Week 3: what's goin on round here?

(But first, a word about the names used in this blog.  LK or Lil Kahuna is my five year old son, so named for his penchant to want to rule everything--as five year old so often want to do.  Hula Honey or HH is my wife who studied hula a number of years on the mainland.  And I am Coconut Dave, just because I love all things coconut.)

Now that that's out of the way, time for this week's report.  One thing's for sure, Hawaii and especially Honolulu is a haven of nonstop entertainment.  Every weekend there are at least two or three festivals and/or activities going on primarily in places around Waikiki and Ala Moana.  This weekend was no exception, and in fact the entire week Waikiki hosted Duke's Oceanfest--basically a hodge podge of water event competitions, more than just a surf competition.  When we were there, a women's boogie boarding water polo game was going on.

Duke's statute abides over his Oceanfest.

Duke Kahanamoku is considered a legend in Hawaii, and for very good reason.  Besides being a champion swimmer and surfer, he server 13 terms as sheriff of Honolulu.  He acted in a number of Hollywood films, and lent his name to one of the most popular hotel restaurants in Hawaii.  He once saved eight men when a boat capsized off of Newport in California using only his board in what was called "the most superhuman surfboard rescue act the world has ever seen."  Truly a remarkable man.

Along with Oceanfest, we visited the Artfest in Kapiolani Park.  It's mainly an excuse for local artisans to sell their arts and crafts, but still worth checking out.  Most of the stuff is waaay too pricey for us, but a least LK enjoyed a banana, guava shave ice. 

LK whooping it up in Kapiolani Park.

The next day, we spent in one of my favorite places in the world--the North Shore!  We swam in Waimea Bay which at this time of year is like a giant swimming pool.  And we had lunch at the greatest shrimp scampi place in the world, Giovanni's.  I was very happy to see that they had recently paved the area where the tables sit and added a beautiful patio cover as well.  The place was packed as usual, but totally worth the wait.

Two words:  Too yummy!

Giovanni's is said to be the original shrimp truck on the North Shore.  There are now at least a dozen lining the roadway.  I don't know if Giovanni's is the first, but it is by far the best.  On our many trips to the islands (before moving here) we tried many shrimp trucks.  Nothing even comes close to Giovanni's. 

So much to look forward to, so much more to do in the future.  Whoever said there's such thing as island fever must not have lived here.  If we ever crave something new, we can hop a plane to Maui or Kauai or the Big Island.  Having visited many of them, I know that each island has its own flavor, its own personality.  Island fever?  I don't think so!

Week 2: still settlin in

Okay, I know, I should have started with week one right.  Well, suffice to say that the first two weeks, now being a bit of blur, went by in a whirlwind of nonstop activity.  Most of week one was spent registering our Lil Kahuna for school.  It seems Hawaii's school schedule began a week before we arrived so we were forced to play catch up.  As any parent will tell you, when you register a child for a new school there is a lot of extraneous stuff you have to do--proof of inoculations, birth certificate, forms forms and more forms.  When you are registering for a school in a new state (at least in the case of HI), you need all kinds of other stuff too, namely proof of residency (where do you get that on your first day in a new state???).  Basically it required getting a notarized signature on one of my parent's bills. 

Just when we thought we were good and ready to send L.K. to his first day of school, the office lady hands us this two page list of required items--some obvious stuff like crayons, pencils, notebooks, etc.  Then there were the much more baffling items like hand soap, paper towels, an apron.  It turns out that much like good old California the schools in Hawaii (and schools everywhere for that matter) are suffering serious budget cuts.  Things like paper towels and soap are no longer provided, so it is up to the teacher and students to fill in the blanks.

Needless to say, LK's first week of school was a roller coaster ride for both child and parents.  It was clear he was lonely and anxious, having not only started a new school year but also come in a week and a half after the school year began.  The kids were familiar with each other and unfamiliar with him.  His teacher, Ms. M, didn't seem to make it any easier.  We had to remind her several times to put his name on his cubby and on his place at the table.  I have worked with kids for a number of years, and the one thing we always did when a new kid arrived was do everything we could to smooth the transition--especially doing things like having their name on their cubby when they walked in the door.  Anyway, I work as counselor and have a whole different philosophy and background from most educators.

After finally getting LK into his new routine, so began the work on my own transition--sending out the first round of resumes, getting a library card, studying to take the written test for a HI license, etc.  Except for the weekends, everyday there are two or three or more things to do.  By the time one is done, the day is over and the rest is left for the next day.  The good news is, presistence and hard work pays off.  Two big steps were accomplished within the first two weeks.  1st) I got my drivers license, passing the test and only missing one question.  2nd) My wife, the Hula Honey, got a part time job at LK's school working with special ed kids.  It strikes me as nothing short of amazing that she was able to do so in such a short period of time.  It took her three years of seemingly endless searching to find a second part time job in California, and when she started working there they gave her three hours every two weeks...

As a post script, a third nice thing happened last weekend when we went to the art walk they have by the zoo every weekend.  We ended up talking to one of the local artists who gave LK some markers and a drawing.  When he found out I was an artist, he told me to bring by a portfolio.  He really wanted me to seriously consider showing my work at the art walk.  This kind of thing never happens in California.  Unfortunately, I left all of my artwork in California so it will take me some time to build a portfolio here.  But I look forward to one day possibly selling my work on the Honolulu zoo art walk.

Yes, things are looking up in our own private paradise.  Let's hope there is more good news to share next week.  At least we know the weather will be perfect and the water will be fine.  In fact, I think I hear a patch of beach calling my name.

Can you really complain when you live within a five minute walk of this?

The view from where we live on Ala Wai.