Just Pretend it's Two days ago.

KONGLISH LESSON: SELCA

SEL = SELF
CA = CAMERA
SEL + CA = SELFCAMERA; the action/product of taking one's own photo. In the case of Korean individuals this usually takes the form of sitting in a coffeeshop or on a bus/train while taking verrrry close-up shots of one's face, looking at it, reapplying make-up, then re-taking the photo. In an attempt to make the face appear slimmer, one might try to angle the camera downward, or place a peace-signed hand along the side of the face.

This is my attempt to SELCA with my underwater camera. Not so easy, as objects underwater may appear closer than they actually are.

Been Wondering about Hawaii?

I bet you've been wondering, "How was Sus's Trip to Hawaii?"
I bet you have been thinking to yourself, she's een back in Korea for nearly two weeks, and she's only posted a skimpy poem??
I bet you've been thinking...I wonder why? why? Why doesn't she tell me what happened in Hawaii?
And I know you've been asking, on the phone, or email, or telepathic communication.
...and I haven't been picking up.
What...a...jerk.

Larry Laveen & Denise (like the fish) discussing great and deep things as the sun sets slowly inthe sky at

old Airport beach; Kailua-Kona Winter 2011

Truthfully, I'd like to give you the skinny on every little detail.

Truthfully, I'd like to sit down with you and a stack of freshly cut photos that reak of fixer and store reciepts.

Truthfulls, I'd prefer to write and write and write.

But in truth, I simply can't remember it all.
I had inteded to wait till i got home, post a pic and write about it. ...and I will!!! really!

but it's proving to be harder than I intended, as I seem to have misplaced my photos, sent my journal home with my big sis, and spent a lot of time just sleeping on the beach and daydreaming... of kimchi....and home....and my students and my friends...of sushi and the weddings there are to be attended...of scruffy bearded fellows who smell good and girl talk and good wine. chocolated chip cookies and teddy bear puppies and ...I'm getting away withmythoughts again, and running at 10% battery power while the Tea Purple shop i sit at has no power outlets...aparently... give me time, and power and wine...

...and I will unravel such a tale... of sun and shine.. and surfers with bandaids on their glasses... and new friends and old... and just you wait! it's all TBA. :-)

Dennise (like the fish) Belmaker. figures in the Sun. Life is art and it is wonderful.

Hawaii: what is it? how was it? how on earth do I describe it?

It was very...American. The busses were HUGE...and SLOW. and people were so quiet...and large.

Ifelt like I was in a very slowly moving cave. and oh, the drivers were rude--but what else is new.

Everyone suddenly is taller than me~I am one of the tallest in Korea, so this is wierd. I find myself saying the phrase "In Korea...blah blah..." too often for my taste, but how else to I explain why and how I act the way I act and react? I wish I could explain to you the way I live in Korea, but if you've never seen it, it's hard to describe. Because it's the same...but it's different. So let me describe instead the first few days of my time in America for the 1st time in 1.5 years. It was rainy. it was cold. I was surprised. I checked into the Seaside Hawaiian Hostel, and although I'd been registered as PAID, they didn't have a bunk for me. Thanks, y'all. So they ended up making a new Female dorm~ a wierd one since there was a "private" room inside there--they had to come in and walk thru to get to it.

I checked in and unpacked, then forced myself to explore Waikiki.

two words to describe this neighborhood: AMERICA-TOWN

I was in Disneyland or Everland and everything just seemed too big and too small and a bit too plastic to actually be taken seriously. Do people actually like this kind of thing? really?

Everyone there was old and fat and strolling along holding hands. they were slow and boring, and so was Waikiki. and where was the nightlife?? I thought Honolulu was the biggest city in Hawaii? In Korea (here I go again...) there's always some sort of party or event going on; if you have the mind ot go out and look for it. Is this REALLY what I have to look forward to for the next 3 weeks?

Aside from the fact that i'm so bored and stifled in Waikiki, and the pigeons keep bugging me at the beach, and it smells and is noisy as all ever...I can't seem to stay awake. I just want to stay in my hostel and sleep. I walk to get food, and as I am eating I pass out from exhaustion. I check the time in korea: wow. how am I still up? It's been Tuesday for two days, now. the difference between Honolulu nad Seoul: 19 hours.

I HAVE to get OUT.

Book and AIRPLANE ticket to KONA, big island.

before I take off, I manage to make friends with two lovely Austrian girls, Connie and Dannie. We walk and visit a farmer's market, and even go for beers that night. We exchange contact info in hopes of meeting up when I visit Europe this spring. "Perhaps," Connie says, "I can explore Sweden with you a little." Yaaaayy....

The photos I have posted up here are from Kailua Kona, since I took a total of four pictures in Waikiki my first visit. I will post just the pictures later, I guess. When I arrived at 4am at the Honolulu airport, I was rudely ushered from point to point, and yelled at by cranky TSA officers for wearing a sweatshirt and not knowing my flight number. (I say cranky rather that B*chy, since it's possible some kids are reading this...but that's what they were!) When I arrived in Kona airport, it was dark. We got off the plane, walked across the road, thru some double doors. outside to outside. It was just a wall. I could smell fresh air and hear birds chirping, at the airport. Although this was all pretty cool, I had no hostel reservation, it was DARK outside still, and I had no idea where I was going. So I grabbed handfuls of pamphlets and sort of sat in the baggage claim area trying to formulate a plan as I watched the sky change from black to gray to purpley-pink and finally a brilliant blue. SUN! FINALLY! I decided since I had no idea how to catch a bus or shuttle out of there, I would have to get a cab. Biggest bummer of solo-travel: no one to share these expenses with (not to mention the experiences..har har har...)
I got in the Cab. the driver asks me where I'm going. "um....." I'm thinking fast about what I've read on the internet and i just pick a place "Koa wood Hale??"

"yes, I know it...okay"

whew! and we're off...I am so nervous. I hope they have space for me. I am so sleepy. I just want to sleep. luckily they have a spot for me in the female dorm. Zero, who is running the place, tells me to come back at 5pm--that's check-in time. so I stash my bag and go explore the town. it's small, and quiet. and it's also just barely 8am. I end up at the end of the strip at Kailua Kona town. theres a small platform under a bunch of coconut trees. I lather on my SPF50, and lay down in the shade; good girl. I fall asleep quickly to the sound of only ruching water in the distance.

The go-underwater-and-flip-your-hair-back thing doesn't seem to work out just right....

The next few days are filled with activity and new friends. I hike to the Captain Cook memorial: 1 hour downhill all the way on various sized lava rocks; one hour Uphill with a gang of sixty-somethings who I befriend when I realize I'm hiking alone and am a little scared.

I visit a farmer's market and discover how AMAZING and cheap the papayas are, make sandwiches and BBQ with Larry Laveen--formerly of Long Island and now residing in Oly--meet Johanna dually of Germany & portland and knows my camper, Maria Brown from Kirby (waht a small world), and some other delightful characters who make my time in Kona joyful, simple nad simply unforgettable. Oh, and I can't forget the crushed ice man who doubles as a sustainable energy enthuthiast... after four days, I hitch a ride with Dennise Samsonowitz Belmaker and her husband across the island. We visit black sand beaches and Akaka Falls. We spend most of the time in the car but stop in the tiny rural country town of Havii for ice cream. It's MLK day--everything's shut down. keep on driving...

they deposit me into the hands of Mariana, Naomi, Bob and his baked beans...

but that is a story for another day.

Aloha, homies!

Until next time...be excellent to one another!

<3>

La Isla Grande

Cliffs of lava, ava-ava

ava-ava lava fields

sand that's lava

all around me

graveled driveways

football fields

lava, lava ava-ava

lava, lava at my heels