What I Miss About Hawai'i

Having read Karen's blog and a few others, I have been thinking about what I miss about Hawai'i, and how it compares with living in Kaohsiung in Southern Taiwan. It definitely makes a trip back to Kona in the foreseeable future a possibility.

Besides the occasional stunning sunset, what I miss about Hawai'i is going for a morning swim to the King's Buoy and back far from the concrete commercialism and noise of Alii Drive.

I miss having friends to bike and run with and actually having a road bike.

I miss being able to take my daytime naps on a foldable beach chair outside.

I miss racing in Captain Cook and swimming across Kealakekua Bay.

I miss listening to Pidgin and the occasional Hawai'ian that I hear spoken.

I miss going to the local bank and talking with the local people there.

I miss driving back to Kailua-Kona after taking part in a race at Hapuna.

I miss cycling through Kapa'au near Hawi.

I miss listening to slack-key guitar and watching the hula.

I miss being able to go to Ross and sometimes being able to find training shoes or sandals (all I wear on my feet) that are my size.

I miss being able to enter the Honu Half Ironman race each year with a good chance of qualifying for the Hawai'i Ironman.

I miss having more time to think about the future of Hawai'ian studies or the local economy.

I miss the sashimi occasionally served on the campus where I used to eat.

I miss watching trucks go by the size of single-decker London buses.

I miss seeing a nice house in Hawai'i that I wish I could live in.

However, in Kaohsiung I enjoy the similar weather to Hawai'i even though we are in a fairly big city.

I enjoy listening to and conversing in the Mandarin and Taiwanese dialects.

I enjoy making friends with the local Taiwanese people here.

I enjoy being able to swim each day even if it is only in a pool.

I enjoy being able to sleep and take daytime naps on my own bed.

I enjoy being able to spend a lot less on day-to-day living and hence am able to save for that airfare to Kona.

I enjoy being able to blog with friends in Hawai'i which is the next best thing to actually being there and seeing them face to face.

I enjoy being able to dress just the same as in Hawai'i each day and to live a slow-paced, laid-back life even though I am generally very busy.

I enjoy dreaming about the nice house in Hawai'i that one day I might live in.

Well, that's it for today. Aloha!