any, but there was really no way to move the car without doing so. We finally got to the house, unpacked, and settled in.

The rest of the week was a wonderful blur of laying on Kehena beach, driving into Pahoa to get groceries at the natural food store, renting movies at the video store, sipping Coronas, and going on day trips to the Kapoho tide pools, to various waterfalls, up to Volcano, and into Hilo.

It was truly a paradise, and I fell in love with it. Hawai'i became the meter stick by which all the other islands had to be measured up to, for better or for worse.

And that's how my love affair with Hawai'i began.

And interestingly enough, that night at the art gallery was when Gary introduced me to a guy named Dan... who I later married... on the Big Island.

Live Aloha! Festival: A Success

Auwe! It's already been almost two weeks since the 1st Annual Live Aloha! Festival at Seattle Center.

What a gleaming success. Angela & Danny were the consummate producers - everything ran smoothly and the people just kept coming! One food vendor ran out of food three hours into the festival while the other had to stop to stock up.



We went with plate lunches from Pacific Island Grill (based in Federal Way,WA). `Ono! I had the bbq chicken and kalua pork. Washed it down with a tasty tropical iced tea.



After our lunch, we enjoyed some of the hula and mele. People were pouring in all day long. The Center House was indeed brimming with aloha!



Later we took a lei-making class, taught by our friend Kiapu from the Hawai`i General Store. We learned how to make leis from ti leaves. One trick we learned: use your toes! The juice from the leaves makes it kind of a messy craft, but the result is beautiful. The class was so full, we had to sit on the floor.

Before our volunteer shift began at the Information Desk, we had to get a shave ice. I went with lilikoi while Dan tried a li hing mui/lilikoi mix. It was a perfectly sunny day, and sitting on a bench eating our shave ice made it feel almost like being in Hawai`i.



We met some interesting folks working the info desk, including our new hoa aloha (friend) Gary from Waianae.

We look forward to next year's festival, and hope the Seattle Center FESTAL committee gives us the whole weekend and inclusion into the regular programming. Live Aloha Mau loa!

Distance Learning Courses

One day this past year while flipping through the Northwest Hawai`i Times I came across an advertisement for A'o Makua, a program offering on-line, distance learning courses in Hawaiian language and culture.

The courses are very inexpensive ($25 and $20 if you are a returning haumana), and they offer generous incentives. For the the first course I completed in February, I received a poster and a biography of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. That course, "Mo‘okū‘auhau - He Inoa ‘Ala" explored the various naming practices in ancient Hawai`i and asked us to consider the modern implications of how we use names. I found it very interesting, and I did find myself pausing to reflect on the importance of a name and how naming a child might influence his or her journey.

Two weeks ago I started on my second course: ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i - Ku‘u Wahi Noho. This is actually the third of a three-part language series and deals with words and expressions one would use to describe his/her hometown/place of residence. Because I have been studying on my own through the 8-CD series put out by Topics Entertainment, I am not completely behind. I do think it would be wise for me to return to the first two classes at some point, though.

A`o Makua uses various platforms to teach and share information. There are audio presentations, video recordings, power point presentations, matching games, quizzes and interactive games. There are also discussion boards that receive frequent traffic, and the instructors offer individual feedback through both message boards and recordings.

Whether you are looking to increase your awareness of Hawaiian culture or ready to dive in and learn the language, A`o Makua offers a time-efficient and affordable way to learn from your own home!

Sharks on the Big Island!

Sharks are shutting down beaches on the West side of the the Big Island. Read about it here.

Event: Live Aloha! Festival Sunday 9/7 in Seattle

Another yahoo group

I forgot to mention this one as it had been mostly inactive the past several months. But there has been a flurry of recent activity, with some people sharing photos and information. This group is more discussion-oriented, as opposed to the NW Hawaiian group that is primarily event listings.

There was a very nice post yesterday about welcoming people into Hawai`i in the spirit of Aloha...something we like to hear as we often fight the guilt of not wanting to take from the land that was taken away. But in most cases respect for all aspects of the islands goes a long way with the locals.

Check it out!

Hawai`i TV Show

From Bill Nahalea, via the NW Hawaiian mailing list. Bill and Gloria are huge contributors to the local Hawaiian scene here in the PNW. In addition to their television show, they also host a web site (see link below) and organize the annual Kalama Days of Discovery. We have yet to make it down for the event, as we always seem to be out of town. It sounds like it's been a soaring success, and we are eager to be around for it one of these years!

The Hawaii Showcase Television Magazine has
Reached an agreement with KLTV Communty Television
that reaches a viewership of the entire Cowlitz
County Area.

CastleRock, Kelso, Longview, Kalama and Woodland

Our Hawaii Showcase Television Magazine will reach
A Television Reachership of Over 100,000 Weekly!

Offically The Hawaii Showcase Television Magazine
Will be on the Comcast Cable Schedule in September
2008..'STAY TUNED!!!

But Continue to Watch Our Hawaii Showcase Television
Magazine on Thursdays at 7:30pm(LIVE) Channel 29/77
And Streaming LIVE WWW.SCANTV.ORG (AND A REPEAT TV
SHOW AT 1PM)NOW AIRED TWICE A WEEK!

And Other Our Contemporary Hawaiian TV Show in Hawaii
saturdays at 7pm(Taped)"THERE IN THE ISLANDS TELEVISION
MAGAZINE On KWHE TV CH 11, 14, 23, 24(Oahu, Maui, Hilo
Kona) WWW.THEREINTHEISLAN DS.COM

TT PRODUCTIONS SEATTLE AND HAWAII! Promotes Hawaiian
Contemporary Hawaiian Programming "ON CABLE-INTERNET
AND BROADCAST AND WORLDWIDE!!

NOW! WATCH HAWAIIAN PROGRAMMING 4 NIGHTS A WEEK!
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------
SEATTLE ON SCAN TV THURSDAYS AT 7:30PM & FRIDAYS AT 1PM

HAWAII STATEWIDE KWHE TV SATURDAYS AT 7PM

COMING SOON! IN SEPTEMBER KLTV CH 22, 24, 12

Mahalo To All My Loyal Supporters and Television Viewers
During Our 8 Years on the Television Airwaves.

Mahalo,
Bill Nahalea
Producer
Sales, Marketing, Promotions, Publicity

Gloria(Napua) Fujii-Nahalea
Co Producer/Administra tion

www.alohaislandtrea sures.net
www.tornadotelevisi on.bigwebpages. com