It hasn’t been so long ago since I wrote a post but it seemed like a good idea to me to make an update since we have had some things happening the last few days

We had our wedding party last Saturday which was organized by Michelle’s mother. At first we just wanted to keep our marriage small and such but yeah, we really couldn’t do without a party haha. At first I was feeling not so happy about it, especially because I did not know anybody but it all turned out for the best, I really enjoyed myself and I have seen about everybody on this island now, haha, ok ok, not everyone on this island but at least most of the relatives and friends that live on this island. I think there was at least 60 people on the party hehe.

The party took place at our house; partially in the carport, a part at the side of the house under neath a roof and partially under a tent which was put up for this event. It was good that everything was covered since the weather wasn’t that great, it was a bit as if I never left the Netherlands last weekend as it was raining constantly (it was just a bit warmer than what it would have been in the Netherlands haha). We also had lots of food, lots of Filipino food and also Hawaiian food and where was, for example, also a complete roasted pig, as you can see on the next picture:

The gates were decorated with plants and so-called Tiki Torches. All in all it was pretty nice and I really enjoyed myself but, like I said, it was a bit sad that it was raining almost constantly last weekend.

And since I am talking about raining anyways, it is also like whenever it rains over here, you can’t really see far anymore and it looks like the clouds are very low also, its an impression which I get when I compare it to the Netherlands. And as you can see on the next picture, it is completely grey:

As you could see, it isn’t exactly a photo which you would expect to take on Hawaii hehe. And like I said about the low clouds, normally you should see the mountains in the distance of the picture (at least the beginning of them) but with that bad weather you don’t really see it, all mountains (in every direction) are completely gone into the clouds (Michelle told me last year already that you really need to turn on your foglights sometimes with that kind of weather in the mountains, I can imagine why).

And since we’re talking about things that does not really fit into Hawaii (or at least not according to our (my) European thoughts about Hawaii), what about the next pictures?

I do not think it will fit exactly in my thoughts about Hawaii.. and every time I am in that area (I am not much in that area, just sometimes), I get the feeling that I am not on Hawaii but in some part of North America or somewhere in Northern Europe. I can see that the trees and plants are different then in the Netherlands for example but since there are some sort of conifers over here (and yes, even some sort of pine trees (specially farmed though) as we know them in Europe) and other kind of trees which you don’t really expect to be here, it kinda makes it special.

Like I said to my mother before, you can basically find the world in small on Hawaii, you can find snow (on the biggest mountain (vulcano) of Big Island, at about 4 kilometers height), you can find rain forests here, forests, desert-like areas and you can go on about this. There are areas where it rains about 360 days per year and there are areas where they only have rain a few days per year. There is so much variation in the nature here, it is really incredible.

But ok, I started this post telling about things that has happened to us in the last few days. So, last Saturday I also received my social security number which is pretty fast (and which I don’t mind hehe).. I don’t like it too much, though, since I ‘may’ now pay taxes in the US but oh well, without this number you cannot do much in the States, you need it with so many things.. you need it when you want a drivers license, to accept work (when you have work authorization that is), to requests certain things in the immigration process, to open a bank account and it continues.

By the way, we went with my newly received social security number towards ‘the bank of Hawaii‘ to add me as an accountholder of one of Michelle’s bankaccounts. This way it will be easier to get credit (and something you really need in the US is not just your social security number but also a (good) credit history, it is a bit of a long story to tell so I wont at the moment haha) and to do other things such as spendi.. I mean saving money.. hahaha

I also have been added to Michelle’s membership of Costco and I got my own customercard now. I really like that store, it looks a bit like the Makro in the Netherlands.. It is pretty big, has lots of big shelves, you have to be a member to get in and you buy many things in bulk which can make things cheaper sometimes (and sometimes it doesn’t, just as with the Makro in the Netherlands haha).

As you can see, we try to keep ourselves busy, we will also do some real sightseeing soon since we still have quite a few things on our list.. to name a few: ‘Iolani Palace, Sea Life, de North Shore, and there are many more things we want to see or do but luckily we will have plenty of time for that

Sometimes you hardly write and sometimes you write a lot, and I just realized that the latter is what happens at the moment, just as I was about to start to write this post.

So, I wrote about two weeks ago that we would bring the young kittens for adoption to the the Hawaiian Humane Society, but I didn’t tell you that not all kittens were ready for the adoption yet.. They were old enough (a bit more than 2 months) but not all of them were heavy enough so we could take them back home in the box we brought them at first.

By the way, here is a picture of the Hawaiian Humane Society en one of Michelle walking out of the door at the animal intake:Hier is trouwens een foto van de Hawaïaanse Humane Society en eentje van Michelle die net de deur uit komt lopen bij de dieren inname:

The last week, so about two weeks later, they turned out to be heavy enough and it became Michelle’s and my duty to bring them to the Hawaiian Humane Society again. That was not really fun as I also got a bit used to them (and I think about them sometimes while I ask myself how they are doing and what they do at the moment), and I can imagine it must be hard on Michelle also sometimes, but yeah, like I said before, ten cats at home (by now there were only nine cats left as the most heaviest one was adopted at one of Michelle’s mother’s friends) is a bit too much.

We went to the Hawaiian Humane Society a few more times last week, by the way. One time we went that way because there was a humane trap ready for pickup and we went back twice because we catched ourselves two feral cats.

It might sound a bit weird but apparently it is needed, there are too many feral cats out here and to reduce that population and keep the population levels to a certain amount, people are asked to help a bit when they notice that there are some feral cats in their neighborhood (and we see them a lot over here). The Hawaiian Humane Society lends Humane traps to people in which you can place some food and the cat walks into the trap and the gate closes behind the cat.

What was really nice at the Hawaiian Humane Society was that, the last time we were there, they told us that we could get three of our four cats neutered for free and only have to pay 5 dollars for the microchip which they have to implement (the fourth wont run away, she is too scared to get outside so we’re not worried about that one haha), so, fortunately, we don’t have to be affraid to get more young cats when they run away again some day

A bit later than expected but here is, still as promised, a bit more complete report of our wedding day.. better late than never

Our day started out a bit early, something we did not counted on as we would marry only at 3 pm. It was probably our nerves but oh well, we still had a few things to do so it wasn’t all that bad.

Michelle’s sister, Jey, came around lunch hour together with her daughter and her mother, to us to do Michelle’s make-up and to follow us towards the location where the wedding ceremony would be held.

Michelle and I left a little after 2 pm towards Nu’uanu in Michelle’s mother’s Benz together with her mom, aunt and grandmother in the back (the car is big enough and they are not so big so that was pretty easy). Michelle’s aunt was a bit surprised as she did not know that I can actually use my Dutch drivers license here on Hawaii and said something like “Oh, you can drive already?“, I had to laugh a bit about it since it sounded a bit funny and told her that I had my license for about 12-13 years now and that it is valid over here also.

When we arrived at the botanical garden, we arrived a bit too early as we counted on some traffic before we left but there was none haha, it turned out that it wasn’t so bad as the Reverend was there also already. He was still gathering some things from his car and in the mean time we walked towards to him. We introduced ourselves and he asked me how to pronounce my name (always fun haha) and after a few tries, he had the catch. I joked a bit about my name and the people back in the Netherlands not making it too easy on him and he replied with “hoe heet je?” (what is your name), and added “thats about all I know in Dutch haha“. I was a bit surprised that he knew a bit of Dutch and asked him how it came he knew Dutch and he told us that he stayed for a couple of years in the Netherlands around his 13th, 14th years of age since his dad used to be in the army. He told us that he lived in The Hague (He said ‘Den Haag’, the Dutch form) before and he actually pronounced the name (in Dutch) pretty well, also the names Schiphol and Scheveningen came out without any problem, which I think is pretty amazing as a lot of non-Dutch people have lots of problems with the ’sch’ part. I thought it was really good. After a bit of chit chatting, we went downwards, towards the area where we would get married.

Once we got there (it sounds like a pretty long walk which it wasn’t haha), it turned out that the photographer had already arrived, the Reverend send away a few kids who were behind us on the waterfall (probably because of the risk of them jumping into the water and making us wet), and we went to make a few pictures, such as putting on the Haku Lei (the flowers on the head of Michelle) and so. Since the pictures of the photographer are on a different website and since I rather not have any copyright claimes (you never know), I will give the link only for now: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=4226692. You can, however, see some more pictures down here which we made of our wedding (well ok, Michelle’s mother made these, we didn’t, of course):

There are a lot more pictures of this part of our marriage but we do not have these yet, these will come a bit later

Ok, so after putting on the lei’s (the flowers and such), the ceremony was good to go. The Reverend greeted everyone in Hawaiian with “Aloha kakou! E komo mai!” and continued in English (which is, of course, a lot easier to follow haha) and said a few things until it was time to ask the important questions “Michelle and Jeroen, are you now ready to be joined as husband and wife?” on which we replied wholeheartedly with yes. Then we each got the individual question if we would want to become husband and wife with: “Jeroen/Michelle, do you take Michelle/Jeroen to be your wedded wife/husband to be her/his husband/wife, partner & best friend - to love, honor & cherish her/him in all your days together?” on which we both answered with “I do!” (this did not go as his/her, of course, but it went with that what was suitable for each person).

After this it was time for the rings, which went as: “These circles of precious metal are symbols of wholeness and perfection. Without beginning or end, they are symbols of eternity. They are material tokens that represent  your spiritual union. You will wear them from this day forward as outer symbols of your inner devotion to each other“. And after this we could exchange the rings for real, supported with the following vows: “With love in my heart for all the world to see I have chosen you Michelle/Jeroen, as my wife/husband. I pledge to share my life openly with you, to speak the truth to you, to respect, to honor, to tenderly care for you. It is my heart’s desire to live with you through all the changes of our lives. I love you and want you as my wife/husband always“.

After this it was time for the words: “You have come together for this holy celebration, to exchange your vows and these rings before God and these witnesses. Because you have planned your marriage and your home in the purest faith, you come to this moment with all honor and integrity. Therefore, by the authority of our loving Creator - and the state of Hawaii - I now pronounce you, partners in life, husband and wife. You may kiss your true love“, which pronounced us husband and wife

After this the closing of the ceremony was there and the Reverend introduced us as newly weds:

“It is now my honor, privilege and pleasure to introduce to you and to our world: Mr. and Mrs. Jeroen Joosten. E ho’okahi ke aloha - May you always be united in love“.

And with that the ceremony was at the end, we took some more pictures and the photographer asked me a few times if I was really sure not to throw the bride into the water as, he said, it would give some real nice photo moments hahaha, yeah I believe it would be haha but no, I had to turn him down haha.

As we had to wait for a bit until we all could eat at the hotel, we decided to go towards Waikiki and take some more pictures (the hotel is nearby that spot so why not). Here are a few of these pictures:

I wont describe too much about these pictures but when you hover the cursor over the pictures, or click on them to magnify them, you will see a describtion

After this all we went towards the hotel to have a nice dinner with all of us. The food was, at least in my opinion, really great, I liked it a lot. It was a buffet in the hotel so we could take a bit of everything, which we did. There were Hawaiian dishes but also Asian or more European aimed dishes, a bit for every taste.

We also took a few pictures before dinner at the hotel:

The last picture is a picture of our marriage certificate (I should scan it but I just took a picture as the scanner is not installed on my laptop yet hehe). This is a memory, by the way, not the official marriage certificate which we will get from the state of Hawaii later on. We also received a booklet with the text of the vows and the text that the Reverend spoke during the ceremony.

After this all it was time to go home again, I think it was a really great day with lots of very nice memories

I will not write a long post since it is around eleven in the evening, I think you can understand this… I wanted to write something, though, because I know there are quite a few people who want to hear something about this =)

So today it was our wedding day, it was a great day, we had nice weather (you might say ‘how could it be different’ but the last week it hasn’t been always nice as the rainseason is approaching), it was just very beautiful.

I do not want to say too much about the whole wedding right now, I will write the long story tomorrow.. I will also post a few more pictures tomorrow, but, since I know there are some people who want to see some pictures, here are a few of them:

You can see us together on the first picture with Reverend Kermit Rydell, the second picture does not need any explanation I think and on the third picture you can see us together with Michelle’s aunt, grandmother and mother (that is from left to right on my side) and her friends aka 2nd family (from left to right on Michelle’s side): Jey, Juliet, Jennifer, Cire en Jon.

I wanted to keep it short at first but since I am working on it anyways, I could as well give some more pictures:

After the wedding ceremony we went to Waikiki where we took some more pictures at the Hilton Lagoon. The first picture is in front of this lagoon and in the background you can also see Diamond Head crater. The second picture, with the rainbow on the building, is in front of the Hawaiian Hilton hotel and the third one has been taken on the beach near Waikiki in front of the ocean (if you would sail that way, you would not find anything until you are at Antartica haha). The last picture is a photo I made from the hotel, where we had a nice dinner together with everyone, and made against the sun. I thought it was a nice picture which is why I added it.

Ok, for now I will say good night (or, for those in Europe: I wish you a great day haha). I will describe the rest of the story tomorrow

Next monday is our wedding day as most people know by now and since we will marry near downtown Honolulu, in Nu’uanu, at a botanical  garden with waterfall, and because we did not know exactly where this location would be, I went out today to see if I could find the location easily by myself and to see how long it would take me to get there.

Michelle was unable to join me unfortunately since her mother had a course all day long so Michelle had to stay behind to watch over her mothers patients and so I went alone. It was a bit exciting for me as I never went alone to town earlier, and neither to a place where I haven’t been before but fortunately it all went pretty smooth.

I checked Google Earth before I left to see where I could find the Nu’uanu botanical waterfall garden and I also looked at some streetnames and, like I thought earlier today, it was pretty simple to find this location which is good because on my way there, the fuel light went on so I did not have much room for errors in driving (and since her car isn’t the best in mileage either, it was a bit scary haha).

It took me about 30 minutes to get at Nu’uanu valley, at the botanical garden with waterfall, and when I got there, I walked down to make some pictures of the area so Michelle could see it too:

By the way, the pictures were taken with my new phone as I forgot to take my camera with me, I think that is why they are a bit too light. I think the panorama function of the phone is quite nice as you can also see in the last picture, it looks like it worked out pretty well

The first picture was the waterfall from above, the other two pictures are from the front. In the last picture you can also see where we stand and say ‘yes’ to each other, which will be at the right side. I know the waterfall isn’t super big as some others can be on Hawaii but we don’t have any problem with that as the bigger waterfalls are further away from the normal roads and sometimes also ask for a bit of a climb and we were not looking forward in that with our nice white clothes

Right, after I saw the Nu’uanu botanical waterfall garden (which is a bit empty for a garden if you ask me.. it was really nice and quiet but still, it was a bit empty haha), it was time for me to go home again, through traffic (which is funny, by the way, the traffic jams overhere seem to be in the top ten of all traffic jams in the USA and when I compare it to the Netherlands, it isn’t really even a traffic jam.. I guess they’re not used to much in the US haha), with me hoping to get back home in one piece as I only had fuel left for about 22 or 23 mile haha. I did it, though. I still have fuel for about 10 mile, which should be ok to reach a gasstation

This morning we went towards the west, towards Kapolei, where I had to apply for a social security number (in Dutch you would say personsnumber or ’sofi’-number) at the SSA, the Social Security Administration.

I need this number basically to get a drivers license (I got a Dutch drivers license but this is only valid in the state of Hawaii for one year after entry into the US, plus a drivers license is a valid ID over here), to be able to open a bankaccount, to start certain insurances, pay taxes (oh joy :P) and there are so many more things which makes it necessary for me to get a social security number.

Requesting the social security number was pretty simple, I had the form with me to apply for the social security number, I had my ID with and some other papers which, eventually, I didn’t need to have as the form to request for the social security number and the passport were sufficient. It was my turn after about 20 minutes of waiting and after a short while I got to hear that my social security card would be sent to me within two weeks.

After this we drove towards Chinatown in Honolulu to see if we can find a white Hula shirt for me; I want one for our wedding next monday and on our way towards town we always pass by Pearl Harbor where lately you can find some large white ball on pillars in the water, it is some sort of a large radar installation. We took a picture of it from the freeway:

It might look a bit small on the picture but it is really big.

Anyways, we went towards Chinatown and found indeed a white Aloha shirt. It is unbelievable but we were looking for one since I arrived here in Hawaii, for some reason they’re all sold out at all the stores.

Since we were in Chinatown anyways, we went towards some restaurant where we ate at a ‘real’ Chinese. It may sound weird to say ‘real’ Chinese but we like to call it like that as they serve the real Chinese dishes and not the standard watered down Chinese for western people (I admit, it isn’t less yummy but still, I like the ‘real’ Chinese food also).

After this we went back home and on our way home we found out that on the receipt of the social security number request was a wrong zipcode. I called the social security administration and they asked me to go back to the office to get it fixed. After I dropped Michelle of at home (her mom had to leave so she had to watch the clients), I drove back to Kapolei.

Instead of the twenty minutes of waiting time earlier today, I was outside after being inside for less than a minute as there was nobody else (the people in front of me just left). I explained my story and it was no problem at all, they would fix it and I could go home again. I took some pictures on my way home of the area I was driving in (while I drove so some pictures may be a bit blurry):

The first two pictures are taken of the mountains, or the beginning of the mountains, at the west side of Oahu.. I see these mountains every morning when I wake up (a bit more of the side tho so they are a bit bigger and larger), the third picture is of the road which I took back to Waipahu and in the distance you can see the mountains at the east side of Oahu. Here are some more pictures::

On the first picture you can see, if you look careful, Honolulu at the far right side and you should be able to see that radar thing on the right side. In the second picture you can find Pearl City and the mountains in the distance again from the east side of Oahu and the last picture is where you enter Waipahu on the southwest side, a bit the busy side of Waipahu where we do not live (we’re at the east side). You can also see that it is about time for the rainseason to start as the grass can use some water (and from the looks of it, it already seems like the rainseason started a bit as it rained a lot of times the last couple of days (just as you think to get rid of all the rain by leaving the Netherlands haha).

So, now we just have to wait for about two weeks and I can try to get my drivers license, I can ask for a change of status and all those other things. But first: our marriage next monday

Even though I really like it here on Hawaii, sometimes there are certain happenings that make it less fun to be here, like now. It is a nice happening, yes, but still, it would have been nicer if we were there ourselves in person as my younger sister has given birth earlier today to a little baby boy which makes us an Aunt and Uncle of a new nephew

I hope we will be able to see our new nephew soon in the real life, either on Hawaii or in the Netherlands, it would be nice to see that little one

Luckily they have made pictures of our new nephew, Bjorn, after the labor, I assume they don’t mind it if I post a picture of him on the internet:

He is lovely, isn’t he?

It has been a week since I arrived here (well ok, tonight since it is morning here still) and I thought to myself that it might be time for a little update

So how was my first week here? Fortunately it was pretty well, and I am glad I am doing much better than I would expect at first. I thought to become really homesick during the first week but fortunately it wasn’t like that. It doesn’t mean I don’t miss the folks back home but it at least I have no problem being here and I like to think that this is pretty important.

We did a lot of shopping during the last week like buying pots and pans, a nice big wok and such because, yep, I am the one who will most likely cook the most around here haha. I would never had thought it but Michelle apparently likes my cooking so oh well… we didn’t eat at home by the way, or cook ourselves, until last night. I made some fried rice with pork and such and it was quite nice if I can say so myself, I liked it a lot. Michelle asked me to make some steak with mushroom sauce (I made that when she was in the Netherlands and she loved it) so we will have a delicious dinner tonight again

We also been to town (and with ‘town’, I mean Honolulu as that is what they call it over here even though the place we live in is a little town on itself haha) a few times last week, we bought some ‘garlic chicken‘ at Mitsu-Ken in Kalihi, this is some boneless chicken with a nice crust and a great garlic taste, it is not crusty like you would see at KFC, it is different but really delicious and yep, you will smell a lot after eating it but it is really worth it hehe. After we picked it up, we took it with us to Kaka’ako Waterfront Park, this is a park in the south of Honolulu at the waterfront (duh).. it was about 97 degrees fahrenheit (36.1 celsius) in that area (or that is what the car said anyways) but since the park was at the ocean, it had a nice cool breeze and you wouldn’t really notice the heat, it was really nice. Here are some of the pictures we took there:

I also got myself a new phonenumber with a new phone, I got myself the LG Dare, I think it is a pretty nice phone. And we bought ourselves a Wii Fit on the first day I was here.. this was actually by accident, Michelle was looking for one for a long time but she couldn’t find one as they are pretty rare in the US (Europe seems to have had more than the US which is kinda odd since there are more obese people here than in Europe but oh well) and since we were at Best Buy anyways and Michelle asked a salesperson about it since she saw him walking with a few of those things and yep, they were meant for sale.. Yep, we’re now busy for about half an hour per person to play with the Wii Fit hehe, it is really nice to do it but you shouldn’t do it in the middle of the day as you will sweat your ass off haha

What else have we done? Well, sometimes we don’t do anything at all haha but besides that, we went out a few times to get some delicious Shave Ice, we also went into town to Ala Moana Center a few times which is a really large mall, I believe about 260 stores, 4 floors and still it is really open. Because I need a nice white Hula shirt for our marriage, we also went to some Hilo Hattie locations where we saw a free hula show. I laughed my ass off haha.

Today we will go towards the lawyer to change the prenuptial agreement a little bit and we will do something a bit less fun as we have to bring 6 little kittens towards the Humane Society (10 cats at home is a bit much haha). It isn’t much fun because they’re really cute but yah, what has to be done, has to be done.

Ok, I will hurry myself a bit, I just noticed I am being a bit lazy at the moment haha.

Last thursday it was time: the journey towards Michelle in Hawaii had to be taken.

I didn’t sleep much last wednesday on thursday night, we (and with ‘we’ I mean my mother, sister and daughter) had to get up at 6 am in the morning (and I woke up a lot during that night also) because we expected traffic on the road to Schiphol Airport from where my flight would leave towards Minneapolis/St. Paul at around 10.40 am.

We did not thought we experienced a lot of trafficjams on our way towards the airport but this seemed incorrect as it took us more than hour longer than when there would have been no traffic at all. This was a bit sad as we hoped to be able to drink something at the airport but unfortunately we did not have any time for this as they were boarding the plane already.

We made a few pictures while we were waiting for the bagage drop off, I think I look quite tired on them but yah, that is not so weird.. anyways, here are a few of these photos:

I had to go to some other desk after the bagage drop off since I had about 5-7 kilos overbagage in both suitcases, nice, that has cost me another 100 euros extra but oh well, sending it through mail would have been 55 euro for that weight and then I would have to wait several weeks before I would get it in my hands.

Like said, I had to go directly through the passport check as they were already boarding the plane. I had to say goodbye to my mother, Suzanne and Larissa which was pretty emotional, but that isn’t so weird I think, and I went through the check. Now I had to go straight towards the gate as they, according to the data, would be about to close it. ‘Fortunately’ there was a long row of people waiting (just like last time and I think it will always be like this as you have to undergo an interview for the United States and they check all your stuff also) so I could quickly buy a few bottles of water and get my money changed all well within time.

Now it was boarding and on to the States. They made a few pictures of the plane while I was leaving (I did not make them myself of cousrse haha):

The first flight, the one to Minneapolis/St. Paul, must have been a blessed flight. There were both a Carmelite and a Catholic priest on board, I could recognize them quite easily as the Carmelite was wearing his ‘monk outfit’ and the Father had his black suit with white board around his neck. A funny detail: My grandmother, who recently passed away, used to go to Carmelite services and my dad, who also passed away, used to be a Roman-Catholic, who knows, they might have been with me on that flight

The trip was nice, we had some turbulence over the North Sea but after about 15 to 20 minutes it was all normal. I had a seat with extra legspace and I have to say that this is indeed worth the money, it saves a bit compared to a normal seat.

When I arrived at Minneapolis/St. Paul, I went to the row for new immigrants, well row, it was my turn right away and I was only asked a few little questions and after the immigration officer checked my documents I heard ‘welcome to the United States’ and I could go on. I made a joke to the officer a bit earlier that she must be a fast reader as she was going through the large pile of papers quite fast, she had to laugh and told me she only wanted to know if certain documents were among the papers. All in all it was not a big deal, I was through immigration within 5 minutes and that was a relieve when you compare it to the process up until receiving the visa which felt it was like taking forever.

After this I could get my suitcases and I could drop them off right again for my connecting flight to Honolulu, which had a stopover in Seattle. I grabbed a quick bite (I took a Black Angus Steak sub, just like the other times I was at Minneapolis. It is quite greasy but very yummy) and went straight to the plane after that. It was a short stopover so I didn’t had to wait too long.

The flight towards Seattle went also smoothly, I could talk a bit to the people next to me which was nice. Near Seattle I got a short tour (from above) about the scenery, such as Mount Rainier (a very large vulcano) and the house of Bill Gates. We arrived about 30-35 minutes early in Seattle and since we had to leave the plane during this stop (they clean the plane, refuel it and such) I grabbed another bite which I could really use as I was getting quite tired.

We could board a bit later for Honolulu. The first part, I think this took about an hour or even longer, we experienced quite some turbulence. It is weird, the turbulence above the North Sea was a bit scary but you’re more like ‘whatever’ when you’re flying for a whole day. After a while of turbulence we got an easier flight, I could sleep here for about an hour (which was really needed) and after over 5 hours flying from Seattle we arrived in Honolulu.

The first thing I thought when I got off the plane (and this is probably due to me being tired and packing myself quite warm on board of the plane) is that I thought it was quite cold (and that with about 24-25 Centigrade haha). When I walked towards the lugage claim section I heard two people talking in Dutch so I turned around and asked them if they were Dutch and yep, there were two more Dutchies on board of the plane, it really shows how small the world is, you can find Dutch people everywhere (which happens to me every time, on my previous trip to Hawaii I met Dutch people and also when I went to China, I’ve seen a lot of Dutch people there..).

Anyways, I went towards the claim area and Michelle was waiting for me, I can tell you it was really great to see her finally again and I’m happy to say it was the same for her

So, we now reached saturday morning (which means it is Saturday night in the Netherlands haha) and I can tell you that I am suffering quite the jetlag. I haven’t slept much last night, probably because I took a very long nap yesterday afternoon (which should have been a short power nap), the short nap took about 4 hours and I was really in a deep night sleep which had the result that I didn’t sleep much last night haha… oh well, it’s going to be tough today, I will go to bed like normal tonight and then I should be able to get rid of the worst (at least it was like that the last time).

We will probably get some groceries today, we wanted to do this yesterday but we didn’t manage to do it anymore haha… it’s nice that island rhytm.. it really is like I heard an ex-colleague telling me before about Curacao: “Missed the bus? There will be another one tomorrow”, with other words:there is an other day tomorrow. But yah, since we didn’t do it, we had to eat out yesterday so I had some great Kalua pork as breakfast/lunch and in the evening I had some nice Korean food.

Yeah, I could get used to this