Blogger: Michelle Ule
Location: Mainland, USA
Thanks to you, American taxpayers, my family spent four years sunning ourselves on the shores of Pearl Harbor while my husband rode his bike to work at the Navy base to repair submarines.
Christmas in Hawaii means finding a Yule-oriented T-shirt to wear with your shorts and trying to keep the tree alive until December 25. (All Christmas trees arrive in the islands by ship the day after Thanksgiving. Since they’re the only ones coming, you might as well get your tree while it still has pine needles).
All our friends in Navy housing were considered haoles, no matter their skin color, because they were not originally from Hawaii. That meant we were all in a foreign place together at Christmas.
Which brings me to the Christmas ornaments and other trinkets.
Our first Christmas in the islands, we sent home Hawaiian objects that reflected the holidays: a nativity in a coconut shell, shell leis, Hawaiian-fabric Santa hats, and a personal favorite: Waikiki Beach sand (spread sand on a cookie sheet, heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake five minutes. Run your fingers through the sand, and you can say you played in the sands of Waikiki at Christmas).
And of course, the Christmas ornaments.
I’ll give you a sample of what we have. Some were gifts from other haoles, some we purchased ourselves. They all bring a smile to our lips as we remember the aloha spirit always bidding us, and you today, “Mele Kalikimaka.“
Cheryl Malandrinos
I was just listening to the Bing Crosby version of Mele Kalikimaka as I was wrapping gifts downstairs. I honestly can’t imagine not being somewhere cold for Christmas, but what a great experience for you and your family to spend time learning about the culture there and the different ways they celebrate Christmas.
Thanks for sharing these memories with us. I hope you have a blessed Christmas.
stephanie grace whitson
Mahalo! Our Santa from the Big Island stands beside the basket of slippers this time of year to welcome my husband’s massage therapy clients as they arrive for their lomi-lomi massage. Santa wears sunshades, shorts, and flip-flops. Definitely off-duty :-).
Amanda Dykes
Love the Waikiki sand gift idea! How creative… and warm… (as I type with forlorn and freezing fingers…). Merry Christmas!