Dear Freshmen,

You're going to struggle. You're going to have a hard time adjusting. You're going to miss home. You're going to wonder if you went to the right school, chose the right classes, or if the person next to you can really be trusted to tell you the days work if you miss class. You're going to call home more than you realize. You're going to forget to do your homework on some nights. You're going to do so much more than you realize. You're going to compare yourself to your friends back home and their college experience. You're going to wonder if this is all worth it..

But..

You're going to meet a number of amazing people who become family. You're going to have a great time exploring your new area; you're going to find home in the places you discover. Your photo album is going to double in size. Your roommate could turn out to be your best friend for the next few years. You're going to think about changing majors and, in the process, could take a class that could change your life. You're going to realize how quickly your first year is going by and wish you could go back in time to when you had just left. 

You're going to make mistakes but you're also going to miss it. Dear freshmen, you're embarking on more than just a school year. You're preparing for an adventure; don't worry about the little things right now. 

Dear Freshmen,

Enjoy it. 

Hey everyone,

I'm not sure the direction this post is going to go in, just like I'm not sure if I'm going to be too repetitive. I'm posting it to get this off of my chest, as it's something I've been thinking about a lot over the past week.

I'm not sure if Manoa is where I want to be.

I know, I know, I talked about this last year. I thought that I would grow out of this- I really did. I thought that perhaps if I took classes I'm interested in and took advantage of more of what Manoa could offer that things would be different. But, truth be told, things are not much different. 

I would like to clarify, before I say more, that I mean this in an academic and social sense. Let me say that in no way does this post define my feelings of Oahu, just like, in no way, do I not like Oahu. I love the island, just not Manoa. 

Before this year started I made it my goal to take advantage of everything Manoa offered me, considering that I had given transferring some serious thought. I rushed, I became more active in the Korean club, and even tried for the collegiate magazine. However, along the way, I learned a few things. 

One- the Greek Life at Manoa is an idea that I am in love with that has been executed very poorly. The sisterhood I desired is not present at Manoa. I learned this when I rushed. The "sisterhood" at Manoa is backed by thousands in yearly dues for shirts that you pay extra for, events that are not mandatory, and quotas that must be met. If you're curious to read about my in-depth rushing experience, click HERE. 

Two- The Korean Club, while not as cliquey as last year, is hit or miss. In this semester, as many have argued, it falls more alongside the 'hit' category. The leadership isn't very present, and, unless your Korean is a rather high level, you might feel excluded. This can be prominently seen in the group chat, where the primary text is in Korean by the members in 300 and above. I thought that, by taking Korean, I would feel more welcome. And, while I do feel welcome, I have found it very hard to get to know the members, as my Korean level is so low. 

Three- The collegiate magazine is another way to surround yourself with your Sisters. I capitalize Sisters because that's everyone who is on the commitee- girls from one of the sororities on campus. I'm sure they're all lovely, but really, I don't want to feel excluded by not being a Sister, and I don't want this to be something that feels cliquey. 

Lastly, and I've said this I don't know how many times, but Manoa is not the college I envisioned myself at. When I pictured myself at a University, I wholeheartedly saw myself not only at a good school but an actual college. I mean this, of course, in the social sense. A school with a large quad, with a congregation of dozens of students all laying out or playing frisbee. Beautiful buildings that are really old but still hold well. Faculty who are easy to approach, and at the same time, make the effort to get to know you. Large lectures with hundreds of students that I can't all possibly know but would still enjoy attending. 8 am classes because I prefer waking up early now. All of this, and more, are things that I craved in picking my school. And, truth be told, I really wonder if I would be happy elsewhere. I really wonder if I would be better off attending a better school, even if it meant I would be paying much more. 

I'm constantly reminded of the decision I made to attend a lower school. I can't believe how hard I worked in high school, hard work that landed me interviews with Ivy League schools, to only end up here. Here is a place with no quad for students to gather at. The campus is primarily commuter, so the majority of kids in my classes still get driven to school by their parents. Here is a school with academics so easy, "I could fall asleep, wake up, and still get an A on my exam,". Here is a school where the professors don't make the effort to know you, and are very sardonic when you do ask for help. Here is a place where I do not feel like I'm getting the college experience, but merely living in a period. A place where nothing is coming and nothing is going. A pause in time. Nothing. Everyone around me is more concerned with going to the beach or spending their parents' money to really prioritize school. That is not who I am. I am somebody who loves education, whose desire to learn at a higher standard led her to applying at 7 tier one schools, and interviewing with every single one. I am a student who tries consistently to make the mark, and yet gets absolutely degraded by my teacher because the 10 hours of time I spend a week on their one class "isn't trying hard enough". Mind you, I'm in 18 credits, and since there are only 7 days a week, it is physically impossible to spend 10 hours studying for each class. 

At the end of last year, I was confident that this was "just a phase" or the onset of the Sophomore Slump. However, this week has quietly revealed to me that this wasn't a phase but that I was right. Manoa is not an academic place, but rather, simply a place where I am paying to eat, sleep, and live at a very low cost. 

I know that I shouldn't be complaining- "It is Hawaii after all!" But I really don't think people are understanding where it is that I'm coming from. It does not matter where I am, if I am paying I truly believe I should be happy. Don't you?

I hope the rest of the week treats you well. 

Until next time,

Aislinn

Hi guys!

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit the North Shore, Matsumoto's Shave Ice, and try shrimp from a truck! I took lots of pictures and will share them as I go.

Firstly, this was something I was able to do thanks to a club. A few posts ago I posted about a club called Hanwoori Hawaii which holds meetings and events with hopes to connect students interested in Korean to Korean exchange students. Yesterday was their second event, their first I had not gone to. With about 30-35 people in attendance, we were split into groups and left shortly after 10. Originally, the plan was for everyone to take a bus, but we ended up having to ride in cars due to all the buses being booked for this weekend. Personally I think this was more fun because you were able to get to know the people in your car, if they talked. The first car I was in was fun because the guy driving was playing various KPOP songs and one of my friends was beside me, so I had someone to talk to. It took a surprising 30 minutes to get to the trucks, which was a lot faster than everyone thought it would take. In fact, we made such good time that the trucks hadn't even opened yet! However that didn't stop the tourists, because the line for Giovanni's shrimp was already (at 10:30) very long. I think only a few people actually went and waited for shrimp from that truck, whereas the rest of us ate at a place called Hono's. I got the pineapple shrimp and shared with my friend who got the Kalbi. Here's what you can expect your plate to look like if you order the pineapple shrimp:

Doesn't that look so good? It tastes even better, but I guess I should warn you all to peel the shrimp before eating. I didn't know you had to, so I actually ate almost every piece before someone told me I wasn't supposed to do that..so yeah peel the shrimp. 


After the trucks we got back into our cars and began driving to Haleiwa, the town where Waimea Beach can be found. Here is where we would hopefully be able to jump off of the big rock and into the ocean. Well, as you could have guessed, things didn't end up that way. 

We arrived at Waimea and immediately set up camp. In front of us what a slight drop that led into the ocean, which coincidentally happened to be some of the roughest waves that day. The ocean at North Shore is nothing like Waikiki, Cromwell's, or even Kailua. This water is a deep dark color and can get very deep very fast. Never in my life have I stepped into the ocean and then swim into 20 foot deep water! I'm not sure why, but on Saturday the waves were also very big and pretty rough. Like I said, you begin walking into the water and are immediately pulled into 20 foot (at least) deep water. Our group was actually approached at one point and told that if we "didn't have on flippers" than we weren't allowed to swim. Now naturally when you're telling this to a group of 30 something college students do you really think that's going to stop us? It didn't, and they didn't say anything to us again, so that should give you an idea of how much they enforced staying out of the water. 

Even with the rough waves and deep, dark water it was still very cool being at another beach. I'm telling you- no two beaches are the same! Here's some pictures of North Shore. 



I know the waves look still, but they definitely weren't! They were so rough that we weren't even allowed to jump off of the rock, something that disappointed a lot of people. Personally I think that with or without the rock everyone still had a lot of fun. 


After the beach we got back into our cars and drove to Haleiwa where we would find some shave ice. 

Real quick, have you noticed anything about what I've been saying? In Hawaii, no one says "shaved ice" but rather "shave ice". Don't ask me why they say this, but just know that everything, even signs, say "shave". At Matsumoto's this is also the case. It's also a huge tourist destination, with the line being out the door and wrapped around the courtyard outside the store. To give you a better picture, here's the line when I hadn't even entered the store.


Not sure if you can see, but the line goes all the way behind the guy in the aloha shirt. The stores across from the shop are little gift shops and tourist traps. 


Once inside, Matsumoto's is a cute little shop with over 30 flavors to choose from. Attached to the shop is, naturally, a Matsumoto's gift shop where you can buy some cute (and relatively cheap!) shirts for those back home. When you get to the front (which is surprisingly fast) they will ask you what flavors and/or toppings you want. For 50 cents you could add condensed milk and for $1 you could add 5 balls of mochi. I ordered the Hawaiian, a blend of coconut, pineapple, and banana. Additionally, I got the milk and mochi. After ordering you're then ushered to the side where you can watch them make the ice! Here's what my ice looked like: 


The condensed milk made it all the more sweeter, but next time I think I would hold off on the mochi. Besides that the shave ice was so sweet and so good. If you have the ability to, I would definitely suggest going. I got all of this for $4.25, and the large isn't much more than that so it's very cheap considering the name of the place. 

After we ate we began the long drive back to campus. To put things into perspective, UH Manoa is located on the southern edge of the island, while Matsumoto's is located on the northern part. Driving can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, but taking the bus (which I don't recommend) takes over two hours. I won't attach a map, but lets just say it's far. 

And that was my day! We got back at 5:30 and went our separate ways afterwords. Hawaii is such a unique place that in those 7 hours I learned so much. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how quickly people become like family. During the trip, while they were primarily upperclassman, there was no "I'm better than you because I'm older than you" mindset or attitude.  People here are so friendly and inclusive. Even more than that is how open people are with their food. At 10 I didn't know any of the members, and at 4 I was sharing food with them. In Hawaii, and I'm sure college all over the country, people share everything. If you ask someone "What's that?" when they're eating, I guarantee you they're going to offer you a bite/sip. At Matsumoto's this was exactly the case. People would ask you what flavor your ice was and then say "Want to trade?". Fun fact- they're not asking if you want their food (like I thought) but if you want to try their food.  And no one gives it a second thought! If you're coming to Hawaii and have a problem with sharing food, get vaccinated because I can tell you right now you're going to end up sharing food with somebody in college.



I hope you guys enjoyed this post. One of the best things about this club is that you don't necessarily have to be in Korean to be in the club. I'm really going to fight to be in Korean 101 next semester, but right now I'm not in Korean and I'm still allowed to be in the club. If you're planning on taking a Korean class then I urge you to join Hanwoori. If you're not planning on taking Korean than I might recommend not joining simply because this club is for those interested in language and culture. Right now I will say there's been times where I feel awkward not being in Korean but being in the club, but I'm hoping that will change soon. 


Until next time,
Aislinn 

Hey guys!

I know that lately many of my posts have been less about the University and more about my social life (or lack thereof) so I've decided that this week I want to change that. For all those potential students- now is the time to ask me any questions you have regarding the school. Also, I will be attaching more pictures of the university to help highlight some of the beauty of this school. If you've been reading since the beginning than you would know that I didn't start out with the most positive opinion of the campus. So, for the next week look forward to learning more about the campus, from buildings to clubs, I hope this week will give you a glimpse into more of what the University of Hawaii at Manoa can offer you.

For now I leave you with this, quite possibly one of the prettiest buildings on campus. Located across from the architecture building and near the campus center, this building is one for the books. On a good day the sun makes the palm trees shine and, on a gloomier day, the building still gleams. I haven't had a class in there yet, but if you find yourself taking a womens study course you could end up here!

Hi everyone,


Without realizing it the first week of college has already come to an end! Isn't it even crazier that I've been in Hawaii for just about 3 weeks as well? I would like to point out that it hasn't been just me in Hawaii, but also everyone else who has been reading my posts and keeping up with me. Those people have been in Hawaii just as much as I have been these past three weeks. In addition, I feel like it's also been a few days since I posted anything. I know that traditionally my posts have been a "recap" of sorts, with the occasional "fun fact" post thrown in there. While I've learned enough stuff to make a third fun post, I've decided to make this post based off of a conversation I had with another student today. I hope you enjoy.


This morning my friends and I, yes the same Coloradans I've been hanging out with, decided we would take the bus into Honolulu to go to The Korean Festival. Celebrating it's 15th year, the festival included dancers, food eating contests, information booths, a necessary tent, and lastly many unique food vendors. While it's usually just the 5 of us that go places, my friend Bella decided to extend the invitation to another girl, one from California, to come with us. Bella told us all that this girl had been feeling very homesick and that maybe getting her off campus would help distract her. Surprisingly, the girl agreed to attend the festival with us, something that I think really did help keep her mind off of things. While the festival was entertaining, I would like to point out that to those interested- it isn't all Korean food and Kpop. Instead, many of the booths are actually either information about Korean companies (Korean Air was one of the booths, as an example) or giveaways. Also, while the festival itself is free the activities are not. What I mean by this is that if you want to try a pipe ice cream you're going to need to pay  2-3 SCRIP's. A SCRIP is essentially a ticket that you pay for up front, and while it isn't required I would recommend it if you want to really do anything. Some vendors take cash but many take SCRIP tickets only. My friends and I didn't buy tickets and we still had a blast, so really it isn't something you need to do if you don't want to. 


After the festival my friends and I walked down to Walmart to pick up some last minute things for our dorm rooms. While it was mainly a mix of school supplies and food, what's interesting is the conversation I had with the Californian. She told me how she's been feeling very stressed lately and that she had come so close to leaving the campus. She told me that ever since getting to campus she's felt lonely and like an outsider, and that when she spends too much time alone she begins to feel "depressed". I wanted to make this post to shed some light on something that affects all students but that is still something so few will talk about. For this girl, the first week of college "was horrible". For her, it only took two days before she was calling her parents and begging for them to buy her a return plane ticket. This made me think back to my first post I made while on campus, the one where I was crying in my dorm room because I had no one to talk to on campus. The post I made before I had friends. You see, while the first week of college is fun, it's also very stressful. In addition to all of the schoolwork you'll most likely be getting, if you don't have that group of friends yet than chances are you'll start to feel like you're losing your mind. I want to tell you, right now, that you're not. You're not losing your mind, you're not alone, and it is okay to feel sad. Everyone, at least the majority, of people on campus feel this way. You will find that group of friends, you will have those days where you forget how homesick you are, and, before you know it, you won't even remember why you were sad in the first place. While my first week of school was, for the most part, great, I can confidently say that that is not the case for everyone. So many students on campus will tell you they're homesick, and so many will chime in if you share how you're feeling. With so many students going back to school right now, I only saw it fitting to share that this week is not the end. At times it will feel like you've reached your breaking point, and at times you will want nothing more than to go home, but if you put yourself out there and continue to act positive and kind than I promise things will get better. As it is I've made so many friends this week, and if you've ever known me than chances are you believe that I'm a fairly introverted person! But what happened when I put myself out there, when I was most vulnerable, was when I began to make friends. I made friends with the 3 Coloradans who quickly became 4. I made friends with Californians, Big Islanders, and even locals. I became friends with people from all over, and now I no longer feel alone. In fact, I look forward to spending time with these people. One week ago I wrote about how I was ready to leave Hawaii and about how utterly miserable I was in the place so many call paradise. But like I've said so many times before, if you give it time and put yourself out there I promise you will enjoy yourself. The first week of school is not your last. Remember that next time you feel like giving up. 


Just thought I would share that since I know so many other kids going through those emotions. Feel free to leave in the comments how your first week of college went, or just continue to silently admire my blog. Either way, I hope you learned something from this post. 



Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey everybody,

As expected, I'm back with another post about my school day. Thankfully, this day was better than the last. While I didn't have as many big lectures, I did have more classes with friends, and for that, I'm thankful. Here's a quick synopsis of my day:


For some odd reason my roommate, a girl who's earliest class is at 8:30 (and only on Monday) decided to once again wake up early and go on what I'm assuming is a morning run. While I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, one thing I've noticed about myself is that when someone else is in the room, or when someone else so much as comes into the room, I wake up immediately. She's quiet when she's getting ready, but when she comes back is when I've started to wake up so she tends to make more noise. Or maybe I just notice it more. Either way, I have an 8:30 class just about everyday of the week, and it isn't as bad as people have made it out to be. No, really, my class is very small, about 7 of us, and the teacher is very friendly, making the classroom environment relaxed (because we're all still waking up) and not competitive in the slightest (again, we're all still waking up so it's a very good time to have class). And this is coming from someone who is not, and has never been, a morning person. 

After Chinese class, my 8:30 one, I walk over to my psych lecture and take some time to just collect myself. Today the weather was a lot better, meaning that at 80 degrees there was, what felt like, a lot less humidity than the previous day. So much so that I even saw people walking around in hoodies and jeans! 

My psych class is huge. By far my biggest class, psych is definitely one that is going to require me studying on my own time. Thankfully, I know two people in that class and was even able to sit with both of them. It's ironic that the biggest class is the one I'm going to probably get the most help in. 

After psychology I was off to my last class of the day, an optional review taught by a TA. The buildings could not have been farther apart, I swear. I'm surprised I didn't hit my steps, either! I actually just barely reached 10,000 today, and you would think that walking from one side of campus to the complete other would help, but I guess it's for the better since it motivates me to take advantage of the on campus gym. I haven't used it yet, but I'm thinking I will soon. 

After my last class I met up with a friend in the bookstore to hang out before having to part ways. It wasn't for long, maybe half an hour, before the bookstore became too crowded for my liking. Also- class just started and I've already seen one tour! There's no way I could give a campus tour on the first day of school, so I wonder if those kids knew they were witnessing the first day. 

I don't have much more to share after that. I did some homework, marked up my calendar with future test dates (honestly, I have one test a week in Chinese. I'm not exaggerating) and met up with friends for dinner. It was a slower day, and I hope the rest of the week isn't like that. Fingers crossed for more active days! 


Besides that I don't think there's anything else I have to share. If you're coming for a tour, be warned: classes have literally just started, so be courteous to those trying to make it to their class on time. 


Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey everyone,

So today successfully concludes my very first day of class! Let me break it down for you..

Firstly, walking from the freshman towers is killer at 8:00am. It really is. Not only is it very humid, but, at least in my schedule, the distance you have to walk is pretty far. At a brisk pace, getting from the towers to the north side of campus is a good 25 minutes. Also- wearing a dress is a horrible, horrible idea. In hindsight, it was something cute to do for my first day, but ideally wearing a cotton dress in humidity is not a good idea. Don't do it. 

My first class was originally supposed to be my largest, however I quickly realized that would not be the case. Out of 7 people I am one of of the youngest. There's actually one other freshmen, but other than that there's only a couple sophomores and juniors and the rest are Ph.D students. It makes me wonder why so few students are continuing with Chinese, and it also makes me wonder why so many students are guys and not girls. But regardless we opened class with introductions of ourselves in Chinese and went on to review the rest of the year. 

After running home and changing into shorts and a tee, something much more practical, and went on to my next class: Intro to World Religion. Now while I thought this class was going to be interesting it just turned out to be a huge rant and a "Do you think God is real? I can prove to you why he isn't as real as you think." Which is insane. And what makes it worse is the fact that I was under the impression that this class would be small. Instead, the class is a huge lecture hall with probably 40 people. Personally, that's way too many people for me and the whole reason I registered for an ACE cluster. It really ticked me off and I wish I could drop the class just based on the sheer amount of people enrolled in it. 

Next class was Anthropology, and more specifically World Cultures. Another class in my ACE cluster, but another one with too many people to count, immediately I wanted to leave. The topic seems interesting, but not only does the teacher not know how to use a computer but also hates electronics. I get that some people are old fashioned, but this is a whole new level of loathing. At one point, when she was explaining the book we would need to buy, a girl asked her if, because an E-book was cheaper, we could opt for buying the online version instead. Her response was, "Of course!" But when asked, "Awesome, so when I do that can I bring my tablet to class?" She did a complete 180 and went "Absolutely not. No electronics." So now the girl is really confused, as am I. She rebuttals with, "So should I get the E-book?" And I kid you not she goes, "Certainly!" And its so frustrating because some of us, like myself, are going to get the book the cheapest way we can, but you're really going to stop me from reading your textbook because you don't like technology and "studies have shown...". Quite honestly that might be the worst line you'll ever hear in school. "Studies have shown..." I mean I get where she's coming from but as a teacher you should know that not every student learns the same, so if I student learns better by typing their notes than why not let them? If technology is so awful and detrimental than why are STEM schools so successful?

Anyways, my next and final class was English 100. Naturally, I scored a 3 on the AP exam, meaning I would get absolutely no credit and that I will have to retake the class. However, as luck would have it, my English class seems like it's going to be the most fun. With only 20 kids, the ideal amount, I really think this class is going to be entertaining. Also, it's great to be able to sit there and say, "I thought all of my classes were going to be small..." And hear a chorus of "Yeah same!" It's comforting.


After all of that was over it was about 3 in the afternoon. I know early classes are often dragged, but being able to walk home when others are leaving, or just starting, feels so refreshing. Plus, it's so nice to just be able to go home at a seemingly normal time. 





I hope you all have a great day and I will talk to you soon!

Until next time,
Aislinn 

Hi everyone,

With less than 12 hours until my first class, I decided that instead of giving advice or sharing some things about my day that I would instead write this post to all of you potential students.

Firstly, lets talk about our 101 classes. Like any other college in the country, your 100 level classes are your most basic class. They range from "Intro to Psych 101" to "Beginners Mandarin Chinese 101". However, a little known fact about these entry level classes are the supplies. If there's anything the school tells you as far as supplies goes is that you will need a little remote called an iClicker. Now what's an iClicker.. Well, to make things simple, it's essentially a little remote on it that is typically used to either take attendance or show your participation in a class. I would go into more detail but considering my first classes aren't until tomorrow that's all I can share on the iClickers. However, if there's one piece of advice I could give you than it would be don't buy from the bookstore. If you have $60 that you're okay with throwing away for a little remote than the bookstore is perfect, but if you want to be a little more frugal than see if you can buy one secondhand. In my case, I found someone on Facebook that was able to meet on campus and sell me a remote for half the price of the ones in the bookstore. Trust me, the professors are going to (typically) tell you the bookstore is the cheapest way to go, but listen to me when I tell you it's not. 

Meal swipes. A little known fact about them is actually also a very hard to explain. At UH meal swipes, AKA your meal plan, can range from 7 meals a week to (I believe) 20. However during your first week, the one before classes start, chances are you aren't going to use all of your meal swipes. When this happens, you're going to find yourself wondering, "But what am I going to do with the five meals I didn't have this week?" The answer, which took my friends and I two whole days to find out, is actually quite simple: The Market. Closest to Hale Aloha Lokelani, The Market is a little on-campus convenience store. Whenever you find yourself with extra meal swipes at the end of a week, simply go to The Market and buy the equivalent of your meals in food. Here's an example: Out of my 10 meals a week, I only had 3. With the extra 7 meals, each meal being $5.50, I was able to buy over $35 of food! In addition to your meal swipes, The Market also takes debit/credit and food cash (essentially dining dollars). A word of advice- do not go on a Saturday. As their busiest day Saturday at The Market is crowded, bought-out, and competitive. Just try and picture 30 college kids trying to do the math as to how many meals equal an entire case of ramen. And don't forget that there's only one case and 30 kids. It's insane. Have you ever seen an episode of "The Walking Dead"? Pick any scene from inside an abandoned, empty, cluttered grocery store and you've got The Market on a Saturday night. It's absurd, but since this is the only place that will take meal swipes, it's all you've got.



So that concludes this post! I hope those two things helped in some way. If not, at least you now know a little more about Manoa! 

Until next time,
Aislinn

Hello everyone,

Boy, today was a sigh of relief. It's truly amazing how you can go from feeling absolutely horrible to comfort. If I had to pick the weirdest part of my day it would probably be the feeling of deja-vu I got at the most random parts of the day. Crossing the crosswalk in front of the East West center? Deja vu. Looking at the palm trees across from the Queen Liliuokalani center? Deja vu. While I felt yesterday like I didn't belong, today I felt the opposite. I wouldn't say I feel like I belong, per say, but rather I feel comfortable and almost like I'm in a familiar place.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say something that I'm sure will catch many people by surprise. You see, I'm not a very religious person, but when I have very hard times I often pray and ask God for the best. I don't think the feelings I got today and the day I experienced were because I "put myself out there" (which I did, by the way!). Instead I truly believe it's because God helped me. And I won't go into much more detail, but I will share that I'm very excited to get involved on campus and begin attending weekly mass. 

Now onto the rest of my day. After being woken up by both garbage trucks and roosters, I decided I couldn't just lay there any more and instead I got ready for my day. I knew that my mom would be stopping by, so for the first half of my day I knew I would be alright. 

Once she got here we did our laundry and set up my payment plan. At Manoa, students have many options of paying tuition. If you don't get scholarships or your loan money falls short, there is a third way to pay your tuition: via a payment plan. Pretty self explanatory, but a payment plan is essentially paying everything for that semester up front. I won't share how much I pay, but I will share which plan I signed up for. At UH there are three plans a student (or their parents/guardians) can sign up for. The first is a four month plan, typically for upper classmen. In this plan, students pay for the fall semester in four payments. Payments can be done up front, but only in the beginning. The school requests that you pay online, I personally think because it's quicker, through either a checking or savings account. In my case I had to sign up for the credit union out in Manoa and pay for tuition that way...Carrying on, the second type of plan is a 3 month payment and the third type is a two month plan. The perks of the payment plan are great, because not only does the school give you time to come up with the money, but they also don't kick you out if you're late or low on funds. Also with a payment plan you aren't tied to a bank that you'll eventually have to repay!

At the end of the payment process mom and I hopped on the shuttle to Walmart and from there we walked to Ala Moana. Ala Moana, a mere 15 minute bus ride from campus, is located right outside of Waikiki and consisted of over 300 very interesting stores. From your standard Coach and Disney Store to your only-available-in-Hawaii stores like Hilo Hatties and there ABC Store, there's something for anyone and everyone. While at the mall mom and I ran into Old Navy (which is quite honestly very cheap here) and went out for lunch. 

After lunch we caught the bus back to campus and finished setting up my dorm room. I know that I haven't posted pictures yet, so here are a couple to hopefully satisfy until I become more comfortable sharing pictures online. 

The day of move-in before anything had been unloaded

After unpacking everything. Isn't it adorable?

Overall I think my mom and I did a great job of setting my room up. Now I just hope my roommate and I get along so that I won't need to move rooms and take it all down! 

Afterwords was when things went downhill.

I knew that I would feel lonely again, but was at that point in the day where all I could think was "Why won't people hang out with me? Why is my door the only one open in my hall? Where is my roommate?!" In short, I was thinking very negatively. In an effort to change things I decided to reach out to one of my friends Shannon. Shannon and I know each other from Colorado, but that's about it. I opened with, "Hey! I hope I'm not bothering you-" and asked if she had signed up for NSO (New Student Orientation). She quickly said she has, and I explained my situation (could you really call it that?). She quickly texted back that "Of course, you're more than welcome to join the three of us as we do NSO. If I had known that your roommate wasn't there yet I would have reached out!" This was when my day began to get better. Before I knew it, I was rushing to get my room tidied up before leaving to go have dinner with Shannon. I'm sure my mom wanted to spend more time with me, but I was very eager to hang out with people outside of my floor! And really, I haven't done much of that. My floor seems to be the silent type, in which no one leaves their door open and instead of socializing they all stay inside of their rooms. In fact for the whole day yesterday mine was the only room with the door open- on my entire floor. I understand that people are still getting acclimated to campus, but shouldn't you also be getting to know people? 

When my mom left was when Shannon came over. She actually came over right when my mom was calling a cab. It was really nice spending the majority of my day with my mom while also getting to hang out with my friend. 

Once inside my tower, we hung out for a bit before heading out to dinner. We ate in a different cafeteria and it was a crazy experience. I say crazy, but really the only thing crazy was how much effort the school puts into the presentation of their food. No, really. I'll attach a picture my next post. Also, Ashley ate dinner with us! I'm actually really glad, because Ashley is really nice and I would hate to be left out had she gone and eaten with someone else. Because Shannon and I had been talking about going to Banan and the Japanese garden after dinner, we extended the invitation to Ashley and she accepted. So, after eating my tilapia, rice, and fresh green beans, we left and began walking. 

Banan is interesting. And also vegan. Do you know what an acai bowl is? Banan has a similar look except it's misleading and gives off the impression of being ice cream. Don't be fooled, IT'S NOT ICE CREAM. Instead, it's yogurt made entirely out of bananas. Around the yogurt is anything from coconut shavings to fresh slices of strawberry. In my case I got the Acai bowl (it looked like chocolate) with a side of banana slices, strawberry slices, granola, and puffed quinoa. Like I said, very vegan. But still good. I think next time I'll read more of whats in the bowl before buying. 

Once we finished eating we walked over to the very peaceful Japanese garden. One of those moments where I thought to myself, "is this really happening?" happened as I walked down the aged stone steps to go look at the koi in the pond. With a full moon in the cloudy sky, it was one of those times where you can't help but think, "I couldn't do this stuff if I was back home" Seeing the garden, while at night, was still very cool and while I don't think Ashley enjoyed it as much as I did, I'm glad Shannon was able to show me. 

Later was the inflatable fun in the courtyard which Ashley wanted to do. When we showed up, there were 2 inflatables and a dunk tank. It's a very small courtyard. Since Shannon and I didn't really want to do the challenge course or basketball we just decided to walk around campus some more, given that the two of us haven't seen a good chunk of it. The walk was interesting, we saw a mongoose and many wild cats, but the weather was great so it was nice to walk without getting sweaty. 

After that we said our goodnights and went back to our dorms. Tomorrow we're going to get breakfast and will then take the bus into Waikiki. I'm not sure if Ashley is going to go, but I'm still so excited. God is so good. 


Until next time,
Aislinn