How charming am I?

Apparently, so charming that people love me even when I show up where I'm not invited and tell them things they don't normally like to hear.

Take Friday for example...

I was scheduled to meet Rachy-Rach, Kaddi and the kids at the activity center to do a little bowling. I arrived before everyone else and noticed the center was much more crowded than usual, but since there were still several lanes open I wasn't too concerned. As I watched a duo play Nintendo Wii tennis (I've got to get one of those) someone came up and said, "why don't you help yourself to some of the refreshments at the table?"

So I did. I sat munching my rice-crispie treats and looking around to see if the family had arrived. It was then that I noticed everyone else in the room seemed to share an similar ethnic heritate. Then I thought, "Hmmm...I don't remember anyone ever offering me refreshments any of the other times I camr bowling." On a hunch, I went back outside and looked to check for any announcements. There was a sign posted on the door that said:

"Closed for Private Party"

Just then the rest of the crew rolled up. While Kaddi and Rachel tried to decide on a backup activity, I sat catching up with Chalong. I noticed the little chubber had been bulking up big time and pointed this out to him. Normally this topic can lead to an awkward pause in the conversation, but for some reason (most likely my impeccable timing and delivery) he found this to be hilarious.

I'm a people person.

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Waimea Falls

On the final day of my parents visit we wanted to take full advantage of a beautiful day and head to Waimea Bay. It didn't go so well. The waves were so big that no one dared to get into the water. The trade winds came in and destroyed one of our beach umbrellas, then attempted to highjack the other. At one point I held onto Luke with one hand and our good umbrella with the other, while watching the tattered umbrella roll down the beach thinking "Hmmm...I hope that doesn't impail someone." As a final straw, Luke transformed himself into a crabby patty (with cheese) and decided to cry incessantly while not sleeping.

So we packed up our things and headed up the nearby canyon to a retreat called Waimea...something. There's nothing like a good botanical garden to salvage an otherwise disappointing day. It combined two of my favorite past-times: looking at strange plants and physical exercise. The waterfall at the end was very cool, but it was a good 3/4 mile hike to get there.

I got nature all over me.

We're all here for you - this is a safe place

It was wonderful to have my parents here and enjoy their company for two weeks. I'm very proud of my dad for building a successful assessment firm and grateful that it gives them the flexible schedule and available means to travel around to visit us wherever we happen to be living. Here in Hawaii they enjoyed their new prosperity by renting a silver convertible to cruise around the island. It made me a little uncomfortable that Morg was constantly pointing out how much better his Sebring was than my Saturn. I winced a little at his constant references to my being a 'professional student' who couldn't make it in the real world. But, for the most part, I just tried to enjoy the visit and overlook the various ways I don't measure up. Monday afternoon we waved good-bye as they drove their convertible to the airport.

The next morning I walked into the bathroom to discover our toothpaste was missing.

It was a surreal moment. Could Morg possibly have taken my toothpaste? Why would anyone do such a thing? My mind reeled as I tried to understand such a senseless act of cruelty. It was a brand new bottle of Crest - the expensive kind that stands upright. We spent the extra money because the kids make such a mess with the tube.
I know the extra money means nothing to a successful business owner like my dad, but for a struggling PhD candidate it's quite a lot.

Then I remembered the proverb from the Bible about the poor man who lived next to the estate of a wealthy landowner. The rich man had his friends over for a party where they all ate candy. When it was time for everyone to brush their teeth, instead of using one of his own many tubes of toothpaste (from his many bathrooms), the landowner went into the tiny bathroom cabinet of the poor man and took his small tube of toothpaste to give to his guests. I don't quite remember the end of the proverb, but I'm pretty sure the poor man got gingivitis.

I'm genuinely worried for my father. Successful people become accustomed to staying in fine hotels and being able to take whatever they want. What's going to happen the next time he stays with me, or my sister? Instead of toothpaste it might be an electric razor that's missing. Or possibly even a kitchenaid. Or a DVD player. There's no end to the damage he could do if these kleptocratic impulses go unchecked.

So I've decided to act. This year at the Strate family reunion my family and I are going to stage an intervention. We'll collectively confront my dad and explain that we love him, and we're glad he's successful, but he can't continue to plunder our bathroom cabinets in this manner. It's just not right. I'm confident that our combined love and devotion can break him of this destructive tendency.

I just hope it's not too late.

The Culture-iest Place on Earth

It's nice to have family in town because you have an excuse to take time out to all the fun things you never make time for otherwise. Friday we went with my parents to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Normally cultural means boring things like symphony's and art exhibits and monotonous museums. But this was good cultural, hula dancers, spear-throwing, and guys playing with fire.

The PCC has many different villages representing peoples from Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Marquesas. We watched a documentary in the IMAX theater which informed us about how coral reefs are dying due to climate changed and made us promise to write-in Al Gore's name for President. We watched the amazing canoe pageant go by demonstrating many traditional dances. For dinner, it was the traditional Hawaiian Luau experience. At the beginning employees dug up a pig that had been slowly roasting for hours. Then I ate it. To cap off our experience, we watched the night show performance, featuring music and dance from around the Pacific.

Note: This video has been re-edited to exclude photos that certain individuals have found objectionable.

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No Three-Peat

Join ESPN'S Tourney Challenge

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Group Name: 301NIBadgers

password: Madison

This year the winner will receive the envy and admiration of as many as 3-4 fellow players.

I'm easy like Sunday morning

Last Sunday we blessed Luke in Sacrament meeting. We waited a few months so that parents could be here and it was great to have my dad with me in the circle. Luke seemed to enjoy being the center of attention, and at three months old he was big enough to hold the microphone for me. So that worked out nicely.

And somehow the day got even more special when we spent the hour after church standing out in the hot sun taking pictures. The temple is right next door to our Stake Center, so we made the short jaunt over for our photo shoot. Despite the heat I was patient and considerate of others, as is my nature.

The sea was angry that day, my friends

My parents arrived in Hawaii last week. They've been staying in a beachside bungalow and spending their days walking around Laie and enjoying the pleasures of the nearby beaches. Finally on Saturday I thought we might be ready to take it up a notch (Emeril). It was time to introduce them to the realsurf. We headed up to Sunset Beach, rented some flippers, and prepared ourselves for a confrontation with the North Shore.

The confrontation didn't last long. After Morg and I had been floundering in the water for no more than fifteen minutes or so, the ocean threw our carcasses up on the shore like two pieces of sun-burned driftwood. We had been weighed. We had been measured. And we had been found wanting.

My neck will be sore for days.

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All religions teach you to be good

This year I spent my Valentine's Day down at the University of Hawaii presenting a paper at their International Graduate Student Conference. UH has the East-West Center, a pretigious area studies program that focuses on all aspects of Asia. I was one of 135 presenters from all over the United States, Canada, the PRC, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Japan, and yes - Hawaii.

It was my first opportunity to present some of the research I conducted in Thailand last year, in between sight-seeing trips. Last month I completed a the first rough draft of a chapter to the dissertation. It examines the Thai government's attempts to eliminate the Catholic Church from Thailand. From 1940-1944, Thai authorities banned Catholic meetings in most provinces, seized or destroyed Church property, and deported or imprisoned many clergy. This campaign of persecution lasted until 1944 when it became apparent that Japan would lose the war and the Thai decided to begin preparing for an Allied return to Southeast Asia. I argue the Thai attacked the Catholic Church as one of the most prominent symbols of the old colonial order they wanted to replace. Despite never being colonized, Thai nationalism from this era was extremely anti-colonial.

It was quite possibly the greatest academic presentation in the history of the modern university. I received some very positive feedback and interesting queries from other particpants during the question and answer session. I also enjoyed other panel sessions involving a diverse array of topics including Cham inscriptions and the resurgence of identity among Taiwan's indigenous peoples. The most important part, of course, is to get the conference on your academic resume.

Next step, revise the article and send off to a journal for rejection...or, possibly publication.


I think I really connected with other students by using their question-answer time to explain why my work was so much more interesting than theirs.