Christmas Aloha

If you’re like a lot of people it’s great to escape the blizzards of winter and head to Hawaii for Christmas. But if you’re expecting a traditional Christmas once you get there you might want to realign your expectations. Not only will you not find the snowy landscape you’re leaving behind, but chances are you’re not going to find a traditional Santa either. He’ll most likely be wearing a pair of surf shorts and a Hawaiian shirt with nothing on his feet except the sand between his toes! The good news is that you will see a lot of Christmas trees since they are imported from the mainland, but a lot of locals prefer instead to just decorate their palm trees, and instead of reindeer on the front lawn you’re likely to see Hawaiian canoes (known as malia) and wave-jumping dolphin. And don’t even think about seeing elves decked out in their North Pole traditional garb of green and red here you’ll see them dressed a lot like the Hawaiian Santa in aloha shirts and shorts. And should you be hankering for a traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, you better guess again. You’ll most likely find yourself in the middle of a luau enjoying a succulent kalua roast pig while being entertained by Hawaiian fire dancers! Christmas carols will be sung in Hawaiian and they no doubt will be accompanied by ukuleles. But in the midst of it all you can seek out quiet solace during a spectacular beach sunrise or the shade of a rustling palm to reflect on Christmas in your own personal way. And after that, you can get a weather report from home and hit the beach to work on your tan lines! Oh, one last thing, you might want to start practicing saying “melekelikimaka” so you can say Merry Christmas local-style!