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I peered out the window once the plane was close to touching down and admired the incredible coastline lined with fields upon cliffs. The waves were huge and the ocean was a teal illuminated by the sun. My jaw was probably dropped, as it usually was when seeing nature that I had never seen before. It was a beautiful sunny day with some clouds overhead and a slight drizzle. The town of Hilo was known for its high levels of rainfall throughout the summer.

The plane landed and I was eager to get off and get my bag at baggage claim to make sure that I made it to the shuttle on time. The university wasn’t very far from the airport, but it was far enough to where it might have been a hassle. It was around the time that Uber was just arriving to the islands of Hawai’i, so I didn’t know if I would have been able to get transportation otherwise.

I got off the plane. The airport was very small with about five gates. Half of it was outside, which surprised me since Hilo was a coastal town and prone to hurricane damage. I figured that they probably had precautionary measures in place that I didn’t see. I quickly found baggage claim and got my bag. I walked out to the parking lot that was also small to find my shuttle. I looked around and saw what I thought was the shuttle because there were some other lost-looking foreigners outside of it with their luggage. I went over and asked them if they were also part of NSE and heading to the university. They said yes. I think there were three of them. They were all very beautiful with bright blue eyes and had what sounded like Swedish accents. They were funny, too. All seemed to be good friends. One of them was named Fergus and he was from Scotland. The shuttle driver got out and helped us load our bags into the back. We got in and small-talked about all of the things that we saw while we drove through the town. I asked them all where they were from and they told me that they were from Norway. They told me about the school that they came from and that their flight to the island was very long. All of us admired the palm trees everywhere as we swapped stories.

We got to the university and went to the housing office where we would all get the keys to our dorms. I would be in the Hale Kehau dorm with one other person who was named Hinano. I selected this arrangement working with my NSE coordinator. Hale Kehau was apparently the least desirable dorm. It was the only option left when I signed up. I hadn’t been worried about it. Any dorm for me was great.

I got my key and was directed to my building. I saw as I walked up that Hale Kehau was composed of two separate four-story buildings that were connected in the middle under a covered walkway. The inside of each building was lined with outdoor balconies with white railings. The roofs were red. The floors were all concrete. There was a courtyard/field area in the middle of the two buildings and a covered area underneath one of the buildings with a bench and bulletin board with postings from the university on recent happenings and dorm events. There was an elevator next to that. To the left of the communing area was another bench that was almost underneath the covered walkway with a tree next to it that stretched up to about the second floor. There weren’t many people around since the NSE students had to get there a week or two earlier from when the term would start and most students would get there.

I was up on the fourth floor. Hella stairs. I would be alone in my dorm for the first few weeks before Hinano got there. I walked up the stairs to my dorm room because I don’t think that the elevator was working. I walked by a few people in their slippers and gym clothes who looked like they had just gotten out of the shower and were probably heading to the dining hall. I rounded a few corners until I got to my room at the end of the fourth floor.

I used my circular plastic key card to get in. The lights were on in the room. The walls were all white-painted brick, the floor blue carpet. Right to the left was an open closet space with a wooden dresser on each side and a space to hang clothes. On the right was the bathroom. Past the closet and bathroom was the room with a bed on each side. The entire wall across from the door were screened windows on each side that opened with a twist handle that you had to turn to push them open. The windows had a desk/counter space that was connected to the wall with a desk chair on each side under it. The desk spaces were separated by a brick wall.

I put my suitcase down and picked the bed on the right side of the room. It was a twin bed with a naked blue mattress. I laid down on it and but a light blanket over myself that I had brought. I laid there while I had an unexpected and intense wave of loneliness hit me. Arriving to a new place to an empty room hit me like a wall, and I’d realized that I came here truly alone. I laid there with my suitcase next to me until I fell asleep.