Christmas in Hawaii (with HULA!)

This is the first time for me to have Christmas in HOT place. Here in Hawaii, they also celebrate Christmas. (For me, it is bizarre to be so warm and sunny in Christmas season).

Christmas tree in front of Ward Center

You can see the blue sky with a Christmas tree. Hmmm, it's summer Christmas.

The entrance of Ward Cinema.

There is a wreath, too.

I came to Ward Center in Honolulu because I wanted to see the Hula dance show.
My friend started to take the lesson of Hula with me (!) and I quit it the second time. But she continues and she is now a good hula dancer. Her Hula school showed up at the stage of Ward Center.

Hula dance of children 1

Hula dance of youngest dancers. So cute!

Hula dance of children 2. Their technique is great and they are pretty.

Here is an adult Hula. My friend is in this group.

Oldest girls? Very beautiful!

In general, I like to see Hula dances. This time, I enjoyed a lot because this is Christmas version. Costumes are decorated and musics are Christmas songs. I don't know the titles of the musics but some of them are Hawaiian Christmas songs. The lyrics about the Christmas in Hawaii. Some musics are also in Hawaiian language. I should have learned the language. As the Hula expression includes a lot of pantomimes with meanings, it must be fun to understand the lyrics and the mime at the same time. Anyway, it was heart warming show in hot Hawaiian shopping center. After the show, I enjoyed the lunch of "Kua'aina" Hamburger with avocado. It's my favorite hamburger. Mmmmmm, delicious!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS !!

Presentation of Ballerinas

I would like to introduce my friends from the same ballet school where I take ballet classes.
This school had a show at the Ala Moana shopping center last Friday. They prepared for more than two months. My teacher kindly suggested me to dance on the stage but I couldn't as I traveled a lot this autumn.
Anyway, here are some photos from the show.

 I loved beautiful costumes. They are hand made by teachers and mothers. What a great job!

Fishes

 I recognized music of cute honey bees. ?? What's this?? I can dance with this music but not the same choreography. Wow, this music was a music for my dance show when I was seven years old. It was my second stage. I started to use point shoes in that show. After that I had a problem with my foot and I didn't dance for eight years until I decided to come back to the ballet class at the age of 15.

Honey bees

You can see my teacher with also black and yellow costume to help youngest dancers (pretty!). She is a great teacher. She is always optimistic and cheerful. She pointed out my weakness and I improved a lot. I really thank her.

Mermaids

 They are mermaids. My friend was in this group. She is an adult woman but she is taking the classes with girls. I was happy that she danced on the stage. I respect her because she is diligently taking classes and enjoying ballet a lot! 

Neapolitan from Swan lake

 From Neapolitan, they are my class mates. Their skills are quite high. Their smiles were so goood!!

Variation of Aurora from Sleeping Beauty

 Here is our star, dancing Aurora. This variation is famous for happy pretty dance. She is the best person to dance this variation, I think.

Variation from Le Corsaire

 Another heroine danced the beautiful and dynamic variation from Le Corsaire. When I was a teenager, my friend danced this variation in the presentation. At that time, I dreamed "One day, I will dance this!".  You can imagine how this dance is attractive!

Pas de Trois

 Again, my class mates. They are great! Look, their timing of arabesque is perfect!

Finish!

To have a great teamwork, you have to be humble and respect others. You cannot skip classes easily. So, I respect them a lot. They smiled in the show. But just before the show, they were so tired by having hard schedules with many classes. I couldn't believe they showed such pretty smile.
Great job! Well done!!!

Conference in Colima, Mexico

A series of conferences named "Cities on Volcanoes (COV)" are quite nice for me because I am interested in hazard mitigation of volcanic eruption. I had already attended COV3 (Hilo, Hawaii, in 2003) and COV 6 (Tenerife, Spain, in 2009). This time was COV7 and it was held in Colima, Mexico. Colima is a city close to the volcano "Colima" (it is also called "Fuego").

A flag of Cities on Volcanoes 7 in the town center.

Colima Volcano

Colina sometimes erupts and produce pyroclastic flows, lava flows and secondly, lahars. Especially lahar occurs very often and people around volcanoes are accustomed to evacuate quickly.

People in the community close to the vent and they have lahars quite often.

We visited the town where the community is well prepared for the evacuation in the case of lahars. Lahar occurs when it rains heavily because there are always some volcanic ashes on the slope of the volcano. So, rain can easily make muddy flow. They are so accustomed to recognize the sound of lahars when it happens. Then they evacuate without any evacuation alarm from civil protection. When someone notice the lahar, they ring the bell of the church and tell all people in community to evacuate.

Police only for us while we are in field excursion.

During the field excursion, our buses are protected by police and civil protections. Actually, they were also around conference venue everyday. I heard that Mexico is a bit dangerous. However, I didn't feel so scary because of their good protection. Also Colima was fairly safe city and even during the night we walked from the university to the hotel (but not alone).

Mexican fireworks at the party on Wednesday

They made "Mexican night" in the middle of conference on Wednesday. There were Mexican foods and drinks. They had folklore dancing show and music. At the end of the event, there were Mexican fireworks. It was great!! This conference series become more and more entertainment. Actually I am not sure that it is really good thing or not?? because much money has been used to make such gorgeous events. If the village or the city is not so wealthy, I guess it is large amount of outgo. Maybe I worry too much...
Anyway, it was wonderful experience including nice discussions with many passionate researchers and related people.

Field of Volcano

When I am alone in the field, I looked up the blue sky.

The cloud was like a cotton candy.

It reminds me of one person.
I thought he was like a blue sky.
Maybe he is like a white cloud floating like this because he sometimes comes up and sometimes completely disappear.

Anyway, I had some quests yesterday.
I took them to interesting points in the national park.
They were happy to see the volcanoes and lava flows, and so I was happy, too.
Their children said "Wow, you know a lot about volcanoes...!"
"Yeah... because I am a kind of specialist", I answered with a smile.

I want to be a specialist of volcanoes. I want to explain well to people who are not familiar with volcanoes. I want to tell everybody how volcanoes are dynamic and mysterious because I am attracted by volcanoes since I was a teenager.

Halema`uma`u crater is active but quietly. Pu`u`O`o  is also active and the lava flow continues towards south east coast.

My field "Kilauea Iki" remains stable. This time, I went into the forest and I was surprised that plants are strong. Even though the field was covered with hot and hard materials, they make forests after 50 years. There were berry trees such as strawberry and raspberry in the forest.

Finally, we went to the restaurant in Volcano village near the national park.

This restaurant is decorated European way. So I felt warm and comfortable. If I were alone, I couldn't have been there. Thank you my guests!

Autumn in Europe 2

I like this café and often went there by myself and with my friends.

  I came here, Geneva for my work.  However, I have many friends here! I enjoyed meeting with them. I went a cafe, where I can eat nice scone with butter and jam. They also have many kinds of teas. I had a chat over cups of tea because the tea is served by tea pot. So, our chat becomes longer.

Parc des Bastions

 Parks in Geneva is beautiful and cozy. Especially in autumn, colored leaves decorates them. One of the most historical parks is this Parc des Bastions. Here, we can see the statue of Calvin who made our university  (Universié de Genève). Also, you can have a nice brunch during weekend.

Carousel at Place de la Madeleine

 Just on the foot of St. Pierre cathedral, there is a carousel. I liked this place and I came many times by myself, but this time, I came with my sister's family. I haven't imagined my niece playing with this carousel! What a happy day!!

I worked a lot in Geneva as it is the purpose of my visit to Geneva. Sometimes, the work is not easy and I am so stressed. However, I know that there are places where I can heal myself in Geneva.

Honestly speaking, I didn't like Geneva when I arrived in 2007. I couldn't be happy easily. After four and a half years, it became my second home town. I dream to come back to Geneva as a professional scientist, one day.

Autumn in Europe 1

This travel is for my work. But it is also for my mental health!
Actually, I missed Europe so much. Especially my second home town, Geneva!

On the way to Geneva, I dropped in on Kiel in Germany.
This was for taking the course and also to meet my friend.

I didn't think so much about the course before. I haven't prepared so well.
However, the course was so interesting. We discussed a lot and some students are quite good for theory and also for microscope work. As I was not good for looking at microscope, I was just amazed with their knowledge and good skill for discussion. I thought my work is more macroscopic study and it must have no relation between my work and microscope. Oh, I was totally wrong. It was related to my work, too! I studied a lot and also I sometimes show my work to participants. I appreciate the professor to give me the opportunity to present my work.

Course Participants and Prof! (I am not in...)

 They are nice! I enjoyed talking with them as one of the students.

After this course, I enjoyed visiting Kiel by myself. It is not big city, but it is organized. I felt safe and I was happy to go out with buses because it was always ON TIME!

The scenery from the bridge on the way from youth hostel to central station.

And, Kiel is a port city. We could see the ship next to the central station.It was fun to walk from Youth Hostel to the station because we can cross the bridge and the scenery from the bridge was nice.

Then,,, my next destination is Geneva!

Field Work

My Field

I worked in the field for one week. My field is in the Volcano National Park in Hawaii Island.

My work

 I dug and...

Bomb

I measured the size of bombs. 

It seems so simple, but to have meaningful data is not so easy.

Sometimes, I am tired and feel like quitting such digging!! However, sometimes I find beautiful flowers, 

Ohia Lehua (Flower of Ohia tree)

 nice view of volcano and steam,

Puu puai and Steam from Halemaumau crater

 and ... wild birds.

Nene (Hawaiian Goose)

They are fed in Military Camp in National Park.

Nenes in Military Camp (KMC)

 However, it looked much better when I found them in my field early in the morning without other tourists.
 It often rains around my field. I always wear rain jacket and pants. When it rains, I feel like crying. What am I doing here alone??? But after the rain, I noticed that there is a rainbow!!!

Rainbow

 It is like a present because I worked in the windy and rainy condition.

Gradually, I learn how this field is made. I felt I advance step by step. "Petit à petit" in French (I like this French phrase!)

I came back to Honolulu on Friday evening. In Hilo Airpot (Big Island), there was a Hula and Hawaiian music show because it was Friday. 90-years-old guy was dancing with the spirit of Aloha (Hello) and E Komo Mai (Welcome). His smile was so charming. His dance has a power of healing people.

 

Hula dance with healing smile in Hilo airport

Conclusion: I was happy to work in the field. 

MAHALO everybody helped me during my field work.

Myself in the crater of fissure eruption

Tours in Hawaii

Sunset from the summit of Mauna Kea

I joined some tours in Hawaii these days because my friend visited me from Japan. However, I was not confident to drive by myself. At first, we joined "Mauna Kea Summit & Stargazing Tour". This tour is to see the sunset from the top of Mauna Kea which is the highest mountain in Hawaii (4025m) and observe the stars around Onizuka Center (2800m). Actually, I have already joined this tour in 2003, but I was moved again with such beautiful sky!
I was not so interested in stars and constellation before, but this time I enjoyed the explanation and observed them. I think the guide was pretty good!

Rainbow fall in Hilo

The next day, we joined the tour of Hilo town and Volcano. If I were confidence in driving, we didn't need to join this tour because I can explain basic things of volcanoes. However, I enjoyed this tour more than I expected. Main reason is that a guide (who is an old Japanese lady) was so professional and good for guiding. She was also so humble to learn new things.

She said that she had joined a workshop which had been held by volcano observatory. She learned that there are many footprints around Halema'uma'u crater. One researcher measured these footprints and guessed the height of people. His conclusion is that people who left these footprints were very tall!
Actually, I knew this story because I had met the researcher who worked for footprints and I read his paper.  But  it was amazing that the lady knew such new accomplishment of scientific study.

Halema'uma'u crater

 Halema'uma'u crater is still active with steaming. This activity release a lot of poisonous gas and so wide part of national park is closed now. We just enjoyed the daylight view of this crater. If you have a chance to stay until it gets dark, it is nice to see the night view of Halema'uma'u because it glows due to the lava lake at the bottom of the crater. 

A guide of Polynesian Cultural Center

In Oahu Island, we went to Polynesian Cultural Center. I didn't expect to be in guided tour, but actually we joined the tour. Guides were students who work here and study at the university next to this amusement park. Our guide was a half American and a half Japanese, and he spoke both language perfectly. He learned how to explain and guided us quite well. He also rowed the boat. The tour was calm and efficient. We didn't waste time at all.

The bottom line is ... I was impressed by professional guides. Bravo!!!

Independence Day

Today is "Independence day" of United States of America. It's big holiday in Hawaii, too. So I don't need to rush to the work. I had an organic breakfast at Island Vintage Coffee. This cafe has "organic" dishes, some magazine and websites say. I wanted to try but I didn't have a chance.

It was good. I like sprout in the sandwich. Here, sandwiches often have this sprout. It's nice! It makes sandwich so fresh.

I wondered if I can see the fireworks (Alamoana Beach park) from my apartment??
Yeeeeeees. Even it is farther than Friday fireworks (Hotel in Waikiki), it was higher and larger!! It seems NY fireworks is much bigger than one in Honolulu. But I am happy to see the fireworks from here, my apartment.

Happy Independence Day!

Two photoes from my Lanai (terrace)

 Image1: Rainbow. In Hawaii, I sometimes see the rainbow. When it's rainy or bit foggy, I can find the rainbow in the sky. I wonder, why we can't see rainbow in Japan nor Geneva. I saw the rainbow in Ecuador, too.

Image2: Fireworks on Friday night. Every Friday, one hotel in Waikiki has fireworks. I can see it from my apartment. Happy Friday!

Kamehameha day

Kamehameha day is the festival of Hawaiians. Here, it is state holiday and there were parades in Kalakaua street in Waikiki. There were also many concerts outside for Hula, Hawaiian music and even Japanese percussion TAIKO. It has been long since I saw Taiko performance in Japan last time (I don't remember exactly when it was...), so I was happy to see the real Japanese performance.

On Sunday, I went to the beach with my friend. This is Waikiki beach with Diamond Head. The weather was great! I was a bit frustrated with bed bug's problem this week but I could really relaxed today. I went into the water and just play around with sea wave.

In Hawaii, I discovered "Smoothie", which is the crushed fruits and ice. Sometimes it is with some ice cream. But I prefer the smoothie without ice cream. Here, in International Market place, we found good smoothie place. Many kinds of fruit were around and it smelled so gooooood. It was perfect after sea bathing!