First Week Recap

First off, let me start by saying that Oahu is everything it's cracked up to be, but at the same time like nothing I ever expected. Here's a quick recap of every day so far.

Tuesday I said goodbye to my family and caught my plane to Seattle. When I landed in Seattle, I had exactly 5 minutes to catch my plane to Honolulu. They were already boarding when I landed. The flight from Seattle to Honolulu was long and boring. Luckily, the seat next to me was empty I was a able to stretch out for the entire flight. I read a few chapters of the Way of Kings, watched the in-flight movie "A-Team", played Plants and Zombies on my laptop, ate some homemade sandwiches, listened to BNL on iTunes, and drank lots of OJ. I landed at about 8:10 Hawaiian time (which is midnight back home) and then I was adopted by a loving Hawaiian family, The Kais.

Wednesday I woke up in the Kai's living room, sleeping diagonally on the tiny fold out mattress in the couch. Because of the jetlag, I was up by 5 in the morning. Ridiculous. I showered and read before anyone else was even up. Then the girls, Liana, Taylin, Aleena, Naysa and Kezley all woke up and started getting ready for school. They were all pretty excited to see Uncle Dax after 4-5 months.
If there is one thing I learned about women this week (and I always try to learn new things, as there is too much to learn in one lifetime) it's that all women are pretty much the same whether they are 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, or even 17, 20, 30, 99 etc. Girls LOVE to TALK, constantly. They also DEMAND your UNDIVIDED ATTENTION. It's pretty hectic when 4 little girls all clamor for your complete attention all at once. The oldest, Liana, had a book, so I never had to fight off 5 girls at once. Unfortunately for her, no 10-year-old is too cool to hang out with Dax! Kapua (their mother, and my old babysitter, long story) and I took the girls to school and walked them to their classes.
Then, Kapua, Kezley (2) and I went on an authentic Hawaiian experience. Wal-Mart. Thanks to Pua, all my sheets and bedding color coordiate. It's some kind of green, I forget the exact shade. She even talked me out of buying a fan that would have clashed horribly and convinced me to buy and a nice tan(?) one that matches well. Where would we be without women?
Then it was back home with Kezley, playing blocks and watching Barney.
After the older girls came home from school it was homework time for them. It was 20 minutes before I realized that I was being a huge distraction. So I read while they worked. Once they were finished, everyone wanted to play with Uncle Dax. Taylin thought her Kung Fu was better than mine, which it wasn't. Aleena kept fabricating new games to play, but I was better at cheating than she was. Naysa followed me EVERYWHERE, wanting to play whatever her sisters played. Liana had her book, but even she couldn't resist the charm of my legendary shoulder rides. By 6 o'clock, I was exhausted. Stupid jet lag. I held on until 8 when the girls went to bed, and then I crashed... hard.

Thursday I woke up bright and early, but decided to do my own thing. I ate breakfast with the girls, but when they left for school I was watching the Season 2 Finale of White Collar. If you aren't addicted to White Collar yet, you should be. As for the Season 2 Finale, all was going well, and then all of a sudden ****** gets ****! This is even crazier than the Season 1 Finale when the ***** ******** with **** inside! Man, for someone who has been following White Collar fanatically since the Series Premiere, I am officially rocked to the bone.
Kapua came back from dropping off the kids and set about- wait for it- folding laundry for her husband Kauwe! Then Kezley started watching Barney again. Luckily for me, I have my laptop and I played StarCraft II to pass the time. I have the most epic comeback story for a 2v2 player match that I totally won! I would give a complete play-by-play, but I'm sure most of my audience doesn't care. Don't worry, bros, I'll update you guys another time!
When the girls came back home from school, it was the same story. "Do that to MEEE!" "Look at MEEE!" "Play with MEEE!" x4! I love those girls to death, but I think I just about died. Bros, if you are ever in that situation, your best defense is to play dead. Seriously, I played dead and they thought I was sleeping. Sweet relief.
Before bed, Kauwe and I played Super Mario Bros on the Wii with the girls. It was fun, but someone needs to teach those girls how to play video games as a team. Still, they cheered loudly when I saved them all.
Bed. Zzzzzz.

Friday! Disclaimer, Friday was EPIC!
I woke up, got ready, and hung out with the girls before I walked them to school and said goodbye. They all surprised me with goodbye cards and wished me luck at college. I'm going to miss them. Pua cheered them up by saying that I would pay her back by babysitting for her on the weekends. Oh joy! What a wonderful family.
So, everything was packed and Friday was supposed to be a big day. New Student Orientation. w00t! Kauwe, Kapua and I (with little Kezley in tow) ventured forth to La'ie, my new home. We stopped at a fine Hawaiian dining extablishment for breakfast (McDonalds). After an hour of breathtaking scenic route, we arrived at the BYUH campus and made our way to Hale Malo, my new dorm. To put it lightly, my dorm is TINY! Seriously. I couldn't breathe until everything was in drawers and out of the way. Orientation consisted of getting signatures at various booths and getting a TB clearance shot. Pua played the role of mom, in the absence of my Mom, who wouldn't stop trying to call me. I told Pua to keep her updated with picture messages and everyone was happy.
I finally said goodbye to the Kais with the promise of hanging out again and I was officially on my own.
Then I met my new roommate and the adventure finally began.

to be continued....

Stayed tuned for my next post, when I disclose the full epic details of Friday Night's adventure.