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Does anyone else have any stories where some people just can't figure out that hawaii is part of America?
I have tons, it has been 2 years since I moved home and my grandma still asks me how it feels to be back in the states. When I lived there people would ask if they needed a passport to come visit. I think a lot of folks assume it is still a territory like Puerto Rico or something. Of course, that is not terribly unreasonable (4th grade geography aside) given the way it is marketed... you don't see wheel of fortune saying "you won a trip to Texas or California", they will say Austin or San Diego. But when you win a trip to Hawaii it is just a trip to Hawaii (not even "the State of Hawaii") just Hawaii, maybe they specify the island it is typically referred to as its own entity.
... but I also have tons stories about people in Hawaii referring to the rest of the U.S. very ambiguously as the "mainland" and describing it essentially as homogeneous, racist, cold, and full of haoles. I get phone calls from my in laws when it snows in Massachusetts to see if we are OK (in Virginia 600 miles south) because the Star-Advertiser feels the need to post the worst weather in all of the continental United States on their front page each day as some sort of propaganda tool (my best guess). Case in point:
They might as well have a section dedicated to "Bad Mainland Weather today" LOL.
So my point is that I think it goes both ways. Locals view themselves as unique and separate from "mainland people" and most Americans think of Hawaii as an abstract tropical paradise out in the ocean somewhere. Plus there is the whole sovereignty movement or Akaka Bill thing where many in the state actually DO want to be a separate entity (or at least have a separate representative government). But that is a different thread all together.
When I was moving to Hawaii, I had several of my friends in Florida ask if I had my passport.
It's a shame that Hawaiian history or at least the history of Hawaii becoming a state is not taught in mainland schools. I engulfed myself in learning as much Hawaiian history and culture as possible while I was there - I remember being angry that I had never been taught at least the generalities in school. History class stresses so much but blatently leaves out the parts about Hawaii.
Does anyone else have any stories where some people just can't figure out that hawaii is part of America?
At one time or another, many of the chambers of commerce in Hawaiʻi had "municipal dollar coins" available for sale. Several of the local stores would accept them as payment and occasionally, some tourist would think that they had to convert their "foreign" U.S. dollars to one of the local "municipal dollars."
While somewhat funny it is not difficult to understand what the woman was trying to ask.
Everyone understood what she was trying to ask. People laughed because she had been talking about how it was her first time to go to Hawaii and how she was excited and such. Not sure but it came off as it might have been her first time to get out of the mainland US.
The guy I sit next next to at work is planning visiting Hawaii this summer. Yesterday he told me he was going to bring me some Cuban cigars if he makes it past customs. I could only wish him the best of luck in finding them and sneeking them past customs. Does anyone else have any stories where some people just can't figure out that hawaii is part of America?
Actually, Hawaii ISN"T part of America. That's the big continent over there which consists of the North American and South American continents connected together. We are (at least technically) part of the United States (of America). But Hawaii is it's own separate self and will probably eventually become so again, although it will probably not be any time soon. "Soon" being within several hundred years, at least, IMHO. Political boundaries change all the time. Kamehameha consolidated the islands, they have been annexed by the United States for awhile. Eventually they will have a different political attribute, everything changes if you wait long enough.
Actually, Hawaii ISN"T part of America. That's the big continent over there which consists of the North American and South American continents connected together. We are (at least technically) part of the United States (of America). But Hawaii is it's own separate self and will probably eventually become so again, although it will probably not be any time soon. "Soon" being within several hundred years, at least, IMHO. Political boundaries change all the time. Kamehameha consolidated the islands, they have been annexed by the United States for awhile. Eventually they will have a different political attribute, everything changes if you wait long enough.
Geographically you are correct. However, I will argue that politically it is.
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