Lei Day in Honolulu
My dad was in the navy and we moved around my entire childhood.
When he got back from Vietnam the last time our family moved to his/our last duty station on the island of Oahu.
Living in Honolulu was pretty sweet for a school kid.
May Day was Lei Day, a very special event at our school (and I hope other Hawaiian schools still do this). Each class was required to participate in the celebration; 6th grade got to dress as Hawaiian natives, 5th grade dressed as Korean, 4th grade dressed as Chinese, 3rd grade as Japanese, 2nd as Filipinos, and so on. We all learned and performed dances appropriate to each culture. Then after the ceremony we went back to class and feasted on native treats. Hibachi-roasted teriyaki. Saimin (different from ramen). Spam musubi. Grilled fruits and veggies. Pit roasted pig in banana leaves. Poi (which was gross). It was a great day close to the end of the school year when we celebrated non-white cultures. Flowers everywhere. I felt so proud just to be included in such an uplifting festival of community.
Dad always complained that May Day was a communist holiday.
We were children. Everyone was young, beautiful and idealistic. And I could literally walk to the beach.
Anybody else on DU ever live on Oahu? It's nuts. Can't imagine how it's changed since the 60's.
When dad retired we moved back to the midwestern US where it was freezing in November. All white classmates. Couldn't even imagine how that was possible.
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