Just Observing

Hawaii is a very diverse place, but mostly things are recognizable; after all, it's the 50th state! But when you come from the American Midwest, you begin to notice small differences in what we take for granted as "normal" things.

Of course, you'd expect to see a local influence on TV from Hawaiian channels. Take a look at this awesome promo from a local Hawaiian channel. As you watch non-local programming, you see subtle differences. Companies like McDonald's, AIG or Allstate have the same commercials with different actors. Here you watch a Hawaiian guy shouting with joy when he wins McDonald's Monopoly. The AIG team that leaves money with strangers is Asian (and the people that get the money are Asian as well). You know that Allstate commercial where the black guy speaks while an accident happens behind him? Here, the people in the accident are Asian. And just in case you didn't know, Hawaiian men suffer from ED just like everyone else...

We went to see a production of "Fiddler On The Roof" last night at the Fort Shafter theater. It was a nicely done musical. The actors were all well-rehearsed and the choreography was great. But I have to admit, it was the first time I've seen an Asian playing a Jew (with prayer shawl and skull cap) while forcing a New York accent.

In the American midwest, you would likely hear Spanish as well as English. Here, there's a lot of Japanese and Korean. American women come to Hawaii to tan on the beach. Japanese women come to stay out of the sun and shop. Have you seen the sign, "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service"? If that were applied here, a store would lose a lot of business! When we flew to Maui last week, I did not take nor wear any socks or shoes - just flip flops. Come to think of it, I didn't even take any pants (don't panic, I wore swimsuits).

We wanted to make chili last week, so we wandered the aisles of the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. We found no chili powder and had to use lima beans and black-eyed peas instead of chili beans. It's hard to find a nice, thick Black Angus steak. I think it's because there's such a heavy Asian influence. A lot of Asian cuisine uses thin-sliced meat and is frequently sliced at a different angle. Ribs are most likely to be cut across the bone instead of along the bone.

There is a larger variety of pork here than beef or chicken - many of the cuts I don't recognize. Chicken is prevalently dark meat. BBQ sauce is sweet and runny. Most produce is shipped in (of course, fish incredibly fresh). McDonalds has "local favorites" menu items. Haupia Pie (coconut cream) is more popular than apple pie. One of their breakfast items is eggs, rice, Portuguese sausage and Spam! Spam is really big in Hawaii - which may explain why so many Hawaiians are also really big. Spam gets its own end-cap in grocery stores. There's even a Spam war between McDonalds and Burger King for the Hawaiian fast food dollar. My arteries are clogging just thinking about it...

Some things are just plain backwards. At some restaurants, you get raw fish and batter-fried vegetables on the same plate. Back in Oklahoma, it seemed like there was a Mexican restaurant in every strip mall. Here, you can't walk 200 paces before you encounter a sushi bar. It's one thing to eat a bad burrito... it's another thing to eat bad raw fish.

Autumn leaves have already fallen on the mainland. I remember piles of multi-colored leaves in the gutter that blew in the wind. Hawaii doesn't have that problem. Here, we have fallen flowers. Bushes and trees flower all year round. I've seen gardeners raking up the extra flowers into a lawn bag. After a rain, street gutters clog with purple, yellow, red and white flower petals.

Palm trees sway in the breeze, but it doesn't storm here. I would think that being a weatherman in Hawaii would be really boring. We get "tradewinds" (prevalently from the east) or we get "kona" winds from the west. We have "windward showers" (eastern shore), "malka showers" (in the mountains) and the occasional "leeward showers" (western shore). There are no storm fronts to watch nor lightning storms. The temperature is between 75 and 85 degrees all year. Cool enough to make central air-conditioning a luxury item, but warm enough to warrant a window unit for the bedroom. I haven't met anyone yet that knows what to do with a dual-use thermostat. If you want to turn up the heat, get a leather couch!

There is a lot of native pride - something that feels familiar having spent a lot of time in Oklahoma. Hawaiians are proud of their "aloha spirit" which is quite friendly. Drivers stop and wave pedestrians across the street. People are generally positive and open. This isn't at all like "Minnesota Nice" - which is actually pretty cold-shouldered. Hawaiian shirt Friday is actually every day (I am typically overdressed in my Oxford shirts). It's a nice place to be.

So there are a few of the many little things I observe that make Hawaii different for me. I would hope that everyone sees the everyday detail in their everyday lives and comes to appreciate the everyday diversity that makes life such an everyday blessing!