Post #260407 by Humuhumu on Thu, Oct 12, 2006 4:48 PM

Formikahini, thank you for your well-worded post, you said it better than I could have. Poptiki, I don't know what the particulars of your situation were, and I'm sorry that you came away from your experience with bad feelings. Like the many others who have chimed in here, my many experiences with Sven have been great, starting from way back when we first met -- when as far as he knew, I was just a nobody chick from Seattle.

I can say from my own experience that environments like Hukilau can present some unique challenges. It's not always easy to be surrounded by about a thousand people who know exactly who you are, when you only know about 10% of them, for four whole solid days. Having to be "on" all the time can take tremendous effort, even for someone who is naturally social. I wouldn't have it any other way, I'm hugely happy to meet so many new folks, but I know that personally I struggle to have the kind of quality interactions I want to be able to have -- at a certain point, I just poop out. Not only was Sven in that boat, but he's been working like a dog in Germany for many months now; this was a rare vacation for him, and a rare opportunity to catch up with some of his dearest friends in the world. Give the guy a chance.

Okay, back to the fun stuff -- thanks so much to everyone who's posted their pictures! There are always so many different things going on at once at Hukilau, and it's neat to get a chance to go back and virtually do everything. Here is my video of the Mai Kai fire dancers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul3evn6f8Vc

More pictures! More pictures!