“Hey bruddah! How’s yo family? How’s yo auntie?”
I had never seen this guy in my entire life, and he obviously had mistaken me for someone else. After all, I hadn’t been on the island for longer than three hours, not to mention it was my first time to the North Shore. He caught me off guard. “I think you got the wrong dude,” I replied in the unequivocal accent of a surfer from California. He was surprised, almost angry that his haole radar wasn’t working adequately. We went on with our days.
I spent the next several hours thinking about what this guy had said to me. It wasn’t a massacre of the English language, it was beautiful. I repeated in my head over and over again. The accent had a pleasant, almost welcoming appeal, like it wanted to invite me over for dinner sometime (in which case I would gladly accept). What was this beautiful song?
As it turns out, Hawaiian Pidgin was born as a result of the confluence of several different ethnic groups during the days of plantation farming. But even with its base rooted in the English language, I often found it difficult to fully comprehend exactly what was being said. At times I felt as if I needed a translator.
Hawaiian-based comedian and actor Andy Bumatai understand this frustration quite well, and he has a few communication pointers for the haoles coming from the Mainland. Take notes, it might come in handy.
