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Don't know if there's anything that I (as a Hawaii Resident) "want most want people to know about Hawaii".
If anything, I believe they must know that there are many differences from island to island.
Hawaii Island is not like Oahu and Oahu not like Maui or Maui not like Kauai.
I'm amazed by the number of people who don't know.
Your question is easy, but also difficult, how can any one single resident or native person speak for a whole people? But the answer to your question is really simple also. Your answer can be found in the culture of Hawai'i. Thru talkstory, music, the aina and other avenues we are taught the uhane(spirit), beliefs, history and what is important to the people of Hawai'i be it Native Hawai'ian or Local. The key for this journey is willingness to hear or learn.
Heres one avenue i love myself, music. Thou 3 songs won't tell you everything it will give you a small glimpse.
Traditional Hawaiian music never changes thru the ages, its messages and lessons the same, only different people singing. OP enjoy the journey, don't worry about the destination and who knows you may find that elusive Aloha Spirit and Love of the islands you hear about or become hawaiian by heart. Aloha
I already do, and thoroughly enjoy, the music, sounds and chants from Hawaii. I own several CDs of: Hapa, Keali'i Reichel, Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu, Iz and even the Cozomeros as among my favorites. I can often, and do, repeat the chants, though I admit to absolutely no mastery of the Hawaiian language. I love it when they include the words on the CD pages,that helps!
The beauty of sounds is that it can be timeless, and each one who hears it can find something different in its meaning, even when a meaning may be "clear'.
Whether I acquired the CDs while visiting Hawaii, or on amazon.com or from Barnes & Noble booksellers, they are always fascinating to me. I haven't yet found one I acquired that I don't like.
Often I will put on a DVD of Merrie Monarch Hula just to listen. While on the computer I will usually play youyube vids of the Merrie Monarch, or of the music and chants as listed above, again, just to listen {and sometimes watch.}.
We would really really like to attend a Merrie Monarch Hula Festival sometime live and in person, but I imagine getting into one some year would be all but impossible. Then again maybe not.
PBS on this coast recently had a fascinating series called "Pacific Heartbeat" that was aired less frequently than we would have liked. It was all about the music,sounds,chants and meanings of Hawaii.
HApa's He'eia from Namahana is one of my favorites. I have been asked "what are you singing", {then have to tell them the words, and the translation}. ANd i get asked what in the world "Mele Inoa No Kawaipunaheleopalikū" is when I am repeating it.AND I am FAR from having a good music voice!! Trust me!
What would Hawaii RESIDENTS most want people to know about Hawaii?
For this resident, I would like people to know that it's an awesome place to come vacation. Lots to see and do, from high end shopping, to lush "Jurassic Park" type tropical forests, to great surfing in warm clear water.
I'd like people to know that the Hawai'i of the tourist brochures and resort advertising is not the real Hawai'i.
That romantic vision is largely fantasy, carefully cultivated to make the state more attractive to tourists, which is one of the key economic drivers for the state. And it's fine to come for a week or two and spend your money "living" in that fantasy, because something like a third of the working population here have jobs that are in some way dependent on tourism.
But please, don't think that fantasy is real when the snow is piling up outside your door and you're dreading the thought of digging your car out in the morning and inching your way through icy streets to get to that job you don't really like anyway. Wanting to live in the Hawai'i on display in the brochures, or even what you experience on vacation, is like wanting to live in Disneyland... it's understandable when you're a kid, but inappropriate for adults. Letting that kind of fantasy drive major life decisions is generally a mistake.
Yes, do come to Hawai'i, enjoy yourself, relax, have fun, but please recognize that daily life in Hawai'i is very, very different from the fantasy. If you do decide to consider living in Hawai'i, start with the assumption that it's a place you've never even visited before, and you don't know what it's like.
Have your head in the clouds and your feet firmly on the ground, be responsible but also approach Hawaii with the wonderment of a child experiencing a new experience. For without the willingness to change and be openminded to different things, you will miss out on the not so obvious gifts that Hawaii has because you will be chasing the things from the mainland that made you unhappily. Most of the gifts the islands give are not obvious, seek out new things and experiences and some of the gifts the islands have will show, get involved with the community and hawaiian/local culture and more gifts will show. Live for the moment with responsibility, aloha and you will fall in love with Hawaii and not just its weather and wahine either. Aloha
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Then again maybe not.
