All kinds of fun!

The BYUH "got talent" competition was a big success. Above is a shot of the clogging duo who performed as one of the acts.
This is a photo of Danni and Erica who were members of the second place act "the five talents"
My friends Rhonda, and Boon both came to watch the show.
The "Napalm Panthers of death" put on quite the show with their lipsynch to a bon jovi song.I was able to get a shot with the two winning dance groups: "Looney box" anf "the five talents"

It was a good day for Dolewhip.
Huki Lau cafe has some of the best breakfast food ever! Christy and I had to check it out.
My friend Hui Zhen is from Taiwan, and she invited me to celebrate the Chinese new year at a stake activity.
Fun at the Dole plantation.
My friend Rhonda and I at beach clean up!

The Saturday before easter, a few friends and I went to an egg hunt at Gunstock ranch. The hunt was just for kids, but the petting zoo was for everyone!
All suited up for skydiving!
Me and chinaman's hat at Kaneohe bay.
Enjoying Boba drinks from the Taiwan club at Foodfest '08.

Hard at work in the PCC.

Valley of the Temples

Last Wednesday, we celebrated Prince Kuhio day here in Hawaii, which meant no classes! A few friends and I took the bus to a beautiful place called Valley of the temples. It is in these secluded woods that a Buddhist temple was built to comemmorate the arrival of Japanese settlers to Hawaii hundreds of years ago. We all had a good time taking pictures and just relaxing in the chill environment.

Happy Birthday Kaycee!

This one is for you Kaycee (sort of a late birthday greeting)! This should help you put your birthday gift to good use. My friend Dez was happy to help teach you the art of poi. She is from Australia and performs in the New Zealand village where I work. Hope you like the poi!

Culture Night!

This was Australia club's tribute to The Wiggles, Steve Irwin, and even Kylie Manogue!
Lation club shook things up!
The Filipino club's traditional dance was very well done.
India club!

Me and two of the dancers from Thai club.
Christy (Left) and I with our friends in India club.
Heather and Hui Zhen performed in Taiwan club.
The Samoan club made hundreds of matching outfits for their number, and had a live band to back them up. It was one of the best presentations of the night!
One more shot of India club's dance number.

Every year, BYUH hosts a two night event called "culture night" where most of the different countries represented at the school perform. The display of traditional talent was amazing, and each act seemed to transport the audience to the country it represented. I snapped a few shots with some of the performers after the show and let them know how awesome they did.

Wicked-good weekend

This weekend really was pretty wicked. My friend Christy and I hit the beach, and then wandered the island for a while, looking for the next coolest thing. At Sunset beach, I enjoyed the ocean for the first time since I got here, and we even met a sea turtle! We took time to build a sand whale too which was fun. Humpbacks migrate through Hawaii this time of year, so it seemed only fitting to honor them through sand sculpture. After the beach we picked up some chocolate hapia (coconut) pie from Ted's bakery - crazy good! A friend had told us about a neat lookout point over Waimea bay, and luckily we ended up finding the place. During the short walk to the point, a full rainbow spanned the sky, and in those few seconds, we caught it on camera. We had a blast to say the least, and I look forward to what next weekend will bring!

The weekly Sum

What a week! I wasn't sure I'd survive it all, but luckily, I made it out just fine. Our ward held a hoedown on Monday night complete with fried chicken and line dancing. It was a blast and I'm glad I was wrangled into going. I had planned to spend that entire night in the library studying for midterms, but an old MTC friend of mine convinced me to attend. I met some of the people in my ward who had been nameless to me prior to that night and we all had a good time.
Tuesday was packed mostly with studying, and Wednesday I took my math midterm. By Thursday, I was beginning to get a little nervous about my chemistry exam, so with the math exam passed, I focused all my studies on molar conversions and polyatomic ions. Between 19 hours of work and all of my classes, I somehow managed to squeeze in time for a rehearsal of my talent show number "Fever" which I performed Friday night. The talent show was a blast and I was impressed with the quality of the acts that performed. They were all very very good. The rush of performing on stage again was great, but what I did Saturday was even more thrilling. Eight of my friends and I finally coordinated and went skydiving! I jumped out of the plane with my tandem at 14,300 ft elevation. We fell at 130 mph, then accelerated to 150mph before opening the parachute. The free fall lasted about 1 minute and the memory of it will last a lifetime. It has certainly been a great week!

Sweet Job

Here are some snapshots of the shop at the Polynesian Cultural Center where I work. The tiki or "Popo" as they're called is one I started last week. I also made the two "paddles" on the right shown in the photo. The other shots are of different weapons we sell in the shop and there is really only one way to describe them- totally sweet! There are some gnarly pieces displayed and its a really cool place to work.