Day 3: Bruins Take-Out Vols on Moving Day

 

Went out to Kailua to watch my Bruins play Tennessee with some alums.  Nice folks, fun advice, and UCLA 19 - Tenn 15.  Oh, and the University of Hawaii fans all around the bar cheered with us because they didn't like "those rednecks!"  Good times.

------------------------------------------------------

Later that afternoon, I moved to the new place. 

------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------ 

(Our new place above, the new neighborhood below)

------------------------------------------------------ 

 

It's purrrty here.

Day 2: Orientation Day and Burger Night

 

Orientation Day: Aside from plans of water-based cavorting, sunset-induced life conversations, and indefatigable island exploration, I figured I'd do something productive career-wise while I'm here, so I picked up an externship with a Hawaii Supreme Court Justice.  As a judicial assistant showed me around, every justice, staff attorney, law clerk, and assistant in the building took at least a couple of minutes to say hello and warmly speak with me before wishing me well and going back to their work.  My own justice and his law two law clerks even made it a point to sit down with me and chat for a while.  It was all pretty neat.  The building itself oozed history and character.  Most of the first floor is a museum detailing the history of the Hawaii judiciary, with oil paintings of early Hawaiian chiefs and monarchs sharing the wall with all of the state's former chief justices.  The chambers themselves were filled with wood paneling and varnish, with clusters of palm trees swaying gently behind the large floor to ceiling windows.  Should be fun!
------------------------------------------------------

Burger Night:  With apologies to Shake-Shack, the Apple Pan, JG Melon and In-N-Out, which will always have a strong hold on my California heart, a new burger joint has joined your hallowed eatery pantheon.  Now, it may have been the long, hot day exploring around downtown, or the hunger-filled night-time restaurant search through Diamond-Head beforehand, but I loved Teddy's Bigger Burgers in Waikiki!  Old-fashioned, thick and juicy, great "secret sauce," and with a soft, powdered potato bun, it felt like someone handed me the burger fresh from the best backyard grill ever.  And, as icing on the proverbial cake, the place is B.Y.O.B.!  Nice.

Day 1: Honolulu Wandering

 

(View of the Downtown Honolulu skyline from friend's apartment.)

Spent most of the day walking around Honolulu in an effort to retrain New York legs that had atrophied after a summer of driving and sitting in a library.  Lots of tourists, lots of tanning, lots of overpriced food items, and lots of Asians (!)  It was a little surreal to walk around knowing that I wasn't here for a vacation or quick trip.
------------------------------------------------------
At night, Athena and I visited an old friend of hers who happened to have a spare room in her house.  The couple of roommates that were there were super sweet and friendly and, after a quick tour, some brownie enticements, and a conversation of the logistical and financial nature, Matt and I have a place!  It turned out to be pretty cheap, in a good location, and they're cool with the month-to-month thing, so it seems to have worked out great.  Altogether, we're going to have eight roommates in the house, so it should make for some interesting interactions somewhere down the road.

Day Zero: Evening Arrival

 

No euphoric feelings of belonging yet.  No miraculous epiphanies spontaneously springing from the people or the streets.  No pervasive thoughts of permanent settlement racing through my mind.  After having arrived at the airport a little while ago, so far it just feels...cool.  We'll see how the next 99 days unfolds but, for now, I'm just happy to be here for a little while.  
------------------------------------------------------

* The lovely girl to the right is my friend Athena, my gracious hostess for the next few days.  A once and present Hawaii resident, she is also a former Bruin classmate, a one-time New York neighbor, and a perpetually nice person.
------------------------------------------------------ 
In order to make the girl to the right happy, I have posted a picture of Winston below.  Winston, of course, is her stuffed sheep buddy and my temporary night-time companion.
In addition to the picture is the following:
------------------------------------------------------ 
"Ode to Winston"

Oh Winston, my Winston
Little little sheep,
White as snow, we all know,

Your cuddliness makes us weep.


Our little Winston,
So fluffy and so true,
Friend of friends, you make us glad,
Without you we'd be blue.


Oh Winston, our Winston,
With baby at your side,
In our minds, you are the tie that binds,
And now Athena can smile wide.

Pre-Departure Musings

Almost ready to go. Matt comes in a week or so after me, so I’ll be the sole voice here for a little while. We’ve always been the restless wanderers of our generation, Matt and I, always hungry for the next adventure on the horizon, always eager to take the next blind leap. While our menagerie of siblings and cousins already seem comfortable climbing corporate ladders, vigilantly patrolling hospital rooms, and enthusiastically growing their own businesses, we invariably chafe at the rigidity of our chosen career paths, and our inability to fully follow them on our own terms. Sure, we’re cognizant of the great opportunities we’ve had, and of how lucky and privileged we’ve been throughout our lives, but sometimes you just need to take a break, go somewhere new to refocus, and calm down the latest in the string of quarter-life crises that you’ve already endured. (Dramatic, no?)
------------------------------------------------------
So, we’re off to Hawaii, our tongue-in-cheek “paradise.” While neither of us truly believes Hawaii to be some type of all-encompassing panacea for our respective ills, there are lots of pretty beaches and pretty girls, the weather is nice, and people do seem to have that warm “aloha” spirit. Ah well, no one ever said we were that deep.  - J