I need a Sasuke-pose icon too.

Work is pretty interesting in that I meet a lot of tourists arond the world and the nation. Sometimes the linguistic gap is incredible ("Lee heihng muh-ee?" "Li hi(ng) mui."), and sometimes it just makes me tilt my head in confusion.

There was one girl who kept referring to the mainland as America (asking about postage), as if Hawaii wasn't a part of the United States. I wasn't sure if I should feel affronted or not by that, but decided to humor her in the end. It's not as if we're a territory like Guam... and you know, you don't need a passport to get here... but whatever.

I get to hear a lot of accents. Sometimes it's cool, and sometimes it's just confusing. I can't always understand what's said... although I'm /very/ sure this goes both ways. The vocabulary is interesting too... it's a strange feeling to hear someone who actually will use the words, "pop" (as in soda), "sucker" (lolipop), "snow cone" (shave ice), "mall" (instead of the specific name of each place like Pearlridge Center, Ala Moana Shopping Center, Ward Warehouse, Waikele, or Kahala Mall), and "flip flops" (slippers) in a omg real life sentence.

Apparently the term "singles" (ones as in dollar bills) is used by a lot of cashiers here (and the general populace of California, according to the guy that I had to learn the term from), but I had never heard of the term until I started working. I mentioned it to my mom and she didn't know that there was another word for it too, so that proves I'm not just sheltered, at least.

Some people's attitudes, I feel, are that if you don't understand what they're saying, English can't possibly be your first language. While it's true that there are a lot of ESL people that work around Waikiki, give me a break. I'm a college student -- you'd think I could understand English perfectly well, thank you very much. Although I get a similar treatment in Japanese...

But yeah.

Hawaii is an interesting place, as far as English is concerned. It should be one of those things mentioned in all guides of the place, considering that culture shock preparedness might be in order. I certainly feel weird to have to say "aloha" and "mahalo" all the time... not something I've ever had to say unless it was in Hawaiian class. (I'm tempted to use a full phrase like Aloha kakahiaka or Aloha `auinalā or even Irasshaimase already.)

Then there are those words that the government (state, city or county) likes to use all the time in their promotional ads, like "ohana" (family), "kokua" (cooperation), "akamai" (smart), "kama`aina" (local resident). And I'm sure the street names alone drive people up the wall... "Ka`iulani" isn't probably anyone's idea of an easy-to-remember street name...

I hate giving out street directions... even with a map. And not only because I don't drive.