How many of you have lived overseas for more than a few years? (transplants, private school)

[HKT]

After reading this forum for a while, it seems most posters really haven't lived outside of the US for any extended period of time. I'm just looking for a simple " yes I've lived outside of the US for more than 5 years, or a :No, but I haven't lived outside of the US"

The reason I ask is that those that have lived outside of the US have experienced a different culture/language, while those that have not have no idea what it's like to live in a different culture.region/environment/language which many seem to think Hawaii is.

I'd like to get the opinions of those that have and haven't lived abroad when it comes to moving to the 50th state.

As reference, I've been outside of the US for 20 years in Asia so I'm pretty much adaptable to most environments.

I'd love to hear both sides of this as I'm on the fence of staying put on a nice tropical island that gets a lot of visitors per year and has great int'l schools, or moving to HI for schooling for the kids as opposed to an international education.

Thoughts?

[whtviper1]

I lived in Sydney 1 year, Nagoya for 1 year, and Munich for 1 year - for work.

I don't have kids - so that is a non-issue for me on moving to Hawaii. But the public schools are just dreadful here.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

No, I haven't lived outside the U.S. Travelled lots, yes.

Just curious when you say many of us "seem to think" that Hawaii is a different culture. It is very different than what many of us from Colorado, New Jersey, Texas, etc. are used to. And since that's where most of us are moving or talking about moving to Hawaii from, what difference does it make whether or not we've lived in foreign countries?

[CyberCity]

Hello HKT. You asked for a "simple " yes I've lived outside of the US for more than 5 years, or a :No, but I haven't lived outside of the US", but I will indulge myself by answering a few points outside of that:

1) Hawaii, although it is now part of the US, definitely has a unique social/historical/cultural aspect to it due to it having been an independent nation, the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Hawaiian culture is still strong and active, and the political and social influences are part of our daily environment. (Thankfully!!) The Hawaiian language is thriving, and is reflected in everyday things such as street names, songs, dance (hula), ceremonies, etc. Hawaii might not seem so "different" from the mainland US on the surface, but scratch down a bit and you'll find it different indeed.

2) The public schools in the state of Hawaii vary from acceptable to bad. If you are planning on moving here with school age children, it is a major consideration you need to thoroughly research before settling in an area. Or, budget for private school.

I hope you find the answers you need.

[KauaiHiker]

Dreaming, I think what HKT is trying to say is that HI is still American culture, and that people who haven't lived some arbitrary number of years in another culture can't see that because they don't know how different a foreign culture can be.

Personally, I don't think the situation is as black or white as HKT implies. If the choices are: A) Hawaii is as different from American culture as say Thailand or B) Hawaii has the same culture as mainland America, then the answer is C) none of the above.

If I had to give a rough number on a sliding scale, I would say that Hawaiian culture is 60% different from average American culture. When I flew into Miami one time and heard airport announcements in Spanish and Creole, that felt foreign too. and I bet parts of Florida feel 40-50% different from the American average. So really, all parts of the US deviate in some way from the average. Other places with high differences would be Native-American reservations, Northern Alaska, and places influenced by foreign country (such as along the border with Mexico, or the French in New Orleans). I think Hawaii stands out because it is one of the more populated areas (and an entire state) with such a large difference. Also, Hawaii's differences are in an unfamiliar direction (Asian instead of Latino or European)--in other words, some Latino and European culture have already mixed into the American average, Asian less so.

Another bias in the numbers is the baseline that anyone uses to make such an evaluation. The implicit baseline in this discussion is probably industrialization. Because if the baseline is all of human experience, then the baseline would probably be native peoples such as Canadian First Nations, Amazon tribes, etc. With that baseline, Thailand and the US are only 10% different.

Of course, there is no single American culture either, it's a broad spectrum of similarities and differences from coast to coast (and Hawaii contemporary culture is not homogeneous either). Some parts of the West coast have more affinity to Hawaii than the average, for example, I would say Santa Cruz or San Diego are much more similar, only rating a 40% difference and 50% difference respectively. Another factor that makes this exercise rather subjective are the facets of both cultures you are exposed to in both locations. For example, I'm not a business man, so I don't interact with the business culture that is obviously a large component of American culture. So if Hawaii has a very similar business culture, then that similarity is missing from my guesstimate and a Hawaii businessman would say the overall difference to mainland culture is much less.

[winkosmosis]

I've lived in the Caribbean (I'm from Trinidad and lived there until I was 11), lived in Texas for most of my life, and spent a few months in Wyoming. Also lived in the Middle East for half a year when I was a kid.

Aside from transplants, Hawaii is very different culturally from the mainland... about as different as the Caribbean is, maybe even more so.

[Tiger Beer]

I've been living abroad for around 15 years...mostly Japan and South Korea...but also a year in South America and a year in Europe.

I'm not in Hawaii, I'm in Japan.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by HKT

I'm on the fence of staying put on a nice tropical island that gets a lot of visitors per year and has great int'l schools, or moving to HI for schooling for the kids as opposed to an international education.

Thoughts?

From my understanding, Hawaii schools are not that great. Whereas international schools are nothing short of extremely educational, to say the least. Just the background of kids alone that attend them.

[HKT]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies.Funny thing is I have a lot of friends that live in Hawaii and they all come here for their vacations.

[alex7777]

I can't imagine moving to Hawaii for the education. Stay put. (Unless you want to gradually americanize your kids, that's another issue entirely.) Seems like your money would go a lot further in Thailand, if you have a decent job.