Well, I did it. I told Rinban Sakamoto in an email that I no longer want to be a member of the sangha (community) of the temple. I thanked him for starting the shakuhachi class up again, and mentioned making at least an attempt to be part of the Hawaii club, but that I'd made the mistake of mentioning to one of them at the booth they had set up that I grew up surfing in Hawaii and was met with hostility.
I said it came down to the BCA (Buddhist Churches of America) and myself having different views on recent geopolitical events. Their attitude is hands-off the Israel vs. Hamas thing, but they've put me on all kinds of mailing lists for pro-Hamas groups (a particularly evil subset of "peace creeps") so it's hands-off except rah-rah for the group that wants to eradicate all Jews. Nice. So Sayonara suckers and So long.
I somewhat liken this to the Jodo Shinshu attitude in WWII which was neutral except pretty pro-Japanese which was not neutral. They've apologized kinda-sorta since. And I liken my situation to being in the 442nd (Oh wait, I *was* in the 442nd, not during WWII granted, when I was in it was a reserve unit full of sleepy old guys but still...) who decided to not be neutral but to go and put themself on the line for what's right.
Recent thread on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/comments/1bi8mtx/who_do_you_consider_a_local/ it's really got me wondering. Never-ever have I had anyone ask me if I'm a Californian (to which question I'd happily say I was born here) or have I been treated any differently based on someone thinking I might be a visitor from another state or country. I've been thinking that things would be hunky dory back in Hawaii because I'd not be on the job market and that's a huge thing in life I'd no longer have to deal with. But there are a ton of other things that would be the same and where being perceived to be an outsider would affect me. Like walking down the street.
My older sis avoids this by avoiding the public, period. Drives everywhere, only goes to bougie shops and restaurants, will pretty much only associate with people who went to Punahou, that idiotic prep school she went to.
My youngest sister probably does about the same except for the bougie prep school bit, but since her husband is a police chief, she probably never lets anyone forget that in the same way my older sister will constantly remind you she went to Punahou.
These are ways to cope, but dammit I *like* being able to go to scroungy local type places and eat at the lunch places the bus drivers do, and so on. And I did when I was there and it was by and large no problem but there was always that factor where you have to be aware of who's around you and will you be waited on at all in this shop, and so on. Plus the violence factor, being of an appearance that it's encouraged for people to blame all their problems on.
So it's not on a whim that I told Ken I might as well stick it out here for a couple more years.
I was up in time to pack a bunch of things and get them shipped out, then came back and cooked some curry of a different kind than my usual that I thought might be interesting - the packets are like 4-5 different things. I cooked that with mackerel which I fried - I love the crispy skin. But while it was good it made the place smell fishy plus some smell of the seasonings that .... is not something I want to repeat.
I packed more things especially two large things plus some smaller ones, got 20 things ready to list and took a computer apart to sell the parts, and finally called it a night.
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