hello- well I recently took a trip with my family to hawaii for christmas. My parents and my older brother that I do not get to see too often because he lives in California stayed in Oahu for seven days. We stayed in the Ko Olina resort area and it was absolutely beautiful. Ko Olina was not very populated and was a very private area that was very peaceful and free of the city of Honolulu. I would walk along the lagoon on which was in my resort area, the view to the ocean was breathtaking and I did not feel [View Full Entry]

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Well, my presentation went very well. There must be over 1,000 people participating in this confererece from all over the world. I met a lot of interesting people. I especially enjoyed the Georgia Tech Glee Club serenading the participants with a lively rendition of "Summer of '69" by Brian Adams. I was nervous to present and glad when it was over. Yestarday I had the most amazing experience! Carlo and went snorkeling in the Hanauma Bay. It was the first time I snorkeled and I can't wait to do it again! I saw such amazing and beautiful underwater creatures. I swam [View Full Entry]

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The night life here is great. People just sit on benches and play their Hawaiian instruments and sing for the passerbyers. It is so laid back. The whole attitude is different here. The girl in this picutre is jamming out to the song Stairway to Heaven. She also threw in some traditional Hawaiian songs. The music here is beautiful. So are the people. [View Full Entry]

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The night life here is great! The whole attitude is different. It is very laid back. People sit on benches and play music with traditional Hawaiian instruments to passerbyers. The girl in this picture is jamming out to the song Stairway to Heaven. She also played many traditional Hawaiian songs. The music here is so beautiful. So are the people. [View Full Entry]

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Today Carlo and I road across the island of Maui. What an adventure!!! With our offroading Jeep we witnessed first hand the best Hawaii has to offer. The day started off rainy and ended in rainbows. We welcomed the rain because it made the waterfalls we saw even more dramatic. The north side of the mountain is very green and plush with amazing trees, waterfalls, and ocean views. The south side of the mountain is dry and sunny. It reminds me of the hills of Italy. But with banana bread venders, instead of lemoncello vendors. The drive was exhilerating. Most of [View Full Entry]

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Wow... so the break is winding down to a close and I'm still so nervous about leaving. It's like going to college for the first time all over again, but knowing that it'll probably be ten times harder... especially because the natives don't speak the same language that I do!!! Yikes! I haven't been studying as much as I should be and I haven't really been doing a lot of research. I guess I have to get on it. Well, I'm done for now... I shall definitely be writing more once the date gets closer and when I am finally in [View Full Entry]

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This place is true paradise. Yestarday Carlo and I arrived in Honolulu, and I thought it couldn't get much better- but alas, I was wrong. Honolulu is a very beautiful city where many tourists go to enjoy the beaches and warm weather. It is busy and there are many beautiful buildings. Maui is different. It is much more relaxed and quite. I knew I liked Maui when I got off the VERY small plane which took me from the island of Wikiki to the island of Maui and the airport in Western Maui was about the size of my house. The [View Full Entry]

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I have never seen such beauty in my life. Maui is breathtaking. I might not return. If I do it is because of my friends, family, and Culture of Industrial America Course. :) The people here are so friendly... and it's no wonder. It's hard to be in a bad mood here. Here are my pics. I will add more later, but I'm off to our private beach for some rest and relaxation. [View Full Entry]

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Just checking e-mail and getting last minute things in order. In 12 hours I will be on a flight to Bangkok. I have had a great little stopover here in Hawaii. I spent most of the week in Kihei, Maui hanging out with Barry and Rach and family. We got them all moved into their new condo, and pretty much did a whole lot of nothing all week. It was great. The night before last I went and had my last steak dinner at Ruth's Chris and ate so much I couldn't move! I figured it would be my last time [View Full Entry]

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Hi Everyone! This is my first blog ever. Wow. Well, I am about to pack for my trip to Hawaii. I have never been to Hawaii and I am very excited to go. I will be presenting my research at a conference on Wednesday. The rest of the trip I will sight-see, relax on the beach with a good book, enjoy a spa treatment, and bike. To my Villanova students: I hope you are getting the idea here about building your own blog. You will add entries with you thoughts on assigned readings, and with your own experiences with the culture [View Full Entry]

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