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Hawaii
Hawaii, the youngest state of the United States, is different in
many ways form the mainland states. Its geography and people are
unique. Hawaii is a part
of a great chain of
volcanic islands which stretch across
the Pacific Ocean. Just who
are the Hawaiian people? They
are a mixture of the
original Hawaiians who probably came
from Samoa long, long ago,
and many immigrants who
arrived later. When the first
pineapple plantations were being planted
in Hawaii in the 1900's, there
were not enough people living
on the islands to do
all the work. So more came: the Chinese, Japanese, and
the Portuguese were the main
groups. Some returned home after
working for a few years;
many stayed and added to
the mixture of cultures and
languages.
For many years, Hawaiian
customs were looked down on
or ignored. Now there is
new pride in the old
ways. Children are learning the
Hawaiian language and the traditional
songs and dances. At the
University of Hawaii there is
a great deal of interest
in the history of the
islands and the culture of
the past.
Visitors to the
islands want to see the
island paradise as it used
to be. A popular place
to visit is the Polynesian Cultural Center. Large
numbers of tourists from the
Mainland and the Orient arrive
in Hawaii daily. Signs of
modern tourism are everywhere. Honolulu and
its suburbs, a quiet area
of about 250,000 about thirty years
ago, is now a crowded
area of 800,000 residents and
tourists.
As you drive around
the island of Oahu, you
can still find deserted stretches
of beach with the famous
waves. But now some of
these beaches are closed to
the public, and more and
more tourist resorts are being
built in areas that were
unspoiled. Hawaiians worry about what will happen to the old way of
life. |
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