On Waikiki BeachEven though the point of the blog is to involve you in the cultures of New Zealand and Mongolia, I thought I would make a few postings about the pre-departure orientation in Hawaii. Of the original 16 teachers selected for this program, there are now only 14. A quick-packing alternate with 2 week's notice brings our number up to 15. We are from all over the country (although Minnesota seems to have the monopoly!) with a range of teaching experience. The teachers all instruct at the elementary level and include classroom teachers and librarians, as well as music, art, gifted, and SPED specialists. We discovered that many of us have spent tiem in other countries (Japan especially), but no one has visited Mongolia and only one has been to New Zealand. Oh, and I'm sure not to starve - there are 4 vegetarians in the group! :+)
After leaving the house at 3:30am and "enjoying" two 6 hour flights, many of us could only think of one thing - the beach! We were not disappointed by Waikiki Beach, as you can see from the slide show. Our hosts are very kind and treated us to an 8 dish Chinese dinner where we met Dean Schultz of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies (Univ. of Hawaii). The next two days involve lectures on the history, culture, and language of both Mongolia and New Zealand. Aloha for now!
After leaving the house at 3:30am and "enjoying" two 6 hour flights, many of us could only think of one thing - the beach! We were not disappointed by Waikiki Beach, as you can see from the slide show. Our hosts are very kind and treated us to an 8 dish Chinese dinner where we met Dean Schultz of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies (Univ. of Hawaii). The next two days involve lectures on the history, culture, and language of both Mongolia and New Zealand. Aloha for now!
