When I began this essay we were in the Pacific Ocean on board the Pacific Princess, a cruise ship on its way to Hawaii. We boarded the ship in Vancouver on a lovely sunny day after a flight from Toronto. We were on the ocean for five days before we saw land.
As usual I brought some reading material to help pass the time while on board ship. And for the first time I brought my computer so I might start such an essay. A book I brought was one written by a customer of mine, Carol Grant Sullivan, entitled “Fall Line: A Woman’s Survival in the Andes and Return to a life of Balance”. The main point of her book covers a 2000-foot fall she had extreme skiing in the Argentine Andes and her very traumatic recovery from it. But it’s also about the difficult balancing act she has faced with competing interests in her life, that of being a mother and a career women, while still pursuing her love of skiing.
For additional reading I also took a journal, The Wilson Quarterly, which coincidentally featured an article called “Women in Charge”. Eventually I realized that the two reading materials were related, since they were both about women forging ahead and cutting their own paths in a male oriented world. Then I thought of my mother who like Sullivan had also challenged the status quo and had endeavored to create a balance between her career and family life.
I am always looking for and making connection between things. Another piece of literature I brought with me to read is a book entitled “The World the Railways Made” by Nicholas Faith. As we headed towards our destination of the Hawaiian Islands we traversed six time zones. Well, these time zones, as Faith explains, were invented by the American railways in order to end a lot of confusion in business and travel. Prior to the railways the telling of time was helter skelter, at the whim of individual communities and totally confusing. Faith also pointed out that the modern world began with the coming of the railway. In other words, the modern world, which includes the Internet and cruise ships like the one we were on, could not have been without first the Railway, the world’s first international business.
As I looked from the deck of the ship the skies over Hawaii seemed hazy. Then I wondered, could that haziness be pollution from China? That, I learned later when I returned home, is quite a concern for Hawaiians, pollution from China. Everywhere we went the skies seem hazy, except on Sunday when we were in Waikiki sailing on a catamaran.
What we did on Saturday was go to Pearl Harbor. I mean, nobody should miss Pearl Harbor when in the vicinity. We saw several attractions there, including the Arizona Memorial, the battleship Missouri on which the Japanese signed their unconditional surrender, ending WWII, and the arrival of the nuclear aircraft carrier Nimutz. Now that was quite a sight, seeing the arrival of such a huge ship. It made our trip to Pearl Harbor all the more special and worth it.
Several people we met in Waikiki, where we stayed, were going on board the Nimutz on Monday for a weeklong trip to San Diego. Those people were parents of sailors who sponsored them for the trip. It sounded like a thrill of a lifetime to go on such a trip. I was envious.
There were a lot of Japanese at Pearl Harbor. A young American woman I was talking to was amazed that they were there, considering the fact that they started a war by attacking and destroying it. I explained that perhaps they came here to see history and were curious to see the horrific damage the Japanese forces had done on Dec. 7, 1941. I found it reassuring that there were so many Japanese there because to me that meant there was little animosity between the two nations, Japan and the U.S., and that the world was a more united place than in ever was in the past.
Another thing that was very Japanese in Waikiki was the white sand on its beaches. Hawaii imports the sand because inherently it only has black sand, which is due to the volcanic nature of the islands.
One thing that took my notice is the Union Jack in one corner of the Hawaiian state flag. That indicated to me that Hawaii was quite conscious and celebratory about the influence the British had in developing the modern Hawaiian culture.
What was the best part of the trip? Coming home.
5 comments:
Glad you had a nice trip. It sounded very interesting. Although I have always enjoyed my trips I too always like to come home.
Guess I came looking for luaus, leis and Mai Tai cocktails! Hope there was a little of that, too. What an experience to visit Pearl Harbor. I remember when Tom Brokaw took men who were there that fateful morning of infamy back to reminesce. He said a large number of visitors are Japanese. Thanks for sharing your reading list, too. I wish I had asked you to ask the locals why more Spam is sold in Hawaii than any other place in the world - a large percentage of the canned meat's sales. I wonder why? I wish I had asked you to get a recipe from them which makes Spam edible, LOL. What a wonderful experience you two had: thanks for sharing!
Good. I didn't know about the British influence in Hawaii
Nice reflection. I didn't know about the Hawaiian flag.
That's interesting Sir Cumspect about Spam. I presume you mean the eating kind:->. I would think that the reason why so much Spam is consumed by Hawaiians is because of Pear Harbor. Spam was developed as a convenient food for the military. I suppose the the rest of the population of Hawaii got acclimatized to it through the military. Spam, too, can last a long time in a can. It was also cheap. Back then when Spam came to Hawaii it was a reasonably priced food. The distance from the mainland made other food expensive.
Another thing that interesting is that for many hawaiians Las Vegas is a second home. (I think that is so because they have entertainment in their blood.) Also, Canadians from Vancouver have invested heavily in Hawaii. For many Vancouverites Hawaii is a second home. It is like us in central Canada going down to the Caribbean or Florida.
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