Random Tidbits/What I've Learned

I started making this list when I got to the island, and this is what I've come up with.  Enjoy!

The number one rule on the island is to bring an umbrella with you no matter where you go.  It could be perfectly sunny outside and then randomly start raining or misting.  It rains almost every day in the mountains (where campus is), but a light sprinkle and for like 20 minutes if I'm exaggerating.  It's not too bad.  On really hot days, I don't even mind it.

Rule number 2: Wear a swimsuit wherever you go.  You never know if you'll end up on the beach, and chances are good that you will.  It never hurts to be prepared.

Grass here is not grass.  It's mutant.  It feels like the grass on turf fields and therefore not real.  But it is real.... I don't understand.

I have more problems with sand in my bed than bugs.  Although cockroaches are not my favorite insect to find in my apartment.  Tiny lizards aren't ideal, either.  Technically I guess they're geckos.

If you don't get to class by skateboard/longboard or moped, you're not part of the norm.  Mopeds are actually cool and useful to have here.  Crazy, right?!

There are wild chickens and roosters that run amok around campus and the island.  Mongooses/mongeese (I have no idea of the plural word for them.  Also, is a bunch of mongooses/mongeese called a gaggle?  Something to think about.)  There is also a huge problem with feral cats, too.

A traditional Hawaiian meal consists of 3 things: meat (usually pork or chicken), rice, and mac salad.  Mac salad just means macaroni salad which I didn't know for a really long time, and then I looked like an idiot for not knowing what mac salad was.

Hawaii does not observe Daylight Savings Time.  How neat.

In the Hawaiian language, no two consonants are ever right next to each other.  There is always a vowel in between every consonant.

The reason the water is so clear and blue here is because there are no rivers washing out sediment and other things that would make the water all icky.

Within the entire four months of my stay here, I did not once encounter a drinking fountain that spewed Hawaiian punch.  I'm not sure if people actually think this myth/legend is true (or if this is even a plausible thought), but to the dismay of many enthusiast punch-drinkers, this is a fable.

There are no bilboards anywhere on the island.  They were banned because people wanted to be able to admire the beauty of the island, not stare at ads everywhere they drove.

That's the island life for you.

Aloha!