CULTURE SHOCK... I wasn't expecting... good and bad (Honolulu: home, buy)

[nwcountrygal]

Haa haaa haa yes UHprof!! When I first arrived the names and directions. I swore I wouldn't do that to anyone in the future. Last year I brought my aunt over. I kept saying I wanted to take her to Hawi. She was so no no no. After days I finally asked her why she answered "why do I want to go to H.O.V.E??? "

Even being back this year when someone gives me directions and I have a little knowledge. Please give me landmarks.

Best things FRUIT and Whales!!!! New people begining a new family ohana... whales... food... people... music..whales!! (ok saw alot of whales today) real banana's. Farmers markets.

Only bad (other than directions) why did I have to go to Kona for the last bag of Purina Adult no frills green bag dog food?? That one took me off guard. Even when I went this week only one bag in Kona and still haven't seen in in the stores at Hilo or Pahoa. Anything else and he gets really sick and messy.

[kmcd23]

Culture Shock Likes - How a conversation can sound like poetry, because people speak with a rhythm you don't hear on the East Coast. How English can sound like a foreign language, and you have to really pay attention to understand. (And yes, that's a like, because language fascinates me.) How weekends are FAMILY time, and the beaches are full of families spending time together.

Culture Shock Dislikes - Small, short parking spaces. Mostly labeled 'compact'. With huge, lifted pick up trucks in them. Or should I say NOT in them. lol.

[mogon]

A small thing, but the fact that so many people back in to parking spaces.

I never have understood that -- you're aiming at a smaller space in a mode that is less familiar (unless you drive in reverse everywhere ), and coming out in a mode that is easy.

[Alohikea]

Oh man Mogon I agree! That was something I totally didn't get! It's easy to get out of but so weird to back into a stall!

[Lisa From Maui]

Neutral - didn't expect - the huge difference between how visitors & locals see Hawai'i

Neutral - didn't expect - How these message boards seem to have the same questions over & over again from mainlanders... I'm guessing that people who work at hotels/resorts also get the same questions.

good - the aina encourages husband & me to get out & do water sports, keep in physical shape

good - learned the value in respecting mother earth (and sea)

good - Even though it's been really really hard this first year of living here, I have learned alot... about moving, life, friends, my own identity, how different parts of the world are very different

good - wasn't expecting - learned how to see the world through the eyes of another person (or culture, or race, etc). Gotten better at it.

good - other people who post on these message boards... have helped me learn ALOT about the islands, the culture, the history, reality, etc.

[islandboo]

mogon and Alohikea, I back into parking spaces because I was told by my dad (a cop) that it is safer to do so because you have better visibility when exiting the space. I was a little uneaasy about doing it at first and tried instead to always find a pull-through parking spot (so I could pull out nose first without having to back in) but the car I have now has a rearview camera which makes it a breeze.

[Alohikea]

Ahhhhhh ok! I suppose once you get used to it, it begins to get easier.

[Sweetbeet]

I couldn't think of anything, so I asked my 13-yr-old son about "culture shock" ideas. He said he is most surprised at how pervasive the 'surfing culture' is, among teen boys. He says that at his school, EVERY boy surfs, it doesn't matter what else you do (he swims competitively and scuba dives, hikes, bikes and does archery), if you don't surf you're "nothing". (He doesn't like to surf; this may explain his current feeling that he wants to move to Colorado when he's an adult - he does like to ski!)

And for me, there are the 'shoes off' issues. Our house has three doors, so if you come in one door and leave your slippers, but want to go out another door, there are no slippers there to put on! So you have to make sure you have slippers at every door, carry them around inside, or always use one door. And at other people's houses - if you go to take off your shoes but they insist that you leave them on, what do you do? Leave them on, I guess (and this was the home of an older Japanese couple, go figure). Finally, there is the issue of "difficult" shoes - the time to take off and put on sneakers can seem silly if you're just going inside for a minute.

Never thought I'd think so much about shoes in my life, particularly in a place where they aren't even necessary much of the time.

[Alohikea]

The shoe rule took me a while to get but now I try to do it in my house. The way everyone hugs and gives a kiss on the cheek is not new to me because there is a big Hawaiian/Polynesian group in my town and I do hula, so when everyone meets, there is lots of kissing and hugging! I was surprised though when it was some local girls I met in Honolulu when I was with a friend who gave me a peck on the cheek. Can't wait to get back over there!

[Sweetbeet]

OK, here's another one that just hit me today for the first time. With all the tourist-y stuff, it kind of makes me depressed that I can't afford a vacation.

Huh? If I were anywhere else, I'd probably be coming HERE for vacation. And I'm here. But...

...as so many have said, living here ain't vacation... it has some of the benefits (good weather, beach and outdoor activity availability), but not all of them (no work, time and money budgeted to play and relax). And I think that's what really makes vacation, vacation.

So when so many people around you are on vacation, and there are restaurants, stores, resorts, and activities all around that are geared to that experience and frame of mind, it makes the inability to 'get away' (even in your mind) from work much more annoying than it would be if you weren't reminded constantly of what it means to be "on vacation".

This was not expected. I expected living here to be different from vacationing here (and basically, I really do like living here), but I did not consider the possibility that living in a vacation destination might amplify the yearning for that experience (whether here or elsewhere).

Hey, I still like it, and I can 'play tourist' once in a while, whether it be eating at a restaurant, playing hooky from work to go to the beach, or whatever - and it's a lot easier and cheaper than actually having to GO somewhere to do the things I like, most of which are outdoors and many of which involve water. But there again, for me, exploring something NEW, whether a place or an activity, is a big part of "vacation".