Colors of Hawaii Islands - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

An interesting feature of the mentality of Hawaiians is that they do not feel the passage of time. Perhaps, the reason is that there is almost no change of seasons in the archipelago at all, or perhaps it has something to do with ancient beliefs and traditions. Locals neglect such «conventions» as days or months. Locals can not just be late for a meeting, but come a day, two or a week later than the set time. For example, if you’ve agreed with a local that he will take you to someplace on a certain day, you can not find him at the appointed time at the meeting place. But he can offer to take you to that place in two days because there is almost no difference between tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

It is prohibited to bring food, animals, and especially snakes to Hawaii. You can even get a prison sentence of 5 years if you’ve decided to bring a snake here. Four-legged «guardians of agricultural law» identify potential violators under the guidance of dog handlers. So, if you want to save your nerve sells, don’t take anything to eat and leave your pets at home. Remember that the world's largest volcano Mauna Loa is located in Hawaii. This is not only a very impressive natural object but also a potential source of allergens – the volcano regularly emits VOG gas into the atmosphere.

That’s not a fiction, local men really love colourful shirts, but women wear muumuu- bright and sometimes quite shapeless dresses. However, there are also quite elegant and tight-fitting muumuus. In general, wearing national clothing will help you feel at home and will increase the favour of the locals, so feel free to give up the usual costumes and t-shirts. For more immersion in the local culture, you can learn to dance the hula. This local dance is taught in many schools throughout the archipelago. So, even tourists without sports training can take classes. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

In general, hulu is a real embodiment of Hawaiian culture. The dance has existed here for more than a thousand years and it has many varieties. Some of them you can dance only during religious ceremonies, some can be danced only by royal people and the others are allowed to everyone. If you can’t master hulu by yourself, don’t be upset. You can visit theatrical shows, admire how local people perform the dance and learn some movements.

The local jungles are characterized by a small number of dangerous animals, but ants, mosquitoes and cockroaches are common guests in Hawaiian houses. The language of the locals is also interesting. Only a few people here think about geographical coordinates. For example, the sun goes "over the mountain" or "over the sea". Moreover, all of the borrowed words are changed in their own way. For example, Manula Loa is quite a long mountain. Hawaiians don't have prefixes or suffixes, just a choice of particles. The famous Aloha, for example, has a huge number of meanings depending on the phrase - Hello/goodbye/make friends/love and many other pleasant feelings. You are likely to be called haole here, like all white tourists.

In general, locals are friendly, easy-going and little lazy people. They do not consider themselves fully Americans, do not support most political decisions and in their own opinion form a "state within a state". There's even a Queen here. The Islands celebrate traditional American Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day and Columbus Day, and their own holidays. On Kuhio day, there is a feast, parade and Canoeing competition. You can also find parades, dance and music on the 11thof July - a holiday in honour of the King Kamehameha I, who United Hawaii. The day of the entry of Hawaii into the United States, Japanese Boys’ Day and Girls' Day, and Chinese New Year are celebrated here. Hawaii also hosts a two-month Aloha cultural festival and a Kona coffee festival.