Just Kai
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 Send me an email at
kai@gonzaga.edu,
I'll be sure to reply as soon as I can.
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Howzit everybody! My friends
call me "Kai" because my Hawaiian name is so hard for them to pronounce, but "How come?",
just say all the vowels and add the consonants where you see 'em. I was born on the
island of Moloka'i and the family grew-up in "Kalamaula" (You know the song that George
Helm use to sing). My Tutu was one of the first Hawaiian-Homesteaders and yes we still
live on Hawaiian-Homes land. Me and about 10 other Moloka'i kids made it to Kamehameha
Intermediate in 1969, in fact maybe the same 10+ kids were at the first "Kamehameha
Explorations" summer program back in 1968 (Ho'omaka'ika'i '68). We lived in the dorms
on the intermediate campus for one whole week back in the Summer of 1968. In seventh and
eight grade we learned how to wear shoes everyday to school with khaki pants and white
shirts. Listening to the housemothers yelling at us to "Get Up" in the morning. Sitting
at sit down dinners with waiters and waitresses and hosts and hostesses. Figuring out
how to leave campus when we weren't supposed to (or was that what I learned in high
school?)
Anyway high school came along
. I moved to upper campus and lived in the best dorm "Liholiho" for 4 years. Our dorm had
the kind of guys that always got in trouble, but never got caught. Well, almost never.
Sang with the "Concert Glee Club" (w/ Dale Noble "Nohea") for 3 years. Lot's of good
times. I remember the "Christmas Concerts" and shows at all the hotels, and souvenirs
like crystal goblets from the expensive-classy joints. Some bad we was. I remember
traveling to the Big Island and Maui and Canada and Mexico and California. Always happen
to be wearing Aloha Shirt and white pants at the ROTC parades, because Concert Glee took
priority and they let us slide. Heck ... I don't think I wore my uniform more than 2
times the whole senior year. What I do remember is that our class never win too many
"Song Contests" in fact the Boys never win nothing. I think the girls won something
Junior year, but Senior year was a bust. The school was trying to break tradition, but
why they had to pick on us. I just don't know. We had one awesome Hawaiian club
"Hui 'O'iwi". Made Luaus, steam Laulau, went Camping, made trouble. Pretty much the
way a social club would do things. Never worried about being politically correct, but
didn't go out of the way to hurt anybody's feelings either. Living on campus for 6 years
(7th grade thru high-school) pretty much got me ready for college in the mainland. I
graduated from Kamehameha in 1975, first class not to wear the "dress blues" ROTC uniform
to graduation.
Came to school in Spokane
Washington at Gonzaga University. Funny how I've been in a church school ever since I
was 12 years old. Gonzaga was pretty much like high school for me. Dorms, classes.
They even did class registration the same way as Kamehameha. But, that's way before in
the old days. I decided to be a Math major, Math was easy right? Heck No! Got thru it
anyway, Use to put on Luaus just for a distraction. Big ones, small room sized for
400-500 people, packed full with over 1000 people. All the same menu stuff, but
different because we cannot cook in the imu. Had to add stuff like Shoyu chicken for the
people that don't like pork. Sometimes we have Poi, sometimes not. Couple times we had
"raw fish", but we saved it for the party after the Luau. You know you cannot waste the
good stuff on just anybody. Full On Luau ... Food, Hula, Music ... noise ... audience
participation ... Go Hawaii! Four years went by real fast. After I graduated from Gonzaga
in 1979, I was so poor that I stuck around Spokane, playing volleyball and softball all
Summer. I figure no more money, no need go no place. I was wrong, no more money means
that when the snow started falling in November, I was cold. No more job means that I
never have food money. Plenty of friends though, so I made it. Got a job working at
Gonzaga, manual labor but lots of exercise. Kept my eyes open and with a lot of help
from a Mr. Stan Fairhurst I got hired on with the Computer Center. Guess what?
I'm still with the same department although they call us "Central Computing and Network
Support Services" now. I am the "Oracle Database Administrator (DBA)" and the
"Programming Supervisor". There are six of us working in the same office and we do the
data processing/programming stuff for Gonzaga that deals with Student Records, Student
Accounts Receivable, Financial Aid, Admissions, and then also the stuff that deals with
General Accounting, Finance, Accounts Payable, Payroll and Purchasing. And NO we don't
have Summers off. People think that because I work at a school, that I have June, July,
and August off. That's only for Faculty (you know the teacher types).
I've been calling Spokane
"home" since 1979, but if you count all the years at school then it's more like since
1975. But "Home" will always be Moloka'i. I always find a week or so in the Summer to
go back to Moloka'i. Keeping in touch with classmates is hard, everyone is busy and
reunions happen only so often.
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