April 1st 2011 - Snorkeling and Luau!

March 31, 2011 - Pearl Harbor - USS Missouri and USS Arizona. Afternoon in Waimanaloo Beach Park.

Aloha cousins!

This morning we woke up earlier than usual because we did extra activities (more beach-- yay!) We all wore our group trip t-shirt and went down to breakfast at Lulu's. We got all our stuff packed up and got in the bus to go to Pearl Harbor. we learned very quickly that Pearl Harbor is not just the memorial for one sunken ship, but it's a whole military base with several battleships and memorials. The military rules are very strict, so our bus had to be inspected before we could cross the top secret bridge (which is one of only 6 in the world!) to go to Ford Island and the battleship USS Missouri.

The battleship was very interesting to see and when we were entering the area, there were rows of tons of american flags leading to the ship. it made us realize how important the battleship must be to Americans and also how proud Americans are of their history. We had the opportunity to do a social project on the ship, which was nice because most people don't get a chance to even go on a battleship… And the ones who do don't get to enter into the areas where we got to clean. It was cool to be able to say we were there and we volunteered with them. We also had a tour of the battleship because it is now a museum. There was a sailor and an historian there to talk to us and answer our questions, and to show us around the important parts of the ship. We learned that the Missouri ("Mighty Mo") went to three wars. The reason it is so famous: because it was where the japanese surrendered at the end of World War Two! This was very impressive, even for us from other countries, because we learned about this event in our history classes and now we got to see where it actually happened.

When we finished our tour, we hopped on a shuttle bus and went to the USS Arizona memorial. We started out with a documentary about the attack. The video was amazing because it was very detailed and even showed footage from the actual attack. It was very refreshing and prepared us for the visit to the memorial. Then we took a ferry boat to the memorial itself. The structure was white, very modern and open; simple, but beautiful. There was an american flag above the memorial and the ceiling was open. We could see into the water from all sides and the battleship arizona was underneath us. It was a bit scary to think about the battle and how the ship was bombed. It was sad to realize that we were standing over a ship which was a grave for over 1100 people. In the back room, the marble wall was covered in names of the 1177 men who died that day. There was another small section with the names of the men who survived, then died after the war and wanted to be buried with their crewmen. On the sides of the wall, there was a unique pattern which represents the "tree of life" which symbolizes a new beginning for the American people. The ship (in the water underneath the memorial) is covered in coral and marine life. Another interesting thing is that the ship leaks oil all the time. The fact that the oil is still in the ship and still leaking out today made us understand that the consequences of the attack are still affecting people today.

After our visit to the memorial, we went back to the land looked around the gift shop. some bought postcards or souvenirs for our families, others just walked around.

Soon after, we left the memorial and grabbed something to eat at a mall. Then we moved on to the east side of the island. The bus ride was beautiful! We stopped at the Blowhole and took some pictures of the famous place where the water shoots through the rocks into the air. It was nice, but we were ready for the beach. On the bus ride, we saw some of the places where they shot the movie 50 First Dates! We also saw some of the first Hawaiian homestead land-- where real Hawaiians live. This part of the island is the wet side, so the nature is quite different. it is much greener and it looks more tropical. As we were driving, on the left side, we saw mountains, on the right side, beach! It was gorgeous! We arrived at Waimanalo Beach and it was so beautiful! It was more than 3 miles (5km) of white sandy beach. The waves were big and it was just awesome to play in the water. We had so much fun and laughed the whole time we were there. Some people just laid in the sun, others played volleyball and football, took a walk, and body surfed. The place was just amazing!!!

Then it got late, so we took the bus home. We all sang our national anthems and tried to sing the American anthem too! It was fun and interesting to hear all the songs from other countries. We also compared animal sounds in different languages. So funny…. When we arrived at the hotel, we had time to get ready for dinner and then walked over to eat. We had typical Hawaiian food and also had spaghetti and yummy dessert! We loved the mahi mahi fish! After dinner we had time to shop in Waikiki. Some people went back to Forever 21, others bought tons of souvenirs from our new favorite shop--- the ABC Store!

We are tired from the long day, but looking forward to tomorrow! We are sorry that it's almost over… These days in Hawaii have been so amazing!

Mahalo for reading!

Klaudia- Slovakia

Sol- Denmark

Nelly- Finland

March 30, 2011 Diamond Head and Ala Moana Shopping

Alooooha!!!! 
We got to sleep longer than usual and everyone loved it! We started our journey to Diamond Head. We stretched first before our hike up the old volcano. We made our way to the inside of the volcano. We had to go through a tunnel and it was so breezy it cooled us off from the first part of the walk. We had a quick rest because most people were already tired! We even saw an "old friend" who we met at the PCC! He is famous among us exchange students! Then we headed to the top of Diamond head. By the half way point we were panting! It was such an adventure and we were strong survivors! Oh my gosh- there were so many stairs we had to climb to get to the top! The sweet smell of success was waiting for us at the top! As well as a million dollar view! It was nice and windy to cool us down again. We could see our hotel from the top too! The Pacific ocean looks endless from there! Then we headed down and it was muuuch easier then climbing! It was funny to see the people climbing up while we were going down. Did we look that exhausted?! When we made it back to the base shaved ice was available to quench our thirst.  Then we walked back to the hotel to have time for lunch, optional surfing, shopping and swimming! Some people went to a very popular restaurant called Dukes. It's delicious! 

Then we had to get ready to go to dinner and shopping. We took our busses to one of the biggest open malls in the US, Ala Moana. It's soooo big! Over 300 stores and we hit up only a few of the stores!  We shopped a lot (but don't worry parents we will pay you back hahaha) We stopped by Holister to check out all the models on the wall because one of our kayak instructors is a Holister model! Then we met back up at Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner! While we were waiting for our food we did trivia and games with the waiters! We got to win prizes from the gift shop! Two boys had to put their face in a bowl of whipped cream and find the cherries at the bottom! It was fun to watch! So dinner was delicious! Fried shrimp, fish and chips, cheeseburgers, shrimp scampi and fish with rice and lemon sauce! We were stuffed after dinner thanks to the little ice cream sundaes we got! MmmmMm! 

Our day was coming to an end and we headed back to the hotel. We were all exhausted from another long day in Hawaii. Only two days left :/ 

Josefine- Sweden 
Airiin- Estonia

A beautiful view of Waikiki!

Enjoying the view.

Hang lose!

We love Hawaii!

Welcome to Diamond Head!

Stretching before our long walk to the top of Diamond Head!

March 29 2011 Pali Look out, Kailua and California Pizza Kitchen

Lanikai beach!

The perfect beach and place to swim and play!

Out on Mokolua!

A perfect day to enjoy the perfect beach!

The guys jump well together!

The girls...almost jump together!

All of our kayaks ready for to hit the ocean!

Pali Lookout!

Standing strong at Pali lookout.

The beautiful view at Pali Lookout!

Aloha from Kailua!

We started our morning with a delicious breakfast with the beautiful view of the ocean. The restaurant has really fun lamps, they are big blowfish and they have colored bulbs in them. We love breakfast at Lulu’s! We hopped on the bus and on our way to Kailua.

First we made a quick stop at the Pali Lookout. We were blown away! Literally. It was so windy up there! It was a beautiful view of one side of Oahu. The history of the Pali look out is very interesting and made the experience a lot more exciting. We saw a lot of wild chicken. Here in Hawaii chicken are able to roam free and are protected by the government!

Next stop for the day was Kailua. This is where “two waters” meet. Once we arrived to the beach we got ready to go kayaking! We packed our stuff, put on sunscreen and got our lifejackets on. Once we pushed off a few of us tipped over right away. What a funny start to our kayaking trip. We loved the view of Oahu. The water looked so fake because the blues were too perfect! The coral reef was so close to us as we paddled over to the ocean. We made it over to Moculua and landed our kayaks. The island is a small bird sanctuary. We had lunch on the island and we all sat together on the beach.

We “hiked” over a little bit to get a great view of the ocean. We also got to jump in a natural pool formed out of volcanic rock! When the waves crash into the island it is just wonderful. Everything is so picture perfect. Later we left the island and stopped at the beach Lanikai. We got to swim for a while and play around on the beach. The water was so nice. Finally we headed back to the beach where our adventure all started. Whew! It was one of the best work outs we have ever done! We loved it!

Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner! Some of us jumped in the pool and went for a quick swim. Then we got dressed to walk to California Pizza Kitchen. We also had some time to check out the International Market. We got to CPK and most of us could sit at one big table to enjoy our family style dinner. We had so much pizza! Pepperoni, Hawaiian, 5 Cheese, and Pepperoni, Sausage with Mushroom. Yum! For dessert we had little brownies, just big enough. We love having time to just talk with the other exchange students. We are forming good relationships on this Hawaii trip!

We are very happy and very tired from our long day! We are looking forward to sleep and a good day tomorrow! It just gets better and better!

Marie Reitz- Germany

Matties- Germany

March 28, 2011 City tour, Dole Plantation, Sunset Beach and Polynesian Cultural Center

We love Samoa!

Cheers! Here is to new experiences!

Our hula lesson!

Enjoying every moment of it!

In Tonga showing off new skills!

A natural on stage.

We love Sunset beach!

Jumping pictures are priceless!

Haleiwa town is classic surfer perfect!

The Dole plantation!

Yum! The Dole whip is so delicious!

The guys with King Kamehameha.

All the girls with King Kamehameha.

At the palace! First group picture of the week!

The capital building!

ALOOOOHAAA!!!!

Today was another beautiful sunny day in Hawaii! Exactly what we want! We started our day with a short city tour. We stopped at the capital building and got to see one of the only two palaces in the United States. We also passed by the school that President Obama studied at. Our next stop was the Dole pineapple plantation! We got to have some of the famous, delicious Dole whip. It is like a frozen yogurt. MmMmM! We all loved it! Some of us even tried the enormous pineapple whip splits! We also got some souvenirs while enjoying our whip.

Next we went to a small surfers town, Haleiwa. It was the cutest town, because it was so small! The town reminded some of us of Europe with all the small shops. There they have a extremely popular burger place where we got to try burgers with pineapple slices on it! YUM! They were kind of messy, but it was totally worth getting it all over our hands and faces! We did some more light shopping in the rest of our free time. We saw all kinds of surf shops and hawaiian places to shop. It is a very tourist friendly little town with many fun things to see.

After that we passed by many famous beaches. We got to stop at Sunset beach. This beach usually has many people surfing the huge waves, but today it was very calm. This was good because we got to put our feet in the water! We took another group pictures and the background of the beach was perfect. So many of us took jumping pictures! It was a fun short stop.

Our last stop was the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was amazing! We were taught many things about the Polynesian islands. It is a very interactive place that is actually pretty funny. We stopped to watch a few mini shows from the different areas. Some of our students actually went up on stage and danced in front of the audience. It was so funny to see! The highlight of some of our days was the hula lessons. Many other students loved the Samoa show! It was so cool to see him start fire. Then we headed off to a delicious buffet dinner. We had two students with birthdays and the people at the restaurant, and us all sang happy birthday to them!

The show at night, Ha Breath of Life was amazing! It was the best show most of us had ever seen. It was very professional and well put together. There were dances from all the Polynesian islands. There was a story of a man from birth through adulthood and his story was told through the different islands. There were a lot of dancing, shouting and fire shows. The backdrop of the open theater was gorgeous. It was so real with the palm trees, waterfall and fake volcanoes. The fire dancers were also everyone's favorite part of the show!

It was a loooong day. Most of us slept on the way home back to the hotel. We definitely loved it and had a good day. It was a wonderful day and hopefully we will get lots of rest to be ready for our next day here in Hawaii! Hawaii is amazing! WE LOVE IT HERE!!!

Aloha and goodnight!

Pavol- Slovakia

Laura- Estonia

Lukas- Germany

Sunday March 27, 2011 Surf Lessons, Catamaran Ride and Hard Rock Cafe

Inside Hard Rock Cafe dancing to "I got a feeling!"

Birthday girls!

Classic surf picture!

Catamaran view of Waikiki and Honolulu.

Having an awesome time on the catamaran!

Getting soaked on the net of the catamaran!

Getting ready for the paddle tricycle!

Surf lessons are the highlight of the day!

A big Aloha to you all!

Today was our first day of our great vacation! We started our day off with an ocean view breakfast. We got to enjoy bacon and eggs, a fruit bowl, stuffed french toast and banana macadamia nut pancakes! After we stuffed ourselves we walked down to the beach.

We were going to our surf lessons and catamaran rides in the clearest and bluest water. We all had a quick lesson on the land then we went out to the ocean to catch the waves. Whew! What an upper body work out! We had some free time for lunch, shopping, and of course tanning! We made sure to always put on some sunscreen.

After our break we got to go on a catamaran ride! Some of us got soaked while riding on the net in the front. We were getting splashed as the waves crashed into us! It was such an awesome time! While we were out we actually saw dolphins! We even got to see sea turtles and swim with them! The fish were cool to see, even though the natives were probably bored with them. Haha! While we were sailing there were some flying fish and we were so close to the water that it seemed like we were flying with them. While we weren’t surfing and on a catamaran ride we were playing volleyball, and other students played soccer and football. We had an amazing view of Diamond Head while hanging at the beach. It was a perfect way to start our week!

We had some free time to walk back to the hotel. A lot of us did some light shopping and bought some souvenirs. Then we got back to the hotel and got ready to go to dinner at Hard Rock Café. We walked down to the restaurant and then BOOM there it was: beautiful, big and legit. We couldn’t believe our eyes! On the way up to the dining room, the second floor, the ceiling was covered with guitars all the way up! We had the great Hard Rock Café food!

The music was great and we even started our own little dance party to the song “I got a feeling”! Most of us got up and danced around our tables! We were jumping up and down and everyone was staring at us! Once things settled down we got dessert, the perfect size chocolate chip cookie. It is a great place to have fun and enjoy good food and company. We kind of wish we could have stayed longer to have another party!

At the end of the day we had a group meeting to talk about tomorrow. Belo keeps surprising us with new activities that are not on the original program! 24 hours a day are not enough!

Shout out to the other side of the world! How is the future!? J We want to stay here in the past for a lot longer! Mahalo Hawaii, Raphael, Carleigh, Makena and Meredith! Goodnight, sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite!

Jasmine- Belgium

Alena- Germany