So to say I am behind on the blog is a big understatement, but I have an excuse. We were in Hawaii!! We left on Friday March 9th and returned to Tokyo Sunday March 18th, and we met my parents there for a wonderful vacation. To say we needed to get out of Japan is another understatement. I was so ready to get out of Tokyo and to be on US soil was a huge encouragement to me. We skipped town for the year mark of the earthquake/tsunami and I thought I would not think about it, but it was constantly on my mind on March 11th. I will save that for another post. I do not know where to begin with our Hawaii trip, so I thought I would start with the scrapbook day we had on vacation.
March 12th fell on a Monday during vacation and we drove to the North Shore to see my old college friend from San Diego Summer Project with Campus Crusade (1997). Now let me tell you about my friend, who we will call Surfer Girl (SG for short). When I met SG back in 1997, we were roommates at our summer project, and boy were we opposites. SG is short, petite, with long bleach blonde hair (still is - and beautiful both inside and out). She is originally from Florida, a Gator fan (another big difference between us), and has been surfing most of her life. But, the one thing we have in common is what makes our friendship stand the test of time...we love the same Jesus. We hit it off immediately in San Diego, got jobs together (our jobs were to sell ice cream or tourist junk at the local board walk - BEST SUMMER JOB EVER!), and had a ball that summer together. At night we would go to the beach and lay down, look at the stars, and listen to our favorite praise song over and over and over. She introduced me to fish tacos and even got me on a surfboard. SG made my summer project. Her friendship is so precious to me. When we left summer project, we did get to see each other that fall. I went to Gainesville for a football game in the Swamp. We rarely emailed or called each other. Instead, we wrote letters. Remember those? Where you have to put a stamp on an envelop and actually mail it? We wrote lots of letters, always leaving a question at the end of it for the other person to answer and a verse to encourage the other person. We both graduated from college, and I went overseas and she became a stewardess and traveled the world. And we kept writing letters. But then she moved to Hawaii, to surf, and she met a boy, and I got a call... (I knew it had to be important because we never called and always said we would only call if it was really important)..."Shari, do you want to come to Hawaii? I am getting married!! Bring Kan with you." Kan and I were dating at the time she got engaged, but we were on our sabbatical at the time she got married, so I flew to Hawaii by myself and washed away my sorrows of the break up with gorgeous beaches and a fabulous wedding. That was the last time I saw her...8 1/2 years ago. She could not make our wedding, I think because she was getting ready to have one of her four children, but we still kept in touch through these years. Now, we have stopped writing letters and do more sporadic emails or facebook messages, but we always stay connected. And now, it is scrapbook day, and I am at her house! Love it!!
The drive up to the North Shore was BEAUTIFUL! The beaches in Hawaii are simply gorgeous. Kan and I have been blessed to travel and see lots of the world, and we both agreed Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places we have been. SG and her family took us to a local beach and the waves were pretty high. The North Shore is the surfing capital of Hawaii and winter is prime time for surfers to flock there and catch the big waves. We got to watch people surf and I saw a whale!! Very very cool.
After about 2 hours after the beach, kiddos were cranky and it was time to head to SG's house for a cookout! We had grilled burgers and dogs with corn on the cob and ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Can we say HELLO AMERICA?! They asked what we were craving and we said "grilled burgers and dogs!" We also got a pie from Ted's bakery, famous in the North Shore, that we took back to the condo. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend their pies!
As we drove up to SG's house, Miss M saw the trampoline, two swing sets and T-ball set and said, "Mama, look at their park. Do we have to pay 100 yen to get in?" This made Kan and I laugh on the outside, and cry on the inside, as we thought about how much our little girl just does not have in terms of yard and space. She LOVED their "park" and played outside for hours. As we drove away we had to remind ourselves that Miss M gets lots of other cool experiences that other kids do not get, like museums, bullet trains, really cool parks, and vacations in Hawaii that are fairly close, but still...she thought a typical backyard was a park. :) Our kids played so well together (SG's youngest is one week older than the K Man and about half the K Man's size; Miss M is in between her two middle kids and in addition SG has a 6 year old boy)and our husbands got along well. It was such a sweet reunion. SG brought her kids to our hotel on Friday, the day before we left, and we enjoyed the pool together and more hanging out. We literally picked up right where we left off. SG, if you are reading this, please know it was so so wonderful to see you and meet your family. I cannot believe how far we have come since we first met that summer between our sophomore and junior years of college. I am grateful for CCC (now known as CRU) and summer projects bringing together such sweet and lasting friendships. I know if it is another 8 years before we see each other again, it will be just as sweet and we will pick up again where we left off, but I pray our next reunion is before 8 years! I love you friend.
2 comments:
Fabulous start to fabulous vacation posts! I can't wait to read the rest, and SO glad you had such a good friend to connect with in Hawaii!
I think that’s awesome that you could meet up with your friend. catching up is always nice.
I understand the needing to be on US soil every once in a while also. I’m also an American woman also married to a Japanese. My husband went to the US at age 16 as an exchange student and then went to university afterwards where we met. So he didn’t return back to Japan until he was married and had our first son. When he moved back to Japan he had already spent half his life living in the US. It gives him a different perspective though, he understands the American perspective and the Japanese perspective too. I’m from Denver, Colorado btw born and raised. But we lived in Honolulu, my husband and I for a few years because NWA (Northwest airlines wanted my husband there for a few years, our first son was born there) now they’re Delta airlines since they merged, so my husband works for Delta. Sorry if I'm talking so much. : )
You were in Hawaii this March and we were also in Hawaii this March also. We overlapped our trips though, you were there before us, and we were there for a few days after you but there were days we were there at the same time. how weird/funny. And we only stayed 4 short nights. You stayed much longer. : )
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