Thread: Life in Hawaii

Call me ungrateful, but I hate living in Hawaii. There I said it. To be honest, it isn’t as good as people make it out to be. Maybe because I have lived my entire life here, but there’s nothing new to excite me and, if anything, it is causing my brain to atrophy. Let’s see why I feel this way…

I live on one of the many major islands of Hawaii, Kauai. After living here my whole life you find that there is nothing to entertain you anymore. Its like living in an amusement park all day for years and nothing changes. You will get bored of every thing there is to do. The beaches no longer hold the allure they once did when I was six.

Seriously, I could surf, snorkel and do ever single water sport there is to do here, but they’ve all become so boring. I wish that there were something new and exciting happening in Hawaii. The only thing good were the recent downpours. When the dam broke, how exciting was that?

Now we can move on to the deflation of my brain. Hawaii, surprisingly, is a cultural waste dump. It sucks because everyone here doesn’t have things like fencing (the sport), or archery or anything cultured people would enjoy. Instead we have football (overrated), surfing (yawn) and everything that isn’t what I want!

This thing which you call “rap” only adds sand to the fire of my brain. Every day, when I walk five feet out of my house I hear someone blasting rap so loud it seems as though at any moment their car will fall apart. From my apartment I can hear people, down at the park, blasting it. They are 0.25 miles away and yet I can hear them!

There are no ECA’s outside of school which interest me, except for cooking, but for that you have to pay a huge sum of money. I feel like I was born into the wrong period of time. I am very easy to get along with, yet I chose to associate myself with the intelligent people. We all share similar interests and things of that sort.

I am very antediluvian, aren’t I? Post your comments…

Archduke, I must agree. Hawaii isn't very exciting if you live here. I can understand why tourists love it, though. It gets boring, after living here for a decade and almost five years.

Nothing of great interest really happens... yes, Archduke, the dam breaking WAS something different and new, but I wouldn't call it "exciting." Those poor people! Don't you know? They never found six of them! How sad is that???

I share the same views as you with rap, or just any music emitted from cars at an unnatural volume. Blasting rap in your car? Why not something classy, or sophiscated like classical music? Walking down from school gets really annoying if you have to hear their horrible music, when you could be enjoying the sounds of nature!

I too believe that I was born into the wrong period of time. Our world is dying, the ice caps and glaciers are melting, global warming is going to doom us all! Our forests are being depleted, our land being taken, and our population increasing (the human population, I mean)! I'd perfer a much simpler life, in the outdoors, though I am an intellectual. However, the present does have its advantages, too.

Hawaii is a good place, just not for everyone.

(No, I don't think you're very antediluvian.)

Here's a perspective shift for you:

I am hawaiian, born and raised in California. I lived in Hawaii for about two years (02-04), and honestly I was more at home there, than at any other time in my life. Problem was, there was too much going wrong with the islands for me to really appreciate them they way I thought I would.

Like the two white kids that called me hoale... wow. I don't think it's a lack of culture there... I think it's the decimation of the culture that was there. I'm not getting on the soapbox, I'm just trying to point out that growing up in Cali for a Hawaiian might be similar to what you are going through there. When growing up here, there were no other Hawaiians around... so schoolmates and friends didn't really know what to make of me I suppose. White kids thought I was Mexican, Mexicans thought I was Indian (native) and the Indians thought I was white. When I finally got 'home' to Hawaii I found that it wasn't home... it was something... else?

Still, I loved it there and would have stayed if things worked out. I may have gotten island fever like many do, but I think it is the same no matter where you go... you just need people to relate to and things that you can identify with culturally.

But please:

Hawaii, surprisingly, is a cultural waste dump. It sucks because everyone here doesn’t have things like fencing (the sport), or archery or anything cultured people would enjoy. Instead we have football (overrated), surfing (yawn) and everything that isn’t what I want!

You should really point out that what (I hope) you meant to say there is that Hawaii is lacking the things that people from your culture enjoy. I found a lot of things that I connected with while I was there, after all, it is my culture.

I must admit though, I want to learn fencing too... hehe. Now go eat some spam!

Just my two,

//Sy

The way you said "your culture" made it seem as though you were saying that I am of a different race. I'll have you know that I am a mix of races, so much so that I am supposed to be influenced by the environment, yet it seems to have had the exact opposite effect on me.

I don't believe Hawaii is a "cultural waste dump"... but it does lack some elements of culture that would be good to have. Hawaii is a good place, but not for everyone. Fencing would be cool, as would archery. And yes, you can't forget spam!

My intention was not to insult you. I merely meant to point out that what you define as culture is merely an opinion... stating your opinions in a way that imply fact can be insulting to others. What you said about there being 'no culture' in Hawaii was false, I tried to simply point that out to you.

What is your heritage? If you are a mix of ethnicities, which one do you identify with the most?

I infer from your post that you are not Hawaiian, so I thought giving you a different perspective on the subject might be appreciated.

Culture by definition is not a single set of ideals or principles. Culture is not fencing and cricket and archery. Culture is tradition and belief, ideals and (why not) activities that every ethnic group has, in one form or another.

I just wanted to know what you thought yours might be, to help you identify a possible reason why you feel so out of place in Hawaii. Like I said, I feel the same way in California.

Just some thoughts,

//Sy

Originally Posted by Frogger

...and everything that isn’t what I want!

I think you just want what you don't have.

Who me? Hodgy you stirring the pot again?

I am back. What ethnicity do I associate myself with the most? It would probably be my French. This is my smallest ethnicity percentage, only like two, yet I identify with it them most.

Hawaii has a lot of culture, actually. From when the sugar plantation workers came here from across Asia and Europe and the Pacific. All of these diverse people came to these tiny islands, and now we are one of the most culturally diverse places in the world. Hawaii doesn't lack culture, and it definately isn't a "cultural waste dump." There's so much culture confined to one place, though it's not the culture that you like and want.