Thursday, April 18, 2013

Day 8: 18th of April - Goodbye

HAWAII 2013 TRIP is ending today! What can we say about these lasts days? We spent awesome days together, having fun, learning, getting to know each other and visiting unforgettable places! We would like to thank the students, the coordinators/monitors, chaperone, drivers and suppliers! We truly hope you have enjoyed this trip and left home with great memories and new friends. See you now at the East/West Coast trip!
 
Regards,
Terra North America.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Day 7: 17th of April - Hard Rock Cafe




Our last night was fun, some people went to bed early so they could wake up early and be prepared for the last moments in Honolulu, others went to bed late enjoying the last hours of the night, and Robbert, known as Iron Man, was saving the world with an iron on/in his hands. Next day we went to the hard rock cafe to have lunch and vote for the Hawaii 2013 awards!! Some people won a lot of categories and others didn't won, but sometimes it's better if you don't win than be the winner for worst singer and least punctual like Fred... Shame on you!! Afterwards we had free time to go around Waikiki beach for the last time. Oh my goshhhh!!! Really? One week it's not enough! We all became so attached to each other in just one week and now we have to go to different parts of the world, so far away.
Arriving at the airport some people were crying and others trying to hold themselves and be strong, everyone hugging everyone a thousand times and wishing the best for each other. Almost all of us were complaining because we got sun burned but at that moment we didn't care much at all. So many laughs and so many stories, I will never forget any of you guys. Thanks a lot to Fred, Kiersten and Dennis! Thank you guys for being awesome and making this an unforgettable trip. Going to Hawaii wasn't just about learning about their culture but also building up an international Ohana which means family and family means never forget or leave behind.
The fact that we can't just wake up and go to the beach all together it seems to be unreal but we are still young and a lot of things will happen in our lives. Hawaii meeting in 5 years maybe? West coast trip? World Cup in Brazil?  The doors are open, we just need to choose a good one and push it!! Love you guys! See ya.
Giovanna Barne


Day 6: 16th of April - Paradise Cove

Aloha!

Today being our last day of our trip, we had free time almost all day. We went again to Denny’s to get breakfast and many people went to the beach and enjoyed the beauty of Waikiki beach. It’s kind of funny because many people got sun burned and they can’t move their bodies. Other people went surfing and enjoyed the lessons. It’s amazing how we, the exchange students, could enjoy this day. Being at the beach and afterwards we enjoyed the Luau place which was pretty cool. We could learn about the Polynesian 

culture and their respective dance. It’s something new for many of us and even though we don’t know how to dance, we tried and it was very fun. I think that many of us are sad because we have to leave tomorrow and it’s been a week of amazing stuff. Such as being with other people from around the world and doesn't matter if we don’t know each other. We are just exchange students and we enjoy anything as long as we are sharing and laughing.

Thanks Terra North America.

Maria Alejandra Carrillo Valencia

Exchange student from Colombia!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Day 5: 15th of April - Hanauma Bay

    Today we went snorkeling at Hunama Bay Nature Preserve. We got there by vans and when we got off we saw a big coral reef. After the short video they let us go to the beach and start snorkeling. Things that we saw there were so amazing: different colorized fishes, sharks, turtles, etc. After that the vans picked us up and dropped at the hotel, most of the people left to the mall half an hour later, some stayed to take a shower and get some food. People who stayed longer went to the mall by trolley. Everybody met at the Bubba Gump restaurant and then everybody made their orders and ate a good dinner.

    After dinner we had a talent show! Everybody showed their talents, we had people who sang a song, did a short sketch, danced, and we had me - Rob with popular "oh my gosh", "really", and back flip, and making people laugh without saying anything, and Polish rap and,etc. after that we had some free time to mess around the mall. We met again in the front of the dinner place and we went to take a trolley bus back to the hotel. The ride that we took was awesome, we waved, and screamed to the people who did the same thing to us. Bus dropped us off at the Waikiki beach, we had some time to hang out up there. Then we came back to the hotel and that's it!

Wysłane z

Monday, April 15, 2013

Day 4: 14th of April - Pearl Harbor

    The day started with a big surprise: Breakfast at Denny's, once again.
 
    We then took the bus to Pearl Harbour a war memorial dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in the attack which introduced America into WW II. During our visit we saw an interesting short film and took a short boat ride to see the remaining true remnants of the ships who were sunk during the devastating attack.
 
    After we went back to the hotel on the way having a little bus party, lots of music, dancing, singing and energy burning!

    In the afternoon we had free time which many people used to go to the pool. Since it rained today that was the only swimming some of us did!

    After what seemed like a long walk we had really worked up an appetite, which was lucky considering the size of the meal that was to follow. We went to a real American diner where we chose our dinner and I can say my Crispy Chicken Burger was gooood!

    We had free time for the rest of the evening which a big part of us used to go to the beach.
And because we are cheeky monkeys we have to go to bed a bit earlier tonight...

So good night, bonne nuit, gute Nacht,

Marie (Germany) feat. Caitlin (New Zealand) xx

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Pictures of this trip

Day 3: 13th of April - Surf Class, North Shore and PCC

    The day we all expected was arrived: surf lesson!
 
    Our day started early in the morning. We took the bus to the beach and the bus driver told us the must knows about Hawaii. While we were driving to the beach we almost had a huge car crash! A car drove on the wrong side of the street and hit the bus, 5 people died plus one cat and 6 are in the hospital.. Just kidding, only the bus had a little damage. After the shocking happening, we arrived and got some surf lessons. We were divided in 3 groups and everyone tried their best to catch some waves in Hawaiian ‘hang loose’ style. It was awesome!
 
    Each group had a lesson that was long one hour. First we needed some instructions because the most of us didn't ever touch a surfboard before. They told us to watch out for the turtles because they can rip up your leg if you’re not careful enough. She didn't even tell us the whole story and then a huge turtle showed up. O M G! But no… nothing happened, it was awesome to see such an interesting animal so close! While the third group was surfing it started to rain, but it didn't stop them. The water was warm enough anyways. Meanwhile one group was surfing, were the other two groups chilling on the beach, looking for turtles, playing with the volleyball, showing skills with soccer and tried to get tan even though the clouds were everywhere. Sounds as a lot of fun, and that’s right.
 
    Afterwords we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center where we explored the origin of Samoa , Aotheiroa, Fiji, Hawaii, Tahiti & Tonga. It was really interesting! We finished our afternoon with a huge buffet. On the way back, Freddy showed us the video of the West Coast Trip of last year. We’re also getting a great video of our Hawaii trip! After we arrived we heard about the sad news of probably the biggest storm of the year that will start this night, but anyways we’ll enjoy and make the best of it!
 
- Daniel, Italy
- (Finetuner Philine, The Netherlands)

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Day 2: 12th of April - Diamond Head

    Up bright and early this morning. Awesome breakfast at Denny's as we prepared ourselves for the hardcore day ahead.
 
    Off we went in the public bus to 'Diamond Head' which is a wicked crazy mountain we had to climb! Easier said than done. In (what we thought) 100 degrees Celsius After a crazy amount of steps, some complaining, and streaming sweat, we were finally on the top; exhausted and sweaty!
 
   
    The view from the top looked like we were looking at a postcard...it was incredible! It is just how you expect Hawaii to look, if not even better! After 100s of photos were snapped we made our way to the bottom...thank God. I think most of us agree this is some of the first exercise we have done since our hibernation during the winter season.
    After waiting for the bus for about 30 minutes we finally made it back to our hotel. We then had some free time to fill our hungry stomachs. Stuffed and pleased we went to crash on the beach!

    All the sun made some of us very red, so now we're a group of shrimps! Do whales eat shrimp? Always wanted to know...anyway...

    This evening we all ate pizza together, but otherwise we had free time. We are all keen to get some zzzz's as we have a wicked busy day tomorrow!

Emilia, Sweden
Catherine, Australia
Philine, The Netherlands
Xoxo Gossip Girls

Friday, April 12, 2013

Day 1: 11th of April

    35 students, 28 degrees heat, numerous countries and a weeks worth of activities planned, we were all set for day one of our cultural experience like no other.

    After flights that lasted between a few hours and a whole day, the exchange students from all around America and Canada have arrived. Unfortunately a few students had a late arrival because of problems with delayed flights, but all in all we arrived safe and sound without too much hassle. Students who arrived earlier in the day spent the evening wandering the streets around the hotel and grabbing a bite to eat, and those who arrived later saved the introductions for this morning, heading straight to bed on arrival.

    Our hotel is centralized close to the shops, yet also only a five minute walk to the beach, which means we can easily access all of our tourist attractions. It has a pool and a common area in the lobby where we can all hang out. We are four people to a room and this allows us to easily make friends and interact with a wide range of students and countries.

    We started the day not too early today with a ride on an open air trolley which took us through the city, and also gave us our first glimpse of the beach! We hopped off at our stop and following a short walk we were greeted with a yummy breakfast at 'Bubba Gump Shrimp Company', a restaurant based on the life of Forest Gump. The decorations were very cool, including signs on each table that read 'run forest run' when you didn't need service, and 'stop forest stop' when you want someone to take your order. Unfortunately these were just a novelty as we had a buffet style breakfast rather than 'à la carte'. This concluded of things such as eggs, bacon, pancakes, potatoes, rice, and a large selection of fresh Hawaiian fruit. We also had our choice of fresh orange juice, coffee, milk and other soft drink.

    We then had an introduction type of thing where everyone talked a little bit about ourselves, and we were introduced to things about how the tour will be running and a friendly reminder of the rules needed to help this run smoothly.

    Preceding breakfast we headed to the catamaran, a large sail boat where we spent a good part of our mid-day soaking up the sun. We got beautiful views of the Hawaiian coast line from the ocean, which was gorgeous clean blue water bordered with clean white-sand beaches. We also got a glorious view of the large volcano which we will be hiking up tomorrow morning. There were some large waves and several people who sat near the front of the boat got completely soaked, but loved every minute of it!

    After this we walked further down the beach where it was less crowded and we had the chance to have some free time, where most people chose to sunbathe, swim, of alternatively play some soccer, volleyball or frisbee in the sunshine. We then stopped for a picnic dinner with various selections of sandwiches, fruit and desert once more.

    This evening was spent at the international marketplace, which showcases lots of souvenirs, T-shirts and other bits and bobs. Close to this there were also several larger commercial shops where we had the option to look around, too.

    Day one is ending with a bunch of tired yet happy teenagers, with big plans for our day tomorrow!

- Caitlin, New Zealand

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Hawaii - Before the trip



    Just got to Hawaii a while ago, the weather is perfect and we are very excited to receive everyone tomorrow.
   
    Despite of the delays and not having my luggage I couldn't be happier been in this land. Don't forget to put all your valuable in your hand luggage.

See you all tomorrow....

Monday, March 25, 2013

First Post

Hello All, this is the first post from this blog as the trip begin approaches. We are very excited to prepare such a wonderful adventure and have been working hard so everyone has their best time on the trip. We are very happy that we were able to have enough participants and our last reservations made our group as big as we expected.
Soon we will post more news.
Fred Malab - Terra North America