And Just Like That It's Over

 

Today’s my last day here on Oahu and although I’m sad to leave, I’m also ready to go home and start working on writing the PhD.

Of course, I’m back at the Writing Group in Ala Moana. These guys are a very open group with lots of frequent attendees and they were so welcoming each of the last five Sundays. If you ever get a chance to be here, I highly recommend visiting them. Even if you just want a space to write all your postcards home. Make sure to say hi to them, when you do!

Not surprisingly this last week was very busy, as I kept meeting people and also tried to get a few more beach hours in. Luckily, it seems like time expanded a little bit and I was able to almost get everything in.

Firstly, I finally got to meet with Jeff Peterson. I had spotted him last summer at the UFOGB in Cheltenham, but we didn’t really get a chance to chat then. He’s absolutely brilliant and can do everything and a bit more. But, I’m sure you already knew this. On Tuesday I sat down with Dr. Byron Yasui in the morning and, for the first time, we recorded our conversation around ukulele in academia and composing for it. In the afternoon I met Herb Ohta Jr. Although people had warned me, that he would never smile, I had a lovely conversation with him and am very grateful that he could make the time to be part of the project. Tuesday sadly was also my last day at the archive. An almost tearful goodbye was said to everyone and I really need to thank Dr. Adam Jansen, as well as Jesse Shiroma, for taking such good care of me and sharing all the resources. I’m sure, I could spend another 6 months in there and still discover hugely exciting stuff.

The last interview of the week was with Bryan Tolentino. He’s been such a supporter over the past years, as he connected me with so many people and is always willing to share his knowledge and expertise around the ukulele. I first met him, because Andreas David (www.gute-ukulele.de) took me along to one of Bryan’s gigs… I think in 2018. Time just flies…

On Thursday, I stopped by the warehouse of the Ukulelesite and finally got to meet Corey and Andrew, and see Kalei again, after so many years. They’re super-busy at the moment and still made space for really great conversation and I got to record a few songs (they’ll hopefully publish them sometime after Christmas when things have quieted down again).

Earlier that day I had gone snorkeling to Hanauma Bay and I went back to Ala Moana Beach Park yesterday. So, I did up my beach visit count to a total of 4 over the past five weeks. I also made a point to drive up to Pu’u Ualaka’a State Park to look over Honolulu and Diamond Head out to the ocean. I could even see Lincoln Hall from there!

So, did I accomplish what I set out to do? I would say yes. I got to collect a lot of viable data and make significant progress on its analysis.

Thank you all so much for supporting this trip and reading the lab notes! I’ll keep you posted on my PhD progress!

P.S. Off to Myrna Kamae now, who expressed interest in keeping my rice cooker and toaster. I packed a few more utensils for her and hope she’ll take them as well.