now that we've been here for some time, we've come to really recognize some Hawaiian phenomena and novelties. they might not be purely unique to Hawaii, but they're certainly new for us.
first of all, the obsession with property care, what i like to call, yard wars. now, i must preface this: i'm not a huge lawn care freak. my personal attitude is to keep it looking nice enough that i can stand it and neighbors don't complain. that doesn't mean i don't look out and think of some things we could do to improve it, or that i like to let it get really bad before tending to it. it just means, i don't see a leaf fall, scream, run out, pick it up, and then let a sigh of relief. ok, so i'm exaggerating, people here don't to that either. our next door neighbor, Romeo, is the extremist. every day he is out, raking, sweeping, watering, picking, gardening. sometimes even around 430 am, before he goes in for work. but then on saturdays, again starting early, he works around the perimeter of his lawn, meticulously grooming each plant (and there are a lot) of bugs and blemished leaves. ok so that's Romeo (but we love him, he's very sweet, and gives us some of his fruit to try). aside from that, it seems that as soon as the temp starts to go down and people come home from work, people en masse head outdoors for the daily lawn care. they trim, they rake, they sweep, EVERY DAY, and this is Hawaii... which means instead of all the leaves coming down at fall, they fall a little at a time all year long. but i'll watch this little old lady hunt down and capture every last leaf in her yard, drive, or sidewalk, before quitting. i'm not saying it's bad. i'm just saying, not what i'm used to.
local elections are huge here. any day i've watched local channels, local election news takes precedence over national election news every time. the night they held the local primaries, there was 4 hours of continuous evening coverage, just waiting for the first tallies to come in.
unlike charlie and lindsey, we have no shortage of casual dressers or cultural diversity. usually, i find myself wondering if i stand out because i'm overdressed (except in waikiki, where you either look like a slut or a millionaire to blend in). we have almost every variety of Asian cuisine available to us, a huge variety of religious diversities, and most obsiously, Polynesian/Hawaiian cultural manifestations. Remember Reagan Day? we went out, and there were balloons, banners, sales... but not for Reagan Day, it was for Kamehameha day... we were just too green to know better.
even though we don't experience daylight savings time, the daylight hours do change more than i had expected, and dusk is already 45 minutes earlier than it was when we first got here. the weather is changing a little too, we still get to highs in the upper 80's, but it stays hotter for less time, and we're starting to see the start of the rainy season. it freaked me out to realize that it's october, but it still feels like july.
ok, this is going to be a monstrous post, so i'll stop with his last thing for now, not really a 'phenomenon' but still interesting. i know some tv shows have been based in Hawaii before, but it seems like a lot more cropped up as soon as we got here. there are at least 2 new dramas being filmed here, one called Hawaii has been playing on nbc for a while now. my perspective: not as culturally diverse in terms of the police force as is realistic. there's another, supposedly called 'north shore' that sounds more like some teen drama, i haven't seen it and don't know what channel it's on, so no comment. perhaps the most interesting locally filmed show though is called 'Dog: The bounty hunter' that plays on A&E. it's a reality show were 'Dog' and his family troop of bounty hunters go after bad guys. but don't let him fool you, he's the tough guy with the heart of gold ;). point of this schpiel: it's been interesting to watch these shows and actually be able to pick out locations, and say, hey, i've been there! i've never lived in a major city where a show was based, so, it's a cool experience. i'm sure it will wear off. that or i'll get spotted as a major talent and begin my career in hollywood.
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