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Your mainland references and experiences don't mean anything here.
Wow, that's a bit misleading. My mainland references and experiences have proven EXTREMELY meaningful, and very useful as well. People have different experiences with this sort of thing, you know.
Wow, that's a bit misleading. My mainland references and experiences have proven EXTREMELY meaningful, and very useful as well. People have different experiences with this sort of thing, you know.
Unless you are in a very high-end job, they mean squat.
Most of the people posting here about getting jobs in Hawaii aren't looking for that high-end job. They routinely post about getting service jobs at places like resorts.
I would really disagree. It doesn't take much to prove that YES you can fold sweaters, make beds or wash dishes. I was offered a part-time job at a nursery after merely mentioning to the owner that I loved working in greenhouses. Then she maligned about local workers, saying that they 'don't have work ethic'.
It isn't so black and white. I know many, many people that have come to Hawai'i to work construction, hospitality and such in the winter. When was the last time you applied for this kind of job? According to most everyone I've met, and my own experiences, they are very easy to get.
Perhaps when North America became a "melting pot" and mixed everyone together they lost the ethnic identity that many countries have. I don't think there's any "United States" bloodline anyone can claim. Technically, we (as citizens born in the United States) can't lay sole claim to be "American" since there's the whole group of folks in South America who are also in that group.
The feeling of division is quite likely true, once you fit in so that feeling is gone, then you will be accepted into the group.
You've only been here for two months. Why should folks reach out and embrace you, accept you socially as part of their group when you aren't? Can I move to Texas and be accepted socially as part of that group within two months? Can I move to Texas and tell folks they are moving too fast and we don't do it like that in Hawaii and be accepted?
This first part is exactly what I came to realize was the real driving force behind my desire to move - be it to Hawaii or somewhere else.
It's the mixture of cultures in Hawaii that draws me - because I have none of my own.
I can't remember if I typed it in another post, so forgive me if I repeat myself. The short version of both sides of my family is very poor, immigrant farmers who came by themselves to remote, low-population areas of the central states to try and make a new start after failure in their home countries.
So it becomes the conversations about hostility and rejection from a new culture that paralyze me with fear.
Work, education, housing, sustenance, even a place to worship - these things can be overcome with patience, determination and hard work. The desire to belong, to have an identity greater than yourself and dare I say it - acceptance in a community; that is a greater matter entirely and one largely out of our control.
However, if you read threads of this type from a detached viewpoint, culture and acceptance are really what we're coming back to time and time again. Not everyone obviously, and not always - but it's a strong enough theme to call it out and start looking at it from other angles.
I left in the last of hotcatz's post as well because I wanted to say that I'm in Texas, in a rapidly growing office with people from all across the country and HOLY CATS is that comment spot on.
We've had to have managers step in and shut e-mail threads down when the native Texans and native Californians start in on each other. Usually the people from Louisiana have thrown in their hat as well, on one side or the other and the rest of us are left wondering if any of these people could possibly be for real...
Finally, on a somewhat related note, I was browsing the Denver forum today (since I have a longshot at a career change there) and the threads are surprisingly similar. Natives vs. transplants, stereotypes about states and questions about race - and not just at the high-level, threads with very similar tones, details and attitudes to the ones we see here.
As I digested all the threads from today, I was reminded of a line from The Mother Truckers, "... I guess that puts us in an awkward position, ain't no one escapes the human condition at all."
- Don
Last edited by PonderingDon; 10-16-2010 at 06:25 PM..
Reason: clarity
Unless you are in a very high-end job, they mean squat.
Most of the people posting here about getting jobs in Hawaii aren't looking for that high-end job. They routinely post about getting service jobs at places like resorts.
People with "High end" jobs aren't posting about trying to find those jobs because they've already got 'em. They are imported into Hawaii with great regularity because the skilled professional, and scientific employee pool here is pretty shallow. (for what reason, not sure about that part)
I probably get 3 to 5 calls or e-mail per week from these folks looking for housing as they arrive here ready to step right into that job.
Im from Louisiana but my Uncle lives in Hawaii. His ex-wife moved to the mainland and told me about how she grew bored of the same weather, the same scenery, and she thought a Louisiana thunderstorm was the most fascinating thing ever. Hard to imagine someone thinking like that but it gave me some insight into how the unchanging atmosphere of an island could become very mundane. However, I do think Southern Louisianians would get along with Hawaiians and vice versa, because here it is apparently also quite different from many areas of the US. People describe the "culture shock" when they come down here. I would imagine Hawaii to be similar.
I think if I could find good shipping sources for mainland things I enjoy, I could easily live in Hawaii myself , although I hear it is quite costly. One thing I like about my state is it is generally welcoming to outsiders. Cajuns love company and they love to talk to strangers. Come visit and youll find that out! I am willing to bet Hawaii isnt as introverted as people say it is either. It probably just takes adapting to local customs. But being out in the middle of the Pacific in an exotic locale does not sound dull to me. Id quite enjoy it. But Id also have to have occasional trips to the mainland.
I think the point here is, local references are a lot more worthwhile than mainland references. And that it's more important in Hawaii than in most places to try and become part of the community.
People in Hawaii are many timezones away from those mainland references and they also don't seem to like dialing more than a 7 digit phone number (no area code needed). References are too easily faked, especially ones that are so far away. It is what it is.
Im from Louisiana but my Uncle lives in Hawaii. His ex-wife moved to the mainland and told me about how she grew bored of the same weather, the same scenery, and she thought a Louisiana thunderstorm was the most fascinating thing ever. Hard to imagine someone thinking like that but it gave me some insight into how the unchanging atmosphere of an island could become very mundane. However, I do think Southern Louisianians would get along with Hawaiians and vice versa, because here it is apparently also quite different from many areas of the US. People describe the "culture shock" when they come down here. I would imagine Hawaii to be similar.
I think if I could find good shipping sources for mainland things I enjoy, I could easily live in Hawaii myself , although I hear it is quite costly. One thing I like about my state is it is generally welcoming to outsiders. Cajuns love company and they love to talk to strangers. Come visit and youll find that out! I am willing to bet Hawaii isnt as introverted as people say it is either. It probably just takes adapting to local customs. But being out in the middle of the Pacific in an exotic locale does not sound dull to me. Id quite enjoy it. But Id also have to have occasional trips to the mainland.
It is true we are quite spoiled when it comes to weather. There are distinct seasons but they are subtle.
I think you'd be welcomed to Hawaii if you were to visit or move here. Especially if you brought some cajun cooking! Yum! Cooking food and eating in groups is a favorite pastime of folks in Hawaii, isn't that similar in Louisiana? Add in some music and dancing and it's a luau!
First answer, because in almost any situation, knowing someone local helps with any job. Answer two, because it's part of living Aloha.
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