Our first stop was at FAO Scwarz and the kids were in materialistic nirvana: huge stuffed animals, flying machines, man-sized Lego statues of Batman and Chewbacca, and the giant-sized piano made famous from the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks (another movie reference that went over the kids' heads and furthered signified my age). We gave the kids about an hour to browse through the two floors of toy madness. I found enjoyment in watching the salespeople show off the flying planes and hacky-sacks and watching the amazed expressions of all the kids who watched on with eager eyes. After we had our fill at the toy store, we headed back out and caught a couple shots of the famous Plaza Hotel, a New York City landmark and also made famous by the movie "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (finally, a reference within their realm of relevancy!) The students thought the horse-and-carriage buggies were really cool, especially the ones with the drivers who were all dressed up in fanciful attire. However, with a 2:30pm flight, we regrettably had to load onto the bus and make our way to the airport. We drove past uptown, through Harlem, which looked far better than it used to.
As we drove out on the highway, Ms. Inouye asked the students to come forward on the bus, grab the mic, and share their favorite moment from the trip. As each student came forward, there was a mix of witty, sarcastic responses combined with more somber recollections of the experiences had. For some, students were really appreciative that they visited the most famous monuments, buildings, institutions, and places in our nation's capital and the greatest city in the world--the Statue of Liberty, White House, war memorials, West Side Story, Times Square or the Capitol visit. For others, they really enjoyed the opportunity to live 'independently' in the hotels and travel without their parents. Some students really embraced the opportunity to strengthen friendships with their close friends while forging new ones under the context of such a memorable occasion. Either way, all students wanted to stay in NYC and keep the dream alive. The advisors and I also shared our sentiments, and when Ms. Inouye started to cry and some kids joined her, you can tell that this trip struck a deeper chord that resonated within.
We arrived at the airport and it was time to part with our dearly beloved bus, bus driver, and tour guide. Skip, an older gentleman who served as our bus driver the entire trip, was bummed to see us go and kept going about how pleased he was that the students respected his bus during the trip. Kelly, our tour guide, was a bit more sentimental, as within a week she developed a really strong rapport with the group that was different than her past experiences. The kids really responded to her and vice versa. For me, I was sad to see both of them off but the way I look at it, I just met some new friends! Check-in went smoothly and before we knew it, we were boarding for San Francisco. Initially, I thought that this could possibly be the only time that the students would be in New York but I knew getting onto the plane that they would be back, somewhere down the line. And they would remember this trip that exposed to the wide world out there.
Once we arrived in San Fran, we were bummed to find out that our flight was delayed by an hour and a half--because the crew was late. Imagine that! We kept ourselves occupied by watching movies, checking out the Kid's Zone in the airport with a full-on tornado simulator, and playing the card game Speed (also known as Spit in some circles). After I talked smack to everyone, I went on a 3-game winning streak and finally, Tiffany was determined to take me down. It came down to the very last card and she pulled off the victory. As I slinked away from the kids, with their laughing and jockeying, I found comfort in learning that we were finally boarding. Though our flight was scheduled to be booked, there ended up being a bunch of open seats so we got to reconfigure our seating arrangement to maximize our lounge space. I got a whole row to myself. What luck! Soon after, all the kids were fast asleep and would wake up back on island time.
We landed in Honolulu around midnight and the parents were waiting outside the baggage claim, eager to see their kids. One by one, each kid left, and I started to feel...I guess what it was....what I'm trying to say is....I started to miss them!! Having spent the whole week with them, I realized how much fun I had with them in our traveling utopia, watching them learn and grow as young adults and now we were back to the real world where all good things come to an end.
As the last of the students were picked up, I said my goodbyes to the other advisors and caught my ride back to the North Shore. Kyle Bond, a fellow teacher and good friend, picked me up and as we pulled away from the airport, I sank into my seat, exhausted from a week's worth of traveling, walking, instructing, explaining, leading, teaching, coaxing, encouraging, laughing, and sight-seeing. As we merged onto H1, Kyle started up a conversation with the opening question, "So...how was the trip?" Naturally, if you know me, I wanted to start from the airport drop-off on opening day and give him the full gamut play-by-play analysis through our arrival back. So many memories flooded my mind but I pulled back, thought for a second, and replied with a smile, "Kyle, it was the one of the best things I have ever done in my life."
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