Immigrants and Extended Families
Some folks on the mainland are whining that their immigrant neighbors have a lot of people living in the same house.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/magazine/26wwln_lead.html
I would tell them "Big F----in Deal!"
Ideally, the less people in the home, the better. That is because you'd get more privacy.
However, if your family is poor, you'd got to make some sacrifices. That might mean having many of your relatives under a roof!
I dont hear anyone in Hawaii whining about this, except for imported white conservatives who moved from the mainland.
In Hawaii, we have a lot of Asians and Pacific Islanders whose culture stress the importance of extended family and family gatherings.
So it's not unusual to have a lot of people living under a roof. Though the richer families tend to have less people in a bigger home.
In white mainland US culture, the parents take care of the kids, and the kids better leave the house by age 25 or else they'll be considered a "looser".
In many Asian and Pacific Island cultures, the parents take care of the kids, be very strict with the kids, and when the kids become adults, they stay home to take care of the parents. A 26 year old person who stays with his/her parents isn't considered a "looser", he/she is considered "devoted to taking care of the extended family". In fact, those who ditch their families are the ones considered "loosers".
And those who migrate from Asia or the Pacific Islands to the US tend to give whatever money they earn to their relatives back home, or help their relative access the opportunities in the US.
However, the anti-immigration fascists hate it when immigrants bring their relatives to the US. I would tell those anti-immigration fascists to "mind your own fuckin business!"
Friday, March 03, 2006
In Memory of Harry Browne
Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party Presidential candidate in 1996 & 2000 elections, has died on March 1, 2006.
http://www.lp.org/media/article_294.shtml
I have learned about Browne through some politically minded friends in the summer of 2000. At the time, I was struggling between voting for Al Gore or George W. Bush. I knew what their political tendencies were, I just don't always agree with either of them.
Anyways, I read Harry Browne's political advertisement and his book "Why Government Doesn't Work" and I found his writings very convincing, especially on controversial viewpoints on ending the War on Drugs, privatizing all health care, selling national parks to those committed to preserving them, privatizing education, etc. His writings on those topics were so convincing that it changed the way I viewed those issues.
Though after 9/11, I became more of a foreign policy, and was disillusioned with Browne's anti-war politics. I thought that Browne spent too much blaming America, and not enough time on denouncing the Islamic Fascists.
I also think that while Browne's views on privatizing government services are very convincing, I think that having an immediate privatization of all those services (which he advocates) would cause mass confusion among the people who might be unprepared to deal with it. Which is why I prefer a more gradual approach to privatizing most government services.
I dont agree with the Libertarian Party on everything, but I do think they have valuable things to say about very important political issues, so please check out www.lp.org to learn more about it. Even if you don't agree with it, you would learn something from it.
And you can still check out www.harrybrowne.org
Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party Presidential candidate in 1996 & 2000 elections, has died on March 1, 2006.
http://www.lp.org/media/article_294.shtml
I have learned about Browne through some politically minded friends in the summer of 2000. At the time, I was struggling between voting for Al Gore or George W. Bush. I knew what their political tendencies were, I just don't always agree with either of them.
Anyways, I read Harry Browne's political advertisement and his book "Why Government Doesn't Work" and I found his writings very convincing, especially on controversial viewpoints on ending the War on Drugs, privatizing all health care, selling national parks to those committed to preserving them, privatizing education, etc. His writings on those topics were so convincing that it changed the way I viewed those issues.
Though after 9/11, I became more of a foreign policy, and was disillusioned with Browne's anti-war politics. I thought that Browne spent too much blaming America, and not enough time on denouncing the Islamic Fascists.
I also think that while Browne's views on privatizing government services are very convincing, I think that having an immediate privatization of all those services (which he advocates) would cause mass confusion among the people who might be unprepared to deal with it. Which is why I prefer a more gradual approach to privatizing most government services.
I dont agree with the Libertarian Party on everything, but I do think they have valuable things to say about very important political issues, so please check out www.lp.org to learn more about it. Even if you don't agree with it, you would learn something from it.
And you can still check out www.harrybrowne.org
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Body Hair
This is from an advice column from one week ago.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Feb/17/il/FP602170319.html
THE ADVICE DIVA
Don't bring up a hairy situation
By Tara Solomon
DEAR ADVICE DIVA:
A friend of mine is absolutely adorable, with one exception — she has an abnormal amount of noticeable body hair on her arms, the small of her back, and even along the side of her face, like sideburns.
I know that guys find her attractive, but I also know that behind her back they make fun of all her body hair.
I want to talk to her about it but it doesn't even seem to bother her. How can I bring this up to my friend without hurting her feelings? Should I?
—Stuck in a Hairy Situation
DEAR HAIRY SITUATION:
Ouch. This is a toughie. But you know what — in this case we would urge you to say nothing. Body hair is a cultural standard and even if she looks like Chewbacca it doesn't mean that she needs to de-hair herself just because some immature guys make fun of her. Why give her ammunition for self-hate? If she asks you, give her the name of a good waxing salon, but keep the anecdotes to yourself.
---------------------------------------------------------
And here's what I wrote to the Advice Diva
---------------------------------------------------
This is in response to your column a few weeks back.
Someone wrote about a friend with a lot of body hair, and wanted to say something to her about it!
As a person with a lot of body hair, I get VERY IRRITATED when someone says "you're hairy". I want to yell at them "I KNOW THAT ALREADY!" Or usually, I tell them sarcastically "wow, I didn't know that!"
Do those people think I never looked in the mirror before? Or that I can't see what's on myself 24/7!
Some said I should shave! As if I had time to do all that, as well as wake up, go to work, go home, eat, communicate with friends and family, keep up with current events, sleep, etc. Once in a while, I'd shave my body hair but it's too time consuming. I know about those lazer treatments, but if I could pay for it, I would've done A LONG TIME AGO!
When someone keeps pointing out that I have a lot of body hair, all it does is make me too self-conscious and too insecure to take my shirt off in public, to go to the beach or the swimming pool, or go anywhere that has a locker room.
I'm not asking for advice here! I just want to tell that letter-writter that you don't have to tell someone that he/she got a lot of body hair. That person already knows that, and is probably been insecure about it for years, so shut up and leave that person alone.
Tired of Hair,
Honolulu, HI
----------------
I usually avoid the body hair topic when talking to people, but someone's gotta say something, and it aint gonna be someone else, so I'll say it now!
Monday, February 13, 2006
My February So Far
It's been 2 weeks since I last posted on this blog.
1) I had a real bad cold at the beginning of this month. The first few days, I was exhausted after work. It wasn't the stress, since there were work days a lot more stressful than that. It was the lack of energy that comes along with having a cold.
The following weekend, my head was hot but my lower body was cold. It was bizzare!
I dont take cold medicine. All it does is make my mouth and throat dry. It's not worth it! I didn't go to the doctor. I just stayed home and rest for a few days.
I also refused to go to my friend's party at Rumors due to my illness.
Now, I'm feeling much better.
2) Super Bowl
I dont have a favorite NFL team since Hawaii doesn't have one. But I like the Pittsburgh Steelers uniform because it matches the same colors as McKinley High School (Black and Gold)
It was also Jerome Bettis (Steelers' running back) last game. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make a touchdown during the game. But at least his team won.
It's been 2 weeks since I last posted on this blog.
1) I had a real bad cold at the beginning of this month. The first few days, I was exhausted after work. It wasn't the stress, since there were work days a lot more stressful than that. It was the lack of energy that comes along with having a cold.
The following weekend, my head was hot but my lower body was cold. It was bizzare!
I dont take cold medicine. All it does is make my mouth and throat dry. It's not worth it! I didn't go to the doctor. I just stayed home and rest for a few days.
I also refused to go to my friend's party at Rumors due to my illness.
Now, I'm feeling much better.
2) Super Bowl
I dont have a favorite NFL team since Hawaii doesn't have one. But I like the Pittsburgh Steelers uniform because it matches the same colors as McKinley High School (Black and Gold)
It was also Jerome Bettis (Steelers' running back) last game. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make a touchdown during the game. But at least his team won.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Battles over Gender Role
You would think that with women gaining the presidency of a diverse group of nations like Germany, Chile, Liberia -- that all this talk about "women must stay home instead of women" would be as old-fashioned as saying the "world is flat"
But even in America, some people still haven't gotten the message. In fact, there's even women who demand that all women be subordinate to men.
An example would be mega-conservative Kate O'Beirne.A lot of what O'Beirne says in an interview in Salon is so full of stuff you wouldn't dare eat that I feel like being misogynistic for a few seconds so I could hit her head with a water bottle. But don't worry, I'm not like that :)
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/01/17/o_beirne/index.html?x
-----------------------------------------
Interviewer:In the chapter about VAWA [Violence Against Women Act] you describe some of the signs of abuse -- like having a partner who monitors what you're doing, humiliates you in public, and controls your money -- as trivial. Do you really think those things are trivial?
O'Beirne:I think they are potentially trivial. Could any one of those things rise to the level of a real abusive situation? I suppose so. But it strikes me as a sort of alarmist [attempt to define] domestic violence down in order to find some epidemic of it. [If those were true] every dating relationship in high school would be abuse. I mean constant, constant humiliation in front of people? It's all so subjective: like every time I go out he asks me where I've been?What I see there is an attempt to define it down because it has to be an epidemic -- because there's a lot of money in it being an epidemic.
Pablo: What O'Beirne is saying is so stupid! Trivial?If your partner is controlling your money, monitoring all your actions, etc, do you think your partner would just stop there?
FUCK NO! Anyone with a brain can tell you that shit will escalate! It's common sense!
Domestic violence doesn't start with a viscious punch fist on the first date. It starts with an asshole asking "why are talking to that guy", "why are you smiling at him". It starts an asshole saying "you're stupid", "what the fuck are you doing". It starts with someone saying "you're good for nothing"
In other words, domestic violence doesn't begin with physical violence, it begins with hurtful words, it begins with micro-managing behavior.As time goes by, the spouse starting slapping, then punching, then with more punching, kicking, choking, etc.
Dont believe me? Just ask anyone in prison for killing their wives, girlfriends, etc! Just ask anyone in a shelter for domestic violence victims.
That's right, it starts with 1) someone using his/her words to control you, then 2) minor violence, 3) major violence, 4) murder.
Conservatives blame gangsta rap and heavy metal for domestic violence. Maybe folks like Vox Day and Kate O'Beirne should share some blame too, for displaying massive ignorance on this issue!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Interviewer:You write about your dismay when your son was read a story about a princess killing the dragons while the boys did nothing. Why shouldn't the girls defend the castle?
O'Beirne:Men protect women from the physical threat. You're going into a movie theater with your husband or your boyfriend and you see two guys tussling in the parking lot: You walk a little faster. You see a guy shoving a girl around: You want to be with a guy who wouldn't go over to the parking lot and see what was happening? I wouldn't want to be with a guy who didn't. Good men rise to defend women in the face of a physical threat.
Pablo: It's all nice and sweet for a man to defend his girlfriend!
But let's also live in reality here. Some men have ZERO interest in defending women, they have interest in raping and abusing women.
If I had a daughter, youre dam F.N. right I want her to be inspired by a book about girls defending the castle!
So who wouldn't want my future daughter to be inspired by such books?
Pimps, spouse abusers, rapists, Islamic Fascists and so-called conservatives like Vox Day and Kate O'Beirne! After all, pimps, rapists and spouse abusers want easy targets! Anyone with a brain should be able to figure that out!
--------------------------------------------
Interviewer:You're accepting that society won't ever validate a man who stays home! That's a big trade-off!
O'Beirne:But it's not my opinion! Find me one. Find me one in the history of recorded mankind. You know what's funny to me? Whatever men do, as I understand it, is the status job in that society. Like if they gathered [instead of hunted] in some damn society, then gathering would be the status job because men were doing it.
Interviewer:But that's exactly the problem! To say that it's been true historically without exception doesn't make it right!
O'Beirne:
They care more about [status] than we do. But that's also why they care more about paid work. And obviously I'm talking broadly here. There are women who dance circles around guys, make them look like slugs. But [there are] recent stories about women being handed keys to the executive washroom and going, "Eh, I really don't want it!"
Pablo: Talking about history, a person living in 1800 can say there's no civilization in all of history that didn't have slavery. That was true! But now, slavery is banned in most nations throughout the world.
Of course, change is slow. Women gaining equal status to men wasn't going to come overnight. After all, in the US, African-Americans didn't all of a sudden have equal status to European-Americans after the end of slavery. These things take decades! After all 1) oppressed groups need a lot of time to catch up, 2) both the oppressors and oppressed have a lot of bad habits to overcome. These things take decades!
While there is major focus on women quitting high status job to take care of family, there has been men who did the same. For example, former Congressman JC Watts said he quit Congress because he wanted to be able to a bigger presence in his own children's life! Some has been true of some coaches and executives as well.
--------------------------------------------
Enough of Kate O'Beirne, let's look at a woman who did stay home instead of work, Terry Hekker
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/01/04/brooks_and_hekker/index.html?x
Hekker was stunned when, on her 40th wedding anniversary, her well-supported husband announced he wanted a divorce. Left not just emotionally bereft, but financially decimated in her 60s, Hekker was forced to pay insurance, taxes, a mortgage and car payments for the first time in her life.
She may be more an emblem of full-time motherhood than a true practitioner, but Hekker proclaims that she is not alone. Several of her friends, women who'd "been faithful wives, good mothers, cooks and housekeepers," also found themselves discarded like "outdated kitchen appliances." Hekker now regrets a sentence from her original Times column mocking the feminist notion that "the only work worth doing is that for which you get paid." It turns out that that wasn't such a laughable idea after all. "For a divorced mother," she writes, "the harsh reality is that the work for which you do get paid is the only work that will keep you afloat."
Pablo: Ladies, learn from Hekker's mistakes! You dont want to be there
.---------------------------------------------
Before I go, I want to mention about a former room-mate who said "women should be soft", that he "didn't like strong women" and said "men ought to be superior".
This guy wasn't a jock! This guy wasn't a playa. This guy was a loser who couldn't get laid, a loser who wanted to ditch his high school's festival instead of enjoying the festivities, a loser who can't handle strong minded women!
I never heard a jock say the stuff my former room-mate said!After all jocks are the real tough guys! They can handle strong-minded women! In many cases, their moms, aunts, sisters and girlfriends are strong-minded women, many of whom played sports!
It's losers who can't get laid with those women who end up being the sexists!
You would think that with women gaining the presidency of a diverse group of nations like Germany, Chile, Liberia -- that all this talk about "women must stay home instead of women" would be as old-fashioned as saying the "world is flat"
But even in America, some people still haven't gotten the message. In fact, there's even women who demand that all women be subordinate to men.
An example would be mega-conservative Kate O'Beirne.A lot of what O'Beirne says in an interview in Salon is so full of stuff you wouldn't dare eat that I feel like being misogynistic for a few seconds so I could hit her head with a water bottle. But don't worry, I'm not like that :)
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/01/17/o_beirne/index.html?x
-----------------------------------------
Interviewer:In the chapter about VAWA [Violence Against Women Act] you describe some of the signs of abuse -- like having a partner who monitors what you're doing, humiliates you in public, and controls your money -- as trivial. Do you really think those things are trivial?
O'Beirne:I think they are potentially trivial. Could any one of those things rise to the level of a real abusive situation? I suppose so. But it strikes me as a sort of alarmist [attempt to define] domestic violence down in order to find some epidemic of it. [If those were true] every dating relationship in high school would be abuse. I mean constant, constant humiliation in front of people? It's all so subjective: like every time I go out he asks me where I've been?What I see there is an attempt to define it down because it has to be an epidemic -- because there's a lot of money in it being an epidemic.
Pablo: What O'Beirne is saying is so stupid! Trivial?If your partner is controlling your money, monitoring all your actions, etc, do you think your partner would just stop there?
FUCK NO! Anyone with a brain can tell you that shit will escalate! It's common sense!
Domestic violence doesn't start with a viscious punch fist on the first date. It starts with an asshole asking "why are talking to that guy", "why are you smiling at him". It starts an asshole saying "you're stupid", "what the fuck are you doing". It starts with someone saying "you're good for nothing"
In other words, domestic violence doesn't begin with physical violence, it begins with hurtful words, it begins with micro-managing behavior.As time goes by, the spouse starting slapping, then punching, then with more punching, kicking, choking, etc.
Dont believe me? Just ask anyone in prison for killing their wives, girlfriends, etc! Just ask anyone in a shelter for domestic violence victims.
That's right, it starts with 1) someone using his/her words to control you, then 2) minor violence, 3) major violence, 4) murder.
Conservatives blame gangsta rap and heavy metal for domestic violence. Maybe folks like Vox Day and Kate O'Beirne should share some blame too, for displaying massive ignorance on this issue!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Interviewer:You write about your dismay when your son was read a story about a princess killing the dragons while the boys did nothing. Why shouldn't the girls defend the castle?
O'Beirne:Men protect women from the physical threat. You're going into a movie theater with your husband or your boyfriend and you see two guys tussling in the parking lot: You walk a little faster. You see a guy shoving a girl around: You want to be with a guy who wouldn't go over to the parking lot and see what was happening? I wouldn't want to be with a guy who didn't. Good men rise to defend women in the face of a physical threat.
Pablo: It's all nice and sweet for a man to defend his girlfriend!
But let's also live in reality here. Some men have ZERO interest in defending women, they have interest in raping and abusing women.
If I had a daughter, youre dam F.N. right I want her to be inspired by a book about girls defending the castle!
So who wouldn't want my future daughter to be inspired by such books?
Pimps, spouse abusers, rapists, Islamic Fascists and so-called conservatives like Vox Day and Kate O'Beirne! After all, pimps, rapists and spouse abusers want easy targets! Anyone with a brain should be able to figure that out!
--------------------------------------------
Interviewer:You're accepting that society won't ever validate a man who stays home! That's a big trade-off!
O'Beirne:But it's not my opinion! Find me one. Find me one in the history of recorded mankind. You know what's funny to me? Whatever men do, as I understand it, is the status job in that society. Like if they gathered [instead of hunted] in some damn society, then gathering would be the status job because men were doing it.
Interviewer:But that's exactly the problem! To say that it's been true historically without exception doesn't make it right!
O'Beirne:
They care more about [status] than we do. But that's also why they care more about paid work. And obviously I'm talking broadly here. There are women who dance circles around guys, make them look like slugs. But [there are] recent stories about women being handed keys to the executive washroom and going, "Eh, I really don't want it!"
Pablo: Talking about history, a person living in 1800 can say there's no civilization in all of history that didn't have slavery. That was true! But now, slavery is banned in most nations throughout the world.
Of course, change is slow. Women gaining equal status to men wasn't going to come overnight. After all, in the US, African-Americans didn't all of a sudden have equal status to European-Americans after the end of slavery. These things take decades! After all 1) oppressed groups need a lot of time to catch up, 2) both the oppressors and oppressed have a lot of bad habits to overcome. These things take decades!
While there is major focus on women quitting high status job to take care of family, there has been men who did the same. For example, former Congressman JC Watts said he quit Congress because he wanted to be able to a bigger presence in his own children's life! Some has been true of some coaches and executives as well.
--------------------------------------------
Enough of Kate O'Beirne, let's look at a woman who did stay home instead of work, Terry Hekker
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/01/04/brooks_and_hekker/index.html?x
Hekker was stunned when, on her 40th wedding anniversary, her well-supported husband announced he wanted a divorce. Left not just emotionally bereft, but financially decimated in her 60s, Hekker was forced to pay insurance, taxes, a mortgage and car payments for the first time in her life.
She may be more an emblem of full-time motherhood than a true practitioner, but Hekker proclaims that she is not alone. Several of her friends, women who'd "been faithful wives, good mothers, cooks and housekeepers," also found themselves discarded like "outdated kitchen appliances." Hekker now regrets a sentence from her original Times column mocking the feminist notion that "the only work worth doing is that for which you get paid." It turns out that that wasn't such a laughable idea after all. "For a divorced mother," she writes, "the harsh reality is that the work for which you do get paid is the only work that will keep you afloat."
Pablo: Ladies, learn from Hekker's mistakes! You dont want to be there
.---------------------------------------------
Before I go, I want to mention about a former room-mate who said "women should be soft", that he "didn't like strong women" and said "men ought to be superior".
This guy wasn't a jock! This guy wasn't a playa. This guy was a loser who couldn't get laid, a loser who wanted to ditch his high school's festival instead of enjoying the festivities, a loser who can't handle strong minded women!
I never heard a jock say the stuff my former room-mate said!After all jocks are the real tough guys! They can handle strong-minded women! In many cases, their moms, aunts, sisters and girlfriends are strong-minded women, many of whom played sports!
It's losers who can't get laid with those women who end up being the sexists!
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Do I Look Middle Eastern?
In my previous post, I mentioned that people are surprised when I tell them that I lived in Hawaii all my life!
In most cases, people assume that I'm from California or Mexico. Hey, I have to admit, most Mexicans I know in Hawaii are either from the mainland U.S. or Mexico.
But some have also said that I look like I'm from the Middle East.
Some kids asked if I was from Iraq or Afghanistan. Other people thought I was from Pakistan or India.
That is hilarious, since none of my family is Middle Eastern, and my knowledge of Middle Eastern cultures is very limited. I haven't met many Middle Eastern people. Also, I have never visited the Middle East!
I have written some stuff saying that the US needs to be tough on Islamic terrorists. But that doesn't mean I'm against people from the Middle East.
Some of my ancestors were from Spain and Portugal. Those 2 European countries were conquered by the Moors during the 700s. The Moors who were Arab Muslims from North Africa.
However, the Moors were kicked out Spain and Portugal during the 1400s.
For more info on that, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors
So it is possible I have Moorish genes coming from my Spanish and Portuguese ancestry. But it's extremely unlikely that I'd have Iraqi, Pakistani or Afghan blood in me. NOT like there's anything wrong with that :)
In my previous post, I mentioned that people are surprised when I tell them that I lived in Hawaii all my life!
In most cases, people assume that I'm from California or Mexico. Hey, I have to admit, most Mexicans I know in Hawaii are either from the mainland U.S. or Mexico.
But some have also said that I look like I'm from the Middle East.
Some kids asked if I was from Iraq or Afghanistan. Other people thought I was from Pakistan or India.
That is hilarious, since none of my family is Middle Eastern, and my knowledge of Middle Eastern cultures is very limited. I haven't met many Middle Eastern people. Also, I have never visited the Middle East!
I have written some stuff saying that the US needs to be tough on Islamic terrorists. But that doesn't mean I'm against people from the Middle East.
Some of my ancestors were from Spain and Portugal. Those 2 European countries were conquered by the Moors during the 700s. The Moors who were Arab Muslims from North Africa.
However, the Moors were kicked out Spain and Portugal during the 1400s.
For more info on that, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors
So it is possible I have Moorish genes coming from my Spanish and Portuguese ancestry. But it's extremely unlikely that I'd have Iraqi, Pakistani or Afghan blood in me. NOT like there's anything wrong with that :)
Thursday, January 19, 2006
I Dont Look Local?
Hawaii journalist Peter Boylan says that other people in Hawaii are surprised when he tells them he too is from Hawaii.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jan/16/il/FP601160310.html
I understand how he feels.
Here's my email to him.
I could really relate to your Monday's editorial.
I am of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Portuguese and German ancestry and I grew up in Kalihi.
However, when I meet new people, they only see my Mexican looks and dont believe me when I say I lived my entire life in Hawaii. Meanwhile, Asians and Polynesians who lived their whole lives in the mainland and just arrived in Hawaii are assumed to be local, just by the way they look!
Ironic, since the last time I was out of Oahu was in 1995. And that was just for a visit the mainland.
Also, because I look Mexican, it is assumed by others that I always eat tacos, burritos, etc. In reality, I rarely eat those things. I eat Asian food a lot more often than Mexican food.
And people are so shocked when my family actually cooks shoyu chicken, saimin, kalua pork and stuff everyone else in Hawaii eats. But why is no one shocked when a local Japanese person eats pizza? People are surprised that my family adjust to Hawaii the same way all the Japanese and Filipinos have adjusted to Hawaii.
Anyways, even with those idiocies, I still love Hawaii. My existence gives me and others and opportunity to learn from each other. I embrace being the rare Mexican/Puerto Rican/German/Portuguese in an island filled with Asians and Polynesians! I wouldn't have it any other way : )
Hawaii journalist Peter Boylan says that other people in Hawaii are surprised when he tells them he too is from Hawaii.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jan/16/il/FP601160310.html
I understand how he feels.
Here's my email to him.
I could really relate to your Monday's editorial.
I am of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Portuguese and German ancestry and I grew up in Kalihi.
However, when I meet new people, they only see my Mexican looks and dont believe me when I say I lived my entire life in Hawaii. Meanwhile, Asians and Polynesians who lived their whole lives in the mainland and just arrived in Hawaii are assumed to be local, just by the way they look!
Ironic, since the last time I was out of Oahu was in 1995. And that was just for a visit the mainland.
Also, because I look Mexican, it is assumed by others that I always eat tacos, burritos, etc. In reality, I rarely eat those things. I eat Asian food a lot more often than Mexican food.
And people are so shocked when my family actually cooks shoyu chicken, saimin, kalua pork and stuff everyone else in Hawaii eats. But why is no one shocked when a local Japanese person eats pizza? People are surprised that my family adjust to Hawaii the same way all the Japanese and Filipinos have adjusted to Hawaii.
Anyways, even with those idiocies, I still love Hawaii. My existence gives me and others and opportunity to learn from each other. I embrace being the rare Mexican/Puerto Rican/German/Portuguese in an island filled with Asians and Polynesians! I wouldn't have it any other way : )
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