Welcome
to Na 'Opio o Ka 'Aina
(NOOK), the Hawai'i Club at the University of California, Irvine!
Na 'Opio o Ka
'Aina (NOOK), which
translates to "The Youth of the Land," was started in 1985 by several
students from Hawai'i. The original purpose of NOOK was to help ease
the transition of Hawai'i students to the mainland life style, as well
as college life. Since Hawaiian students are so far away from a culture
completely different than the one found in Irvine, it could be
sometimes hard to adjust to life on the mainland. The idea of the club
is to be a social support group so students from Hawai'i would not feel
homesick and would have things to do outside of the classroom.
After the club started to grow, the members started to share the Aloha
spirit and spread the Hawaiian culture to the surrounding UCI community
through our cultural workshops and performances. With each new year,
each new member brings something special to the club. NOOK would not be
a club and what it is now without its members.
NOOK
is now a cultural club
as well as a social one. The biggest cultural event for our club is our
annual Lu'au. The purpose of Lu'au is to share the Hawaiian culture
with the UCI community. The Hawaiian culture is more than just
pineapples, coconuts, tourists, grass hula skirts and leis. Each year
we show the UCI community something new about Hawai'i and island
cultures through our skit and dances. Our 18th
annual lu'au will be on Sunday, April 26, 2009.
As a club, we hope to be able to help as many students from Hawai'i
feel welcome and at home on the mainland, as well as be able to share
the Aloha spirit to as many people as we can. If you can't go to
Hawai'i, we will try to bring it to you. Come join us if you want to
learn a little about Hawai'i or if you just want to kick back with a
bunch of good friends. Welcome to our 'ohana!
