Five of our students volunteered last night at a beautiful reception held on the grounds of the Hawaii State Art Museum. The reason for the event? To celebrate the sister-state relationship between Hawaii and Hokkaido, Japan.

There was a brass band that came from Hokkaido. Their performance was fantastic, but we were mainly impressed by how confident they were speaking English in front of hundreds of people.


There was a lot of delicious food from Hokkaido! We could feel the warmth from all the vendors and see their love for Hokkaido.


Our volunteer students assisted with parking, helped prepare some of the food, and joined during cleanup.


Our students all went to school in the morning or afternoon before joining this event. Even though they worked hard and stayed up late, all of them came to school on time today!





Our governor, David Ige, with the governor from Hokkaido.

We ran into Jessica, who studied at Hawaii Palms 4 years ago. Now she lives and works in Hawaii as a tour coordinator; she was in charge of the brass band from Hokkaido.

One of our student volunteers, Toki, also volunteers as an assistant for a kids soccer club. He studies at school in the mornings, and spend his afternoons and evenings volunteering in the community.

James, standing in the center, was very involved in organizing this event and made it possible for our students to volunteer.

It's interesting to see how English can help strengthen the bond between two different cultures. We saw yesterday how English can help open the door to new opportunities and new people. So don't be afraid to practice your English, you never know where it will take you.

ON THE NEWS:

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/35376742/hawaii-embarks-on-new-sister-state-relationship-with-hokkaido

We Have A Mission

Kayoko was surprised to find Scott standing on a chair by our bulletin board. "What are you doing up there?"



It turns out he was painting a frame for our mission statement, which Bri had beautifully handwritten on the wall above our bulletin board last week.



So what is our mission statement?

We aim to provide students of English a comfortable place to immerse themselves in a foreign culture and improve their language skills. We strive to provide students with a high-quality learning experience that will inspire them to become global citizens, as well as to serve as a link between cultures in order to promote cross-cultural understanding and interaction.



If you're in Waikiki, stop in and say hello. And check out the beautiful calligraphy and art work by our two awesome teachers!

Life's a Beach

LIFE'S A BEACH

Two weeks ago, Waimanalo Beach got a makeover. 

Dozens of volunteers from around the island arrived at this beautiful beach on the East Coast. Their mission was very simple: collect as much trash as possible. Volunteers started arriving at 9:00am and by noon had collected a massive amount of trash, mostly plastic. People filled garbage bags and buckets with debris found along this long beach.

After everybody's hard work, a free lunch, shave ice, drinks, games, and an awesome concert was held. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

 

Some Palms students joined in the cleanup fun, too.

It was a fantastic day spent alongside people who not only appreciate the natural beauty of our island, but also care enough to help it look and be its best.

SHARE THE LOVE

SHARE THE LOVE

We met local musician Mike Love last weekend in Waimanalo. It was for a festival celebrating Earth Day, and dozens of people (including Palms students) volunteered to do Beach Cleanup for a few hours in the morning. And then the music started.

Mike Love and his band gave us an amazing performance. They mix rock and reggae to create their unique flow and sound. Their lyrics have depth and they have a positive message to share.

Do you have 10 minutes? Hit play, turn up the volume, sit back, and get ready to bob your head:

Wellness in Yoga, Yoga Wellness

English + Yoga + Wellness...

Palms yogini Kayoko is thinking about your health. She's thinking about it so much that she's introducing a new concept: Yoga Wellness.

Every Friday, she will offer a 45-minute park or beach yoga lesson, followed by a refreshing (and of course, healthy) drink before an hour long English lesson in which she'll discuss topics related to a healthy body an mind.

A great way to kick off your healthy weekend.

What does Kayoko say about our Yoga Wellness classes?

"It feels good to start your day with some stretching at the park. The fresh air, the sunshine... there's something very healthy and powerful about the feeling you get from an outdoor yoga session. I love sharing that feeling with our students".

So join us. Be healthy. Be happy. And contact us for more information. Namaste.

Momoe's way

What's the best way to learn English?

For Momoe, an Intensive Course student at Palms, the best way is to volunteer in the local community.

"I have free time here in Hawaii and I want to be able to use English outside of school". 

Momoe is 18 years old. In Tokyo, she goes to school and has a part-time job.

Here in Hawaii, she studies English and volunteers at an outdoor playgroup for kids.

Three days a week after her morning English classes, Momoe walks over to the park and spends her afternoons interacting with local coworkers and playing with kids.

"It's a great way for me to improve my English. Kids speak English differently than adults so at first I couldn't really understand them. I'm used to it now so I can communicate with them".

"If you come to Hawaii and want to improve your English, I really recommend that you volunteer. Besides helping with my English, being a volunteer has given me a deeper connection to Hawaii and the people who live here".

A bit of Americana

Last Sunday, about half of all homes in the United States sat down to watch America's biggest sporting event of the year: The Superbowl. This is the final game that decides the year's best NFL football team.

But not everyone who watched the game was interested in football. A lot of people were more interested in the commercials. Yes, the commercials. With so many people watching, Super Bowl commercials have become a very big deal. There are websites and videos and TV shows dedicated to analyzing the year's Super Bowl commercials. The best ones get awards and everyone talks about them for a few days following the game.

So with so much attention given to them, commercials have to be entertaining; or funny; or shocking; or exciting - they need to grab our attention. Companies who want to advertise during the Super Bowl have to pay $4,500,000 (four and a half million dollars) for just a thirty second ad. It's a crazy number. It's a lot of money. And with so much money and pressure, Super Bowl commercials can resemble short movies.

Here's a Super Bowl ad that has the feel of a movie:

A (kind of) Hidden Gem

There's a place in Honolulu that few tourists know about and even fewer get to visit. It's a beautiful estate (an area of land or property) located near Diamond Head. The name of the place is Shangri La, and it's a mansion built by American philanthropist (a person who donates money to a good cause), Doris Duke.

In 1936, Doris Duke began construction of Shangri La. She spent almost 60 years, through the end of her life in 1993, collecting and commissioning (asking someone to do something for you) works of art from the Islamic world. Her vision was to marry (to combine) her love of Islamic art and architecture with the tropical landscape of Hawaii.

Today, visitors may join a two-and-a-half hour tour of this exotic place with its dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean and Diamond Head. But you can't just show up there; you must book your tickets in advance here: http://honolulumuseum.org/385-about_shangri_la

Palms Reunited!

Did you know Kayoko went to Osaka for a couple of weeks?
Did you know that while there, she organized a Hawaii information seminar?
And did you also know that afterwards she hosted a Palms reunion?

Kayoko wanted to share her love of Hawaii with everyone at the seminar by talking about her life in Hawaii and her experience with learning English. It was a very casual, aloha-spirited event, and some participants travelled over 500 kilometers to attend the seminar.

After the seminar, a school reunion with former Palms students who shared drinks, food, stories, and laughter. An amazing evening filled with love and a true feeling of ohana. For Kayoko, it was a heartwarming experience, and one she hopes to repeat next time she's in Japan.

Painted Faces and a Terrifying Time

This year's Halloween fell on a Friday, so most students at Palms had the day off.

However, a group of spooky students put extra make-up on and made their way to the school in the morning for a Halloween-themed conversation class, a frightening lunch, and a scary movie.

We had witches and bumblebees and weird-looking beach clowns. And we had vampires, too.

A great Halloween spent with students, teachers, and staff. Honorable mention goes to Akina for the awesome make-up work and creativity.

Ono Friday Nights!

Friday evening barbecues are back!

We grill, we eat, we share, we drink, we talk... and we watch the fireworks over Hilton Lagoon.

Join us on Friday November 28th for some good food and a great time.

Let's practice our English outside of the classroom and meet some new friendly people.

Good day, mate!

Junichi is a former student at Palms who studied for eight weeks and stayed with a local host family. When he first came to Hawaii, he had a difficult time communicating. 

"When I came to Hawaii, I couldn't speak English at all. At school, I didn't know what people were saying and I didn't know what to say to them. However, the more I studied, the more I was able to understand. I would preview and review my classes every day, and soon enough I was able to better express myself. Nowadays, I live and work in Australia, and I find that what I learned at Hawaii Palms is very useful.

"If you are looking to improve your English, it's not enough to just go to school. You need to study and review at home as well as practice your English outside of class. If you put in the effort, your English will definitely improve. Good luck!"

Lights, Cameras, Action

Last week, Hawaii Palms was paid a visit by a Japanese TV crew from BS-TBS. They were in town shooting a new show called "Life Inn Hawaii", and they asked us to introduce our school to their viewers.

As you can see from our student Miyuki's face, there was quite a bit of excitement at school that day. There were cameras, lights, microphones, directors, producers, coordinators.. it all made the school resemble a TV studio.

After they were done interviewing some of us and getting lots of school footage, they followed us to Magic Island where they filmed one of our school activities: hula at the park.

Hula was then followed by a private lesson (taught by Head Teacher Saul) that was filmed in a beautiful mansion in Kahala.

All in all it was an exciting day for teachers, students, and staff. "Life Inn Hawaii" is a new 5-minute-long television series that will begin airing on BS-TBS starting October 5th.

Look for us on their episode on NOVEMBER 23rd at 8:54PM.

A friendly face stopped by

The other day, our dear student Akiyo stopped by to say hello.

Akiyo was our Intensive  Course student for 8 months. She started coming to school last August in order to gain some confidence in her English.  She lives in Hawaii and her husband is local, so learning English was very important to her in order to start her new life in America.

"I initially signed up for a 2-month English Intensive Course, but after finishing my 2 months I just kept extending and extending for a total of 8 months.

Since I live in Hawaii, I have lots of opportunities to practice my English outside of school, so whenever I was able to practice the language I had studied in class, I always felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

Even after graduating from my course, Palms is still a big part of me.  If I have a chance to study English again, I'd like to take another class here. My appreciation goes to all the wonderful staff members and teachers from the bottom of my heart."

Smoking Good Food!

There's a little place in Kaaawa that's easy to miss if you're driving north from Kaneohe on Kamehameha highway. It's right across Swanzy Beach Park, and they make some of the tastiest, most tender, juicy ribs on the island. 

It's called UNCLE BOBO'S SMOKED BBQ, a hole-in-the-wall place that bakes their own bread for their amazing sandwiches and smokes their meat in an old smoker out back. 

They also make chili, smoked brisket, tacos, fresh malasadas, and some very refreshing ginger lemonade. 

So if you're out for a drive on the windward coast, stop at Uncle Bobo's for some smokey, fall-off-the-bone ribs. Grab it to go and walk across the street to the beach.

Warm farewell

The sun was out in Kaneohe last Saturday for a wonderful celebration.

Many friendly faces got together to eat, drink, laugh, share, and enjoy a beautiful day.

There was music and dancing and food and aloha.

Yumiko was there, too, Smiling and laughing with us. She gave us all a huge hug. She put on a great party.

So thank you, Yumiko. For the party. For the laughs. For the sunny day. And for the life full of joy you shared with us all.

Your Palms ohana

Tip of the hat to Tetsu Miyake for the pictures.