...

[conuly]

Hawaii clubs? WTF? New Yorkers who leave the city (god knows why) to go to school elsewhere don't make New York clubs. What on earth could be so special about Hawaii?

(No, seriously, I'm curious)

Comments

[hopefulnebula]

Well, I've briefly considered starting a "West of St. Louis" club here, but that's mainly because about 90% of the student body is from either here in Kentucky, or Indiana, Tennessee, or Ohio.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered what's so great about Hawaii as well, though I feel that way about a lot of places in the USA. :) According to zathras26 Hawaii sucks anyway (he grew up on Honolulu), so I *really* don't get why people are attracted to it. Doesn't help that my state competes directly with Hawaii for beach-loving-tourist dollars! :-p

I vaguely remember that there were special clubs for Pacific Islanders at the various schools I attended (high school, college, university) but they didn't seem particularly different from the various other "minority" clubs (like the Hispanic Pride Club and so forth).

[conuly]

Well, it's warm, I suppose. And it's got a rather cool indigenous language, plus a creole.

[griphus.livejournal.com]

That's where you're wrong, sadly.

If I had a nickel for every bar and club i've been to outside of NYC that attempted to be the epitome of what they considered new york style, i'd have enough to open my own.

[conuly]

But that's not the same as actual New Yorkers going outside of the city (god knows why) to start up bars and clubs.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I know they have some in Florida...

Brooklyn ones, NY ones...and I know I've come across more, elsewhere. Not students though, older people.

If the culture really is that different, I can see it.

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Friend of mine lived in Lihue for a while, and he would always tell me about how xenophobic many Hawaiians can be-- maybe that has something to do with it? I guess mainland life could be pretty different as well, but I dunno?

[zathras26.livejournal.com]

Striving to address this as objectively as I can, despite my rather strong personal feelings on the subject... *cough*

I've traveled all over the United States, and while it's true that each region has its own unique character and culture and lifestyle and so forth, Hawaii's is quite a bit more unusual than most of the others for various reasons (the climate, the strong Asian influence, the large racial mixture, the languages that are spoken there, slang, etc). Also, Hawaii tends to be rather isolationist -- people who are born and raised there don't seem to travel much, so these kids who were born and raised in, and have lived their lives in, Hawaii can probably face some pretty severe culture shock if they end up in Washington DC or Los Angeles or wherever for college, because life is very different in Hawaii than anywhere else in the U.S.

I also suspect it has something to do with other people's lack of familiarity with the lifestyle in Hawaii, something that's not true for most other areas of the U.S. If I say, "I gua-ron-tee!", for example, you know I'm imitating a Louisiana Cajun accent, but most people wouldn't recognize "I went eat da plate lunch with teri sauce on top" as being Hawaiian pidgin English. As is pointed out in the article, most people's familiarity with Hawaii is quite poor -- I, too, have occasionally been asked how long I've been in the United States and whether we use dollars and cents in Hawaii -- so I suspect that, unlike someone who leaves Florida for Oregon or even Utah for New York City, people who leave Hawaii can feel a greater sense of disconnection from their home because wherever else they go in the U.S., most people are going to be quite ignorant about Hawaii.

[hopefulnebula]

Well, I've briefly considered starting a "West of St. Louis" club here, but that's mainly because about 90% of the student body is from either here in Kentucky, or Indiana, Tennessee, or Ohio.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered what's so great about Hawaii as well, though I feel that way about a lot of places in the USA. :) According to zathras26 Hawaii sucks anyway (he grew up on Honolulu), so I *really* don't get why people are attracted to it. Doesn't help that my state competes directly with Hawaii for beach-loving-tourist dollars! :-p

I vaguely remember that there were special clubs for Pacific Islanders at the various schools I attended (high school, college, university) but they didn't seem particularly different from the various other "minority" clubs (like the Hispanic Pride Club and so forth).

[conuly]

Well, it's warm, I suppose. And it's got a rather cool indigenous language, plus a creole.

[griphus.livejournal.com]

That's where you're wrong, sadly.

If I had a nickel for every bar and club i've been to outside of NYC that attempted to be the epitome of what they considered new york style, i'd have enough to open my own.

[conuly]

But that's not the same as actual New Yorkers going outside of the city (god knows why) to start up bars and clubs.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I know they have some in Florida...

Brooklyn ones, NY ones...and I know I've come across more, elsewhere. Not students though, older people.

If the culture really is that different, I can see it.

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Friend of mine lived in Lihue for a while, and he would always tell me about how xenophobic many Hawaiians can be-- maybe that has something to do with it? I guess mainland life could be pretty different as well, but I dunno?

[zathras26.livejournal.com]

Striving to address this as objectively as I can, despite my rather strong personal feelings on the subject... *cough*

I've traveled all over the United States, and while it's true that each region has its own unique character and culture and lifestyle and so forth, Hawaii's is quite a bit more unusual than most of the others for various reasons (the climate, the strong Asian influence, the large racial mixture, the languages that are spoken there, slang, etc). Also, Hawaii tends to be rather isolationist -- people who are born and raised there don't seem to travel much, so these kids who were born and raised in, and have lived their lives in, Hawaii can probably face some pretty severe culture shock if they end up in Washington DC or Los Angeles or wherever for college, because life is very different in Hawaii than anywhere else in the U.S.

I also suspect it has something to do with other people's lack of familiarity with the lifestyle in Hawaii, something that's not true for most other areas of the U.S. If I say, "I gua-ron-tee!", for example, you know I'm imitating a Louisiana Cajun accent, but most people wouldn't recognize "I went eat da plate lunch with teri sauce on top" as being Hawaiian pidgin English. As is pointed out in the article, most people's familiarity with Hawaii is quite poor -- I, too, have occasionally been asked how long I've been in the United States and whether we use dollars and cents in Hawaii -- so I suspect that, unlike someone who leaves Florida for Oregon or even Utah for New York City, people who leave Hawaii can feel a greater sense of disconnection from their home because wherever else they go in the U.S., most people are going to be quite ignorant about Hawaii.