My stay in Oahu is coming to an end. Therefore, I have thought a lot about what I’m going to miss the most from this island. Here’s the three biggest things I will miss from Oahu. The climate The main thing I’m going to miss is the weather in Hawaii. It’s much warmer than in Norway. In December, the temperature in Oslo, where I live, is around -5 degrees Celsius, compared to 28 degrees Celsius in Hawaii. The ability to constantly walk around in shorts and t-shirts is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Trust me, you’ll miss it the moment you got to put on 6 layers of clothes before walking out your door. The beaches Yes, this is a big time cliché, but it’s worth noting. The beaches in Hawaii are incredible. Some of the best ones in the world. As a person who hates to lay on the beach sunbathing, the beaches here are perfect. You could go out and surf or shorebreak near the sand. You can do so many activities on the beach. Or just lay on the sand and get bored to death while sunbathing, at least you’ll get tan. The atmosphere The vibe of Hawaii is something special. As soon as I landed here, I felt much more calm at once. It’s just chill. Aloha time is a real thing and you don’t realize why, until you’ve stayed at the island for some time. I’m going to miss the people here as well. There’s a lot of shady homeless people, but almost every person I’ve met here have been welcoming and very nice people. The feeling of driving a car at 5:30 in the morning up to the North shore with a warm cup of coffee in your hand, listening to some Jack Johnson can’t be expressed with words.
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It's two days until we're in December, the month I go back to Norway, sadly.
After this semester is done at school, I will have 12 days of vacation on Oahu, before I leave the island and head home to Norway. During those 12 days, I will have a friend come visit me from back home. His name is Sondre Hoffsbakken and we used to go to high school together. The plan for those final 12 days will be to rent a car and experience everything Hawaii has to offer. From swimming with dolphins on the west coast at 5:30 in the morning, to go the best hikes Oahu has to offer. Needless to say, there's going to be a lot of Acai bowls on the North shore those last couple of days. Mermaid caves on the west coast, Three peaks and skydiving are three of the things we're going to do while we have the car. I have yet to visit the Mermaid caves, but that's one of the spots on Oahu I want to visit before I leave. Three peaks is probably one of the most spectacular hikes that I've ever done in my life. Skydiving is something I'm not superexcited about doing, but I feel like I have to do it here, since it's so cheap compared to in Norway. If I'm going to do it in my life, this is the place to do it. The last 5 days, we're going to sleep in a tent with some of my fellow Norwegian exhange students, on the North shore. Hopefully we're going to see Pipemasters before we leave for Norway. In total, I reckon we'll be around nine people camping. It's going to be alot of fun. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy our last days on the island and create more great memories from this semester and that Sondre find this island as amazing as I do. It's only eight days left of this year's fall semester at Hawaii Pacific University (HPU). That means it's time for finals period.
In the U.S school system, unlike in Norway, the teachers take attendance in their classes throughout the semester. Except for in the last week of school, where there is no normal classes, just exams. This is the most stressfull period of the semester. Every quiz, every paper, every presentation, boils down to this last week. For me as a communication student, the finals projects that I need to do is mostly to make portfolios of previous assignments I've done throughout the semester and present this in a nice way. I have five finals, and three of these are to perfectionate previous assignments and deliver these. Which is not that bad, compared to other majors. But at the same time, communication classes probably have more assignments throughout the semester. So, for the next eight days I will be at HPU's library on Bishop Street, finalizing my projects. Luckily, the library serves free coffee and chips after 7 p.m. See you in eight day! This year's thanksgiving was my first ever. In Norway we don't celebrate this holiday, of course not, it's an American holiday. I have heard about the tradition and the history of this celebration, but never experienced it. Until now. Four friends of mine; Adrien, Kristian, Anders and Ibrahim, decided we were gonna go camping on the North shore of Oahu for the entire weekend. From Thursday until Sunday. We had already bought a 10-person tent a couple of weeks ago and we were ready to head out and camp. Little did we know how difficult it is to camp up on the North shore. Everything is private property up there. We found a good spot to set up camp for our first night, at Pua'ena Point, near Haleiwa. We went to our friend Axel's house after and had a thanksgiving dinner, wich was really nice. We were 10 people in total around the dinner table, everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves. The day after we were told by Security personell that we had to move our camp, so we moved it into the middle of the forrest somewhere on the North Shore. There we slept for the last two nights. There we barbequed, played cards and watched the stars from the beach nearby. One thing that I liked about thanksgiving, is the spirit of the holiday. Wherever you went, you could see families spending time together and appreciate each others company. The atmosphere that was on the North shore this weekend was fantastic, it made me appreciate the time I have had in Hawaii and be thankfull for the time I have left on this Island. |
AuthorHi there! My name is Ole Christian Nymoen. I'm a 22 year old exchange student in Hawaii. I major in Journalis and I love taking action photography and writing about sports. Archives
November 2017
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