Thinking of moving to the Big Island

[AlohaahVV]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

I'm thinking about moving to the Big Island. I'm half white and half Korean.I have made lots of Hawaiian friends over the years on the mainland Las Vegas and they have made me fall in love with the culture. I never really felt like I identified with any other culture so much...I look forward to experiencing it first hand. Any cautions or job search advice?

[HA0L3-BRADDA]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

The Big Island -Kona- is the mainland 20 years ago (or more). Your children will be greeted with loving arms by the local children in their schools. The Aloha spirit is abundant in Kona, the locals absolutely love mainlanders moving over here. You will not find a more pleasant place to live. Walk into a store and you are greeted with a warm Aloha and Mahalo. Go to Banyons to watch the local surfers and they will offer their love and welcome you with a warm Aloha spirit. The Aloha spirit is ever present over here!

[champ18]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

I think that if you want to move to the big islands that that is what you should do.i heard that i south carolina it is very beautiful and very nice,i work with a girl that used to live down there.hawaii is a big change, i dont know about temp. wise.as long as y7ou dont let them know that some of us americans are really crazy, i think youll be just fine as far as fitting in goes.as for real estate i know that its gotta be pretty epensive..i mean it is hawaii.what do your kids and family members think about this big change>?

[Wholeshoe]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

I used to live all along the east coast, born in Florida, moved to maryland, then to Charleston SC, then to Raleigh NC (EEK!)... AND then to Hendersonville NC, very "perty" which is in the Blue ridge Mountain area. Anyways to get to the point my dad got a job offer here, in the Big Island, and in Kona... We moved to Kamuela/Waimea. When we were in NC i had many friends and we had our roots settled in. Moving here was a huge difference... Culture shock, etc etc etc... But it does come with a bonus, you get to see the world and experience so much more. Perhaps if you did move here your kids will be more athletic and maybe your family will have more get togethers. One problem though is the public schools... I MEAN OMG... The public schools here are treacherous... Anyways If you like having fun and don't mind a little island fever move to the big island, wing it and enjoy life, eh, you don't have to buy any winter jackets don't have to do any of that... but i would advise looking into public schools before hand and maybe not moving to kona... tourist destinations mean higher pay and stuffs.

I'd say go for it...
Besides... You only live once and if you miss your chance once, chances are you might miss it again...

1 more thing... if you do move here and your kids are yelled at or wutever cuz they are "haoles"... tell them to ignore them... do wut i did... ignore them and find the others who aren't racist towards them cuz of your color... just have them respect others and try to make friends... i've been called a haole... I don't give a S*(^ cuz hey my grades are better and i have sumtin to live for... so i just ignore them and everything is ok... just a lil diff from mainland.

[kimo55]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

One problem though is the public schools... I MEAN OMG... The public schools here are treacherous...

where... is the treachery in evidence in schools?

...your kids are yelled at or wutever cuz they are "haoles"... tell them to ignore them... do wut i did... ignore them and find the others who aren't racist towards them cuz of your color... i've been called a haole... I don't give a S*(^ cuz hey my grades are better and i have sumtin to live for... so i just ignore them and everything is ok... just a lil diff from mainland.

that's one way the mainland is 'diff' from here. You ass-ume it is purely racist when locals convey distaste toward fob outsiders.
Also you better expect locals to berate and show anger (or worse) toward haoles who assume and/or brag their own grades are better and only THEY have something to live for.

[damontucker]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

where... is the treachery in evidence in schools?

I get em kimo...the evidence...and it is sad

are you really that interested?

PM me and I can give you some sad statistics....

It is true... And I work at the Administrative level of DOE...

Our schools are sad....and it's a state wide problem!

I myself will be sending my son to a Private school if they don't shape up soon...which I don't see happening...

All this has been discussed in many other threads.

[cougar88nw]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

Good to see some positive post for a change.


We are looking at a house in the District of Kau. Is this a good area?

Cougar88nw

[Alarick]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

You see more convertibles in Kona because Kona is on the dry side of the island, and that is your little "world". Try going into Hilo town and counting the number of convertibles there are there...I bet you'll be about the only one (with the exception of tourists who don't know any better). Of course, there may be more Acuras and Lexuses in Hilo, but they won't be convertibles.

And as a newcomer, I'd be really careful about complaining too loudly. Kama'aina don't like it too much when you start complaining right away. There's a reason why many locals don't like the "loud" people from the Mainland. Hawai'i is a melting pot of many cultures, and many of those cultures are Asian. In Asia you show respect for others, not flap your jaw just to hear your own voice.

Miulang

I lived on the Hilo side for the first couple months before i was here, and even with working in the car industry like i do, the general amount of convertibles on this island as a whole is more than in the mainland.

And believe me, there is no way i could complain louder than the local folk.
I for one have never yelled obscenities at the service manager at a car dealership because warranty coverage was denied due to modifications to a truck (lift kits).

Yes, i guess convertibles are more expensive than $50k 4X4 turbo diesel pickups with monstrous lifts and chrome wheels, and get far worse gas mileage than vehicles that are 3 times heavier and have larger engines.

I don't mean to be rude, but you people are serious hypocrites, and are the ones that need to wake up and come out of your little "world"


And by the way, for being a "culturally diverse melting pot" there sure are alot of closed minded people here who are very racist, funny how that works...

[MadAzza]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

And here I thought I didn't get to see fireworks tonight!

[Bard]

Re: Thinking of moving to the Big Island

The thread that just keeps on giving.

Aloha kakou! I'm living in Portland, OR right now but my wife and I are looking seriously at moving to the big island as well. It wasn't something we started out planning to do when we visited, but love's like that, isn't it?

I've done some pretty extensive research online, talking to people, so on and so forth... I've heard a lot of negative and positive things, and detractors on both sides. It is certainly a place that seems to ignite people's passions one way or another. I'm well aware it's got a set of problems, it's not all "heaven". But then again, I've never lived anywhere that hasn't had its problems.

We did the Waikiki thing at first, but tired of the tourism circus quickly and ended up spending most of our time in our rental car on the windward side of O'ahu and North Shore. We haven't gotten to visit the big island yet, but I feel like I have practically from all the research.

I understand the concerns over more and more people moving there, and agonized over whether it'd be right to add to the problem as someone who understands that it may not be right, but a) I hope that we'll be the kind of people you'd want if anyone's coming at all (and they seem to be...), and b) the idea of not moving is honestly depressing. We like Portland a lot, but I've never actually felt "reverse homesickness" when getting off the plane here... until now.

I think we're planning to do the "cautious" thing -- we've got another week trip planned tentatively for later this year to scope out things around Hilo, and if we're still feelin' it we'll do a month or so "vacation" with the telecommute for work (or I will anyway). Who knows if that'll work out, but as someone said earlier you can't not try without regret.

Mahalo!