Things I have learned living in Hawaiʻi for a year:

-Those shirts with the colorful flower patterns are called aloha shirts, not Hawaiian shirts.
-The real hula is so much more beautiful than the stereotypical version mainlanders think of.
-Do not refer to someone as Hawaiian. They're local.
-Hawaiʻi is NOT part of the United States. I saw only two American flags the entire year. Hawaiian flags are literally everywhere. And I have yet to meet any locals who refers to themselves as an Americans.
-Hawaiʻi has one of the largest homeless populations of all the states (if you include Hawaiʻi as a state, for argument's sake).
-...And one of the largest drug cultures.
-Pidgin is not mutually intelligible with English. Ho dis stay ono. You like try gedum yea.
-I can name the Hawaiian islands, and in order! Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, and Hawaiʻi (Big Island).
-Even though there are only eight islands in the official state, the Hawaiian island chain actually consists of 137 islands.
-You can tell which island a local is from by their personality.
-At sporting events, even if you don't sing along with the Star-Spangled Banner, you WILL sing Hawaiʻi Ponoʻi.
-Mauka (towards the mountains) and makai (towards the ocean) and towards Diamond Head or Ewa are so much better for giving directions than north, south, east, west.
-Do not say "Back in the states..." It's the mainland.
-Spam. Oh my god, Spam. It's everywhere. And it's disgusting.
-Contrary what many dumb tourists believe, "mahalo" means "thanks." Just because all the McDonald's have it on their garbage cans, does not mean it is Hawaiian for "garbage." What idiot thought that one up?
-Speaking of garbage... it's not garbage, it's rubbish.
-Other things I will probably accidentally refer to using the pidgin term once I get back to the mainland: shoyu instead of soy sauce, slippas instead of flip flops, choke instead of a lot, pau instead of finished.
-I can now sing the color song. It's in Hawaiian and is taught to local preschoolers. I feel special. Thank you, Hawaiian Studies 107. That's about all I got out of that class.
-"Hawaii" is really spelled "Hawaiʻi". And that is not an apostrophe. That's an ʻokina. I don't think this font shows it, but it's actually a miniature 6 placed where an apostrophe would go. I kid you not, I have seen arguments started over this.
-However, "Hawaiian" is not spelled "Hawaiʻian." "Hawaiian" is an English word. "Hawaiʻi" is a Hawaiian word. The Hawaiian term for "Hawaiian" is "ʻōlelo Havaiʻi"
-I know how to really use "da kine"!

Thanks for a great year, Hawaiʻi.