Week Four - Hawaiian Hospitality

In a Marianist environment, like that of UD and Chaminade, a lot of attention is placed on the concept of community. It is somewhat of a self-fufilling prophecy by which I mean the mere idea of living in a great community further persuades those living within it to actively make the community great. That is not meant as a knock against it, but rather serves to explain how it works. Regardless, Chaminade is no different than UD in its idea of community and the thought that a better community atmosphere aids in developing everyone further individually.

There is no better example of that than this past weekend. A weekend that features not one, not two, but THREE free meals for the UD exchange students in Hawaii.

The first was a pizza lunch courtesy of Dean Grissel on Friday between classes for all of the exchange students. The pizza was provided by the SilverSword Cafe', one of my favorites. The purpose of the lunch meeting was for Dean Grissel to introduce herself, ask if we had any questions and make sure our transition to life in Hawaii and at Chaminade was a smooth one. She is a lovely lady who really cares about her students and what they have to contribute.

The second act of hospitality led us to unchartered territory on Saturday evening, a good seven blocks past campus and seven blocks further than any of us have ever wondered. This adventure on the bus and the short (by that I, of course, mean long) walk led us to the home of Barbara Belle. She is a member of the Chaminade faculty and formerly worked at the University of Dayton. She invited all the exchange students (from St. Mary's in San Antonio and UD) to her home for home made lagsana, sausage, salad and dessert. It was a lovely meal and bit of home cooked goodness hard to find around any college campus.

The third free meal of the weekend led us to the home of the president of the university, President Sue (as she asks to be called). Her and her husband, Tom, invited all the exchange students as well.

Tom, who just so happens to be a gormet chef, cooked a tremendous brunch. He kept refilling our plates and insisting we eat more. His mantra: God wants you to eat more. How can you say no to that? So, I ate more. I had three helpings of a kiche-like dish, which I know was not kiche, but something very similar to it - only better.

The food was spectacular and their home was beautiful. It was in a neighborhood right next to the famed Wailaie Country Club. It was a nice change of scenery and provided yet another much needed home-cooked meal.

The people here sure are friendly. It might have something to do with the small size of the school. Most people I talked to about the brunch at President Sue's said they love going there and have been there multiple times. So this isn't just for the exchange students. They (administration) really want to get to know everyone. I was very impressed and appreciative of all the hospitality thrown our way over the past weekend.

It all must lead back to the concept of community. When everyone works together to create and foster a great community atmosphere, individuals succeed which in turn allows the community to succeed.

And we didn't hate the free meals either.