A hui hou!

I had a lot of fun maintaining this blog over the course of the semester - I hope you enjoyed my perspective and found at least some of my posts interesting. =)

Hopefully I will continue with this blog, but just a head's up that I will disappear for at least a little while, as I finish up my final exams, take care of several things before I fly out of LA, and head back to the islands for the first part of summer vacation.

I can't wait to go home!

This is my laptop wallpaper - a picture I took of Hanauma Bay, which is about 5 minutes from my house

So for now...

A HUI HOU KAKOU, MALAMA PONO

(Until we meet again, take care)

Mahalo! =)

Yet another protest

Protestors gathered at Waikiki Beach yesterday to rally against Kyo-ya Hotels' plan to redevelop the Diamond Head Tower at the Moana Surfrider Resort.

"If they put up big buildings and block access and there's no sands, what's gonna be left for our kids?" asked Scott Naguwa of Surfrider Spirit Sessions, which teaches kids how to surf at the beach.

I understand the protestors' concerns about the tower being too tall and too close to the beach. And they may very well be right about this project.

But I don't agree with the general mindset of not developing Oahu. Yes, we definitely need to take care of our precious environment - but we also need to develop Oahu and keep our economy going strong. The neighbor islands should be kept in their pristine condition. But Oahu is already urbanized, and as the financial center of the state, it can't be like the neighbor islands.

Read more about the story here: Environmentalists rally against proposed beach hotel tower

Salt Making - A Hawaiian Tradition

Today's Honolulu Star Advertiser includes an article about Kuulei Santos, "one of the few Hanapepe salt makers, the dedicated descendents who continue the ancient Hawaiian practice of crystallizing the sea." She started a blog, Pa'akai Farming in Hanapepe, to educate people about this tradition and document her efforts to preserve the area (on Kauai).

I found it fascinating to read about this ancient Hawaiian tradition, something I know nothing about, despite having grown up in Hawai'i. My parents were not born in Hawai'i, so that could be a reason I have never heard of this practice, but I also think that a lot of Hawaiian culture has been lost in general. While I am proponent for the economic advancement of our state, I do think it's important that the Hawaiian culture does not disappear, and those of us without Hawaiian blood were better educated about it. Is it possible to modernize and build up Hawai'i while still keeping the Hawaiian culture alive? I think so...

Check out Kuulei Santos's website, too! Pa'akai: to solidify the sea

Source: Pa'akai Farming in Hanapepe

Hawai'i's economic outlook

Two recent articles have optimistic news about Hawai'i's economy.

Takeaways from Hawaii News Now's "UH economists say Hawaii's economy will grow":

• Overall visitor arrivals expected to increase by nearly 3% this year and 3.0% the next
• State's economy expected to expand by 2.6% through rest of the year
• Personal income expected to rise by 2.1% this year and 2.3% the next
• Factors taken into account include the Japanese economy, energy costs, and oil prices

Takeaways from Honolulu Star Advertiser's "Isle economy seen riding out tsunami":

• Same as above, but also:
• Job growth expected to resume, after 3 years of decline
• Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, says, "In a nutshell, I think we're going to get through this without falling into recession."

I hope they're right. I guess we are very fortunate that this decrease in Japanese visitor arrivals came now, rather than a year or two ago. The timing of the rail project has also helped in providing more jobs.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser

Pidgin Exhibit Opened Today in Waipahu

Many "locals" in Hawai'i speak a unique kind of English - Hawaiian Pidgin English (check out this link to the Wikipedia!), or just "pidgin," as we refer to it. I never thought I spoke pidgin, but I realized when I came to USC and the mainland, that I still say some things differently from the people here. We end our sentences with, "...yeah?" - as in, "This is so good, yeah?" (something we get from the Japanese influence, similar to their ね); we say, "Try get me water," as a polite way of saying, "Please get me water"; we use "junk" as an adjective more often than we use it as a verb (meaning "not good" or "poor"), etc.

I'm sure that those of you from the mainland who have friends from Hawai'i have noticed our unique way of speaking - it's English... but a slightly different English.

Today, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa hosted an exhibit in Waipahu titled, "Pidgin: How was, how stay." The exhibit explained how pidgin developed in the islands and also included documentaries, tours, fun activities, and "ono local grinds."

I came across the article on Hawaii News Now, and I was disappointed that it was only a one-day thing. But then I researched it a little more, and I discovered that the exhibit will be permanent, and today's event was just the opening day festivities. I am really excited because I would be extremely interested in going to it, and I think that many people not from Hawai'i who have heard phrases of pidgin would also be interested in attending the exhibit and learning about this unique aspect of our culture. It seems like Hawai'i has such an allure for most people, and we should try to share our culture and aloha spirit with as many people as we can.

Source: UH Website

One Hawai'i school on the right track

At least one Hawai'i public school seems to be on the right track - Iroquois Point Elementary School in Ewa Beach has gained accreditation for the prestigious International Baccalaureate primary years program. They are the first public elementary school in the state to achieve this designation, and there are only 341 authorized schools that offer the IB primary years program nationwide.

From the Honolulu Star Advertiser article, 'Everyone is ecstatic' as Ewa Beach school joins elite program:

The rigorous curriculum, which includes teaching children a foreign language, focuses on global citizenship and is designed to lay the educational groundwork — as early as kindergarten — to ready students for college prep courses in high school.

Iroquois Point, which has 720 students, worked for three years to garner the elite title of an IB "world school," overhauling its teaching methods and curriculum and instituting schoolwide professional development.

The designation comes as more primary and middle schools locally and nationally are turning to the elite IB program as a way to create global, bilingual, "transdisciplinary" scholars.

Securing accreditation is tough and requires a big commitment from administrators, teachers, parents and students.

If one school is able to "overhaul its teaching methods and curriculum," why can't others? I hope this serves as an encouragement to other public schools in the state, sending the message that change can happen if the commitment is there.

I think it is terrific that Iroquois Point teaches its students a foreign language in elementary school. I have long felt that US schools should emphasize learning a second language during students' elementary school years - this is the crucial time when children can pick up foreign languages with relative ease and still have the ability to develop native-like speaking skills.

It is so important that Americans learn how to speak more than one language. Most people from other countries already know how to speak more than one language - their native language and English, if not others, too. It seems like almost everyone is at least bilingual - except for us Americans! Our world is rapidly becoming more and more globalized, and the US should equip its students with the ability to compete with others around the world.

I understand that there are challenges, including not enough time in the school day, costs of adding to the curriculum and hiring foreign language teachers, etc. And yes, English is still the language of business - for now. Analysts predict that China will overtake the US as the world's top economy in about 10 years - America's schools should try and start teaching Mandarin Chinese to students as soon as possible...

Hawai'i schools are struggling. It's hard to add on one more thing to their already-full plate of improvements and changes to be made. But it's all necessary if we want to give our kids a fighting chance.

Waikiki Spam Jam Festival

The 9th Annual Waikiki Spam Jam Festival was held on Saturday, April 30th. While I had heard about this event before, I never knew much about it until I came across the pictures from it on the Honolulu Star Advertiser Pulse Blog "Food La La" and read more about it.

From the Spam Jam website:

The WAIKIKI SPAM JAM®Festival is a street festival that celebrates the people of Hawaii's love for SPAM®products a canned meat from Hormel Foods. In Hawaii, you will find SPAM®family of products at all grocery and convenience stores, many restaurants and in most homes in Hawaii.  

This street festival is great for all ages, as the event includes Hawaii's top restaurants, two stages with free entertainment,and a variety of Hawaiian crafters. This is also a special event that benefits the Hawaii Food Bank, the largest non-profit in Hawaii that feeds the needy.

I always thought it was just a festival of of spam, but I didn't know it was also a fundraiser for the Hawai'i Food Bank.

Many people on the mainland find spam detestable and can't wrap their mind around Hawai'i's love of the luncheon meat. I am not exactly sure about the origin of spam in Hawai'i and how it became so popular - but it has been a part of our culture for about as long as anyone today can remember. Some say that spam came to the islands during WWII, when supplies such as meat became scarce in the islands; others say that it proliferated during the days of plantation workers, who couldn't always get high quality meat.

Regardless of how it came to Hawai'i, spam can be found everywhere in the islands - McDonald's, 7-Eleven, supermarkets, restaurants, plate lunch places, etc. Many parents make spam musubi for their children's home lunches on field trips and for potlucks.

Anyway, just a little on an event very unique to our state and a bit about our spam "obsession."

Some pictures from Food La La:

Spam Chili and Rice by Jimmy Buffett's

Spam Volcano Nachos by Jimmy Buffett's

Spam Fried Rice with Spam Katsu by Duke's and Hula Grill

Spam Okonomiyaki by Chibo

Philly Cheesesteak Spamwich by Gordon Biersch

Asian Spam Crunch Salad by Gordon Biersch

Spam Lo Mein by PF Chang's