“An Ocean of Slippers”: A New Hawaii Traditions Series on Celebrations, Hawaii Style

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in Hawaii has become an amalgamation of celebrations with each culture adding to the metaphorical mixed-plate of local culture. You need look no further than your next family get together to get a glimpse of our local color.


An ocean of slippers greets you at the door along with the familiar pungent smell of mosquito punk. As you enter in, you are bombarded with hugs and kisses from family and a few strangers; you retreat to the ever growing buffet table, a symbolic representation of cultural diversity. If “Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of culture.” (Kurlansky), then what can be said of Hawaii’s culture? Our schizophrenic buffet table confounds us with endless choices of Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Chinese food, to name a few, and with little room on our ever shrinking dinner plate (round or compartmentalized) to negotiate this gastronomic challenge. We load our plates, eat to the point of bursting, and utter the all too familiar words, “I’ll never eat again.” We dispose of our plates, disgusted by our gluttonous behavior, walk by the buffet table only to see the food we missed as more people joined the party and added to the buffet. Hey, maybe there’s a little room for manapua. Is that meat jun?

Choices, choices, choices….What should we eat? Where should we go? Enjoy our new Hawaii Traditions series entitled, “An Ocean of Slippers”, as we explore Hawaii’s celebrations and holidays and the unique ways of our island culture.

Photo Credit: ke◎la on Flickr