Day 1 – Arrival

I arrived in Maui this morning.  It’s beautiful! It’s sunny and the temperature is perfect.  My teachers, Jeff and Mariko were waiting for me at baggage claim and helped me get my bags.  Mariko grew up here – I’m so excited to explore Maui with a local who is also my teacher!

I was nervous about talking to the staff at the car rental but Jeff reminded me to relax and use what we practiced in my pre-departure course.  I was able to understand the conversation and rented a white Jeep!

We drove about 20 minutes to get to the condo.  It’s so nice and right across the street from the beach!  There are colorful flowers everywhere. My room has a big bedroom, big kitchen and a big living room.  I’m on the 3rd floor so I can see the ocean from my balcony. Mariko said that I’ll have a nice view of the sunset too!

At 11:00 we all got together in the teachers’ room which was set up like a classroom.  I met the other students – there are six of us. Our first lesson was a “meet and greet.”  We had some drinks and snacks and introduced ourselves. We also practiced language for ordering food.  

At 12:30 we went for lunch at the restaurant next to our condo.  Our first challenge was to ask questions about the menu and order our lunch.  I had tacos and a margarita. My meal was delicious!

After lunch, we had free time until meeting up at 5:30 to go grocery shopping.  I sat on the balcony and started looking at a map of the island, but I fell asleep.  I was pretty tired because I didn’t sleep at all on the flight here – I was too excited!

At 5:30 we met in the parking lot and drove to Safeway.  It’s a big supermarket that’s only a five minute drive from the condo.  We all bought some food for breakfast, as well as snacks and drinks. I bought some King’s Hawaiian sweet bread that Mariko recommended and some Maui Brewery beer called Bikini Blonde.

For dinner, Mariko ordered a bunch of local food for take out and they set up a buffet in the teachers’ room.  We all ate together and chatted in English. I really liked the lomilomi salmon – it’s cut up salmon with tomatoes, green onions and onions.  Jeff also had some Maui Brewery beer but a different flavor, his was the Coconut Porter. He gave me one of his beers to try and we talked about beer.  I think I’ll buy the Coconut Porter tomorrow.

After dinner, me and some other students walked down to the beach.  It took us three minutes. Awesome! The sand felt good on my feet. I put my feet in the water and thought it would be cold, but it was actually pretty warm!  The sky was clear and we could see lots of stars. At 8:00 I said goodnight and now I’m back in my room about to go to sleep. I’m excited for tomorrow! Maybe I’ll go for a swim in the pool!