aloha hawaii.

i figured i would switch it up with an aloha instead of hello. so this post is going to be long haha...

hawaii is beautiful. absolutely beautiful. incase you want to know, i live on oahu. oahu is a pretty popular island and it's the same island that the capital (honolulu) is on. i live in laie (la-E-A), which is about an hour from honolulu. laie is a very small town. if a want to go get food from a restaurant, my choices are mcdonalds, taco bell, pizza hut, a chinese place, and an ice cream/shave ice place. i live off campus in a house. my house is like right along the beach. as i'm writing this i can hear the waves crashing on the beach. i will say though, one thing i am not a fan of is that i don't have air conditioning. ughh. there isn't air conditioning anywhere in hawaii unless you're in a hotel, a resort, or a store. the university has air conditioning but the dorms don't and none of the houses around do. it's a lot cooler outside of my house than it is inside but i'm getting used to it and figuring out tricks for it to be cooler. 

the campus is gorgeous. absolutely gorgeous. i don't mean to brag, but i think i win the award for prettiest campus haha. i'll post pictures soon! everyone here is super nice and friendly. everyone is also very laid back which can be annoying since i'm coming from an environment that's not like that b.c sometimes i just want to know answers and people are just like 'ohh we'll figure it out later and let ya know'. but it's definitely a stress free environment. 

as for my house... the living room and the kitchen are lime green (it's a bit much), my room is lavander, the other room is a vibrant blue, the bathroom is yellow, and the house is a blue/turquoise. it's a very beachy feeling. my roommates are great! i love them all and we get along so great! one is from california, one is from texas, one is from here on oahu, and the other is from the philippines! 

classes start tomorrow and i'm actually excited. i know that sounds lame, but i'm excited to meet new people! i got a bike today so that will make it nice to get around. 

other things that are interesting about hawaii... the fire trucks and fire hydrants are yellow. everyone and everything will say aloha and mahalo instead of hello and thanks. for example, when i check out a target and i slide my card through the thing, it says 'mahalo for shopping at target'. everyone's uniforms are the button up shirts that have the tropical flowers on them. for like every store it's that way. target they're red, walmart they're blue. people toss up the hang loose hand sign like they show a smile. and everyone bikes, skateboards, or longboards. 

overall i'm doing pretty well! obviously i miss home some because i miss my friends and family but i'm trying really hard to not think about it and to just embrace the change and have fun. it really does help that it's so beautiful here haha. 

okay goals while i'm here:

1. learn how to surf

2. don't get eaten by a shark

3. meet lots of new people

4. get good grades

5. get in great shape

i'll probably think of other ones later but as for now that's about it! alright, well now that i've updated you all on the basics my other posts will be more interesting! just thought i would catch everyone up on how i'm doing! thank you to everyone who has been so kind and supportive. you have no idea how comforting and great it is when i hear everyones support. it just reaffirms that i can do all this. i love you all!! and i will hopefully have more interesting things to say later :) 

L