Mahalo & Aloha

March 29, 2013

Last day in paradise!

Today was our last day in paradise. It started out with a beautiful rainbow while eating breakfast at the pool and enjoying the sun.

Right after breakfast we headed to Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling and to see some colorful fish, sea turtles and the humuhumunukunukuapua'as. Just the view from the top of the bay was the way worth it and gorgeous.

After the introduction video we walked down to the beach and went right away into the water to explore the Hawaiian sea life. We saw baby turtles, exotic fishes and our highlight was a whale jumping out of the water! We also worked on our Hawaiian tan while laying in the sun.

It was such a beautiful day full of fun with our friends, that we almost forgot that it was our last.
After the van took us home to our hotel we got ready for the luau, a Hawaiian party. Everybody dressed up with colorful dresses, aloha shirts and flower leis.

At the party we got Polynesian tattoos, did our own flower bracelets and enjoyed some cocktails.  We ate some traditional food typical for a luau. Afterwards we enjoyed the last time together and some hula dances and fire shows. Some of us danced on the stage to show what we learned in our hula lessons. All in all it was a pretty amazing day and it's for sure that we all want to stay here forever!

Back to the hotel everybody realized our time in Hawaii is over, but we all will find our way back here. It was so emotional to say good bye to the friends we made this week. We all got so close this past 7 days. However it's not a good bye, because you always meet twice in life. So we want to say: see you later!

Svenja , Rica, Lea, Henrietta

Pearl Harbor: A Powerful Experience

Our day started early today at 8 in the morning. The bus was waiting to bring us to another awesome place on our trip. We went to Pearl Harbor today one of the most important places in US history.
At Pearl Harbor we were separated in two groups. One group left to visit the memorial of the USS Arizona the other half went to visit the USS Missouri. Half of the students who went to the Missouri got the tour around the ship first while the other group was cleaning and helping with community service on the ship. At the ship we were able to see the document which ended World War 2. Also we saw on our tour through the ship different cabins and rooms. The guide showed us where the Captain Cabin is located.

 After the tour was finished we got to work on the ship. One group cleaned the deck with brooms others did other work. After visiting the Missouri we got some time to relax on the Memorial grounds. Everybody got snacks or something to drink. Before we left with the boat to visit the memorial we saw a movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was emotional, patriotic and showed how sad the attack on Pearl Harbor has been. The boat which brought us to the memorial was operated by members of the US Navy. On the memorial we got the chance to go to the hall where the names of all victims are shown. It was quiet in the hall and you realized what the place is really about. When you looked at the rests of the ship you could still see oil coming up from the deep. On the boat back some people were thinking again about the attack and World War 2. For us YFU students Pearl Harbor is one of the reasons why we are here. We are here to connect the world. We try with our exchange to never let such terrible things like World War 2 happen again.

Back at the hotel we got some free time for some of us the last chance to go shopping in Hawaii.  A lot of us went to get last gifts and presents. At seven we came together to have dinner at the 21^st floor. From the dining tables we had a view on the sunset over Waikiki Beach and later over the night skyline.
For some of our leaders we sang birthday songs in multiple languages. We finished eating and had two hours to go and do some more hanging out and shopping. At ten we met at the hotel to speak about tomorrow. Our bed time is tonight late 11.30 pm. With this more time everybody can prepare for snorkeling or Diamond Head tomorrow.  The day was awesome and we learned something.

Jonas from Germany





Another Great Day in Paradise...

Today is already Wednesday which means that we only have two and a half days left, but let's just not think about that...

Today as another nice day with a lot of fun and new impressions.

Since we are such a big group of 99 students, we were split into two groups and each had another activity today.

The group I was in went snorkeling at a beautiful bay. It was like a secret mission because we went in small groups to enjoy the snorkeling here! We watched a video about the reef to learn more about it and how to protect it.

Then we were finally ready to go snorkeling and discover the underwater world of Hawaii. The water was not too warm but it as ok and totally worth it! A few people saw a sea turtle and we saw a whole bunch of other different kinds of fish with a lot of different colors and shapes. Even though it was not super hot today we had a nice time on the beach and maybe for some of us it was even better that we had a little less sun since many of us look like tomatoes from the beach yesterday.

In the afternoon we had free time to hang out and get lunch. We met back up with the other group who went hiking today - they hiked to the top of the volcanic crater, Diamond Head! (We'll swap activities on Friday!)

Together, we continued the day at a big mall here in Hawaii.  The nice thing is that it's an open air building over three levels of stores and restaurants. We went to dinner at Bubba Gump, which is a restaurant based on movie Forrest Gump. Since the mall is pretty big, we got another hour after dinner before we were heading back to the hotel. We had a party bus on the way back...music up and everyone dancing in their seats, of course.

I guess we are all pretty tired now and are looking forward to an exciting day at Pearl Harbor tomorrow.

Aloha and goodnight!

Niklas from Germany

A Perfect Day at the Beach!

It is March 26th and it seems like a normal day in Hawaii on this beautiful  morning. You see the sun rising, the people walking along the streets of Waikiki. It seems to be a normal morning in Hawaii. Well, looking on the screen of my phone tells me something else. 50 new notifications in facebook, a whole bunch of text messages and the date: March 26th 2013. "Happy Birthday"... "Alles Gute"... or "tabalodeht Mobarak". All that means the same, it doesn't matter if it is in English, German or Farsi, because it means that it's my birthday! And not just some random 17th or 34th birthday. I turned 18 and not on an random place. It is in Hawaii!

We sat in the bus and we drove along the streets of Waikiki. The weather was awesome. I really mean it! Blue sky, no singel cloud in the sky, a nice breeze of wind and warm 80°F. Our destination was the Pali Lookout. On the way to the look out, the peeple sang Happy Birthday in English and after that in their own native language. The second one was seriously my favorite! Yeah, I didn't get any single word, but it sounded very awesome and cool. At the look out you had the possibilty to look over Waikiki and since the weather was clear and sunny, the view was incredibely good!

Shooting some pictures and enjoying the view over Waikiki and then hop on the bus to drive to Whole Foods to get some sandwiches. We bought some sandwiches, salalds and drinks to get ready for our picknic at the (name of the beach?)-beach.

The beach was awesome!!!

Why awesome?

Well ... there are couple reasons for that:

The beach is mostly just known by locals, so there are not a whole bunch of tourists around the beach. Since I am live in Michigan, another reason is that a beach which is not covered by snow, is a good beach!

We all arrived there with wide open eyes, open mouths and this special "Oh my god face", which probably all of us had, when we were 4 years old and we saw Santa Clause in our houses, eating the cookies and drinking the milk we put out there. Our Santa Clause consists of white sand, blue warm water and much space for all of us exchange students and staff members!

With our sandwiches, towels and our happy mood, we were more than ready for the water and the beach. Some sunscreen here and some sunscreen there and then running to the ocean as fast as you can! The waves were huge and enjoyable and the weather, was awesome as usual in Hawaii.

We had a wonderful day at the beach and a great picknic. Everybody enjoyed being in the water as a group. We really stuck together, had much fun and I really could tell that we are a sort of an internatinal family. We really like each other and there is not really somebody, who is the outside or something like that. We all just have a good time.

We continute our journey through the island. Stopping at another look out, where you have an amazing view over the ocean, was an awesome idea and we all enjoyed it, while we took pictures and chit chatted around.

On the way back home, to our hotel, we passed the Beverly Hills of Hawaii, with houses with prices not less than a million dollars. Party in one of those houses would be really cool. Since nobody of us as a million on our bank accounts and since we are not allowed to go on private property, we just started doing our own party in the bus. The words happiness and fun were written in in huge and invisible letters in the air of the bus. We had fun and we did it the international way, because we all know how to freak out and just have a good time. Foreigns and americans in one bus. - What did you expect? Sleeping and earbuds in the ears?! ;)

We arrived and had an hour to get ready for our diner. Hard Rock Cafe was our destination while we walked on the streets of Waikiki and the weather was just awesome. I mean, what else, it's Hawaii.

We had diner and some awesome conversations about differences between our countries and how similar we are in some ways. All of the sudden everybody told me to get up and while I did what I was told to do so, standing between tables, I was wondering what was going on. I thought I might have to dance or something. Although I was pretty sure that nobody wanted to see that. Have you seen me dancing lately? - Not a good idea. :D

I stood on the stage of the Hard Rock Cafe with our other birthday boy, Daniel! Sudenly everybody started to sing Happy Birthday. I really mean everybody. The entire Hard Rock Cafe was singing Happy Birthday for me and Daniel. On top of that, we got a huge Sundae Ice Cream cup and a little key chain thingy! It was awesome!

Literally awesome! I mean it! It was one of the best days in my entire live! No kidding, I really enjoyed it and I turned 18 in Hawaii. - The earth's paradise.

Sascha from Germany

The North Shore and Polynesia

Today we woke up to a beautiful sunrise, excited to see some Hawaiian sunshine!

After eating an awesome breakfast at the beach, we took the busses to the state capitol building to learn about the history of Hawaii. After many wonderful pictures, we headed to the Dole Plantation to try some 'pineapple whip' and it was amazing!

Next we drove to a surf town called Haleiwa. In this town we ate something none of us ever tasted or even thought of before...a pineapple burger! We also got to do some shopping, and drove along the coast to see famous beaches that can have waves up to thirty feet! Insane.

Next up, we left the island of Hawaii (but not really!) to explore the many islands of Polynesia at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Here we learned about different Polynesian islands and their cultures through different activities and shows. We saw a drum show in Tonga, danced the hula and took ukelele lessons in Hawaii, learned Tahitian dance in Tahiti...and learned how to make fire in Samoa! What a day.

In the evening we watched a show called Ha - the Breath of Life which showed us the journey of a boy growing up in different Polynesian cultures. There were even fire dancers...incredible!

Now we are exhausted and ready for some sleep so we can wake up tomorrow ready for another great day!

Can from Turkey

Surf's Up!

After a long day of arrivals yesterday, we woke up early this morning in paradise! Only one little thing...the sun did not want to shine! But for YFU students, some flouds and rain is NO problem. We made the most of it!

We headed to the beach for a lesson in surfing and to take a catarmaran tour. We learned how to get on surfboards and how to paddle out to the good waves. With the help of our instructors, we were able to catch waves and stand on the surf boards!

The catamaran tour was great, too. We saw dolphins, swam with see turtles - and saw whales! During the tour we could jump from the boat into the warm Pacific water...amazing!

Also, we made a Harlem Shake video on the beach with our favorite surf instructors.

After we headed towards to the hotel to relax before dinner. We went to an awesome pizza place that showed a lot of sports, like Buffalo Wild Wings but with pizza instead! We had some free time to go shopping afterwards and explore Waikiki.

We regrouped to talk about what's in store for the day tomorrow...and now we are thinking about this awesome first day in Hawaii - and looking forward to tomorrow!

And yes, it has stopped raining...eventually...!

Jonas from Germany
Eric from Sweden
(and some credit to Annika from Germany and Josephine from Denmark)

ALOHA YFU!

ALOHA YFU! 

Get ready for a week in paradise...the Hawaiian Expedition is here! With its breathtaking natural beauty, its never-ending list of fun and exciting things to do, and its spirit of "aloha," Hawaii is a dream destination for anyone!

We will be staying in beautiful Waikiki on the island of Oahu, and we will spend each day exploring a new and fascinating aspect of Hawaii's unique culture.

Join us as we test our surfing abilities, celebrate in a traditional luau, and hike to one of the island's best-known lookout points. We'll come face-to-face with Hawaii's rich history...and maybe even a sea turtle or two! And along the way, we'll get to know each other, forming friendships to last beyond our week together.

This will be our day-to-day journal... each day, you'll get news, information and pictures from the students. Join us on our adventure!