My Polynesian Adventure[1]

I had a pleasant trip to Hawai'i. Seeing my parents was very good and takes some of the edge off the guilt of my new plan to not immediately return to America when I finish my contract.

In Hawai'i the prohibitions on smoking are very serious. Smoking in public is quite limited and at the Polynesian Culture Center[2] smokers were relegated to the parking lot and only the deepest, darkest corners of the campus. It seemed, in general, that there is far more regulation in Hawai'i than in the continental US. Because of the importance of the beaches for tourism and the more delicate environs of the islands there are a lot of regulations about cleanliness and environmental protection. I couldn't imagine such a level of government imposition being tolerated in many other parts of the US. I am wondering if the fact that Hawai'i is so far removed from the mainland has a significant affect on how residents react to government regulation and levels of tolerance. After all, in the continental US you can just go to a neighboring state (possibly even country!) if you don't like certain laws (sales tax rates, liquor laws, pesky regulations on what constitutes sex with a minor etc.). I think that, much like New Zealand, Hawai'i's distance is beneficial on a social level[3] because of the protection that distance affords the natural beauty and because most residents and businesses can't reasonably threaten to move next door and hold the state hostage to their demands on regulations and taxation.
[4]
My father and I went to one of the botanical gardens on the island. Naming this has to be the highlight of someone's botanical career:


[1]Alternately: America, F*ck Yeah!
[2]Run by Mormons!
[3]Less so if you are an escaped criminal. A female convict released under the protection of her lawyer made a run for it and scaled a fence to relative freedom. She was caught within two days because, really, where was she going to go?
[4]These are just musings, I know the issues are far more complex than this and that I would need far more than seven days of mooching around Waikiki to make any firm conclusions.