gotta LOVE district-mandated trainings. i have to go to this stupid literacy program conference this entire week. i have to go for the next 3 years. i went last year. same ish!!! well... u know me, i like to spice things up. =) ok maybe not quite that, but being the political person that i am, i have to speak up when i feel strong enough about something.

so the day starts off with "introduce yourself and say something else interesting." well everyone was talking about their dogs, and babies, and gardening, and stamp collections. gets to me and i said something to the effect of, "i'm a very political person (don't vote for bush) and i'm really inspired by the mobilizing and organizing tha'ts been happening at our school, 99th Street in Watts. parents and teachers are coming together, we got the principal out, but there is still more work to be done.... vote for kerry!" that was interesting. it's fun seeing how people get all quiet and uncomfortable when political things are mentioned. so taboo! *gasp*

so later on we have this discussion about teaching and learning, and blah blah. anyhow, this guy was all, "sounds like we're talking about something larger than just teaching and learning." so to respond to it, i say (in a nutshell) "we are. we're talking about the system. open court (the literacy pgm) is part of the perpetuation of the system that's in place. open up the teacher's manuals to the About The Authors page and look at who they are. all white, except one token african american woman. whose knowledge are we saying is most important? whose knowledge are we teaching? i'm sorry, but the system has NOT changed, because decades after Brown v. Board, my kids are STILL all black and brown. don't tell me segregation is gone. the system is still the same system. and for open court, and CA state standards, which i also have a problem with, dictates whose knowledge is more important. what's important to my kids in watts is not important to kids in pacific palisades, and vice versa." so the stupid workshop facilitator, older white woman than she is (i bet she never taught in an urban school), goes "let me ask u this. how many years have u been teaching?" WHAT A F***IN CHEAP SHOT! so i call her out and ask, "are u trying to pull rank on me?" of course she was. but she denied it and try to pass it off as some other bullshit. i knew what she was going to say: well i've been teaching x amount of years and you're just young, idealistic, and unexperienced.... bullshit. it has nothing to do with how long you've taught. it's about philosophy. anyway, that lady hated me for the rest of the week. i gave her a lot of shit, but every cheap shot she tried to shoot at me i just either shot back or just laughed it off cuz it was so stupid, and everyone else in the workshop could see it too. biznatch...

been back for exactly a week now. of course i'm sad and miss the folks in hawai'i, but a lot of them are back here in LA. had a mini get together this past tuesday with a handful of them, had dinner and went singing! =) they're always fun to be with. and tonite i have another mini-reunion at a house party. good times ahead...

tuesday was also the day i picked up benji from the airport. this was the longest separation at almost 2 months apart. me in hawai'i, him in hong kong/china. the whole deal with emailing and calling cards was hard to do. i don't know how my friends who maintain long distance relationships can do it for so long. seeing that first moment at the airport, i had a huge smile on my face. we missed each other a great deal, and i can certainly see that this time apart has done wonders on benji's part. he's changed in that he is more sentimental, more emotional, and more... feeling in general. so un-benji-like! where was his hard, professional outer shell? after some talking and catching up, i learned a lot of things and i believe our relationship has gone up another level. hard to explain, but it's the way it is... =) happier janet? yes, but it'll have to take some getting used to...

well, i'll remember hawai'i for a lot of things, mostly the friendships i've made. did some crazy things for the first time, like skydiving, cliff/rock jumping, ear cartilage piercing, swimming out into the ocean with no flotation device, opened eyes under water.. yeah. some may not seem so daring, but for me they were! i'm going to miss the beaches. my tan is going to go away. the muscles i toned up just from walking so much everyday are going to get fatty again. =( poo poo. ah, such is life. back to the normal life....

i saw a green sea turtle today!!! i saw one!!! no no, i saw TWO!!! my friend sighted one earlier in the afternoon at waimea beach. i missed that one and got really sad. it seemed during this trip that everyone else got to see the turtles and i always missed them. also, the main reason why i wanted to go snorkeling was because i wanted to see turtles. i was really sad that i didn't get to go. well, at waimea beach (where i jumped off the cliff-rock) my friend sighted another one and i was like where?? where?? and he kept pointing, and i kept asking where??? so then he goes, put on your goggles dummy. go under and look. then i put them on and looked. oh my gosh it was sooo beautiful. i was so peaceful under the water just following the turtle slowly. it was swimming towards where the rock divers were landing. one guy tried to chase the turle then eventually scared it away. but i was sooo happy i got to see it for so long. then later in the evening when we were still swimming in the ocean during sunset, i was treading water and suddenly i noticed just under my left foot a big ol' dark thing going by. it was another turtle! it was soooo close to me i almost kicked it. right when i saw it i freaked out and yelled, a turtle! a turtle! which really ironic because i had been wanting to get close to turtles this whole time. silly janet.

today was perhaps the second best day. the first best was when i went to waimea last time. so, to ensure good time, waimea is apparently the place to go. north shore is so much more beautiful and less touristy than the south part of o'ahu. speaking of tourists, it's so interesting that whenever i mention to locals here that i'm leaving soon, they look surprised and ask, oh where u from? i guess i really pass as a local. i think my tan really helps. i was so pale when i first got here. my bikini tan is so prominent that even though i'm not wearing anything i look like i'm wearing a white bikini. =p

tomorrow is the farewell luncheon. i sad. =( only one more full day left here in hawai'i. will i ever be back again? doesn't seem likely. i could never come back in the capacity of a tourist. the only really good reason i can think of is if there is some national conference or event or something to that effect for a damn good cause. but until then, this may be my final goodbye to hawai'i. i hope to make good use of tomorrow, and then saturday will be the final farewell. then back to good ol' smoggy polluted crowded plant-less dry LA.

only 3.5 more days left here in hawai'i...

in the midst of final projects and paper-writing and reading and studying for finals, my friend and i HAD to make time today to just take in the beach for one of the few last times. for time's sake we just went to waikiki, even though the water there is nasty. only went in knee-deep. we mostly just laid on the sand and read. also went to a native hawaiian co-op where they actually sell authentic hawaiian stuff. i was getting sick of going to the swapmeet and picking up everything that looked hawaiian but they would always be made in the philippines. what am i really buying? so yeah, being that the stuff they sell is authentic, u actually pay for what they're really worth and whatnot. ended up spending 90 bux there. oh, well, good cause! also bought 2 cd's of local groups. one i'll give to benji (the raggae group). had korean soon doo boo (spicy tofu casserole) for dinner. it was alright, i don't know what all the hoo-ha was about. i've been here so long that i got really sick of tourist. essentially, i'm included in that category. but MAN on the beaches of waikiki i saw some of the whitest of the whitest skin. and some nasty red and purple from some gruesome sunburns!! these haoles need more melanin to protect them. yet, sunburnt couples walk hand-in-hand with seemingly fake smiles on their faces on the beaches of fake waikiki. very depressing sight. i miss the day i spent at waimea in the north shore.

my sickness is slowly retreating. i swear i'll relapse though b/c of the crazy a/c in so many buildings and even the buses. i was so sick on saturday that i was bedridden. and my friends are so great that they entertained me while i was in bed by watching 6 consecutive episodes of this korean drama series called Stairway to Heaven. i'm hooked. i'm on episode 10 now. i can't find it anywhere though. where can i get a hold of it?!?! i NEEEED to watch itttttt!!!

i went dragonboat rowing today! my roomie is a pro at it, and we found these folks at ala moana last week who were rowing. my roomie, jo, got so excited she ran up to them and asked if she could row. they gladly excepted her, being the veteran that she is. today i went with her and rowed for the first time. =) it's very tiring, but a lot of fun. apparently it's a BIG DEAL in toronto. lotsa chinese folks and asians in general, and the second-most competitive high school sport next to rugby. crazy, eh?

tomorrow will be our second day of surfing class. we head back to diamond head after two weeks of.. not practicing. this time maybe i'll actually stand up on my board. on saturday i'm hoping to go snorkeling, but i understand if it doesn't work out. time is working against us as our stay here in hawai'i dwindles down to one week. not only that, but we have our final projects to complete, individual class papers to write, readings, and finals to study for. can i possibly cram all that into this weekend? saturday may just well end up becoming a work day. sunday is planned for either a bbq with the local boys, or a trip to north shore for some good food and fun. that i'll not miss out on. however, being that next week IS our final week, i sense heavy partying...

but for now, i'm running on 4 hours of sleep.

very exciting weekend! on saturday i attended a pro-independence/sovereignty rally, and got to speak with folks and connect with them on social justice work. i'm very glad i went to that over a boat cruise thing (which i really wanted to go to: had a water slide, snorkeling, lunch buffet, and more. oh well, another time another place).

that nite our class field trip was a local comedy show in waikiki. it's interesting to observe the local humor, a primary basis for it being pidgin, and seeing the making fun of different cultural groups here in hawai'i. some i could tolerate, others i was just sickened by. our professors told us to keep an open mind about it all, but i don't know... it's hard when u hear jokes that humiliate certain groups. =/

on sunday my friends and i went on an escapade trying to buy a new monthly bus pass. being that we'll only be here for 2 weeks of august, we were very hesistant to purchase an entire month's bus pass for $40. and the only other options were: pay $2.00 every time we ride, or buy a 4-day bus pass for $20 (yes a huge rip-off). sooo... i pretended i was in high school and tried to buy the youth month pass, which is only $20 for the month. =) success!! i am a youth. then, we were ready to go to aloha stadium for the weekend swapmeet. i bought so many things! i bargained a little, but i didn't want to so much because i know how little they make and how hard it is, cuz my parents had done that before. but i came away with lotsa neat stuff, including some nifty things to decorate my apartment. it's funny. so many things that u see that look like they are hawaiian are actually made in the philippines, indonesia, or of course china. it makes u wonder what u are really buying.

i think i've been spending a lil too much cash here. someone needs to keep me in check. not that i'm spending outrageously and carelessly. jsut that there are so many things to buy!! and tax is only 4%!!! ahh!

when i come back home... oh my god i forgot what i was going to say.

IT WILL NOT STOP RAINING ALL DAY!!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!