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  • Hawaii arrival stories

    Being born and raised in Hawaii, and never having seriously considered living (permanently) anywhere else, I am always curious about the stories behind people who have made the decision to move to Hawaii from elsewhere. What made you decide to move? Why did you pick Hawaii? Once you got here, what did you find out about the islands, good or bad, that you hadn't expected? And why did you decide to stay, when so many other would-be migrants have turned tail and headed back home?

  • #2
    Re: Hawaii arrival stories

    Well, I had a ticket from Bangkok to San Diego. I'd made that trip before a year earlier and knew what a very long one it is, so I thought to myself, why not break it this time, no hurry, so have a look at Hawaii, where I'd never been.

    I thought I'd maybe spend two weeks in Honolulu. That was about fifteen years ago. I just didn't see any reason to continue on to San Diego.

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    • #3
      Re: Hawaii arrival stories

      Hi Glen!

      I don't live in Hawai`i at the moment, but I expect to return before the end of this year. There is some irony in my story. Before my first visit, I never had an interest in going to Hawai`i. The image of Hawai`i in my head was of stuff like the dashboard hula girl, Don Ho and aloha shirts. I knew of a couple of people from the same university program I had graduated from who were working there, but it just never seemed a place that appealed to me. Then I started chatting online with a guy from Maui. I ended up going to visit him. Things didn't work out between us, but I had an awesome time during my visit to Maui. Maybe it was due to my being on holidays, but I experienced this sense of peace and tranquility I hadn't known before. It felt "right" to be there. I didn't want to leave! But I'm not an American citizen, so staying wasn't an option. I started looking into job possibilities. (I work in the health care field.) Unfortunately at that time there were hiring freezes, so it seemed my desire to relocate was going to be unfulfilled. There were hiring freezes in my country too and for the next 3 years I worked in a position beneath my qualifications. I was just about to give up on working in health care when I decided to give it one last ditch effort. To make a long story short, I was hired on at a hospital on the Big Island. There were some adjustments to make because I'm a city girl and the Big Island isn't city! But I didn't really view it as a culture shock. It wasn't this big adjustment that I couldn't handle. I got used to the fact that people who have never met you will say hello as they pass you by on the street. (Being a city girl, I was used to just minding my own business.) I think the biggest surprise was the difference in geography between the Big Island and Maui! (That and getting used to having chickens in the yard next door. ) I expected the islands to be more similar than they are, but they are all so different! I was already familiar with pidgin english, so that wasn't a big surprise. There is definitely more of it on the Big Island than on O`ahu though.

      For reasons that were partly work-related and partly to improve my social life, I transferred to O`ahu after being on the Big Island for a couple of years. Honolulu is definitely different than the community I lived in on the Big Island. Having "The Bus" was a big advantage, even if it isn't always on time. *heh* I made some mistakes though, such as in my choice of places to live and not getting a car right away. Fast forward a year and I left Hawai`i to come back home. I hated to leave, but the job and some personal problems contributed to my decision to leave.

      Now I have a job offer to go back to the Big Island. There's some red tape, due to this being the post 9-11 era, but hopefully once that's all taken care of the job will still be there and I'll be returning. I have some reservations because I'm not looking forward to the big move and I expect that the start-up costs are going to be quite big. I know from looking at various realtors and classified ads online that real estate has had a significant jump in the last few years. Rentals in the area I am looking at are obscenely priced -- and this is the Big Island!

      To answer your questions, the good I found in Hawai`i was many-fold. The weather (of course! *smile*), the friendly helpful people (more so on the Big Island, but not absent on O`ahu), being so close to the ocean, the breathtaking beauty, sweet smelling plumeria, shopping...I'm sure I've missed stuff, but those are the basics.

      For the bad...well...at the top of my list are the bugs! I hate the cockroaches and termites!!! I learned to deal with some of the smaller bugs and spiders. I'm too superstitious to say more. Also on the bad list is real estate, especially in Honolulu. A lot of landlords do little, if anything to maintain their properties. Probably because they know they can rent it no matter what. The cost of renting is a bit of a shocker. I also have a gripe about bread. I could never find bread I liked for a reasonable cost. I once splurged on a whole grain loaf from a mainland company (at over $4 a loaf!) and it was dry, dry, dry, dry! I've noticed that there isn't the variety with some groceries that I'm used to, but it's all pretty minor. There are other choices that make up for it. Some things cost more than back home, some things cost less. It all seems to even out, except for real estate and bread.

      Although this is a complete generalization and not always true, I found that locals were more sincere than "imports". Most problems I encountered were with the latter. It's funny because there are people I met who had moved to Hawai`i and had lived there for years and they told me that no matter how long you live there, you will always be seen and viewed as an outsider. That sometimes you will encounter that "attitude" with locals. I never encountered any negative attitudes myself. Maybe because I never tried to be anything other than what I knew I was -- I am an outsider, but I respect the way things are in Hawai`i and don't expect it to be some sort of island version of life on the mainland. (Except where the cockroaches, termites and other bugs are concerned. )

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      • #4
        Re: Hawaii arrival stories

        I havent been there since 81 and didnt drive anything but a bicycle but i would there for what I hope will be more patient drivers, the close knit feel of the island, and the weather. Now if i could just win that 96 grand a local radio is giving away, i could come set up house! LOL........will have to settle with visiting in Nov for a few days instead.
        If anyone on Oahu is NOT happy , feel free to trade places with me.

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        • #5
          Re: Hawaii arrival stories

          I moved to the Big Island because back then it had cheap land; i paid $25k for 20 ac. I wish to heaven i had never in my life heard of Hawai`i. I've never lived in any other place that absolutely shredded my life, as did living there. I found the men generally to be a bunch of very large babies, and i don't mean just Native Hawaiian men; it seems to me a lot of men have come over from the mainland, spent a couple of weeks, seen how much bs the women are used to putting up with and decided, at some level, it would be easier to move to Hawai`i than to grow up. Both of my very beloved cat sisters died in agony there, as a result of the infantile self-centeredness of three Hawaiian men--one a crook, one i consider a kidnapper and one who let a pair of vicious dogs roam at will over miles of territory, knowing there were cats, smaller dogs, mongooses, et al. Every day the kidnapper ripped off my flier offering a $500 reward for Malkin. I.e., he had her, wouldn't let her come home and wanted to make sure no one else would tell me where she was. What kind of monster could do a thing like that to a person, let alone two sapients?

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          • #6
            Re: Hawaii arrival stories

            Wow, Dana, I'm .... speechless!

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            • #7
              Re: Hawaii arrival stories

              Aloha Dana! I hope things are better. You survived. I'd like to hear more of your story. Interesting stuff. Wow!!!!!!

              Auntie Lynn
              Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
              Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                I think she just found an outlet to let out her Frustration. She just came in to post this one message and left.

                Well, for her sake, I hope she find help and way of addressing her issues.
                Tayo

                FINALLY HOME IN HAWAI'I!

                "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
                Mark Twain

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                • #9
                  Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                  "Cat sisters"?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                    That's rough, Dana, and a real shame. I'll wager you've made a lot of changes in your life and your surroundings since then, and I hope that things are working out better for you now. Are you still on Hawai`i Island?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                      Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro View Post
                      Being born and raised in Hawaii, and never having seriously considered living (permanently) anywhere else, I am always curious about the stories behind people who have made the decision to move to Hawaii from elsewhere. What made you decide to move? Why did you pick Hawaii? Once you got here, what did you find out about the islands, good or bad, that you hadn't expected? And why did you decide to stay, when so many other would-be migrants have turned tail and headed back home?
                      We were ready for a change. Investigated going further Northeast (too cold), checked out the Southeast (uhhhh....no no no), West Coast (property taxes were way too high in any area we were interested in), and Hawaii.

                      The middle of the country was out from the beginning---neither of us could stand being away from an ocean. And no, the Great Lakes do not count, even though you can't see the opposite shores.

                      Loved the weather here, the physical beauty of the land and sea.

                      I don't know about that "Hawaii is calling me wooohooooo can you feel the aloha" stuff. I cringe when I hear people prattling on about that. IME, those folks are in for a very rude awakening after being here a while. They've created a romanticized environment which no actual place full of human beings can possibly live up to.

                      "Hawaii is calling me..." Sheesh.

                      Do they really believe the great Gods of Hawaii are calling to waitresses from Fort Lauderdale?

                      Don't get me wrong---there are undoubtedly powerful spiritual forces here. I just have a hard time believing that they're spending a heckuva lot of time whispering invitations to mainland haoles.

                      That "all the people here are sooooo wonderful" stuff irks me too. Yes, there are nice people here, but there are some pretty damn awful ones too.

                      The people here are PEOPLE, for heavens sake. With all the faults, foibles, bad and good inherent in being human. They are not cartoon characters or ever-smiling creations of the HVCB. It is incredible to me that some newcomers here don't seem to realize that and are horrified when their illusions are inevitably shattered.

                      So we are here going on seven years. Rented for about six months, checked out different areas. Bought a house in Kailua then, when the buying was good. Re-financed when the rates went down. Fifteen-year mortgage, so the house will be paid for when we retire.

                      Nice neighbors, nice very mixed neighborhood, decent jobs, and my husband is just a few years away from being able to pull from his retirement funds and pensions. Low property taxes when compared with many areas of the nation (about one-quarter what we would be paying on a house of similar size in our neighborhood in NY), no heating oil costs. Utility costs are high but we're not heavy consumers.

                      What do I dislike about the islands? The damn BUGS. Jeezus, you just never get rid of them. Ants, termites, roaches.

                      The distance from the kids and grandkids. When we moved here we only had one grandchild in California. Six more born since we relocated! One group in Califonia, one in New York. My kids have lived in Arizona, Washington, Alaska, California, and of course New York. They could pick up and re-locate at any time. So we are here, and we visit as much as we can, and so do they.

                      Some of the ethnic and racial silliness. I just ignore it, for the most part. I don't see much of it in my field of work. People just aren't all that concerned with the color/race/ethnicity of the person helping them when they are critically ill. There will always be the baboozes who will make remarks but those are very few and far between. Those who do it are most likely idiots outside of the hospital too. Not worth even thinking about.

                      My haole-ness and NY-ness are fodder for humor, sometimes, but I laugh along with it. I really don't think it is done with a mean spirit. Trust me---I would know. And the jokes are on EVERYONE---many ethnic groups are represented where I work, and we all get hit at one time or another.

                      I don't think there have been any huge surprises or disappointments since we've been here but then again, I wasn't terribly delusional to begin with.
                      Last edited by WindwardOahuRN; October 9, 2006, 10:59 AM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                        Originally posted by WindwardOahuRN View Post
                        "Hawaii is calling me..." Sheesh.

                        Do they really believe the great Gods of Hawaii are calling to waitresses from Fort Lauderdale?
                        Do you believe that God (or whoever) can "call" someone to their service? If so then there are a whole world of religions out there that would certainly encompass that "calling", and I don't just mean "the great Gods of Hawaii". If you don't believe any of that, I can understand, all of it seems fluffy. But as one of my good friends once said, "if you allow that there is anything in the universe you don't understand then it's tough to laugh at someone else's gods".

                        Gotta agree with you on the other stuff though. Ain't nowhere in the world a total paradise

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                          Originally posted by Bard View Post
                          Do you believe that God (or whoever) can "call" someone to their service? If so then there are a whole world of religions out there that would certainly encompass that "calling", and I don't just mean "the great Gods of Hawaii". If you don't believe any of that, I can understand, all of it seems fluffy. But as one of my good friends once said, "if you allow that there is anything in the universe you don't understand then it's tough to laugh at someone else's gods".

                          Gotta agree with you on the other stuff though. Ain't nowhere in the world a total paradise

                          Well, what gets me is that, on an average of two years later, the majority of those who had this magical "calling" are hauling butt back to the mainland. Disgruntled, disillusioned, disenchanted. That, IMHO, is not a true "religious calling."

                          They find out that the "give aloha and you'll get aloha" thing doesn't always fly. They watch a few "First Friday" programs and realize that some people here really despise them, despite the fact that they came her with the best of intentions regarding the Hawaiian culture. Due to the fact that these folks came here with more than a touch of delusional thinking, they fall hard when they finally do fall.

                          I have never in my life heard more stink spoken about a place than when a majorly disillusioned mainland transplant is on their way back to the mainland. Never do I hear "hey, it just didn't work out." There is a litany of complaints. Nothing that is new, mind you, nothing that didn't exist before they arrived here. Just things that they wouldn't have believed even if someone had told them. For that matter, maybe people had told them about such things but they brushed them off. Whatever.

                          Hawaii is a physically beautiful place full of powerful spiritual and cultural influences. Fairly easy to come under its spell, I guess, and imagine that one has finally found a kind of nirvana.

                          I am most certainly NOT "laughing at someone's Gods." Definitely not the Gods of Hawaii. I most certainly do NOT think of the true spiritual aspects of Hawaii as "fluff." But (sorry if it offends you) I don't see the claim by some that "the aloha spirit is calling me" as an example of being called into religious service. Not even close.

                          Honestly, people who want to come here just should go and do it if they feel they really want to. You won't know if i's going to work unless you try.

                          But please, if it doesn't work out, just say "hey, it didn't work out."

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                          • #14
                            Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                            Originally posted by Queenolu View Post
                            I think she just found an outlet to let out her Frustration. She just came in to post this one message and left.
                            Just curious---how do you know she's not coming back?

                            I mean, most people do leave after posting a message.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Hawaii arrival stories

                              Originally posted by WindwardOahuRN View Post
                              Just curious---how do you know she's not coming back?

                              I mean, most people do leave after posting a message.
                              Nothing I said was meant as an attack to her or anything like that.

                              No need to explain myself. I stand by what I said. End of conversation.

                              Mahalo.
                              Tayo

                              FINALLY HOME IN HAWAI'I!

                              "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
                              Mark Twain

                              Comment

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