Keikis

i'm at work now and I have some down time since it's an early day for the kids. So far, I'm really enjoying my time here at this school. My groups (reminder: 3rd grade Language Arts and 6th grade Math) are really good keikis and so far, it seems that I'm really going to be helpful to them. Especially in the 6th grade math class...they're starting to open up to me and aren't afraid to say, "can you please slow down?" or "I don't understand..." Usually, I don't find out that they "don't get it" until their homework comes back completely wrong.

So I'm starting feel more comfortable here. I'm starting to throw around Hawaiian words like "keikis". (kids, students, child) I've also learned to say "Merry Christmas!" Ready.... "Mele Kalikimaka!" I'm currently working on "Happy New Year"...haha..it's all too much to remember. "Hou'oli Makahiki Hou!" geez...the keikis like to teach me new words...so we're learning from each other!

Not much going on here. Jerome ended up not having to work on Thanksgiving, so we met up with his crew (the few that didn't have to work) at Bellows Beach. Bellows Beach is owned by the military (you have to show your military i.d. prior to entering) and is closed to the public during the week. It's opened to the public on the weekends and is really popular for camping. (not roughing it though--there are cabins!) It was a beautiful day and we had turkey, chicken, and ham at the beach. The chief and his wife made all the food--I felt bad that I didn't bring anything, but we didn't know that Jerome didn't have to work until 8am that morning...so yeah. I had a reletively stress free Thanksgiving. We went shopping on Friday--just a little bit. We went to the NEX and Jerome got me a purse for my birthday. Afterwards, we wanted to go out to Kailua for breakfast (macadamia nut pancakes!!) but we got a Christmas tree instead. :) We then we to the Ala Moana mall later in the day--there was a big UH game that day, so we figured that most of the crowds would either be at the game or watching it. Although the mall was crowded (it always is!) it was not as bad as it could have been.

Jerome is also settling at work nicely. He basically works from 6am - 6pm everyday. Every third day, however, he has a 24 hour shift (he's on "duty") and so his work day is 36 hours. Today is his duty day...he left this morning at 6am and won't be coming home until 6pm tomorrow. 'Tis the life of the military. The reason for the 24 hour shift is b/c his part of the boat always needs to be manned by someone...you can't just turn off the reactor or leave it unattended. (the chinese will steal the secrets, apparently...haha!) So yeah--it's me and Bella when he's gone. Sometimes I think Bella misses him more than I do because she is SO SAD when he's not home. She's always looking at the door to see if he's coming in. Such a cutie!

That's all for now. I really wish other people like Crystal or Gloria or Fina would update their blogs. It's not fun reading your own blog everyday. haha!!

ps--no pictures because I'm at work--maybe I'll upload some from home....MAYBE