Hawaii has a smooth style of music. While I feel like I hear some of the same songs over and over (I've practically memorized the words to "Cool Down" by Kolohe Kai), it doesn't stop me from listening. While Country felt like the right style to listen to in Charleston, the Hawaiian music here definitely matches the breezy island "Aloha" attitude. Hawaiian-style music is a form of reggae, island jams- slow and chill. You could definitely picture yourself beachside sipping a Mai Tai while listening. I also LOVE the covers they do here- modern songs with a ukulele Hawaiian flare, and sometimes oldies which give them a really nice style. Also, "Red Red Wine" seems to be the winning crossover song- it's played on the Hawaii stations, the alternative/rock station, and the pop stations. Strange.

Here's a portal to listen to the local jams:  KCCN FM100
And here's my favorite island cover of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" by Ten Feet:

Things move just a little bit slower here. It's similar to the South in that way. People speak a little more slowly and even have their own form of slang, known as Pidgin (more about that below). On a recent job interview the interviewer made it a point to say, "You really need to talk more slowly here." It wasn't that I was talking fast- I was talking North! When I was trying to plan a wedding in a month, I kept calling companies only to have them get back to me DAYS later or not at all. It's just a different style of life here.

According to Wikipedia, Hawaii Pidgin English, Hawaii Creole English, HCE, or simply Pidgin, is a creole language based in part on English used by many, if not most, "local" residents of Hawaiʻi. Although English and Hawaiian are the co-official languages of the State of Hawaiʻi[1], Pidgin is used by many Hawaiʻi residents in everyday conversation and is often used in advertising toward Hawaiʻi residents.
Definitely true. Even the radio stations do Hawaiian words of the day and incorporate them into a sentence, usually using Pidgin to help explain.

"Howzit?" = How are you?
"Talk Story" = Shooting the breeze
"Choke"= Numerous or lots
"Broke da mout" = Delicious or tasty
"Da kine" = Kind of like our "Whatchamacallit" but can also be "kind of" or "type of"

One of the most common forms of Pidgin is sort of more of a trait..."Yah?"
"Yah" is used at the end of most sentences. i even find myself saying it a lot after a day of shopping.
"I'll take my receipt in the bag, yah?"

No, not the Shocker. The Shaka is what a lot of people think of when they think of surfer "braddahs" (another Pidgin word). The Shaka is kind of like a pinky and thumb salute, and the rest of your fingers are tucked back. It's sort of a laid back feeling toward someone- a "Hang Loose" or "Aloha" feeling. It's like our thumbs up; a sign that everything is cool. The Shaka itself isn't limited to just surfers here. I've seen movers do it, beachgoers, people shopping, and car detailers. Everyone does it. Here is a little more info about its history and more info on how people use it here. It's definitely one of the major things associated with Hawaii...other than the gorgeous beaches of course. I still grin every time I let someone over in my lane in traffic and they wave the shaka at me- such a nice change from the hand gestures they give me back in Baltimore.

Aloha isn't just hello & goodbye here. It's also an idea of love, of affection. When you say Aloha to someone or talk about having the Aloha spirit it's my understanding that you're talking about that person on a deeper level....kind of like that "I see you" from Avatar. :)
While I definitely don't feel comfortable saying Aloha to people (it comes off really touristy), I can definitely tell it exists. I had heard some scary stories before moving here about locals who don't like mainlanders. I don't think I've experienced any of those yet. At one point, Nick and I were on a beach on the westside...where mostly locals are. We had just parked and were walking by a picnic table of some large locals trying to mind our own business (we had also heard they can be protective of their local beaches). As we were walking by the older guy called out, "Hey guys! How are ya? Enjoy the beach!" Ha.
Also, I've noticed people are really cool about letting you into traffic- pulling out from a side road or just moving through traffic, people actually let you in. Weird.
So while I don't use "Aloha" in every day use....I still feel it's okay to stick it in in writing sometimes. I often end my emails now with "Warmest Aloha." :)

It feels like a curse at times. I'm the person who cannot stand to use Billpay because I like to control all my payments..the problem with that in Hawaii is that if I'm making a payment the day that it's due, I need to do it before like 10am. Currently Hawaii is 6 hours behind Eastern Standard Time...which is what most financial institutions are on. Also so is catalog ordering, most customer service, insurance companies, family, you name it. I once got a phone call from my grandmother at 5:30am. She wasn't aware of the time difference. I accidentally hung up on her. Twice. Sorry Gram...I don't function that early.

I have no idea what time stuff comes on TV. It's so different here. Sometimes it will be on Central time zone's spot...other times it's a 4 hour difference. The only thing that's live are basically NFL games. I'm not looking forward to watching the Ravens play at 7:15am this season.

The cool thing I do like about it is that I can listen to my favorite Baltimore radio station 98Rock's morning show online...while going to bed. It creeps me out a little when I'm going to bed and see facebook/twitter updates saying that people are getting up for work for the day though. It kind of makes me feel like I'm in the past though- which technically means I'm a teeny bit younger, right?

The names are one thing. With practice you can pronounce most of the street and highway names. Some still get me- I have heard Kamehameha pronounced two different ways...I'm not sure which part the accent goes on. And most I need someone to spell out for me. Which I felt dumb about at first but I constantly have to spell my street name out to 97% of people so that makes me feel better.
What's difficult though is that streets often suddenly change name, or don't have visual signs. I think that's the biggest issue. Thank God for my GPS. It kept telling me to turn onto a street the other day but the sign on the left side said a different street name...but had an arrow pointing toward the right. On the right side was the street name for the street going to the left. Does that make sense? Not to me.
The street my friend Megan lives on is the worst. The street name that is in her address and everyone else's on that street is not what is on the sign when you turn onto the street.
Oh, and they like hyphens here and they're not big on having indivudual addresses for a house. In my community the address starts with 91-1001 for ALL the houses, then they have an individual unit number. By the way Citi credit card does not allow you to put hyphens in your address. This leads to my billing address not usually matching up. Yay.

I don't know what the obsession is but it's everywhere. It was one of the first things selling out during the tsunami warnings in February 2010. According to Wikipedia, Hawaii, Guam, and the North Mariana Islands  consume the most SPAM per capita in the United States.
Personally I don't get it. I'm not going to try to get it. It just is.
Ew.

OAHU REVEALED: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO HONOLULU, WAIKIKI & BEYOND
If you're thinking about coming to the island I have an amazing book suggestion for you. This book has been our Bible the whole way through. It even has a section about "Pidgin," which I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Just an amazingly informational book, and it was updated this year so it's extremely accurate.
Check it out on Amazon:
Oahu Revealed: The Ultimate Guide to Honolulu, Waikiki & Beyond (Oahu Revisited)

DRIVING & DISCOVERING HAWAII: O'AHU, HONOLULU, & WAIKIKI
Another great one which has some awesome supplementary info is called:
Driving & Discovering Hawaii: O'ahu, Honolulu, & Waikiki
I wouldn't recommend this over Oahu Revealed, but if you can get them both I'd definitely recommend doing so. I did some research on the best Oahu guidebooks and these were the top two. What I love about Driving & Discovering Hawaii  is that the author actually used very early personal family pictures. There's an beautiful spread of D-Day in Waikiki taken from his father's 13mm camera which features soldiers, sailors, and civilians shouting and throwing their hats and covers from rooftops in celebration that the war is over. Very moving. Also some other beautiful pictures of beaches and landscapes.

Both books have some great info on secret beaches that aren't reached by many on the island, and both books go with me just about everywhere.