Swimming With A Face Mask

So, a while back, I posted a picture of women on a beach in China wearing face masks to shield themselves from the Sun. Seeing many people here in Honolulu using Sun umbrellas made me think more about this. Not that I think Americans would ever start wearing these - we like our skin cancer too much - but I wondered if one might see these cropping up on Hawaii beaches. Hm...but for now, a bit about these things:

Also known as a face-kini, these are typically worn with a fabulous matching swim suit. It's basically a ski mask, but in beach form. The closest thing I can think of in America to this is a rash guard, shirts made to cover the skin and protect from the Sun while swimming. Sad thing though, one still has to put on sunscreen under the rash guard.

These swimming masks are most popular in the touristy town of Qingdao and were invented only seven years ago. They go for only about $3. A save considering sunscreen is much higher. I am sure sunscreen is still worn under, like a rash guard; you cannot be too careful.

Why do these even exist? I want to say it is because the Chinese have common sense and know that the Sun is bad for skin, but alas, it is for vanity. As in many cultures, pale skin is considered beautiful, as tan skin is a sign of those who must work in fields for a living. Gross, field work. Since the face is the part of the body most commonly seen, it makes sense for that to be the palest part of the body.

And, if you forget your face-kini at home, there is always skin bleach.

Weird Creatures...

So, I was walking around campus and I keep finding these odd creatures painted on the walls...

I have no idea what they are or where they come from. I found nothing on google images that matched them. So, if anyone sees anything similar to these oddities, let me know!

Things I Have Noticed...

So, I have been in the state of Hawai'i for a few days now and have already noticed a few very new, very unexpected things.

Umbrellas

This is more so in Waikiki and the tourist areas, but there are quite a bit of people who walk around with umbrellas to keep the sun off them. I actually thought it was a good idea, but seriously though, a thin piece of fabric stretched over tines is not going to keep the Sun's cancer rays from reaching you. I still have to roll in sunscreen before venturing near windows.

These umbrellas are easily distinguished from rain umbrellas. These sun-umbrellas look much nicer and are generally made from lace and pretty fabrics. They look quite nice, very elegant. Typically, I have seen Asian women with these and I suppose that comes from a culture where pale skin is beautiful before dark and tanned skin. I like that way of thinking. I stick out terribly with my albino-ness next to all these tanned people.


Bikes and Walking

So, an amazing thing happened today. I went out for lunch with my mother and came back with a brand new mountain bike. Woop! I was not expecting one until christmas.

So, I have been told by every student I have spoken with that you can walk anywhere you need to go. Many even walk all the way to Waikiki and to the beach. That is about 2.5 miles and through heavy heavy traffic. I supposed that is just surprising since I am used to each individual having their own car. Also, bikers are an annoyance in Gainesville; it is their job to move out of the car's way. It is nice to have the right-of-way here.

When it starts to rain, I am sure it will be hell trying to get to class.


Cats

Cats are everywhere. Everywhere.

These stray creatures just wander around, sleeping under parked cars and hanging with pigeons. They travel in herds and do not like people. Well, unless you throw food at them. Then they will become your best friends.


Birds

The birds here are fearless.

When I was still in a hotel, this bird just flew right in and made itself at home. Actually, there was another, but I could not get both in the same picture. The birds just hoped around for a while, in my hotel room, enjoying the carpet. And then, when they felt like it, they flew away.

The larger pigeons will not move for you. I almost ran over several on my bike because they would not move out of the way. I had to move! Since when do birds just stand still? I could probably catch one easily! And then be attacked by its pigeon friends. It would be like messing with the Cuccos in Zelda. We laugh one minute and drown beneath feathers the next.


And yeah, those are the stand-out odd things so far.

Oh, I found this on a dumpster.

It is odd also...

In Hawai'i

So, it has been a while, but only because I have been super busy. In the past week, I have said goodbye to my friends, packed up my room, and have flown a quarter of the way around the world to Hawai'i.

I have discovered that I do not enjoy flying. It does not have to do with the fact that I watched Flight before leaving or with the Asiana plane that recently crashed. I already had a fear of driving so being in an airplane made things about ten times worse. Every time we hit a bit of turbulence, I braced myself for impact. The people next to me probably thought I was psychotic.

Once we landed in O'ahu, I fell in love. People are not joking when they say Hawai'i is beautiful. It just feels alive. Everything is green and the air is clean and light. It is a 180 from the forests I am used to seeing everyday.

Alrightly, that's my cheesy paragraph about this place. I will not make a habit of it.

I will say, I knew I picked the right place to go to college before I even left the airport. All of the signs were printed in English and again in Japanese.

Today I moved in to a small, but very nice, apartment for my two summer classes. When Fall begins, I will be shoved with other Freshman into community halls with shared bathrooms. Serious downgrade. I feel incredibly young. I am an incoming Freshmen and my roommates are all in their 20's. One is from Japan. I can hear her speaking on the phone right now. I think she's talking about me. It was something about her first day and hiragana; we talked about reading hiragana earlier. I am happy that I can actually understand her accent when she speaks Japanese. There are some people who speak it down here and I have no idea what they are trying to tell me.

Oh well. More to learn!

I am so tired. I apologize in advance if none of this makes sense. I am six hours ahead of the normal time here. Back in Georgia, I would have be asleep. Very much sleep. Sound asleep. Dead to the world.

Help me.

Goodnight.

Rechel & Jun

I cannot even remember how I came across this Youtube page, especially considering I am never on said site, but for the past hour, I have been obsessed with this channel!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MyHusbandisJapanese/featured

Basically, it is a bunch of videos about Japanese culture and what it is like being there as a foreigner. Since I plan on working in Japan and with Japanese companies (remember, future translator here) I found their videos quite interesting and very funny at times. The channel features a married couple, Rechel and Jun. Rechel is from America, majored in Asian Studies, and Jun is from the land of the rising sun, majoring in English Language.

But the best part is...

Wait for it!

Rechel is a fellow Ginger! Check out this video!

I had one of those odd moments where I sensed a kindled spirit. But then I remember that I was just watching Youtube. Sigh, fellow redhead at heart then.

I will say, she brought up an interesting point in her video. In America, we call red-hair 'red' even thought it is actually orange. Rechel mentions that many people in Japan comment, "Oh, but your hair is orange, not red!" It made me laugh. Ha, ginger humor...

Seriously though, these are good videos for those interested in Japanese culture. They give great tips on learning the language and on customs and such. They also respond to questions and comments, so feel free to shoot a question on anything you want to know!

Oh, and this cat:

Cats that can open doors. Our world is heading in the right direction.

Delta Rae

So, I have a fantastic band to share today. The amazingly talented Delta Rae!

I happened across this group via Itunes and bought the album on a whim. I do that quite often with music and usually have awful shopper's remorse. Seriously, I have so much music from this bad habit that I cannot even keep it all on one computer. But with this group, within the first verse of the first song, I stopped what I was doing and just froze for a moment to listen.

I was in love.

I could not even listen to another group for about a week because I was so attached to this band. This was the song that started it all:

These guys have a sound that clearly shows that they are from the south, but on the same note, it is unlike any other group with the same roots. It is like a modern folk-pop sound. There are songs where you can hear gospel influences and others that seem as if they came straight from the top 40's. They have amazing harmonies. Not the plastic and simple lines that could be sung by a middle school choir, but unique vocal lines that obviously have more thought put into them aside from "Hey, this fits the chord!"

The band consists of three siblings and three friends. Four of the members take turns singing lead and the others are practically always present with harmonies.

Interesting fact, their name comes from a story the siblings' mother intended to write. It was about a girl named Delta Rae who summoned the greek gods to Earth. I would very much like to read that story, but I do not believe it was ever published. Sigh.

For those out there who like The Lumineers, Florence + The Machine, or Of Monsters and Men, I recommend taking a quick listen to the wonderful Delta Rae. For fans of Mumford and Sons, this might be a good fit for you also, but they lean on more of a pop sound than rock.

Take a listen!

Official Website:

http://www.deltarae.com/

Broke College Student

Yeah, I'm not even at school yet and I already feel like a broke college student. It will probably be ten times as worse once class begins. I will say, I will not have two tuition deposits, two housing deposits, and airline tickets to pay for once in Oahu, but I will have food, books, clothing, and the one thing that will drain my bank account the quickest: sunscreen. Seriously, I will go through probably two bottles of that stuff in a week over there.

In my attempts to be proactive, I am researching ways to make money once I am a student. Obviously, there is the option of a part-time job, something I have now and something I will also obtain during school. However, with the typical pay of $7.25 an hour, and maybe, not always, 20 hours a week, that amounts to $290 every two weeks. Eh, that's something, but it does not leave much to savings after expenses.

So then, what are my options of making extra money? There are plenty of lists: 38 ways to make cash, 50 ways college students can earn extra money, blah blah. Out of these lists, there are maybe four options I am capable - or have the patience - to actually do.

1. Selling Photos

This is a website that I have only recently heard of: Dreamstime.com
For all of those aspiring photographers, this is a site where you can upload pictures and make money when people download them. Of course, not all pictures are used. They have to meet a couple of requirements and even then, may or may not sell. But, if you take good pictures and are willing to wait, this can be a place to earn a bit of money over time.

2. Tutor

I could possibly maybe earn a bit in this area, but then again, I have very little patience for teaching others. I could teach basic Japanese and help with writing - essays in English that is - but I have found with past tutoring experiences, most only resort to that when they are forced to. I have no problem teaching when someone wants to learn, but I do have a problem when someone wants me to write their essay for them. I would love to meet someone who truly wants to learn another language or might struggle just a bit with writing, but I refuse to deal with someone who does not even want to be in school. But maybe that was more of a slacker high-schooler thing. Maybe those in college will actually appreciate those individuals who offer their time to teach others.

Hm. I went off subject a bit there. But yeah, tutoring is an option...for those with the patience to do so.


3. Mini-Seminar

This is kind of similar to tutoring in that you should enjoy people. If you have some sort of special skill then you can make a bit by teaching it in a course. So, knitting? Surfing? Dancing? There will be lots of people who want to learn new things and find a way to meet new people. This is a great way to make friends and money money money.

4. Freelance Writing

And then there is this. The one job most broke writers share on their resume. If you happen to have nice writing/editing skill, you can make a bit by freelancing. This is a helpful site in finding jobs: freelancewritinggigs.com
But, Craigslist is also an option.


And yeah, those are a couple of ways to make some money aside from a part-time job. I am sure I am only stressed about this because I have payments to make now. Once I'm there, I will not have tuition and housing junk to pay. But then again, I need to start saving money, being independent and all.

Aside from earning more money, I should probably learn to stop spending it too. I do enjoy a nice shopping trip.

Hm, maybe that is my problem. I should stop...I'll thank myself when I have several thousand saved. Who wouldn't enjoy seeing that number in their bank account?