How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

[pinakboy]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?


Can't we jus all get along??!!

how about da haoles make da kine haole southern slow smoked bbq (not kalbi bbq) kaukau fo us and we make da kine luau fo dem local style maybe den everybody grind, drink and be happy!! we teachem how fo eat rice and mac salad and lay off da potatoes etc.
hehehe

peace be with you.

[cezanne]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

Can you explain to me, if a none local is in Hawaii, is interested in learning the culture, and is respectful, would this be taken into consideration by locals?
Due to me not living in the environment I have a hard time understanding.

Sure, I would think so... it's a start anyway. I believe that people in Hawaii are generally nice and tolerant of eachother. Yeah you'll run into people who are still living in the past but it's not so much an "us vs. haoles" thing as you might believe.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

Sure, I would think so... it's a start anyway. I believe that people in Hawaii are generally nice and tolerant of eachother. Yeah you'll run into people who are still living in the past but it's not so much an "us vs. haoles" thing as you might believe.

That's cuz there's so many haoles around now. (Only half joking.) And cuz, as lots of people point out, it's hard to be racially prejudiced against an ethnic group when your cousins, or your in-laws, or your spouse!, is one of "them".

[DaveNSoKona]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

To keep foreign invaders from decimating the population of endemic, unique to the islands plants and animals. Every day, at least a few of the unique species of flora and fauna in the 'aina are one step closer to extinction because of people and the introduction of alien species.

I never advocated that diseases were a good thing, simply unavoidable given the circumstances of the times...i.e ignorance on all sides.

Why aren't there quarantine stations on the mainland to check for flora and fauna in bags coming to Hawaii instead of a cheesy questionnaire on the airplane? I think Hawaii's big brother, California is why bags are checked here in Hawaii going to the mainland. California is why our wonderful Kona Sharwill avocadoes can't be exported to the mainland.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

Why aren't there quarantine stations on the mainland to check for flora and fauna in bags coming to Hawaii instead of a cheesy questionnaire on the airplane? I think Hawaii's big brother, California is why bags are checked here in Hawaii going to the mainland. California is why our wonderful Kona Sharwill avocadoes can't be exported to the mainland.

Bingo. The feds care more about protecting California's agricultural industry from fruit flies and other farm pests from Hawai'i than they do about protecting Hawai'i ecosystems from invasive species.

[DaveNSoKona]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

Can you explain to me, if a none local is in Hawaii, is interested in learning the culture, and is respectful, would this be taken into consideration by locals?
Due to me not living in the environment I have a hard time understanding.

I have lived on the Big Island for four years. I have had no problems here and have only been called a haole once by a kid of Hawaiian ancestry and it wasn't out of meanness.

When we were looking to buy our farm white realtors warned us away from going down to Miloli’i. I regularly go to Miloli’i which is the oldest continuously inhabited fishing village in the islands and never had anything but a dog bark at me as far as hostility. I had a long conversation with a kapuna down there who showed me nothing but aloha. If you smile and are friendly you will most likely not have a problem here. If you are hostile, confrontational or dwell on how much a visitor/foreigner you are, you may have some problems.

I didn't go to junior high school here, but I had problems moving from California to Kansas with culture shock going into that difficult stage of life. Most of the stories I have heard revolve around whites in Hawaiian junior high schools. My guess it’s more testosterone than cultural bias.

[Konaguy]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

Most of the stories I have heard revolve around whites in Hawaiian junior high schools. My guess it’s more testosterone than cultural bias.

I was born and raised here and I tell you going to elementry, intermediate
and high school here was like the 10th level of hell.I am haole and very
tall which didn't make things any easier.

[DaveNSoKona]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

...so what's your point?

[Konaguy]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

...so what's your point?

My point is it was very difficult going to school here because I'm haole.
It still bothers me to this day..and I've been out of High School for 11 years.

[DaveNSoKona]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

I have met many, many whites that have lived here as far back as the '70s that have had no problems. Sooo... I guess the message is, don't move here with kids in school?

[Konaguy]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

I know other people probably didn't have problems, but I sure did-and I was
born here in Kona. I would highly recommend if you move here don't have
your kids in public school--it is the pits.

[SaucerBoy]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

I moved to the Big Island from the mainland about seven months ago. My experience so far has been a little like staying at a friend's house with their family. Everyone is friendly enough but I never really stop feeling like a guest.

I think a big part of the reason I feel like an outsider (again, not poorly treated, just not belonging) is because living here, to me, feels more like living in a different country than a different state.

The extent to which I feel like a guest varies by location on the Big Island as well. My girlfriend and I have lived in a few different towns since moving here. As she put it, "In Kona I feel like a local [in the sense of someone who lives and makes their life here] but in Hilo I feel like a long term tourist."

I've never had any problems with the way I've been treated here. I sometimes get the stink eye when surfing but I assume (correctly or not?) that that has less to do with being a haole than it does being yet one more person to compete with for waves.

As with everywhere else I've been a healthy combination of respect, smiles, and friendliness goes a long ways towards overcoming unfamiliarity. It's not perfect but it tends to work out a lot better than having a chip on your shoulder.

Off topic: The store/restaurant employees here are consistently the most friendly I've encountered anywhere is the US. Only Ireland, of the places I've travelled, matches it. It's uncanny.

It took a few months to get used to. I kept waiting for the guy at Taco Bell to gruffly throw a falling apart pile of stuff I didn't order at me like I'm used to but that never happens here. Small things like that make my day.

[Miulang]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

I know other people probably didn't have problems, but I sure did-and I was
born here in Kona. I would highly recommend if you move here don't have
your kids in public school--it is the pits.

Hey Aaron, did you try to hang with the local kids? Not all of them could have treated you badly. Did you speak pidgin? I would think being born in Hawai'i, you probably had a permanent "tan" (unless you're a very fair skinned Northern European who avoids the sun like Dracula ), and if you spoke pidgin (da real dakine), some of those local non-haole kids must have treated you OK.

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

"In Kona I feel like a local [in the sense of someone who lives and makes their life here] but in Hilo I feel like a long term tourist."

I can't speak for people on the Big Island, but as a Honolulu professional, I have to say that if you feel like local people see you as a long term tourist, it's because... they do. You've been in Hawai'i less than a year; chances are that you're not going to stay. I have lost count of the number of haole professional colleagues of mine who have arrived in the islands, fresh and starry-eyed, and turned tail and left within a couple of years. No offense, but you won't be accepted as a resident until you've paid a few more dues.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: How do locals feel about visitors or people moving from the mainland?

Aaron's right there is a lot of Localism going on in Hawaii and as a local I feel a bit embarrassed because of it. It's not Aaron's fault that the white man screwed the Kanaka Maoli. If there's a generation that wants to help right any wrongs committed against the kingdom of Hawaii, it's the generation that Aaron belongs in that will help make it happen.

If we need to better our islands for the sake of our keiki then it's up to us to make it a better place for all of us, not just the local folks. If we constantly live in a world of hate then hate will become us and we become our own enemy.

Yes there is a lot of bitterness among locals and how they feel about haoles (whether born here or not) but getting pissed off about it only generates internal anger. Remember we can control what goes into our minds which ultimately controls what our bodies will do.

There are ways to keep the peace amongst us all, but it takes open dialog and an appreciation for each other before any substantive discussion can occur. Other than that we will continue to fight each other with blinders on not seeing the sucker punch from the south side.

Pretty soon the terrorism that we fear will come from our own indifference to each other and our societies will implode from within and everybody loses.