03-03-2014, 05:31 AM
I have a pretty highly developed sense of adventure. I moved to New Orleans once, having never been there. And I moved in August. None but the brave. But I was young and foolish and in love. Glad I did it. It changed my life in a positive way. Or maybe I changed my life in a positive way. Yes, come to think of it -- it was me.
That said, it is good to get to know a place before you just up and move there. I wouldn't look on vacations as an opportunity to "make mistakes" here so you can get them out of your system before you move. Instead, I might just take up boxing on the mainland and punch as many bags or people as you need to to get it all out of your system. If you decide to punch people, provoke them first so you will have a better defense if charged (let them strike the first blow, then aim for the solar plexus and add an upper cut to the jaw). Then practice restrained good cheer and come on over and just be yourself. YOU are the culture, too. The very essence of this island is people coming from all over the place. And then leaving. There's even a song about it. It's called "Aloha Oe". The Queen didn't write that song about someone who was staying. She wrote it about someone who was leaving. She's gone now, too. Only the song remains. The people that fall in love with it and then drift in and out are part of what makes this place different.
Not ticking people off is important on an island, but you don't have to declare and surrender all human emotion when you come here. And if you find you are ticking people off, take up MMA -- the island is a hotbed of people slugging each other and grappling with each other in a few-holds-barred kind of way.
They just don't talk about it much.
That said, it is good to get to know a place before you just up and move there. I wouldn't look on vacations as an opportunity to "make mistakes" here so you can get them out of your system before you move. Instead, I might just take up boxing on the mainland and punch as many bags or people as you need to to get it all out of your system. If you decide to punch people, provoke them first so you will have a better defense if charged (let them strike the first blow, then aim for the solar plexus and add an upper cut to the jaw). Then practice restrained good cheer and come on over and just be yourself. YOU are the culture, too. The very essence of this island is people coming from all over the place. And then leaving. There's even a song about it. It's called "Aloha Oe". The Queen didn't write that song about someone who was staying. She wrote it about someone who was leaving. She's gone now, too. Only the song remains. The people that fall in love with it and then drift in and out are part of what makes this place different.
Not ticking people off is important on an island, but you don't have to declare and surrender all human emotion when you come here. And if you find you are ticking people off, take up MMA -- the island is a hotbed of people slugging each other and grappling with each other in a few-holds-barred kind of way.
They just don't talk about it much.