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In Hawaii, generally, folks talk quieter than they do in many places on the mainland. I keep thinking they may mean it to be "howl-lee" because of the loudness of speech many mainlanders seem to use. For some reason they seem to almost yell at each other.
I loved this about Hawaii. Here people often tell me to speak up and can be quite rude about it. In Hawaii, I was complimented for not yelling like other visitors. I grew up with a "yeller" and I never wish to be that person.
I also found Hawaii to be populated with more mannerly people than what I encounter at home. When I go to Walmart here, people shove you out of their way without a word and if you have something in your buggy they need, they take it when you turn your back -- forget leaving a purse in it!
I hate shopping here but in Hawaii it was a full 180. I don't mind people chatting in the aisles or taking their time if they are peaceful about it. People made eye contact with me, if I smiled they smiled back -- I don't get that at home and I live in the supposed "hospitality" state.
In Hawaii, generally, folks talk quieter than they do in many places on the mainland. I keep thinking they may mean it to be "howl-lee" because of the loudness of speech many mainlanders seem to use. For some reason they seem to almost yell at each other.
I'm in Japan, and I certainly notice the loudness of other foreigners. They don't necessarily have to be Americans either. I find general Europeans equally to be loud, as well as Chinese and Koreans.
Southeast Asians are a bit more quieter and softer with the voices...which would include the many Filipinos who ended up in Hawaii. Japanese are legendary for their politeness, so I can certainly see Hawaii having a preference for non-loudness among people.
Tiger Beer, I've read a lot of your posts, and I know you're familiar with Eastern and SE Asia. I'll start with the usual disclaimers about this being a broad generalization, that I'm familiar with my wife's family and circle of friends, and that they aren't representative of all Hawaiians.
In my experience, Hawaiians tend to be like the many Southeast Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, and Lao) people I've known over the years. There's the Asian group and family orientation, as opposed to the individual orientation of the Mainland. There's the elaborate Asian politeness, as opposed to the Mainland bluntness. Hawaiian culture is high-context, whereas Mainland culture tends to be more low-context. Bragging and calling attention to onerself is frowned upon in Hawaii, whereas it's likely to get you a reality TV show on the Mainland. Within that context, though, Hawaiians tend to be less formal and reserved than the Japanese, although I've heard that the younger generations of Japanese are less formal than their elders. Material success and hard work for its own sake aren't as important as they are in China, Japan, Korea, and the Mainland. Hawaiians tend to be very friendly and optimistic. Despite the poverty and hardship that many Hawaiians endure, their arts stress the positive things in life. (I've listened to hundreds of Hawaiian songs, and the only one I can think of that addresses the darker aspects of life is Iz's "Hawaii '78.") New-York-style irony and sarcasm aren't common in Hawaii. Much Hawaiian humor focuses on ethnic stereotypes, but not in a mean way.
Again, there are plenty of exceptions to everything I just said, and of course there are many Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mainland, etc. people in Hawaii, and many have retained many cultural characteristics of their countries of origin, but there definitely is a "Hawaiian cultural vibe." In my experience, Mainlanders who understand and have an affinity and/or a natural predisposition to SE Asian cultures love Hawaii, whereas people who identify with more blunt, uptight, Puritan-work-ethic, no-nonsense Mainland cultures don't do well with Hawaiian culture. Interestingly, my wife and I recently got back from a vacation in Atlanta (where I spent much of my life), and she really hit it off with the Black Southerners we met. They share a similarly joyous, informal approach to life, and my wife loves that outrageous humor and eccentricity are not only tolerated but also encouraged in the South, which is the opposite of what she grew up with.
Great post.
Interesting about the Black Southerners in Atlanta. I haven't spent much time in the South at all, that is interesting.
The Asian and Hawaiian connection, I like that. I definitely relate to Asian thinking and approach, the community, the family, etc.
Are Hawaiian-Hawaiian basically similar to the Asian mindset of Hawaii? Or are most Hawaiian-Hawaiian usually mixed with either Filipino or Japanese or Portuguese or whatsoever else, and therefore quite similar as well?
Interesting about the Black Southerners in Atlanta. I haven't spent much time in the South at all, that is interesting.
The Asian and Hawaiian connection, I like that. I definitely relate to Asian thinking and approach, the community, the family, etc.
Are Hawaiian-Hawaiian basically similar to the Asian mindset of Hawaii? Or are most Hawaiian-Hawaiian usually mixed with either Filipino or Japanese or Portuguese or whatsoever else, and therefore quite similar as well?
It is hard to find 100% Hawaiian people anymore. I know a few but they are all from Niihau. I do know quite a few people with 50% Hawaiian blood, which is what is required to qualify for Hawaiian homes. Usually Hawaiians are mixed with something..or everything! A lot of people are mixed...my best friend is hawaiian, puerto rican and portuguese. Another friend is german, filipino and hawaiian. My boyfriend is 100% filipino. And I'm haole from the mainland
You find everything here!
One thing I love about Hawaii is that the culture really revolves around the concept of community and family. The worst thing is when you get some haole from the mainland who just constantly talks about themselves. People here don't really value self achievement as much as they do just being a good, nice and generous person. Of course you still get your jerks..but as a whole that has been my experience.
I've had lau lau and a lot of other Hawaiian foods. My landlord invited me to his brother's place when they had their Christmas dinner. Also got to try smoked salmon from Alaska, some other kinds of dried fish, and poi
That dialect link is interesting, but it only does the North American continent of which Hawaii is not a part. Hawaii has loads of different dialects as well as different languages. Shootz, even pidgin has dialects.
There are still quite a few cultural differences in Hawaii that you don't see on the mainland, generally speaking, of course.
In Hawaii, generally, folks talk quieter than they do in many places on the mainland. I keep thinking they may mean it to be "howl-lee" because of the loudness of speech many mainlanders seem to use. For some reason they seem to almost yell at each other.
Folks who live in Hawaii don't usually like to say bad things about other folks. There seems to be a greater willingness to get along, perhaps because the islands are so small and everyone is related to everyone else. Hmm, that also might be why newcomers are treated differently. They aren't related to anyone else so you can say not-so-nice things about them and know you aren't speaking to a relative of theirs.
The point of the link was that it shows tremendous diversity in North America without including Hawaii... therefore showing the irrelevance of this "mainland" construction that people are comparing Hawaii too. It shows that there is no such thing as a "mainland" accent, there are just a lot of non-Hawaii sounding dialects of english that are different from each other but also identifiable as non-Hawaii. My grandpa in Massachusetts can barely communicate with my sister in Louisiana, they can't possibly both have a "mainland" accent if the category of "mainland" is to have any useful meaning.
It is clearly a lost cause trying to argue this point in a subtle way so I will just ask point blank.
Why not say WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT HAWAII? Why this need to compare to some fictitious construct of what "mainlanders" are and then stereotype them by choosing the most irritating characteristics about "mainland" people with which to compare? It sounds like Hawaii has a giant inferiority complex or something. It is a great place, that type of thinking really does not seem necessary.
I could see if you compared city to city, but 1 million to 315 million is irrelevant considering the cultural and genetic diversity in this country. I just don't get it. Having been an air force brat and lived in tons of different cities and states I find the generalization kind of insulting and it makes me defensive...
I've decided, I'm gonna OCCUPY the citydata Hawaii forum until the 0.4% (the population of the state of Hawaii) acknowledges that the 99.6% (the population of the rest of the United States) are not composed of a racially, ethnically, and culturally homogeneous set of people characterized by loudness, rudeness, greed, obesity, aggressive driving, and materialism. And that a large portion of the population in the rest of the country dislikes those "mainland" characteristics as much as a large portion of the residents of Hawaii do.
As long as work is slow for me through the holidays, you can look forward to similar posts when I see Hawaii vs Mainland comparison threads. LOL
I've decided, I'm gonna OCCUPY the citydata Hawaii forum until the 0.4% (the population of the state of Hawaii) acknowledges that the 99.6% (the population of the rest of the United States) are not composed of a racially, ethnically, and culturally homogeneous set of people characterized by loudness, rudeness, greed, obesity, aggressive driving, and materialism. And that a large portion of the population in the rest of the country dislikes those "mainland" characteristics as much as a large portion of the residents of Hawaii do.
As long as work is slow for me through the holidays, you can look forward to similar posts when I see Hawaii vs Mainland comparison threads. LOL
The ironic part of this, is that's what I end up spending a portion of my time doing on the 'World Forum'. Equally, constantly, trying to point out that 'USA' isn't one large generic blob of uniformity.
That being said, I probably did do a major faux pas separating Hawaii from the Mainland as the OP....
That being said, if I were to say 'Louisiana' vs 'non-Louisiana USA', or 'Michigan' vs. 'non-Michigan USA', there are probably general differences that could be made to define 'Louisiana' or 'Michigan' or 'Hawaii' as ever-so-different from the rest of the United States.
But, I guess your main point, is to try not to slam the larger geographically compared area, while in the process of defining the smaller geographic area.
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Great post.
