June 19, 2001

HONOLULU, HAWAII (June 7-8, 2001)

Dear Friends and Subscribers,

We arrived in Honolulu early in the morning, grateful to find that our hotel had a room ready for us. No one was on the beach yet, so we decided to go for a walk along the surf and then have breakfast. I put on my bathing suit and then came out of the dressing area to find Mark fast asleep on the bed! So I called the front desk for a 10:30 wake-up call and we both fell into a deep sleep for a couple of hours, feeling a little disoriented when we woke up.

Mark's first speaking assignment in Hawaii was a luncheon at the Downtown Exchange Club, a Rotary-type organization of business people who meet at the Country Club for lunch once a month. Their club's main purpose is to find and help "turn-around" kids--young people who have had a bad start but who seem to have what it takes to graduate from college and become successful if only they have someone to help them financially and personally. The group raises money to award several scholarships each year. A gregarious group, they heckled and cajoled each other good-naturedly throughout their announcements and club business, a great crowd in the mood to be pleased. I had been asked to introduce Mark, so I told a couple of lively stories, and complimented them on their club's mission, commenting that the young people they help will work harder and overcome discouragement because of the individuals who believe in them. Such an audience really warms a speaker, and they got what they deserved from Mark--an outgoing, entertaining, and informative talk about how to use economics in selecting an investment portfolio. At 1:30 club president Jack Schneider reluctantly announced, "We have to close now--several people have to get back to work." A woman in the audience said, "Let them leave, and let the rest of us stay and hear more!" Jack shrugged his shoulders, knowing he never did have control over this headstrong and outgoing group. Three people left, making apologies about afternoon meetings, and the rest stayed with additional questions. It was a great group, and we enjoyed their enthusiasm.

By the time we returned to the hotel it was time for Mark to leave for his 5:00 lecture sponsored by Jim Marsh, chairman of the economics department of the University of Hawaii. For once I decided not to go. It had been a long three days made difficult for me by jet lag (Mark can sleep anywhere, any time) and I didn't want to fall asleep during Pearl Harbor (we thought it would be appropriate to see it in Honolulu). So I slept for 2 hours and woke up ready for the movie--only now Mark was exhausted and fell fast asleep at 7 pm. Of course, now I was wide awake, so I read quietly until midnight and had just fallen asleep when Mark woke up, ready for the day (it was 1:30 am!)

We put on shorts and walked along the beach, enjoying the moonlight and the serenading of some teenagers playing guitars on a bench nearby. Hungry, we decided to find an all-night restaurant. The night clerk wasn't familiar with the area, but Honolulu isn't that big and we figured if we started driving toward town, we would find something. We didn't. But we found a couple of very friendly night-clerks at 7-11 who seemed happy for the interruption to the long night. Armed with directions and a map, we found the Denny's on Kalakuau Avenue, its sidewalk populated by beautiful young girls drawn into the worst of professions. It made us very sad to see them. Ken Schoolland, professor of economics at the private Hawaii Pacific University and a friend of Barun Mitra of the Liberty Institute of India, met us at our hotel for breakfast. A charming and gregarious fellow, Ken was a delight. A lone voice for free markets in his department, he is nevertheless an optimistic and outgoing personality with a great teaching style, as confirmed by Geo, a graduate student he invited to join us. We had a lovely morning sharing stories and experiences before Mark headed for his final speaking assignment of this round-the-world tour, team teaching at Jim Marsh's economics class.

Afterwards we had a few hours for sightseeing before catching our 10 pm flight to the mainland. We were just here a few months ago and had driven all the way around the island, stopping at coves and vistas along the way. We've been to the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Arizona Memorial. But we hadn't visited the USS Missouri, so we decided to go there, and then see Pearl Harbor afterwards. It was on the Missouri that the Japanese signed their official surrender of World War II, and it was very moving to stand there and imagine the sailors aboard the ship, vying for space and craning their necks to watch General McArthur and the Japanese officials in that historic event. We explored the ship, even donned helmets to go into the periscope room, stood in front of the huge guns and looked in amazement at the tiny bunks, four tiers high, where the sailors slept. The day was sunny and breezy, but far from hot after our recent experience in India. The Missouri was used to represent the Arizona for the movie, Pearl Harbor, so it was especially interesting to see the movie an hour later, having just stood in front of those very guns and bunks. We hadn't expected the movie to be so long, however, and we were meeting Jim Marsh and his wife for dinner at 6:00, so we left early, knowing we could see the second half on Monday. I wonder what the rest of the audience thought as we walked out right in the middle of the battle scene!!

This weekend is the King Kamehameha Festival, and Kalakuaua Avenue was closed for the street festival. No left turns were allowed, and we were on the wrong side of the area to get to the Double Tree Hotel, where we were meeting for dinner. It was so frustrating to see it, just two blocks away, but not be able to turn left to get to it. It took us nearly an hour of circling in ever-widening combinations of one-way roads until we finally found one that took us to the hotel. The Marshes were very kind and hospitable, but dinner was unfortunately rushed as we had to get to the airport, and Mark was feeling pretty worn out from the speaking engagements on top of his continued stomach distress from whatever bug he picked up in India. I hope we have a chance to meet with them again. It has been a wonderful 18 days. We've met kindred spirits in every country, people with a passion for liberty and desire to improve the policies that govern their countries. We've seen marvelous monuments to history and
culture, visited temples and mosques, been lost and detoured, but we've never lost our adventuresome spirit, nor have we lost our tempers--we've been together 18 days in close quarters, but we haven't had a single fight. That's pretty amazing, I would say!

We missed our sleeper seats on the flight home. Domestic first class has greater ambience, nicer food, and larger seats than economy, but we missed the foot rests provided on the overseas jumbo jets! This is our third overnight flight in six days, and we're feeling the exhaustion. We're anxious to get home and see our children, read our mail, and take down the flowers from daughter Lesley's wedding (we left just three days after her wedding, and I didn't have the heart to take them down while they were still fresh and beautiful). Ironically, we are heading back a day early to attend a luau at church, fresh leis around our necks and sweet memories in our minds.

The opportunity to travel has been a great blessing in our lives, a perk of Mark's profession of which we have taken full advantage. Next tour--Australia in September. I'll tell you all about it!

-- Jo Ann Skousen

email: jaskousen@mskousen.com

Return to the Index of Jo Ann's Odds & Trends articles:
Return to Index of Articles