The Visit

It was wonderful to have Kaddi's parents out in town for the week that Chalong was born. Del babysat the kids while the rest of us were in delivery and Sharon managed to stockpile a few more sweatshirts with North Shore themes. Even though their time out here was short, we took them to all the tourist attractions, including: Laie elementary school, Kaiser Permanente hospital, and the TV in front of the university bookstore that shows CNN. It was the Hawaiian vacation they always dreamed of...

Boxing Day Blahs

Well, Christmas is officially over. Kaddi invited one of Jake and Meg's friends to sleepover on the same night and then decided to hide out in the bedroom with her baby. This leaves me to supervise. I'm trying to figure out how to be just mean enough that they won't want to come over anymore, but not so mean that they'll stop being friends with my kids. Any suggestions?

I also received my Christmas present that came late - a pair of khakis from Old Navy. Kaddi had ordered 36" length pants, but what arrive was 28". I guess this semester I'll be the only professor on campus wearing capris.

Mele Kalikemaka is the thing to say

It's wonderful to have a newborn at Christmas time. So far Luke has been the baby Kaddi and I always knew would could make. He eats well, he sleeps well, and when he's awake he's usually content sit back and take in the scenery. His temper does flare up a little when he feels he's not being fed on time - you don't want to be in the way of his tiny fists of fury when that happens. It's amazing how manages to stay so balanced. Christmas can be a very stressful time for babies. I read somewhere that hiccuping goes up 25% during the holidays.

We've resolved to enjoy these simple times because we know that his youth and adolescence are going to be much more complicated. Since Luke is a native Hawaiian, we will face serious cultural and ethnic challenges as we try to incorporate him into our family of mainlanders. Some of you have already remarked on how his golden skin doesn't match the pasty complexions of our other children. As Luke becomes a teenager he will no doubt have many questions about his Polynesian ancestry and heritage. We may even decide to enroll him in a Hawaiian immersion program if he's interested in re-capturing his indigenous language and dances. Most of all, I worry about his reaction to the history of his people. How will he handle it when he learns that my ancestors stole the land of his ancestors and turned the islands of his birth into one giant military base? Who will show him how to make tapa? Who will tell him the great tales of the first peoples arriving from Bora Bora? What if he hates hockey? I think I need to seek out the advice of other multi-cultural families. There are so many questions to answer.

Fortunately, I have the pleasanties of the season to distract me from these weightier matters. We went to two Christmas programs for the kids this week - one at the elementary school and one at the university. I thought they would be regular Christmas programs full of children's songs, but the second was actually an extravanganza of Polynesian culture. Meg and her friend even had a 'solo' in one part of their song. It was so entertaining and education I decided to put together a small highlight reel of the week's festivities.

I may need it in a few years when Luke is asking me to teach him the Haka.


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Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

'Baby Chalong'

The internet premiere of Baby Chalong (with a special guest appearance by an overexcited Meg).

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Luke 8:12

I'm happy and relieved to write that baby Luke was born today at 1:44 PM Hawaii time. We arrived at the hospital at 8AM to have Kaddi induced, and things progressed very quickly. By 11 AM they had broke her water, and the contractions came very suddenly after that. After three hours of labor we had our little boy.

As we made the long drive down Kamehameha highway this morning at 7AM Kaddi was a little disappointed that she had to be induced. She was hoping that the contractions would just start suddenly so the pain would catch her off-guard, instead of the big build-up and the nervous anticipation that accompanies it. For her it's like requesting someone to torture you for a few hours.

I, on the other hand, really like the inducement method. It's so controllable, so orderly. It's a like a few generations ago when they would purchase by mail. You select something you really want from the Sears-Roebuck catalog, and then nine months later you go to the train station to pick it up.

Luke measures 8 pounds, twelve ounces and measures twenty inches. Our biggest baby yet. When they put him in the baby tray to measure him his huge feet were stretches out over the end of the tray. He has long tapered fingers and (hopefully) a sweet temperament. We're really not sure what color his hair is, but it doesn't look red - much darker than either Jake or Meg.

I'll work on getting a picture posted sometime today (although I'm a little upset to see People magazine already has photos on their website - those vultures.) I'll probably end up driving back to Laie this evening to bring Jake and Meg in to see the baby. This morning when we left Meg was a little teary. She said:

"I'm just so happy mom is finally having a baby."

It is the will of the gods

In November Meg was nominated by her teacher as a 'Super Citizen', an example of a fine upstanding youth in her community. Since I didn't have classes on her special day of recognition I went along to observe this strange schoolyard ritual.




The money changers at work outside the temple









I can only assume that the SuperCitizen assembly was once a beautiful ceremony devoted to the pure ideals of civic virture. But like so many celebrations, the meaning was slowly drained away as it became increasingly commercialized. Today it has been reduced to nothing more than a frenzied orgy of laminated certificates and laffy-taffy.



On this day the rain stopped just long enough for the student to bring their plastic chairs out of their classroom and assembled themselves in the courtyard. Then students from each grade are called up to the podium, where the principal presents them with their certificate and parents bring up their candy leis. I spent ten dollars (ten dollars!) purchasing candy strung together by the bourgeois capitalists who set up their stands outside the school that morning. Handing over that money felt like passing a gallstone, but what's a parent to do? Is a principle worth your little girl being the only one in the entire school not wearing a candy lei?



Meg stood proudly on the podium as the remainder of her classmates prostrated themselves in worship of their twin gods Sucrose and Glucose. We hurried up with other parents to place the leis on their shoulders and take pictures. After all the students had been recognized they had a very bizarre skit involving two guys dressed as 'Ernie and Bernie' from Shark Tales jumping around and yelling with Jamaican accents. I think it was about communication.

I thought two leis was excessive, but as we walked out of the schoolyard we saw a girl with at least ten candy-leis around her neck. I wonder if the candy fairy visited her that night.

Time to shut it down

Most of you are aware of how much I love my office. Aside from my family (and Jason Whitten) there's nothing I enjoy more than sitting down in my own personal quiet pace with the door closed, my computer on, and my dissertation materials all easily accessible. It's the one place the scholar-nerd in me can be truly happy.

So why will I probably spend this week at home working on the kitchen table with my exams, papers, and research materials inter-mingled with Meg's drawings of happy little girls and giant birthday cakes?

I'm in hiding.

Yesterday was the first day of finals week, which means that a tidal wave of underachieving students has crested over my office, and the flotsam and jetsam of the student body is still clinging to the walls of the hallways. This is the time of year when the surfer and the sunburned wipe the sand out their eyes and begin shuffling off to their professor's offices in a half-hearted attempt to negotiate a passing grade.

Yesterday I was beseiged with requests, demands, excuses, angry emails, sob stories, and explanations as to why it was my fault they didn't understand what to do. (Of course, there are many bright, intelligent, dedicated students here as well. But you generally don't see them thise week because they're busy doing what they normally do - studying and preparing to succeed on the final.) Here's a few sound bytes from the soundtrack that was yesterday for me:

"I know I didn't turn in most of my work, but you haven't been very accomodating with your deadlines."

"Can I do this assignment over again? The first time I didn't read th instructions about there being two parts."

"Can you tell me what's going to be on the final?"

"Could you look over my paper and tell me if its good or not before I hand it in?"

"What do I need to do to pass this class?"

"I need at least a C- or my family will lose their housing privileges at TVA."

"I didn't turn in most of the assignments, so could you give me some extra-credit work to do?"

"I'm sorry I plagiarized my first research paper, but if you give me another chance I promise I'll actually do the research myself this time."

"I had a hard time concentrating in class because I was captivated by your rugged good looks and gorgeous hair."

"Professor Strate, are you aware that your website 301NIB is currently the target of a hostile takeover by the Sheinhardt wig company?"

After a while, I tried ignoring the knocks and pretending I wasn't there. Some students just got the department secretary to knock on the door for them. It was terrifying.

In the face of such an assault, I will now do what professors have always done. I'll run away. Students can communicate with me through email if they really need something, and then I have a chance to screen what is important and what is whining.

I am the hunted.

Afternoon Delight

The best part about living in the TVA campground is that the kids can go outside to play all the time. They really didn't get a chance to play outside in Thailand because it was just too hot. We're entering the rainy season here, but still get some sunny days to enjoy outdoors. Here's a video clip from Jake playing the classic football game 'interception.' It's vintage Jake. He runs a thirty-second route, makes a few half-hearted jukes, and then falls down.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How is Kaddi?

It is now December 4th, which means that my mom has now been playing Christmas music for two weeks already. Many of you are now doubt getting ready for Christmas and enjoying winter landscapes and new fallen snow. Well, we don't have snow here in Hawaii, but I did come home today to find the grass in front of our apartment covered with flecks of white. It seems that a herd of free-range toddlers liberated someone's styrofoam cooler and tore into it like a pack of wild dingoes. It was frightening to survey the carnage. I've decided to order armor-plating for our baby stroller to help protect l'il Snerdley from the diapered destroyers that roam through the projects.

So what news of baby?

Right now Kaddi is doing very well. Thankfully the weather has cooled down quite a bit since we arrived, so she's sleeping a little better. But having a small human being inside your body is making her increasingly uncomfortable. We suspect baby may be studying martial arts, because ever few hours Kaddi gets a karate chop in the ribs.

Despite what the Baby Snerdley counter may indicate, we're not exactly sure when the baby will come. December 17th is the date that given us during the first ultrasound. We're going to need to figure out a route in advance, because its a hour long drive to our hospital on the other side of the island. We're still in negotiations with Kaiser over whether they will induce Kaddi or whether we'll just wait until she goes into labour.

Also, the 301NIB viewers chose Snerdley as a first name for the baby, but there is some disagreement about a second name. Kaddi would like 'Michael', which is her brother's name. I'm holding out for 'Chalong', the name of my advisor in Thailand and a word that means 'celebration.' So far there is a lot of resistance to giving him a Thai name. We may have to compromise and follow the Utah Valley custom of naming him after a luxury car.

We'll let everyone know the minute Snerdley Landrover Strate is born.