at p.'s school orientation day last week i chatted with some of the other parents. one of them used to live in hawaii and i asked where (honolulu) and then mentioned that i lived about 20 mins away from where she did for about 8 years. she asked where, and when i told her "nanakuli" she got a surprised look on her face and asked, "what were you doing there?"
"growing up and going to school, mostly..." i said, "grade 7-12."
"wow. and you actually made it through it!" she said extending a hand in a congratulatory hand shake.
sometimes it's fun(ny) being from a regionally infamous place. go hawks, black and gold! heh.
(for those who have never been to nanakuli, it's a little town on the leeward side of oahu that has a reputation for being a bit .. rough at times. and particularly not the easiest place for a little foreign white boy to get along in. it is a beautiful location, however, and the people are capable of great acts of friendship, kindness, artistry and fun; something they prove through their actions often enough, ime. unfortunately it also has its troubles and struggles, many of which are not easily solved.)
update: i forgot to add an important bit of contextual information: the school p. is going to is a private school (public school to you backwards brits ;) located in a well-to-do suburbs and which, like most of this city, is predominantly white. i found that just made the mother's shock and comments even more funny. =)
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4 comments:
Aaron Seigo, hacking and keeping it real in the hood. :)
Ah yes, one of the perks of living on the mainland has been not having to listen to the silly reactions that saying "Nanakuli" will get you in some parts of Hawaii. I thought it was a nice place to grow up. :-P
Go Hawks!
Actually, us backward Brits have both private and public schools. You pay for both of them, but no-one seems to be quite sure of the distinction. Everyone agrees that Eton (the one all the politicians went to) is definitely public school, but the local independent school is probably a private school.
Free schools are state schools, but even they may be selective (the grammar schools).
Just to add a bit more confusion, some schools are actually "academies" now.
Oh, and you can leave at 16, but may or may not be able to stay on for another two years at your school. If you can't, you can go somewhere else (a sixth form college) for two years instead.
Yes, the British school system is insanely confusing.
I have always wondered what the distinction is between private and public schools, Class divide I guess. It is backwards though now I consider it.
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