Bumbai you learn

Bumbai You Learn!

Having grown up in Hawaii my entire life, there is one quality that I feel makes Hawaii so unique. What is that exactly? Pidgin English! No, not pigeon, but "Pidgin". 

For those of you who aren't familiar with this term, it refers back to the old plantation days. There were many ethnic cultures that immigrated to Hawaii during that time. Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese were some of the ethnic cultures that worked and settled in the islands. At that time, Hawaiians also worked as part of the plantations. Eventually, the diversity of cultures came together to create a language that every individual in the plantation could understand. This meant that Japanese, Filipino, and Hawaiian could communicate easily through this new language.

Some examples of Pidgin

• Howzit - How are you; Hello
• Bumbai - Later on
• Shoots - Yes; can do
• Choke - plenty; a lot of
• An Den - what happened
• Brah - brother; friend (male)
• Da Kine - not specific (can be talking about a certain noun)
• Hana Hou - one more time

Now it's time to turn the Pidgin switch on! Can handle?

So now days, you no hear dat much pidgin in the media. TV, magazines, radio, and da oda kine stuff that people use today. Pretty much da only places you can spahk the pidgin is at home, maybe with dakine, your friends liddat. Oh, and youtube, but dat no count cause get anykine stuff already on dea. I watch TV and i see littlebit kine shows using pidgin. Heh, get mo swear words on TV den pidgin. When da ting come to magazines, choke people would use dat as toilet paper cause everyting stay on their cell phones nowdays. Oh, I meant SMARTphones. You know see one pidgin magazine out dea eh? Would be pretty nuts though if had. When come to da radio, no mo dat much people talking pidgin. Small kine little bit is what I hea. Howz dat for one quick example of pidgin? She go?

Pidgin English is something that I will continue to use because it's culturally unique and makes Hawaii different from other places. If you ever need a lesson on how to speak pidgin or need help understanding, try come look for me and bumbai you learn.

Shoots!

You Bring "da" Talent!

Just this past spring semester, I got the great opportunity to perform at the historic Hawaii Theatre for HPU's 8th Annual "Da Freakshow" talent contest. Throughout the auditions and the waiting, I was one of about 16 acts selected to be in this year's show.

It all started off with auditoning back in February. Literally, I was the first person to audition. Although a little nervous, I sang and played my heart to show the judges that I would have the potential to be in the talent show. The song that I played on guitar as well as sang to was "Live High" by Jason Mraz. It was something that I felt comfortable singing but yet adding my own originality to the song. After my audition, I felt confident about how I shared my passion. Then, the anxious wait began.

I believe after 2 weeks of patiently waiting, I finally got the email saying that I was gonna be in this year's talent show in March (which was a month away). I believe that good things come to those who wait, but alongside that, you have to catch these types of opportunities. With excitement in the air, rehearsing started right after...I take that back. Choosing a song was what I did afterwards. It took me a couple of hours to decide that creating a musical medley would be something interesting to do. Though it was out of my comfort zone, sometimes, taking these types of risks helps me learn and also broaden my musical abilities.

To keep my performance piece a surprise, I named my act "Acoustic Jukebox". Sooner or later, all the practice to polish my performance was put to the test on talent show night. With numerous acts such as dance, a capella, and bands all performing that night, I knew already it was gonna be a great show.

With constantly practicing over and over again that evening of the show, I told myself to take a break and just play for the passion and the great opportunity. As the theatre started to get packed, I was all dressed up with my guitar ready to go and the audience waiting for me to perform. It was my time to perform and once the curtain opened, lights, camera, action, it SHOWTIME!!

The songs that I put together in my medley ranged from "I want you back" by Jackson 5 to my rendition of Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain." I have to agree again that this was out of my comfort zone but I don't regret making this choice. I really enjoyed this piece that I put together and though I didn't win the top prize, I felt very lucky to have the chance to perform on a stage that featured many talented performers (you can't forget Lina Girl, the host of the show that night). I also felt great about sharing the stage with so many other HPU students. We all have a passion for something and that night, we put on a great show by sharing what we love to do.

As they say in showbusiness, the show must go on. I'm definitely trying out next year. I hope that many of you come out and audition so we can all put on another great show for next year.

And the journey continues.....

A Glimpse of Who I Am

A Glimpse of Who I am

Aloha everyone! I'm Kenny Cabanting. I'm a sophomore attending Hawaii Pacific University majoring in Communications.

I was born and raised here in beautiful Hawaii.

Before I share with you more about myself, I'd like to share with you a little about where I grew up. I grew up on a tiny island called Lana`i. It's a privately-owned island filled with red dirt, an abundance of trees, 2 main highways, one school (K-12), and no traffic lights. Yeah, it's totally something different. With just one town and a population of approximately 3,000 residents, Lana'i is a place I call "home".

Many people don't really know much about Lana'i. It's the second smallest island in the Hawaiian chain which in the past was famous for its Dole Pineapple Plantations, carrying one of the nicknames "The Pineapple Island". Today, Lana'i has discontinued the plantations and bases it's financial growth through tourism.

In addition to the growth of Lana'i, it continues to hold a very tight "mixed-plate" community, or a diversity of ethnic cultures. If I could show you around Lana'i, I could probably do it in an hour by 4-wheel drive. If I were to teach you more about Lana'i, that would take me days because there's a lot of history behind many places on the island. You might be wondering what do I do on such a tiny island like this? (with no malls or fast food restaurants)

Throughout my time growing up on Lana'i, we often learned and had fun through experiencing what the outdoors had to offer. Activities such as camping, paddling, fishing, diving, hunting, and planting are some of the many activities that my my family, friends, and I would do during our free time. I really enjoy these types of activities because you really learn a lot when it comes to survival. When I'm not playing outdoors, you can catch me playing music somewhere indoors or outdoors.

Another interesting aspect of myself growing up would be the fact that I love music. Whether it's playing the guitar, ukulele, or singing, there's never a day when I'm not playing music. I grew up in a musical family which is the main influence for why I play music and perform. Growing up with 2 brothers who play music as well, my family would always make us do concerts for pretty much the whole island of Lana'i (that's another story). Bands such as Maroon 5, Coldplay, SOJA, and The Green are some of my musical influences when it comes to playing. I like a variety of things especially when it comes to this hobby of mines.

Overall, I'm an outgoing person and I laugh a lot as well. If you make me laugh histerically, I'll give you a cookie, seriously. I'm bilingual, I speak English and Pidgin English (lol).

I'm always open to new and different things. Ever since I moved to Oahu, which was definitely a culture shock, I've told myself that "There's a million opportunities out there waiting for me to capture it." I'm staying confident in what I do and wherever I go, but still keeping a sense of home in my heart because I feel that it shaped me to become who I am as an individual. As I continue my journey through the "real-world", I'm continuing to learn more about myself each day.

And the journey continues...