As I opened the wrapping, I noticed another small black pouch inside. I opened the small pouch. Inside was a beautiful double twist pounamu. A pounamu is a traditional necklace made of jade. The gift was handed to me by my host mother from my host family and was presented to us the night before we left. It wasn't so much the present that made me happy but receiving something from the people I learned to love in such a short amount of time. I put on my pounmau and hugged my host family because now I have something to always remember them by.

Tammy was the mother of the host family in New Zealand. Although I didn't know her well, I still called her mom. She was one of the most caring people I've ever met. As I walked from the meeting area to our car, she grabbed my luggage for me and lead me to the car. When we arrived to the house, she unloaded our stuff for us in the house. She told us we could eat whatever we find in the kitchen and use anything we needed. Before we went to bed she would say goodnight and make sure we were comfortable. Every morning she would knock on the door very softly and say “ wake up my beautiful ladies”. When I joined hula, I didn't know I would be taking a trip to New Zealand and meeting a wonderful family. She felt bad waking us up so she would let us sleep in and that made us late to a few hula meetings. But it was okay because she got us there safely and made sure we had everything we needed.

The dad of the family was an intimidating man his name was Jah. Six feet tall and at least 200 pounds. I was a little scared at first. But to my surprise, he was one of the nicest men I've ever met! For diner one night he cooked us steak and pasta. While he cooked, he sang and made conversation with us. This man made me feel safe by the way he lead us through unfamiliar places. Places that appeared unsafe by there surroundings.  When we went to new places he would always tell us a little story of how it came to be. He was genuinely a nice guy. He reminded me of my real dad in Hawaii by cooking diner for us and singing while he did it.

Their kids were beautiful. When I met them, they both gave me a great big hug. There was young girl named Londie-Lee and her younger brother Jose. These kids showed great respect to their parents. As the father prepared diner, they asked if there was anything they could do. These children always wanted to help in some way. The first night we arrived at their house, the kids were very energetic. But when the mom said it was time to sleep, they both hugged us goodnight and went to bed. Every time I would see the little girl after a hula rehearsal she would be coming up to me would give me a great big hug. She was the most positive little girl Ive ever met. She was always laughing in car rides telling us her silly stories about her and her friends. One car ride, the kids taught us a game and we played the the whole ride home.

This family showed me how much they cared and respected each other. With out them even trying they taught me the lesson of caring and respecting the ones you love. The limited time spent with this family was put too good use. After I saw how much they treasure each other, I realized that's how I want to be. Lessons they could have learned from me is respect. Showing this by offering to helping around in the house. When I was assigned to this family to stay with them, I never expected I would learn something from them and they would learn something from me.