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Post by jlo on Dec 30, 2006 11:27:20 GMT -5
Islanders I am looking for information on the islands. Anything and everything is fair game - ie. culture,weather,websites,education and of course vball. Thanks
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Post by zippy on Dec 30, 2006 13:54:27 GMT -5
Is Oahu the best island to live on if you are into volleyball? Are all the islands equally stong in high school athletics?
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 30, 2006 15:02:18 GMT -5
There are lots and lots of info on the web on Hawaii. Just google.
Here's a brief summary:
Culture -- plenty of it. It's a melting pot of many diverse cultures, slanted significantly toward the Asian cultures. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Samoan, Portuguese, and of course, White and Hawaiian, among others. It's a totally foreign land if you're from White Midwest America. If you're a White kid, you might get beaten up by the local kids. Rite of passage stuff. But as they say, what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger.
Weather -- great weather, albeit on the hot and humid side in the summer. When it's in the 70s, the islanders put on their jackets. it rains off and on, even when there are no clouds in the sky. It doesn't rain long, just here and there and only in spurts. Lots and lots of rainbows, if you're into this sort of thing. The great thing about this tropical weather is you can grow all sorts of tropical fruit in your very own backyard -- bananas, mangos, papayas. Yummy...
Websites -- plenty.
Education -- poor public school system with one or two exceptions. Decent to great private school system -- Punahou, Iolani, Kamehameha (you have to have some Hawaiian blood to get in), Damien, St. Louis, Sacred Heart, St. Andrew's, etc.
Crime -- you didn't ask about it but you should know Hawaii has a lot of petty crimes -- auto theft, breaking and entering into vehicles and homes, burglaries, bicycle thefts. Some robberies. However, I believe you're more likely to get hit by a car or get into a traffic accident than get mugged in Hawaii. The traffic system is the pits and the road conditions are sorely lacking.
Life in general -- after a while, some newcomers experience island fever, similar to cabin fever, and can't wait to get back to the mainland. Hawaii is great but you must have the mindset that you're living on an island and you can't get into your car and drive off to Nebraska or LA or Texas.
Little known annoyance: cockroaches. Lots and lots of cockroaches live and breathe in your living quarters. Some are as huge as your fist and others fly and land on your shoulders and the top of your head. Get used to it. Give them names, if you must. But get used to it.
Oahu vs. the other islands: Oahu is the "main" island. Honolulu is in Oahu. There's really nothing to do on any of the other islands, just breathtaking nature stuff.
Volleyball: Oahu. University of Hawaii is on Oahu. See the Wahine in person. Or on TV. Ann Kang Iolani Invitational for high school girls' volleyball. Volleyball is very popular, needless to say. But you have to get past the cockroaches first.
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Post by roy on Dec 30, 2006 15:54:44 GMT -5
Is Oahu the best island to live on if you are into volleyball? Are all the islands equally stong in high school athletics? Generally Oahu has the best athletes however you have to keep in mind that a majority of the states population live on Oahu. So you see more athletes from Oahu simply due to numbers. However keep in mind that players like Hawaii's Mason came from the Big Island (or the island of Hawaii) and on the men's side, Dante is from Maui.
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Post by pineapple on Dec 30, 2006 17:27:54 GMT -5
Wolfgang is pretty accurate except for the cockroach part- not a big as your fist but can be 1.5 to 2" long. When we find one that long, we've been known to take it the carcass to Arizona or Texas or somewhere in the South for the biggest cockroach contest. Madagascar has hissing cockroaches that grow up to 3" long. I think they've been winning the contests. We also have lots of small lizards (geikcos, skinks, anoles). My in-laws are more unsettled by these critters than by cockroaches, as roaches are plentiful in Midwest too and lizards are not.
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 30, 2006 17:42:27 GMT -5
I took out my ruler and determined that 1.5" to 2" is pretty frikkin' big for a cockroach. That should deter all the mainlanders from moving to Hawaii. Did I mention they fly and land on your shoulders? Also, they tend to go after people who are MOST afraid of bugs.
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 30, 2006 17:59:19 GMT -5
When I see the thread title "Hawaiian Culture" I keep thinking of the Cal player "Hana Cutura".
Thanks, in advance.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Dec 30, 2006 18:13:30 GMT -5
You'd think living on a tropical island for 4-5 years would be a dream come true, and you wouldn't miss making snow forts with your friends, open-air ice skating, or the aurora borealis.
But don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone?
After living in Hawai'i, you will come to understand Joni Mitchell's "River" in a very personal way, not to mention the homesickness that might lead her to draw a map of Canada on the back of a cartoon coaster, in the blue TV screen light.
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Post by gobears on Dec 30, 2006 18:26:39 GMT -5
I have Hawaiian music CD going in my living room right now and put one to play in my car this morning...relaxing and smooth...you can tell it's time for another trip this year...
one of the most enjoyable FF was in Hawaii...I remember having lunch outside at the Royal Hawaiian I think....singers/dancers came to present Xmas songs...delightful....I did not want to come home...
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Post by OverAndUnder on Dec 30, 2006 18:37:53 GMT -5
Vacationing is all in the mind.
Many people who live in Amsterdam, Athens, Rome, Toulouse, Vienna, Prague, Sevilla, and Lisbon find their daily lives to be incredible boring and even full of despair. That doesn't mean each city isn't a charming place to visit when you've saved enough money to be pampered for a few days. But then, if you stayed in your own hometown or nearby metropolis and spent the same average amount per day as you do while vacationing somewhere else, you could have just as delightful a time at home.
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Post by gobears on Dec 30, 2006 18:50:39 GMT -5
very true, but the particular vibe in Hawaii, strikes a lot of positive chords with me. Pampering not even needed much. Bay Area is just delightful 98% of the time, but I have spent the last 10 days with all my family delaying Xmas due to colds/flu...rain/cold weather, sore throats, sleepless nites, sick babies..... and relatives stuck in Denver....cool clear day today, but rain due again tomorrow... cough cough, wheeze....
A week's break, healthy, on Waikiki? I'd take it in a minute right now.
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Post by Alberta on Dec 30, 2006 19:49:01 GMT -5
;D Well, my island friends... we do have something in common. Cockroaches We are well aquainted with them in Florida.
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Post by gobears on Dec 30, 2006 22:20:07 GMT -5
in Florida, as I recall, when I stopped there coming and going to Colombia and Costa Rica years back....the Florida locals called them "Palmetto bugs"....they were huge...don't know if they are something different, but they all looked the same to me. The huge ones in Costa Rica, the ladies in the kitchen would pour boiling water on....they would swat and kill the small ones, but the big ones??? boiling water!
As soon as I saw them, the exterminator was called. He came twice before he got rid of them, and then every 4 months repeat. Nasty critters!
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Post by Alberta on Dec 30, 2006 22:45:17 GMT -5
Aren't they gross!? The cockroaches, that is. I think I could put up with them in Hawai'i, though.
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Post by PukaPants on Dec 31, 2006 0:30:48 GMT -5
Hate to rain on the parade, but let's not forget that Hawaii was once a sovereign nation, ruled by a Queen, until American businessmen and descendants of missionaries orchestrated the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian nation, with support of the US government.
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