Hate and love

Hate and Love
The longer I am here the less and less the words hate and love make sense to me. It does not seem like there is any middle ground at all.
For example I was told that I was hated for not texting someone. I was also asked if I hated some of my students because they are cheeky (I wonder if that word will stick with me after I head back to America!) Another time my sister said she hated a girl on American Idol because of her song. Every time I have a talk with the people about how hate is such a strong word. You can dislike something, but hate it really rude to say all the time. I doubt I am getting through to anyone yet….but maybe this will be mission over the next two years.
The word love is tossed around so much as well. If you spend any time with someone you love them. It is a little ridiculous.
Living here is like being in a kindergarten classroom with these words being thrown around so much. Maybe it is because English is the second language (or trying to be) and it is difficult to learn new words that mean something similar.
If Samoans can say that they hate things or people so easily and share their love with everything, why can I not use the word love when I talk about papayas?