Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Mele Kalikimaka

My name is Sara, and I have lived in Maui for almost a year now. This will be my second Hawaiian Christmas.
We have lots of diversity here in Maui, all contributing to make a wonderful holiday.

Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaiian for "Merry Christmas." There are lots of phrases like this in the Hawaiian language that are really just phonetic translations of English, Portuguese and/or Japanese. When the missionaries first brought the traditions of Christmas to the islands, the Hawaiians had difficulty saying "Merry Christmas," so they ended up with "Mele Kalikimaka."

I am looking forward to sharing local Christmas traditions with someone far away!


4 comments:

Linda said...

very nice to meet you Sara

Kasia said...

Sara, it's lovely to have you here! I love "merry christmas" in hawaian ;) sounds so funny!

Knittymuggins said...

Thanks for sharing Sara! I had heard that phrase before, but had no idea where it actually came from. So interesting! Welcome to the swap :)

danielle said...

Sara - I am so looking forward to visiting your island next month. Hubby, myself, and another couple are coming the 2d week of Sept. Any must see shopping places?????