Land of Aloha

Aloha! Yes, yes, I'm back from the nice warm beaches of Hawaii!

We were gone from Yanji for two weeks, and had short stops in Beijing and South Korea on the way to and from Hawaii. So, the time actually spent in Hawaii was really only about a week long. We felt so abused... We were really suffering for Jesus. ;)

One of my favorite things we did in Hawaii was visit Pearl Harbor. My family is really into history, especially the history of our own country, so we were really excited about going. I have to say... I did not expect it to be such an emotional experience...

We first sat through a video with real footage of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I may or may not have shed a few tears, hehe... Then we took a boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial. The ship is now a coral reef, and in the water we could see bright fish swimming around. It felt slightly strange walking above an underwater cemetery...

Another fun thing we did at Pearl Harbor was explore a submarine. Pure awesomeness, right there. ;) I'm still trying to figure out how people moved around quickly on those things...

We also visited beaches. In fact, our guest house was right on the beach, so I was able to wake up every morning to the view of the waves crashing. Our beach adventures included snorkeling, swimming with sea turtles, playing pirate, and Hanissa squealing and shouting, "NAKED NAKED!" every time she saw a woman in a bikini.

...Oh yes... we had to teach her very quickly to keep quiet when she saw something like that... So, in the end, she simple got wide-eyed and pointed. What can I say, though? The child comes from a country where they dress very conservatively. The poor thing had never even seen my family members in tank-tops and shorts (because in Yanji, it's cold during the winter), much less seen people in swimsuits. Needless to say, it was amusing.

Between beaches, Pearl Harbor, shopping, "The Hobbit," and spending time with family, our time in Hawaii was wonderful. It was relaxing and warm and beautiful. I wouldn't have minded staying there an extra week, though I'm happy to be back home in China.