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What would you say are the differences between Asians in Hawaii and their counterparts in mainland US? I heard that Asians in Hawaii are generally not fresh off the boat so they speak English on native speaker level, and they are more verbal and assertive than their counterparts in the mainland. What have you observed in Hawaii?
Will receive fresh influxes of Asians everyday, but there is such an old and respected Asian community that has been here since the plantation days.
Those that have been here long have been in many ways assimilated with other plantation workers and we have all learned and fed off each other.
There is a great deal of respect in the Asian community and I know that the Asians that arrive here also have a great deal of respect as well as pride in themselves.
I do not know any Mainland Asians so I cannot say how they differ from those on Hawaii or those fresh from their home.
It was my experience that Hawaii Asians tend to make fun of and in some ways look down on "Mainland Asians"... particularly California ones because they look "local" but act haole. Look up katonk or banana (yellow on the outside but white on the inside). LOL
Overall, the major difference in my opinion, is that asians are the majority with the dominant culture in Hawaii (at least in Honolulu) and many have been there for 4 or 5 generations... you won't find that in a lot of other "mainland" cities. Most elected officials are some sort of asian (Akaka, Inoye), most top government employees are some sort of asian (Chun, Leong, Tanimoto, Nishimura, Haraguchi).
Maui has lots of "fresh off the boat" Filipinos, which Oahu might not. Usually if you see a bright iridescent purple truck, with a huge lift or a drop and tiny chrome wheels, it's a Filipino guy .
Fewer Japanese and Chinese here than Oahu also.
The biggest difference I noticed from Houston is that there are few Vietnamese here.
The whole idea of comparing groups of "Asians" is ridiculous.
It is ridiculous to think that these comparisons are 100% accurate but I think that most would agree there are differences between Asians in Hawaii vs Asians in California just like there are differences between Caucasians in Massachusetts and Caucasians in South Carolina etc... I don't think the point of the question is to stereotype, we all know that no stereotype is 100% true, but there are certainly regional cultural practices, tendencies, dialects, and priorities that define people because of their ethnic background and place of origin.
Hell, 95% of the comedians in Hawaii make a living by poking fun at cultural differences and most of the time it is not in a malicious or mean spirited way... rather just a way to understand each other better.
As long as it is framed in terms of tendencies and cultural context I don't take issue with questions like the OP. What I do take issue with the comparing the 1 million or so people in Hawaii to the 300 million or so people in the "mainland" because I really don't think that is useful as the "mainland" varies greatly across cities, states, and regions a lot more than Hawaii varies from island to island.
The whole idea of comparing groups of "Asians" is ridiculous.
It's not exactly ridiculous -- it's just an exercise in futility. There's so much diversity within groups of "Asians" that it's kinda pointless. Filipinos in Waipahu are as different from Japanese Americans in Hilo as they are from Koreans in Los Angeles or Chinese in Mississippi.
Even in so-called "homogeneous" Asian countries like Japan, there's quite a bit of diversity...
For instance, there are folks like "Miss Monday" a Japanese hip-hop artist that sings about "ohana" in Hawai'i...
Even within a single family that happens to be of "Asian" ancestry, there are differences in personalities, linguistic abilities, and acculturation levels. Some family members are outgoing, while some are more reserved. Some family members speak Japanese, Korean, Ilocano, etc., while others speak primarily Pidgin or standard English. Some family members are more "traditional" while others have gone as far as to adopt the trappings of "hip hop" culture, and so on...
It's not exactly ridiculous -- it's just an exercise in futility. There's so much diversity within groups of "Asians" that it's kinda pointless. Filipinos in Waipahu are as different from Japanese Americans in Hilo as they are from Koreans in Los Angeles or Chinese in Mississippi.
I meant the same thing...you were much more tactful!
What would you say are the differences between Asians in Hawaii and their counterparts in mainland US? I heard that Asians in Hawaii are generally not fresh off the boat so they speak English on native speaker level, and they are more verbal and assertive than their counterparts in the mainland. What have you observed in Hawaii?
I don't find the "local" asians more verbal or assertive. I think that comes from being assimilated into the US culture. So, FOB's (to use a rude phase) are less likely to confront someone or stand up for themselves as opposed to asian kids who grew up in the US, where we value indivuality vs. group think. The same holds true for any recent immigrants. Especially if they're illegal. And, yes, Hawaii has many illegal aliens. They just don't speak spanish, so people don't seem to be up in arms about them.
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