Tuesday, October 14, 2008

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!

4 comments:

ShirleyPerly said...

OK, now you've got me missing Hawaii and I've only been gone for a month!

Randy said...

Hey Bruce, thanks for your advice. Hope you make it back to Hawaii soon.

Eileen Swanson said...

Awww, you really miss that island, dont you? When are you going back?

Karen said...

It sounds like you miss Hawaii. When are you coming for a visit?