Day One

Aloha again! Today was my first full day in Hawaii and also the first day of the REU. We started at 9am with introductions and a Linux/C++ quiz (which I didn't really do too well on) to gauge our knowledge of both of those. We also had a group exercise dealing with the types of computing systems which was slightly confusing. For lunch, we had a student/faculty potluck with a traditional Hawaiian chicken dish, salad, and some rice. After lunch, we had a few lectures from some of the professors and some computer logistics to take care of. We left at 4:45pm and headed back to the dorms. Shortly after, we all decided to go to Waikiki beach which is a mile or 2 away from campus. We walked there and it took a lot longer than we thought! We finally got there and a few of us went in the water, which was very warm but the ocean floor was rocky and unpredictable at that spot. Hopefully we will be able to find a part of that beach or another beach where there is soft sand in the water. I would definitely not want to learn to surf in that spot of the beach because I know I would fall and scrape myself on the rocks! After we left the beach, we walked to a grocery store to shop for some food and then headed back to the dorms. It was a fun trip but very tiring! My feet hurt so bad from the rocks at the beach and my sandals, I can hardly stand for a long time! Hopefully they will feel better in the morning. Tomorrow is day 2 and we have to do lunch on our own, so I will probably go to the union on campus and see what they have over there and explore the campus a bit more.

I haven't really taken any pictures yet (I forgot my camera when we went out to the beach today, durp) but as soon as I do (probably tomorrow) I will post them up on facebook for you all. Goodnight!

Aloha!

Aloha! I am in the beautiful state of Hawaii for 10 weeks this summer! The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is focusing on computational fluid dynamics (CFD). I will be doing research on micro-thin pin heat exchangers. As of now, I only know about 50% of what that means! My first day is tomorrow from 9am to 4:30pm and will probably be filled with introductions and logistics, which is perfectly fine with me considering I am super jet lagged and exhausted from the 12+ hour total travel time.

Today started off by boarding a flight to Phoenix at 10am EST. This was a 5.5 hour flight and we got in at 12:30pm PST (Arizona is on PST during this time of year because they don’t do daylight savings time, so they are continuously 3 hours behind EST). I had about an hour layover in Phoenix to get lunch and relax before my next flight at 1:55pm PST. The next flight was about 7 hours long and got me into Honolulu at 5:15pm Hawaii time (whatever that abbreviation is). So basically I traveled back in time haha. But seriously, I arrived in Hawaii at 11:15pm EST which is 13 hours later than I left! Needless to say I was burnt out and exhausted by the time I got there. I went to baggage claim and met one of the REU professors and one other intern and we waited forever for our bags to come. Once we got our bags, we waited for the director of the program to pull up in the University van to take us to the dorms. We got to the dorms and checked in and headed up to our rooms. I am staying in a suite with two single rooms that share a bathroom area with another girl in the program. Each of us have our own rooms and we have a sink in the middle of the common area and a separate room for the toilet and another separate room for the shower (which I thought was pretty sweet). I unpacked my suitcases and then we went to knock on the guys’ room down the hall (4 guys sharing 2 double rooms and the same bathroom situation that we have) to go walk to dinner somewhere. We ended up walking to this Thai restaurant a few blocks away from campus. We had a good time talking and getting to know each other and I feel like we will all become good friends very soon! We are planning on going to the beach after we get out of work tomorrow at 4:30pm, so hopefully the weather will permit (which I’m sure it will!) It was a bit humid tonight, and someone earlier on the flight into Honolulu was saying that it had been raining a few days before he left for Phoenix for 2 weeks. Hopefully it will stay nice and maybe it won’t ever rain while I’m here (knock on wood!)

Anyway, I should really get to sleep. It is 10:15pm here but really it is 4:15am at home! It is definitely going to take some time to get used to the 6 hour time difference…but hey, it’s Hawaii!! Aloha!

PS. The picture you see in the background is of Waikiki Beach looking toward Diamond Head crater. You can hike to the top and get a 360 degree view of Waikiki, Honolulu, and some of the inland parts of Oahu!