You'll be happy to know that I survived my first Christmas away from home and boy, it was a Christmas like no other.
On Christmas Eve, we all went to a luau which was quite fun. My correspondent and his kids made it up on stage and there was some cool dancing (by his daughter and the hula dancers, not him!) I'm still not quite on Hawaii time so staying up to 10p local has been somewhat of a struggle for me. But the guys dancing with fire really woke me up. The final set of songs were Christmas songs with the Hawaiian lady in a Christmas moo-moo and the Polynesian dancers in Christmas shorts and grass skirts. Somehow, it didn't really put me in the Christmas mood too much.
On Christmas Day, I spent the first hour or so on the phone with my family really missing them. REALLY missing them. I almost decided to stay in my room and watch Christmas movies on cable all day just so I would feel like Christmas. Then I decided I would regret that later. So I went with my colleagues to the Halona Blow Hole which was absolutely beautiful. It was near the same place that PEOTUS had gone to spread his grandmother's ashes a couple of days ago. After that, we went in search of a beach on the North Shore, just to switch things up a bit since Christmas Day was the only day that we didn't have liveshots and could leave our little section of the beach. I know- you're still not feeling sorry for me but it didn't feel like Christmas one iota. While driving around and trying to find a good beach, I listened to Christmas carols on a local radio station. I must have heard Mele Malikimaka about fifteen times and The Hawaiian Twelve Days of Christmas about three times. Nothing mentioned Jesus and it was really beginning to wear on me. I had never had to search that much for Jesus on Christmas day and I really didn't like it too much. At one point about three hours into our driving journey, I heard the First Noel and I nearly cried. Then it hit me. While I wasn't thinking I'd celebrated Jesus's birth aptly, I realized that I was completely surrounded by God's beautiful creation. That thought changed my perception only a little bit!
Later in the evening after talking to my family a couple of more times, I still hadn't really felt like it had been Christmas and I still missed my family. But last night, that changed. I was invited over to my friend Julie's house for Christmas dinner. Julie used to go to my church in Alexandria and got married and moved here several years ago. Her husband James is a pastor of a local church in Milliani and she seems to be completely thriving here. Anyway, they invited me to join some of their family and friends from church for Christmas dinner! It was awesome! They had a real Christmas tree and their house was decorated so festively! For dinner, we had pot roast, sweet potatoes, and green beans. As you probably have noticed, my life seems to revolve around food and that food immediately made me think of home. Julie's brother-in-law was even wearing a Virginia Tech T-shirt. I nearly had tears in my eyes! I enjoyed my evening meeting their family and friends (and the first time being away from my coworkers in a week. I love my co-workers but it's never a bad thing to get some time away from each other.) I heard stories from people who were here during Pearl Harbor and others who had moved here from the Philippines. The best part of the evening was after dinner when we all gathered in the living room and the 20 of us or so sat around and told the Christmas story through songs. Julie had organized the order of singing carols to tell the story of Jesus's birth. It was the first time all day that I had really celebrated the fact that Jesus was born! All day I had been trying to really feel like Christmas and I ended the day on a perfect note! I was having church right there in James and Julie's living room!
Now it's back to doing liveshots on the beach all day. I know, you still don't feel sorry for me. But I only have about a week left of beach duty!
On Christmas Eve, we all went to a luau which was quite fun. My correspondent and his kids made it up on stage and there was some cool dancing (by his daughter and the hula dancers, not him!) I'm still not quite on Hawaii time so staying up to 10p local has been somewhat of a struggle for me. But the guys dancing with fire really woke me up. The final set of songs were Christmas songs with the Hawaiian lady in a Christmas moo-moo and the Polynesian dancers in Christmas shorts and grass skirts. Somehow, it didn't really put me in the Christmas mood too much.
On Christmas Day, I spent the first hour or so on the phone with my family really missing them. REALLY missing them. I almost decided to stay in my room and watch Christmas movies on cable all day just so I would feel like Christmas. Then I decided I would regret that later. So I went with my colleagues to the Halona Blow Hole which was absolutely beautiful. It was near the same place that PEOTUS had gone to spread his grandmother's ashes a couple of days ago. After that, we went in search of a beach on the North Shore, just to switch things up a bit since Christmas Day was the only day that we didn't have liveshots and could leave our little section of the beach. I know- you're still not feeling sorry for me but it didn't feel like Christmas one iota. While driving around and trying to find a good beach, I listened to Christmas carols on a local radio station. I must have heard Mele Malikimaka about fifteen times and The Hawaiian Twelve Days of Christmas about three times. Nothing mentioned Jesus and it was really beginning to wear on me. I had never had to search that much for Jesus on Christmas day and I really didn't like it too much. At one point about three hours into our driving journey, I heard the First Noel and I nearly cried. Then it hit me. While I wasn't thinking I'd celebrated Jesus's birth aptly, I realized that I was completely surrounded by God's beautiful creation. That thought changed my perception only a little bit!
Later in the evening after talking to my family a couple of more times, I still hadn't really felt like it had been Christmas and I still missed my family. But last night, that changed. I was invited over to my friend Julie's house for Christmas dinner. Julie used to go to my church in Alexandria and got married and moved here several years ago. Her husband James is a pastor of a local church in Milliani and she seems to be completely thriving here. Anyway, they invited me to join some of their family and friends from church for Christmas dinner! It was awesome! They had a real Christmas tree and their house was decorated so festively! For dinner, we had pot roast, sweet potatoes, and green beans. As you probably have noticed, my life seems to revolve around food and that food immediately made me think of home. Julie's brother-in-law was even wearing a Virginia Tech T-shirt. I nearly had tears in my eyes! I enjoyed my evening meeting their family and friends (and the first time being away from my coworkers in a week. I love my co-workers but it's never a bad thing to get some time away from each other.) I heard stories from people who were here during Pearl Harbor and others who had moved here from the Philippines. The best part of the evening was after dinner when we all gathered in the living room and the 20 of us or so sat around and told the Christmas story through songs. Julie had organized the order of singing carols to tell the story of Jesus's birth. It was the first time all day that I had really celebrated the fact that Jesus was born! All day I had been trying to really feel like Christmas and I ended the day on a perfect note! I was having church right there in James and Julie's living room!
Now it's back to doing liveshots on the beach all day. I know, you still don't feel sorry for me. But I only have about a week left of beach duty!
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