From a fellow Chapman alumni…
The entire state lost electricity yesterday, so everyone is listing to the one radio station that was transmitting. It's the official state emergency channel so they have a strong transmitter and runs on a generator. Obviously, Hawaii has a lot of different ethnicities in the island at any time, whether it's the Japanese tourists, or the immigrant families from Asia. So during the broadcast, a japanese lady from the local japanese station goes on the air to speak in japanese about the earthquake and talk about the black out and what is happening. She explains whats happening with the airport, the delays in flights, what to do if you already checked out of the hotel, things like that. After she speaks, a caller who can speak filipino comes on and gives a message in Tagalog. Eventually, people who could speak vietnamese, korean, chinese, even samoan calls up the radio station to give a little 30 speech in their native tongue to let the people know what is going on.
Then, some lady, and, let's be honest, probably white from her accent, calls up to complain about the people speaking in “other languages”. I still remember the direct quote: “Why are you letting these people talk in other languages. This is America and we are in an emegency”. Nice.
Other then that, it wasn't too bad. By evening, only one part of the island had electricity, so everyone on the island converged their to buy food. The line at Jack in the Box, taco bell, and other food places was ridiculous. I was just glad that the wonderful korean liquor stores were open so I could buy cigarettes and diet coke, but today I could eat a fucking horse. Its times like this I wish there was a Hometown buffet in hawaii.
