Ifagalz

What can we do about our future leaders who are still in school now? This is our good future if we are looking into helping our students now. What happen today is no one is there for this student to help them out. This means NO MAN IS AVAILABLE TO HELP.

Pls help us with this concern.

Yes, Yes, Our students needs a lot of help in terms of mentoring, commitment, dedication and encouragement but not limited to financial needs. Here recently, I can see that we are down in the abyssal hole, and not oriented in the academic world view.

Us in the islands, our students performance is downhill. No support from parents, community, and the staff as well. Most of us men are talking to ourself about not committed to what we are doing in the schools as well as in the community. There are few students that are trying their very best to tackle only what is on hand now but no vision to see what are the outcomes of what they are actually doing.

The students are very proud of themselves as grown up students but not on what they are accomplishing. So, who and what  is the problem here?

Here in Yap Colonia, The students who are taking classes in the schools are looking down at the tip of their toes for they are in despair for their education in the coming days ahead of them when graduated from the schools. This problem in Yap, who will take care of them when in terms of their educational pursuit. This are some very frightening issues the students are having as their nightmares over their idea of schooling….

Can we share some possible suggestion on how to come up with some good plan for our students future educational pursuit plan of action.

Thank you very much for your time.

Henry Yangireitig

The following is an excerpt of a Letter Written by FSM Congressman David Panuelo… I just simply added the pictures of my Nephews here to show that we do have our citizens serve honorably in the US Armed Services… Just out of our little island of Ifalik, with a population of maybe 500, we have more than 15 serving… Just a little piece of info for your consumption. Enjoy it!  “As a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia, I have been very saddened to read recent reports of negative attitudes and discrimination directed at our fellow Micronesians by some on the United States. We hear stories about Micronesian schoolchildren being singled out by bullies, Micronesians families being discriminated against by landlords, and Micronesians crowding homeless shelters. Perhaps more disturbingly, this stereotype of Micronesians as victims, scapegoats, and scroungers has been fueled by politicians characterizing Micronesian migrants as a drain on government resources, in what has been described as a “Compact Impact problem.” Having recently received an email from a cousin of mine, Hainrick Panuelo, who is on the U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan asking what we are doing about the criticism that are being directed against Micronesians in Hawaii, Guam, and elsewhere in the United States, this issue is very personal to me. Micronesians are on the front lines of war zones, fighting alongside American citizens and defending the same freedoms and rights that Americans value so much. There is a disconnect between the United States government’s honoring of our fallen servicemen at the Pohnpei International Airport and the talk of “Compact Impact problems” from American citizens and officials alike. I also have personal experience of the compromises we have made in voting to support the national interests of the U.S. at the United Nations at the expense of our relations with other developing nations. So, here I say today, where did our real friends go?

Why such a short memory? Micronesia and the United States have a unique and special relationship, following the U.S. trusteeship of the region. Our Compact of Free Association with the United States permits our citizens to enter, work, and reside in the United States, and grant similar rights to United States citizens wishing to live and work in our islands. While the Compact Impact costs is a mere speck in the totality of the U.S. economy, the immigration provisions of the Compact are a lifeline for small island economies like that of the FSM. Although some may choose to focus on the benefits Micronesians receive from the United States, the totality of our relationship is more complex. The Compact gives the United States government veto powers over the nearly one million square miles of Micronesia’s water and air space. The U.S. can no more unilaterally create a bottleneck for FSM citizen’s right to freely travel and work in the United States, than the government of the Federal States of Micronesia can revisit the defense provisions of the Compact. Aren’t the veto powers over the waters and air space of the FSM that the two counties agreed in the Compact a security and strategic lifeline for the U.S.? As a student at the time of the Compact was signed and as a congressman now, I have always believed that is a fair exchange. And so Micronesia shouldn’t be looked at as a charity case. I am not denying that the reliance of some Micronesians on social service programs in the U.S. is a valid concern. The reality is that some of our citizens are not prepared to enter the competitive U.S. job market. Every new migrant group faces this kind of hurdle. Our Compact negotiators on both sides early on foresaw this issue and include compensation provisions in the Compact for the U.S. federal government to reimburse U.S. territories or States affected by the kind of Compact Impact we are talking about today. So, why such a short memory? But we are mostly hearing negative reports about the impact of the Compact. By contrast, every time I travel to the U.S. it makes me proud to see just how many Micronesians are working hard at U.S. airports, in the U.S. tourism, and service industry, in the manufacturing industry, in the fields of Maui and on farms elsewhere in the U.S, in the fast-food industry, and in nursing homes caring for seniors citizens. In fact, a great number of our citizens are productive members of the U.S. workforce contributing to the U.S. economy.

Just among my own circle of friends and acquaintances, I know many FSM citizens who are succeeding in the United States. Len Isotoff from Chuuk is currently the general manager of Matson Navigation Co. for Guam and Micronesia, and the chairman of USO in Guam, a non-profit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military. A cousin of mine, Walden Weilbacher from the island of Pohnpei, is the head of the secretariat of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures based in Guam and an active member of the FSM-Guam community. Aren Palik, from the States of Kosrae, is the president and CEO of the Pacific Islands Development Bank base on Guam, which was established in 1989 to help accelerate the economic and social development of member countries. Viladino Raatior, from the State of Chuuk, is currently assistant director at the International Program Office at Santa Clara University in Northern California and has sent to more than 105 study abroad program locations in more than 50 countries. Mr. Raatior also has a successful home-based web design business. Rocketchun Holden, an FSM citizen from the island of Pohnpei, employs around forty people in the courier business he started fourteen years ago in Idaho, and another twenty in his expanding chain of sushi restaurants. Mr. Bruce Musrasrik, an FSM citizen from the State of Pohnpei who in June 2007 was promoted to hotel manager for the Ohana Islander Waikiki, which is part of the chain of Ohana Hotels and Resorts.

I also have many well-educated FSM citizen college classmates and friends, too numerous to mention here, living across the United States in gainful employment and contributing to the U.S. economy in their respective professions and skills. Most of these friends have lived in the U.S for a long time with their families and children. A am encouraged and feel hope for your our future as a nation when I see and talk to their well educated children. Together with our real friends in the U.S., we need to do more to promote the positive impact that our relationship has on both our nations. I hope that together we can begin to create a climate where American officials and citizens can focus on the benefits, and not just the costs, of the Compact. One of our founding fathers, the late John Mangefel, said it well during the negotiations when he said, “You cannot put a ship on a canoe, but you can put a canoe on a ship.” In other words, when there are challenges to be faced in our relationship, the shop of the United States has more capacity to address then than the FSM canoe.”

This is just off the wire coming to you from the home of the Seattle Sea Hawks and the Seattle Mariners, that the girl’s Team had tapped deep into their line of chefs, this time recruited a new and unknown chef to help them get ahead. She showed up from the jungles of Meseyong Island in Chuuk, fully versed and well equiped with the cooking recipees of Faaluul Iyefang on Ifalik atoll- this newbie has brought some great excitement and some new challenges that the boy’s team will have to face.

Rosie Gonzales is the new addition to the Girl’s team and is exciting to watch as she tossed the flour all over the place. Her roots into the Mexican Tijuana Culture had helped her in her creativity trying to get the enzymes flared up so they can get the flour out of the mixing bowl and into the oven. Amazing what a girl of this background can do…

A mixture of many cultures of Uman, Chuuk, Ifalik, Yap and Tijuana Mexico, you cannot go wrong in what she can accomplish in this competition. So far, all she had added is excitement. We are still waiting to see what she can do…

Calson was already trying to give up thinking that the boy’s team cannot compete with a newbie like Rosie . I cannot wait to see really what this newbie can do. One thing I notice though is that she just woke up and head straight for the flour bowl, leaving her pacifier in her crib…. lol.

Ifalik should be proud to have a great Chef in this girl. Same goes to Uman for they have finally produced a chef of their own, not to mention those folks down in Tijuana, Mexico. Happy Cooking day!

Shown in the picture on the left, the newby is busy mixing her flour and in the process painting the entire dining table white. I can see that she can fit in the bowl herself… Hahahaha…. Sorry Rosie.

Reporting to you live from the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington is yours truly. lol. ! Have fun everyone!

Ever wandered how to add depth to your characters? Then just ask yourself some questions and answer them so you can create your own characters for any kind of story. Below is just an example of what you could possible do. Thanks squiddooo for the questions (:

1. Name? Eimi Souma
2. Age? 15
3. Approximate height? 5’2″
4. Approximate weight? 119 lb
5. Hair colour? light honey coloured
6. Eye colour? soft brown
7. Skin tone? light beige
8. Do they speak with an accent? nope
9. Where are they from? Okinawa, Japan <3
10. Where are they now? Tokyo, Japan
    Who are their parents? Mother; Haruna Souma, Father; Ken Souma
11. What is their earliest memory? Watching her mother leave, and a few minutes later her father’s family picks her up.
12. What did they want to be when they grew up? Didn’t care about what would happen later on. Eimi didn’t want to think about it.
13. What did/do their parents want them to be? Her father(who dies) wanted his daughter to be happy. Her mother also wanted this but was selfish.
14. Do they have siblings? Older or younger? Brothers or sisters? None whatsoever.
15. Do they have or have they ever had children? How many? In the future she has three kids!
16. Do they or have ever had a significant other? Are they still with them? Why? Why not? When she was younger, and was with the Souma family she meets a boy from a daycare. That boy is her first love who she often bullied! She doesn’t realize that she meets him at her new school.
17. What were they doing right before the story starts? ….. don’t get this question lol
18. Up until now, what’s the most noteworthy thing they’ve done? To them? To the people around them?  She ran away from the Souma family when she was 8 and ventured around for 3 hours before she was caught by her body guards.
19. What was their education like? Ever since she was taken to the Souma family she has had a large amount of highly advanced education.

basically thats all you do! So creating a character can be made easier if you find more about them (: Using questions are a very efficient way to find more depth in your character, and it also helps you be more organized and perhaps prepared. Good luck on your stories!

Maybe about 10 years ago, in coral reefs you would find so many different colors and species but today there has been dramatic changes, corals loosing their colors and more gray spaces can be seen throughout the coral populated areas in the world than it has ever been, this is what scientists called it “BLEACHING”.

Coral bleaching is caused by global warming, changes in the ocean temperature becoming more warmer and obviously devastating for these poor organisms…

The bleaching has caused much devastation in the water that we, humans, rarely noticed. Once the corals die,the small fish that clean the corals by eating algae, have no home to lay their eggs, they must search for new locations or just die out of malnutrition. Another result is that the small fish will become extinct and the bigger fish have no food. If there is no food for the bigger fish, they will leave their old homes, near the islands, to look for food and in the process be killed by the bigger and stronger predators.The islanders that use fish as thier basic daily meal will have a harder time catching them, also even bigger fish will die off because sooner or later fish food will be scarce.The end result is that corals,and fish will die if the corals keep bleaching at the rate they are going, that means no more fish to eat for islander.

Some ways to help the corals and other sea creatures survive are: Riding public buses,or using your bike, dont pollute the ocean with trash, Conserve the power you use at home, and more.

Thinking about Coral Bleaching and hearing my Dad talked about it, it causes me concern for my people back in the islands because for sure they will not find it easy to catch fish anymore. It would take the men longer to fish and cause a lot of headaches back home. Not only that, islanders may find it necessary to move to other places for survival.

I think the bigger nations have a huge obligation to the islands and must find ways to limit their contributions to this horrible man made phenomenon. I already said several things that we, as humans, should do to at least slow the progress of Bleaching or hopefully reverse it.

I heard my Dad talked about Guam and Hawaii reps to the Congress introducing more legislation to limit Micronesians from migrating to the US and that is sad because islanders must be afforded that opportunity to come here and go to school or work for survival. America and the bigger nations owe a lot to the poor islanders so they must stand up and help them when they need help.

Thank you for reading my post,and please, sometimes use these tips to save the sea creatures.

Today I went to Tacoma and saw a lot of pollution in the ocean, so I stopped by and took a couple of pictures with my dad. The pollution came from all sources. The ocean looks more polluted than last friday. There were pollution everywhere, mostly from the factories lining the coastal part of the City we were at. Even on the other side of Tacoma where I thought there was going to be none.

To stop pollution some day, everyone must play their role in controlling what they use and dispose of non-usable materials properly. There must me stringent regulations on factories or everyone on earth would regret it. Polluting the ocean can lead to a lot of bad things including affecting the fish we catch because they may not taste as good.

In the islands, the oceans are really amazing. The water is crystal clear and the sands are pure white. Why is that? Because there is nothing to pollute the water. Islanders live and depend on nature. They respect what’s given to them by God.

Up here in Washington it is really rainy all year besides Summer. So the run-offs may bring all the pollution into the Puget Sound water way. It is why when you look out into the water, it is very muddy looking.

The air is much cleaner here in Washington than in Corvallis, Oregon, the city that we came from. Corvallis is in a valley so the air was not circulating as much. Here, there is the water, lots of mountains and the breeze just blew the air all over circulating it which makes it less concentrated than if there is no wind.

Still Washington and Corvallis are both better if you think of the rivers I saw on news in China. They look much more polluted and ugly looking. I am lucky to eat fish that are from the oceans here. But those Islanders are much luckier!  THANKS FOR READING!

Well, remember that competition we had a few days ago? Right, the donuts or bread making competition, yes. That’s what I am talking about. Since then, I had been perfecting my bread making techniques. And for better or worse, I am already sharing my findings with other people. Guess you can call me a rookie Chef. No not that, a Wannabe Chef, I think is more fitting. lol.

Tonight, at this very hour, 2:58 in the morning, I just finished finalizing my techniques and the results were amazing, at least to my taste. I know you can blame me for thinking that I have the eyes of everyone, but that is not what I am talking about here. I am just sharing what I personally think of what I did. I have evidence since my toy, a Rebel T2i Canon is doing its job collecting them for me, so you can judge and let me know what you think. There is that facebook like button at the end of this blog, so go right ahead and hit it for me. Willya? lol.

While everyone in my house was busy dreaming and snoring, I was pretty busy preparing the dough and raising the Yeast enzimes, melting the pretty yellowish butter from my favorite state of Oregon, while eyeing the clock ensuring that the timing is just about right while listening in on the cricketts roaming my Garage.. I can even tell that my years of  raising a few kids helped in figuring out the temperature of the milk and water as I was comparing it to the times one of these kids would steam-off the cold and flu… . It is why experience matters! lol.

As you can see in the pictures provided, the results of my labor was a success. I burnt the most precious ones though, which was sad cuz I was reserving those for thy Chef Wannabe. They were overcooked but still yummy and soft and everything on the top. They were so delicious. Amazingly delicious I might say.

So, if you ever have a question or two about making a bread roll, you now know that you have an Island Chef Wannabe that can be called upon for help. It will only cost you a Like Button! lol. And I pray and hope that my best friend in Portland found my technique amazingly useful and easily applied. May God bless guys and Good Morning from this corner of these United States of Micronesia…. Ooops. I mispoke again… the United States of America! Yes indeed.

Now that the tearing down of the boat has done and the dust has settled, let us turn to the latter part of this huge project. Actually there is still tearing apart going on as I was still removing little things from all over the boat, including the windshield, wiper, the navigational lights and so forth, but everything seems to be falling into places.

How much fuel can this thing carry? Where am I taking this thing? Or what kind of fishing am I thinking in these harsh waters of these United States of America? These were the type of questions that bugged me throughout this project and especially when laying the flooring.

I made a huge mistake in leaving the old tank at my old house in Oregon, now I have to buy new fuel tanks. Already purchased the tanks on Amazon, each tank can hold 35 gallons of fuel so as of now, the boat is ready to carry a total fuel of 70 gallons. Am not sure how far that’s going to take the boat but if I am thinking Tuna fishing then we are talking about at least 100 nautical miles offshore… wow. Long drive! I still have one more room on the boat for one more tank, that’s leave very little room for the catch… lol. Freakin small boat man.

To my relieve, the Transom has done, the motor well is in, and the flooring has laid. Now the easy and fun part of painting the entire boat. But before that, I had to sand the old paint down trying to take off the chalky peeled paints so that the new paint can be attached. It was a very meticulous job and one that has to be done so not to waste your time. I think this is the most important thing in the painting process, let’s call it the preparation part. It must be done right the first time so you do not regret it.

Weather plays a huge role in how you approach your painting process. And since I do not have the privilege of an Island weather, it makes it a lot more complicated. You have to work or paint in a temperature of no less than  50 degrees Fahrenheit  (10 degrees Celsius) and with the minimum of moisture in the air. Another problem I have is that I have no access to a boat OVEN…. yes to bake the boat! … And you know what? My oldest son told me we should cover the boat with Tin Foil and let it baked under the sun. Not a bad idea. We just have to run to Costco for a huge Tin Foil bag…

This is not part of what I learned via the Internet but while in Japan, yes in Yokohama. We used laundry soap to wash down parts of boats before we painted them. So as you can imagine, this is not the first time I painted a boat. This is the first time I did it all alone by my body and soul. lol. And fully enjoying every moment of it.

There is a twist to this boat making process. I was going to let it sit this summer and just enjoy my vacation but my Friend Mark from work challenged me to finish this damn project. He told me since I built the shed before the boat, it means the boat is going to be sitting around for another 5 years! lol. Thanks to my friend Mark, I am very close to being done with this project. I was up very early this morning to pull the boat out under the sun to dry it up very good and to warm it up a bit before I put the Bikini Blue on there. Don’t ask me why they call that paint Bikini but I think I like that name. lol.

So here we go. In the afternoon, I should have a bit more story to tell you about the Bikini Paint and if I still have a positive look and feel of it. We shall see. If I do not like it, then it means I aint say nothing about it. lol.

Hello friends again. Good Afternoon from the Puget Sound. Well the first Bikini Blue coat has been completed as you can see in the following pictures. It came out pretty good. We’ll have to see when all is said and done. It took me about 30 minutes to complete the first coat, using a roller and a brush. I will have to go back to Home Depot again for more good brushes. The normal brush I got didn’t turn out good as the fibers kept falling off and onto the paint. The roller was awesome!

Well between painting and baking the boat under the natural oven (the sun), I was able to put two layers on. The boat looks pretty new now, at least the top side. I am not planning on touching any other parts until tomorrow. There is an 8 hours wait between coatings and that is if the temperature is above 90 degrees. Today was hovering between 80 and 85, no more. It’s only today that I wished I am in Dallas to get the boat baked well. lol. Sorry Dallas folks, but I really do not know how you guys handle the heat down there. lol.

I am including more pictures of the painting job that I did today. The baking part was not too bad at all. The sun was out and there was no wind at all so it was a pretty good day for painting. After we did the second coat, then we just spent the afternoon taking in the sun as well as the many commercial airplanes that fly by our house on their way to SeaTac airport… Great time with the boys!

Island stories vary from main idea, because(I think) most island has their own topic, in which to tell or past down to their pupils. E.G my mom used to tell me stories,(that she grew up with in chuuk)most of the stories that she told me were superstitious for example, about kids getting taken by ghost, while alone at night, but my dad’s stories,(Which are from ifalik)consist mostly of cinderella like stories,or even children killing themselves, or leaving their parents because of getting abused secretly by one of the parents.My guess is that most island has their own topic to grow on.

Drinking circle is a tradition where islanders (men) come together in the evenings to drink their daily collections of tuba. Tuba is fermented alcohol from the Coconut Tree where it is in abundance on the islands. Every evening, men would gather in front of the men’s houses to drink… and basically have fun.

These drinking circles are meaningful and of course suppose to be fun. They are meaningful for men would come and discuss daily issues pertaining to community matters on a regular basis. It is also a way of getting these men relaxed after long days of labor, either looking for food (mostly fishing) or working on big projects like house building, canoe buildings, etc.. Usually after the gathering, men would team up and head for more drinking and this is where family secrets (magics, know hows, traditions, etc..) passed down to the younger members of a family or clan.

From my own observation, islanders are pretty good drinkers. They don’t usually go “SARDINES” when drunk. Sardines is the name given by islanders to drinkers that go crazy and do crazy stuff while drunk. I guess the comparison make sense because the sardines that Islanders know are the canned ones without heads…. lol.

One interesting phenomenon is the changing from consuming the domestic Tuba to the importing Yeast. As you can see on some of the pictures used in this blog, the container I assumed is full of Yeast. I guess it is similar to tuba cuz it is also a fermented kind. ! I think so! hehehe. On the picture to the left, it looks like our boy from Hatiewa Mr. Paulino is leading this drinking circle. I have to find a photo of him fishing cuz I really do not feel like it is the right thing for me to post him being the leader of this group. lol. But thanks to Paul for taking care of our folks back home.