Hawaii Day 5 - Speaking at BYU and the Polynesian Cultural Center

Thursday was the big day - the reason for our trip. We got up early and I got ready to give my presentation. On the way to BYU-Hawaii, we made a quick stop to see some surfers on big waves.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of me actually speaking at BYU. I think it went well. There were about 40 students and they said it was the biggest group yet for one of these presentations. There were a lot of students interested in the airline industry. I spoke for about 40 minutes and then had questions. Afterwards, a few students had applied to eat lunch with me so we had a smaller group for lunch. David and the kids and Jeff's kids came as well. All in all it was a really enjoyable experience and I hope the students found it beneficial.

Next we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Debbie and her kids joined us. It was such a fun day. We had purchased matching dresses and shirts at the swap meet for this day. We loved our matching outfits.

Our first stop was New Zealand. I remembered how to do poi balls! Even the workers were impressed with my mad skills.

The demo guy was pretty cute.

The roof in a New Zealand common building represents the branches of the family.

They put on a great show.

Next we visited Samoa. Their show was pretty funny.

We then caught the Tonga drum show.

David was selected to star in the show!

Baylie and Chloe got along so well. It would be nice if they lived close enough to hang out more.

Jalen and Jonah also got along well. It was fun having all the kids so close in age.

Long boat

Waterways

We all enjoyed the canoe rides.

Learning to dance. 

Jalen went fishing.

We got temporary tattoos. Jalen was very excited to have a tattoo.

Wedding ceremony

The bride and groom

Double hulled canoe ride

They took time during COVID to update and make repairs. It's really beautiful now.

Chloe and Baylie loved throwing the sticks. I learned to do that in 4th grade when I learned to do the poi balls. Debbie and I were able to do it as well.

Jalen tried to start a fire like the people of Samoa. He wore himself out!

We then went to the buffet. It was soooo much food! We couldn't believe it. Everything was so good. You could never eat even a fraction of it.

To cap off the evening, we went to the show. It was really good, but you're not allowed to take pictures. It was a really great day. We were so tired! We walked home to Debbie and Jeff's and called it a day!