American Empire
I feel just a little white-guilty about Hawaii. I mean, it was a sovereign nation that we annexed mostly because of corporate pressure. It's so remote, so different culturally, that my niece (who has been living here for 3 months) was shocked that it was a state: "This is part of America ?!" she exclaimed. No kidding. That being said, it hasn't been a bad trip out here so far. Most delightfully, we've averaged a pineapple a day.