Classes, Rain, Tsunamis, and friendly people

Bula!
So I was just reading my last post and I apologize to everyone for being so scatter brained while writing it. I have just had so many new experiences that I dont quite know how to write them all down. Well, this last week I had a few less new experiences. Strangely enough Fiji is feeling more and more like home every day and I am getting more and more used to it. I started classes a week ago. Which was interesting. If you have any problems with things being on time, knowing when things are supposed to be, or people being extremely unorganized dont ever come to Fiji. I have found that if something is not working out the people here are completely fine with it. My classes wernt showing up, the places didnt exist, I had no idea where I was going, and it was all around unorganized. However no one seemed very worried with the fact that not even the professors knew where their classes were supposed to be so I decided that it wasnt a problem. The other thing I found strange about the Uni system here is that many of the professors are not Fijian. I have a British man teaching me Fijian, a british woman teaching me history, another woman who im not sure where she is from teaching me politics, and one professor who is Tongan and Samoan who has lived in Fiji for 30 years teaching me history. It is a little strange but it is also interesting to have so much diversity on campus. The diversity however does not stop with the professors. The students are from all over the pacific to so I get even more view points than I could have ever asked for. The only thing that annoys me in class is im always pointed out as the white girl and asked for the American opinion on things. Like im the authority on America. Oh well I guess I will try to be a good ambassador for America as much as possible. This last week I also went to church on Sunday. It was an interesting experience. Church was normal but after we met a man from Canada and his Fijian wife who invited us out for lunch. We found out he is starting a charity here to build homes for people. It was really a different experience for me because in the states someone would not ask us to dinner (much less buy us dinner) within the first five minutes of meeting us. But here that is totally normal. People are very welcoming and want to know about you and want to share about themselves. But in all Fiji is going very well. The tsunami warning here turned out to be nothing. However there has been a substantial amount of rain the last day or so so that has kinda sucked. Oh well! Could be worse. Thats all for today!
Vinaka
Emily

New experiences and new classes!

Bula!
So I have had an eventful couple of days since I last wrote! I cant believe that I have been in Fiji for only a week! It has been so awesome. I start classes today and now as I write I am sitting in the classroom for my first class. It only took me about a half hour to finally find it. Strange thing about classes in Fiji if your classes overlap or are at the same time thats just fine you can just go to part of one or go every other time. It is still a very strange concept for me. We are all living in apartments that are on campus that are really nice. They are air conditioned so that is a major plus when it is 90 everyday. We even have housekeepers who come and clean up for us. I think its a little strange but its nice because they are getting paid a living wage and my bed is made everyday. Speaking of a living wage most people make only $7,000 FJD a year. Thats approximately $3500 USD. So many of the people live in poverty which is really hard for me to see because the place I live is very nice. We have done so many great things since we have been in Fiji. Just yesterday we climbed a mountain. Which we were told was only a 1-2 hour hike but was really 3 hours to the top and 1 1/2 hours down. It was really fun though there were some kids who were playing in the river who took us up the mountain and back down. They were making fun of us a lot because we kept slipping and falling. I have also made my first trips to the market. The fruit and veggie market is my favorite because there is so much good food to look at and it is really cheap. For example a pineapple here(which is quite a bit smaller than a pineapple back home) is only $2 FJD which is about $1 USD. I have also noticed that I am stared at all the time because I am one of the very few white people here. We are especially stared at when we are in big groups. Everything here is so new and strange to me I just want to explore it all! Well I suppose I should get ready for class!
Vinaka!
Emily

new places and new faces

Bula!
Man have I heard that word a lot! I have officially spent my first day in Fiji! It is beautiful! I cant believe that I woke up in paradise and will be for the nest 4 1/2 months! This morning we found a little gecko or some sort of small lizard on our counter it was so cute! But I have already learned a few things about traveling and Fiji. Here are some good and bad things. Asking people in an airport where to go when your plane is late-good. I almost missed my plane from LA to Fiji and the people there helped me find my way very well (even though I had to go all the way across the airport)! Men wearing skirts-good. The men and women in Fiji like to wear sulus so to all of you guys out there it is okay to wear a skirt. Although what I have noticed is that men will wear a formal sulu to work and women will usually wear pants. Its a little strange but oh well! Missing your plane in Fiji-not bad. The group of us who flew togeather from LA all missed our last plane from Nadi so Suva. So instead of waiting for 7 hours in the airport we cached a bus that the airport provided around the island. It was really cool to see the island and it only took 2 1/2 hours so we wernt to late getting to pacific harbor where we are having our culture and adventure program. Roads in Fiji-bad. The roads here are either gravel or very poorly served blacktop. The two main roads on the big island (kings road and queens road) are blacktopped. The use of the roads would be like a four lane highway in the states but the actual condition would be like a back county road that rarely gets repaired. Fried coconut-interesting. Last night we were all hanging out at the resorts resturaunt where most people are at night and our director(Jalyassa) had the cook or someone make us fried coconut. He told us he calls it Fijian popcorn and that is just what it tasted like. It was a little strange because it didnt have the feel of popcorn in your mouth but it had the taste. Trying new things-AWESOME! If you ever go abroad try what the locals have. Dont eat the food that you recognize eat something that sounds strange. For example pineapple pop. It was really good and all the pops and things here are made with real sugar so it is really sweet. Also if you ever find yourself on a tropical island in the South Pacific (AKA Fiji!) the people are amazing and will want to talk and make sure that you are at home. Well, I guess that is all I have today I will write again soon when I have the time! We are going to an island to do some beach stuff today and tomorrow we are going to a village. So we have a busy time ahead of us and I cant wait!
Vinaka!
Emily

Just a few more days to go!

Bula!
I am right now at home all alone the rest of my family is either at work or at school so I have some time to sit and think. I am leaving for Fiji in just 2 days and it still feels a little unreal I think that it will probably feel that way for a few weeks! But right now Im packing and spending my last few days in the US with my family and some friends. Im not sure what to expect when I get there. I have thoughts about a tropical island and everything being all happy. But I dont think that it will be all perfect. Im sure that I will meet challenges while im there. I dont know what the people will be like but I have read that they are very friendly! I guess right now im just going on what I have read but you know you cant believe everything that you read! So I guess for right now I have to just wait. Not much longer but I have to wait! It will be an adventure nonetheless! I cant wait! I think that many times we get to comfortable in our lives and need to shake it up. Maybe this is my way of shaking up my life. I know I need something different right now and maybe this will be just what the doctor prescribed. Well I guess its goodbye for now! I will try to post from one of the airports along the way!
Vinaka!
Emily

Lessons Learned and Lessons to be Learned

So I am leaving augie in just a few days to go home for just 2 weeks then im off to Fiji. I place that as I learn more about I realize just how little I know. I am nervous excited and just plain giddy about leaving for a place that I know so little about. This may seem strange to those who have never been thrown into something that they dont understand and dont know what to expect but I love those situations. This reminds me a bit about the time I went on a mission trip to Puerto Rico. It is to date the furthest I have been away from my family which wasnt a big deal because I was with my church including 2 of my best friends Rachael and Travis. However, what I didnt know going into this trip was that I would be going to a drug and alcohol rehab center for men over the age of 18 and that Rachael and Travis wouldnt be going with me. I was told this after I was in Puerto Rico and was all settled in to the place that I would call home for the week. I was terrified. I didnt know what these guys would be like. I didnt know if they would be dangerous. I didnt know if they would even speak english very well. But im so glad that I did it. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The men there were amazing. Most of them were there because they got on the wrong path at some point in time and now they wanted to fix it. It taught me to not judge a person before I got to know them. It taught me the simple things in my life that I take for granted can be so important. Like when we bought them a microwave, some popcorn, and some candy. When they wanted microwave popcorn they were making it in a toaster oven. It cost my group a few dollars each for these men to be so happy about something as simple as a microwave. Or how one of the men, they called him freckles, he cooked for use every day. He didnt know much english but he did find out that one of our leaders was on the atkins diet. He saved the leftover fish so that it would fit into her diet the next day. He wanted to make sure the she had something to eat and didnt have to bring her own with. I felt so inadequate for the things that I did there. We did some painting and cleaning but what was more important was the guys. They taught me some spanish and made me realize how great my life is. They cared about me and I think that is what was important. Im putting some pictures up of these men they were amazing and what I learned from them was more important than any microwave. So I guess what im saying is that im glad I dont know anyone who has been to Fiji to give me a perspective. I will learn something for myself and I cant wait.


Jon and Me. He was an amazing person


The whole group with the Puerto Rican flag that the guys all signed and gave to us.


This is of the guys after we gave them the microwave. The one kissing it is Freckles.

a revelation about the world

Bula(hello)!
Right now I am sitting in my dorm room during j-term and thinking about life. I just got done watching an amazing documentary about the TED conference which I had never heard of before(thank you netflix!). The TED conference brings togeather some of the greatest minds in the world to tackle some of the greatest issues in the world today. It made me think about my life and how I want to make the world better. This blog entry was originally going to be about my trip with my family. It was going to be about the places we went and the things we saw. All of which were valuable in their own sense. However, now I look at this trip and see something different. Yes I see the orange picking, a trip to an amazing zoo, a view of a city from over 1,000 feet but I see something different too. I see a possibility for my life and the lives of people around me. So to start, the day that I went home for break I challenged my mother to turn off the tv and computer for the few days before christmas that I would be home. She replied with “I dont want to.” With much arguing we did not turn off the tv. Now you may say how is this even close to relevant to my trip and any possibility for my life? Well its because I wanted to connect with people again. I wanted to slow down and see the world. Not watch it go by like it does so many days. I tried to do that on this vacation with my family. But what I learned is that most people dont take the time to see the world. They may stop once in a while and watch something of interest, like the giant pandas, but it seems that we dont pay attention to what we see. I was told many times during the 10 days that I spent with my family “Emily hurry up we have more stuff to do.” Each time I was told this I thought “isnt what we are doing right now important too?” What I really mean by this is that its more important to see not watch the things in front of us. Yes I want to watch everything but that isnt going to make me a better person. It is just going to drive me crazy. So how this whole crazy rambling of mine ties into my life and yes I do have a point. I want to listen, see, live, and understand the world around me. Not watch, hear, get through, and know the world around me. How am I going to do this? Im not sure yet but I think it involves listening to peoples stories. Truly seeing a place. Living as others do and just paying attention to the world. So what I want now is to listen to your story. Tell me anything! A good time. A bad time. Something Strange. Something Amazing. But tell a story. Its the only way that people can know each other. Its the only way we can make the world into what it is supposed to be. I think I can change the world. I think everyone can change the world. But if we hear the stories of others we can change the world in a way that will be better for everyone.
Vinaka(thank you)

On the road(hopefully!)

Bula and welcome to Fiji...well almost. I am currently stranded in northern Minnesota waiting for this blizzard to pass so I can go on a family vacation to Arizona. I figured that it would be a good time to start my blog! I’ll start with my families last vacation of 2009/first vacation of 2010. But first some information about Fiji. So you may be wondering why would a girl from the Midwest want to go halfway across the world to a developing island country? Well, it is because she is innately intrigued by different cultures and places. I hope in the four and a half months that I am in Fiji I learn a little about myself, another culture, and the world as a whole. You now may wonder so Fiji, okay I’ve heard of that, beaches, sun, and Tom Hanks in Cast Away right? Well, the truth is Fiji is all of that but I think that living there will be much different. Fiji consists of 333 islands that cover 7,095 square miles. There are around 800,000 people in Fiji, they are 50% indigenous Fijians, 47% Indo-Fijians and Europeans, and 3% Chinese and other South Pacific Islanders. So as you can tell I will most definitely be in the minority there! They use the Fijian dollar which I will post some pictures of soon. So now that you know a little about Fiji how about more about why I'm actually going? I'm going to study at the University of the South Pacific in the capital city of Suva where I will be studying history and government. I have always wanted to study abroad but I never knew quite where I wanted to go. So when Australearn the company that I am going with had some representatives at Augustana(my home college, Go Vikings!) and I saw Fiji I thought well what place would be better to spend a semester than Fiji! I looked into it more and realized the country is not just beaches and sun but has a rich culture and history, not to mention an amazing landscape that I cant wait to discover. So about a year ago I embarked on this great journey. I began talking to people about it, convincing my parents that it is a good idea (yes mom and dad it is a good idea!), and getting the things togeather that I needed to apply. Then I applied and waited. The about a two weeks later I got a message on my phone that said I had been accepted! I was so excited! Then reality set in I had a to do list longer than I thought was possible. I thought I'm just going to be gone for a few months how much stuff could I have to do. Well, its a lot more than you think. I tackled that list and now have everything done after hours of work. So now I just wait some more for the fateful day in just a little over a month when I leave for the island nation that I will call my home for four and a half months. So for now thats all I have hopefully by the time this gets posted I will have left for Arizona for a few days!
Vinaka(thank you) for reading. Be back soon!