You know you're a transplanted local if...

Howzit!

I started this original list (it was inspired by my joining HawaiiStories email ) on my site and felt it would carry over well. Plus, I want to see what all the other transplants would come up with! If it's already been done, bummer. I've started the list with my top 10.

1. You know everything goes with rice, but nobody else around you does.

2. One of the happiest days of your life was when you found out you could order from Zippy's online.

3. Everytime you go home, you order 4 extra scoops of macaroni salad with all your plate lunches.

4. You don't use your car horn and wonder why everybody else does.

5. You have at least one picture of the ocean in your home.

6. Everyone around you thinks they're laid back, while you're wondering why everyone around you is so uptight.

7. You have more cousins than anyone else in the world and your friends can't understand why you have so many Aunties.

8. You know if you're ever homesick, but can't go all the way home, you can always go to Vegas.

9. You have to adjust your accent everytime you go home.

10. You know there is only one beer. The cheapest one you can find in the store.

Comments

Great list! I've not (yet) been a transplanted local, but I've felt like one even on short trips outside the islands. How about:

• You never feel natural wearing your shoes indoors.


• You get a small thrill out of paying less than $5 for a gallon of milk.


• You learned the hard way what a "winter wardrobe" was and why you need one.


• You add the quintessental local "s" to place names, even if it makes you say "Olive Gardens," or "Grand Canyons."

Oh, man, the dreaded "winter wardrobe"! My first winter here, I swear I thought I would just plain D I E!

I've been here in the mainland for 6 years and I still haven't acclimated, I don't think I ever will.

Damn. If that's the case, how do I prove I really am from Hawaii?

LOL! Just say Kamakawiwo'ole 5 times real fast without stuttering!

WARNING - many of these observations have actually happened to me while traveling outside of Hawaii, most especially whenever I visit my family in the Philippines. Seriously.

• Whenever you wear your best aloha shirt or sarong to a party, people make comments about how bright and colorful your outfits are. (And for those of you wondering: Not all Filipinos dress THAT bright, FYI. In my part of the Tagalog region, my Hilo Hattie tourist-issue hibiscus print is considered "too ethnic.")
  
• (to one-up Ryan's comments about footwear and winter wardrobe) You've foregone socks in favor of the most comfortable sandals you can find, even in winter. (I've already talked about wearing my favorite Tevas to go hiking in the French Alps, of all places, on this board, but that's more of a transplanted kama`aina thing crossed with misplaced West Coast sensibility.)
  
• You get annoyed whenever people refer to Hawaii as "that place with the nice beach." (Extra points if you have relatives asking you if there are Filipinos in Hawaii.)
  
• You break out the ice machine to show everybody how to make real shave ice - none of that wussy Sno-Kone crap for you, nosirree!
  
• Tabasco and Sriracha. Accept no substitutes.
  
• You take a look at your basket of char siu bao and wonder how come they never serve any manapuas larger than a golf ball.
  
• You actually notice how people mispronounce the words "brah" and "cuz." Also, you have to teach people how to say the words "da kine."
  
• You walk into a screening of Jurassic Park, see the breathtaking exterior shots, and scream, "Eh! Das' Molokai!"
  

This list is getting long... must get back to work... ;)

You instinctively flinch and correct someone when they refer to the Mainland as "the States."

...when your friends and relatives visit, they take pictures of the squirrels.

O if you would have hear the stupid thing people do to make things hawaiian. One lady from a church was having a party that she said had hawaiian food, so I asked what she was going to have there. She said that they were going to make hawaiian burgers. Asked her what do you mean hawaiian burgers and she said that they were going to put pineapples in the burger to make it hawaiian. So now I guess that everything that has pineapples in it is hawaiian now. These mainlander are werid.

How about...

... when you find out L&L Hawaiian Barbeque just opened and you have to go every day.

... when people keep referring to you as "Hawaiian" even though there are real Hawaiians and your ethnicity is Japanese.

... when people seem so fascinated by the fact that you are from Hawaii and Hawaii is a state and people actually do have electricity in Hawaii.

... when people seem fascinated by the fact that you know what "aloha" and "mahalo" mean.

... when everyone expects you to know how to surf.

... when (referring to Linkmeister's comment) you tell people Hawaii is actually a state too and they look at you funny for several seconds, you think they are kidding but then you realize they weren't.

Re: that whole "pineapples make it Hawaiian" thing. I remember coming back to Manila one time and one of my childhood tormentor friends was bragging about his "Hawaiian luau" with tiki torches, drinks served from pineapples, and pineapple burgers. I ended up giving him a long lecture during which I explained that maybe next time he should think about hiring some real hula chanters and digging up an `imu for the roast pig.

Forgot to add that I also harassed the guy I mentioned above for playing The Beach Boys (of all things) at his "Hawaiian luau." But, eh, you gotta forgive these people sometimes for not knowing any better, you know? That's why we're here.

Anyway...

...When you're on the plane going back to Honolulu, you know you're sitting next to a transplanted local when you start talking about which island-music bands are hot right now.

...When somebody gives you a "local" comedy album or tape (anything from Frank de Lima to Da Bruddahs) and you end up crying.

...When you begin to notice that there are not enough radio stations on the planet that play reggae music, even when you hate reggae music with a vengeance. (No, really: Which one would you rather have blasting in your ears 24-7, Gregory Isaacs or Kylie Minogue?)

...When you also begin to notice that there are not enough people who know how to tune a `ukulele, let alone play one (or even pronounce the word itself).

...When you call them "rubbah slippahs" and you don't think twice any more about being seen in them.

...When people notice that you can actually drive with the least amount of footwear.

...When you can tell the difference between Kikkoman and Aloha Shoyu.

...When you have to explain to people that, no, not all aloha shirts are loud and brightly colored, and yes, people actually wear them to work.

maybe its the constant feeling of the ground beneath my feet, but I discovered a few years ago that I have a hard time driving a stick shift if I'm not barefoot.

... you scoff at any kind of rice that isn't sticky ...

(except Mexican rice ... them's good stuff.)

... you laugh at what people in your town call "traffic problems" ...

why does everybody have to act so stupid when they hear your from hawaii.

1. You know everything goes with rice, but nobody else around you does.

Gosh...I was so in the habit of eating rice with my meals up in college that I even ate (gasp) Uncle Ben's-type rice with most meals.

After writing that reaction to the school-uniform article that Ryan posted, I just wanted to add this:

...When you need to use the F-word but you don't really want to use the F-word, you call it "uffing" (pronounced as "OOF!-ing") and not "effing."

(I don't know why. I've heard too many of my local friends call it "uffing.")

how about ...

...when somebody says get one new "carry-oh-key" bar in town...and you jus' like false crack 'em.
...when you lookin' all ovah for da blue label furikake and the kakimochi when you smell popcorn?

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