{"id":3482,"date":"2018-05-19T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-12T14:51:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T18:51:18","slug":"so-your-character-is-from-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victoriagracehowell.com\/staging\/6258\/so-your-character-is-from-hawaii\/","title":{"rendered":"So Your Character is From Hawaii … Featuring Taylor Bennett"},"content":{"rendered":"


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It’s time for this week’s So Your Character is … Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I’m hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven’t checked out last week’s  So Your Character is from Grenada … be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!<\/span>
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<\/span> Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts is as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.<\/span>
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Homeschooled since kindergarten, Taylor Bennett is the seventeen-year-old author of Porch Swing Girl, which will be released by Mountain Brook Ink on May 1st. When she\u2019s not reading or writing, Taylor can be found playing her violin or taking walks in the beautiful Oregon countryside. She loves to connect with readers via her author website<\/a>, as well as Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> (her favorite!), Pinterest<\/a>, and Goodreads<\/a>. <\/span>
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<\/b><\/span> What do you feel is unique to your country? Landmarks? Celebrations?<\/b><\/span>
\nHawaii is one of the most unique, un-American states in the US. Perhaps because of its late admission into the union, Hawaii still hangs on to many cultural quirks. It\u2019s also one of the most unusual states\u2014it\u2019s home to active volcanoes, some of the world\u2019s tallest sea cliffs, and it\u2019s one of only two US states that commercially grows coffee. <\/span>
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<\/span> Due to its remote location, Hawaii has few native animals, and snakes are virtually nonexistent. Visitors might run into the occasional wild boar, and chickens are a common sight. In the water, there is a host of beautiful fish, as well as one of Hawaii\u2019s most famous residents: the humpback whale. Humpbacks visit the warm waters of Hawaii every year, usually staying from December-May.<\/span>
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<\/span> While Hawaii celebrates the conventional US holidays\u2014Independence Day, Veterans\u2019 Day, and the like\u2014there are also state-specific holidays such as King Kamehameha I Day. The public school system is also a bit unusual, with students starting classes in early August. They also take a week-long break in the fall in addition to winter and spring breaks.<\/span>
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<\/span> Tell me about your country’s environment. What are some of your favorite places?<\/span><\/b>
\nHawaii has so many different climates! I\u2019m a Maui girl, so I mostly have experience with that island. But even just in Maui, there are so many different mini-biomes\u2014the West side is flooded with sunshine and warmth, while the Upcountry is cooler and more prone to rain. The east side of Maui (home to Hana) is very rainy and lush. Then there\u2019s Haleakala, which is actually a dormant volcano! It gets super cold up there in the morning, but the views (and those sunrises!!) are legendary.<\/span>
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My favorite places are Lahaina, which is on the West side of Maui, and Kula, which is nestled in the upcountry. Lahaina is packed with beautiful views, delicious restaurants, and lots of local flavors. Kula isn\u2019t a town as much as a collection of charming attractions\u2014there are lavender and goat cheese farms, as well as a botanical garden filled with tropical plants and shaded paths. I also love Ka\u2019anapali, which is a little more action-packed and touristy\u2026but it\u2019s a fun place, anyway!<\/span>
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<\/span> Tell me about your country’s food. What are some of your favorite dishes?<\/span><\/b>
\nOkay, so Hawaii definitely has some quirky food! For starters, there\u2019s the ubiquitous plate lunch\u2014meat, plus two scoops of sticky white rice and a scoop of macaroni salad (Hawaiians are die-hard carbo-loaders)\u2014and poke, a traditional dish of marinated raw fish. Then there\u2019s Spam, the beloved ham-in-a-can that is served in a whole slew of ways. You might find it perched atop a lump of white rice, complete with a seaweed wrapper, or nestled next to a serving of sausage and scrambled eggs.<\/span>
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<\/span> Another local favorite is loco moco, (fun fact: it\u2019s translated \u201ccrazy booger\u201d) which is a dish of white rice, topped with a hamburger patty, gravy, and a fried egg. Are you sensing a pattern here? Hawaiians looove their white rice! In fact, they love it so much that they even make dessert out of it: mochi. Traditionally a Japanese preparation, this treat made from pounded rice is dense, sticky, and absolutely DELICIOUS!<\/span>
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<\/span> Taro is also used in a variety of dishes\u2014the most famous of them being poi, a sort of mashed-taro that is gluey, gummy, and every local\u2019s favorite treat. I\u2026don\u2019t agree. BUT taro can also be used to make bread. Surprisingly, it tints the bread purple!<\/span>
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<\/span> And then there\u2019s the favorite: shave (not \u201cshaved\u201d) ice. This tropical treat is legendary\u2026and NO. It\u2019s not a sno-cone! Shave ice is literally shaved off of a giant block of ice, then saturated with house-made syrups, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk, and topped with coconut. You can even get ice cream in the bottom of the cone\u2026yum!!<\/span>
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<\/span> Tell me about any different speech patterns in your country. Slang? Idioms? Words for things such as \u201cbiscuits\u201d instead of \u201ccookies\u201d?<\/span><\/b>
\nHawaii is one of the only states that has more than one official language (English and Hawaiian) but it also has an unofficial language: pidgin. A grand mash-up of many languages and dialects, pidgin is a delightfully local way of speaking. Even people that don\u2019t speak pidgin have a few unusual words and phrases. Here are a few:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  • Slippas: Flip-flops! <\/span><\/li>\n
  • Mahalo: Thank you.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Shaka: In Hawaii, you don\u2019t wave, you flash a shaka\u2014the traditional \u201chang loose\u201d sign with thumb and pinky extended<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Broke da mouth: Literally \u201cbroke the mouth,\u201d this is one of the biggest compliments you can give someone. It means that their food is DELICIOUS!!<\/span><\/li>\n
  • E komo mai: Welcome<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Haole: A white person\u2014in Hawaii, there is no majority, and mixed-race people are quite common.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Keiki: Children<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Ohana: Family\u2014but in Hawaii, family applies to anyone you are close to, whether you\u2019re related by blood or not!<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Tutu: Literally \u201cgrandma,\u201d also applies to any older woman you\u2019re close to<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Auntie\/Uncle: Used to refer to anyone outside of your biological family that you\u2019re close to<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Stink Eye: When you\u2019re mad at someone, give them the stink eye!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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