yesterday was one of my happiest days of my life. it’s just too hard to explain how it felt but if you came on any of our “We Are One” missions, you would know what i mean. Matsu sent me a text last night explaining his feelings as he knows Hiyori-chan very well. it’s amazing to watch Hiyori-chan’s facial expressions and smiles all day long. everything fascinates her in hawaii and i’m so happy to be able to share this part of the world with her. as we drove by Diamond Head yesterday, i told her “look at Diamond Head.” she said, “what is Diamond Head?” haha.

and what is spam musubi? haha. Hiyori-chan is in the kitchen making spam musubi’s for her lunch today. she will be entering a 2 week winter program at the YMCA where she will meet many new friend, learn english, play, and experience the hawaiian style of life. she’s so excited and so am i.

hey, thank you all the comments on the pipe video. it doesn’t get any more real than that. next time i shoot out there, i’m going to swim out, sit in the impact zone, and shoot everybody getting pounded by freak sets. i’m thinking of diving down deep and shooting up as surfers throw their boards and dive under for their lives. i remember last year surfing out there and getting caught by a 15′ set. i threw my board along with 40 other surfers, dove under the wave, and as i was under water, i heard “snap, crack, pop….” as boards and leashes were breaking. combined with the thunder of the wave. it was a one of a kind sound that i want you to hear. that is my next goal.
anyway, if you didn’t see the vid yet, check it out. there was one set in there that cleaned up the lineup. imaging diving under a wave that big! and check out John John Florence’s 2 sick pipe waves from the water. what a amazing day it was!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2OR-A5l-JI[/youtube]

Snow Art.
Good morning 6:15am.
North shore 1-2′ coming up to 8′ tonight.
South shore waist high and still fun.
Trade winds at 15mph.
Cloudy, sunny, rain, rainbows!
Going surfing.
Have a wonderful day!

i went to the airport to pick up Hiyori-chan this morning. JAL has a superb program for assisting kids to hawaii. super safe, super efficient, and super on time. Hiyori-chan only slept for 1 hour on the flight because she was nervous. i asked her if she was tired, she said “no.” i asked her if she wanted to go surfing, she said “yes.”

so we loaded up the boards and went for her first surfing experience.

the moment she touched the water, i seen the biggest smile come out of this very shy girl. tohoku is snowing and very cold right now. when i told her this is our winter weather right now, she couldn’t believe it. i shot video of her experience and it sure was a great one.

we practiced at my house the basic 1, 2, 3’s of surfing. she got it perfectly on her very first waves standing up and riding it super long all by herself. it was a really exciting day for me!

then we rode a lot of waves together. Hiyori-chan didn’t make any mistake today. her balance, her sense, and her drive is going to take her very far in surfing, and very far in life.

then we played on the beach, ate teddy’s hamburger, she took a nap, and hopefully she’ll be getting a good sleep tonight because tomorrow is her first day of school at the YMCA! another exciting day for this amazing girl.
as i was downloading and watching the videos from today’s surf, i just started tearing. Hiyori-chan’s father was an amazing surfer from ishinomaki and also a hero to me. the story i heard about him trying his best to lower the dam to protect his hometown as the tsunami was coming was unbearable. he is still missing till this day but i could feel him in the ocean watching Hiyori-chan surfing today. i’m sure he was proud, and i’m sure he’s watching over his little angel growing up to become a beautiful and independent young woman. i better go before i start crying again.