Family would like to move Kaua'i from Oregon (Koloa: fit in, transplants)

[Oboy]

The wifee and I are seriously contemplating moving to S. Kaua'i from Oregon. We have been there three times with our keke's . We are mostly tired of the cold long winters here followed by the hectic summers and thinking we are ready for the more consistent climate and more even pace lifestyle. Of course the thought of living in paradise invokes the "to good to be true" thought for me....
We are prepared to either rent our home here and try it out for a couple years or sell our home and buy outright there. In the low to low medium price range.
We believe we would love it there but I am not 100% sure we would not eventually get homesick.I know no one can answer that for me. We have resided here in SW OR for most of our lives and are not regular movers.
I am a successfull self employed contractor with a wide range of construction/handyman skills. Specializing in res.tile for last twenty years though. Wife is great mother to our kids and hard worker .We both have variety of skills and determination.
We are hoping to find the right thing ... Home , career , lifestyle, weather, aloha activities, community with unity, positive environment for keke's, good school experiences, etc.
Would like advice on a few things and any extra ,Mahalo.

Will we be welcomed as neighbors with our complete just respect for Kaua'i life?

Can a 40 somethin year old Haoale find decent work with just skilled labor?

Will being a Haoale always be there?

Will keke's be welcomed ? Mostly?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Mahalo,mahalo,mahalo.

[haggardhouseelf]

I hope someone answers you! I am interested in the responses to your questions as well.

We live in Oregon, too (Willamette Valley) and once our kids are done with school (in about 5 years) my husband and I are thinking of relocating someplace warmer and sunnier. We love Oregon but sure do crave the sun for long periods throughout the year!

Of course, we won't have the keke concerns your family has, but other issues still apply! Good luck to you and your family and I will be watching this thread!

I would like to add: when we have been in Hawaii I actually make a point to check out some of the public schools there. My husband had a job offer in Mililani at one point so we were considering relocating. Personally, I found the public schools there to be even more depressing than Oregon schools. (I love Oregon schools at the elementary and middle school level, but the high schools in Oregon really need a lot of help!) There is a high concentration of drugs and gangs in Hawaii - I know those issues are everywhere, but in Hawaii you really need to be careful. There's a lot of poverty there. Even one of the principal's who gave us a tour of a middle school warned us that especially as mainlanders, our kids might need to be very careful and watch out for bullies, gangs, theft of personal belonging's, and drugs. He said it's worse in Hawaii than it is in the mainland. He had taught in Texas and Illinois, too, prior to working in the schools in Hawaii, so he had experience of both mainland and Hawaii public schools. He said like any place there were good and bad neighborhood schools, but that the good neighborhood schools were also in the very expensive neighborhoods. We ultimately decided we would wait until our kids were done with school before we think about relocating again.

[Oboy]

Mahalo,
it is so nice of you to reply. We LOVE Oregon too... Just after so many years we yearn for that climate. As we get older the cold weather seems to be getting harder to cope with for us . We are so much happier when the (warm)sun shines , however it is a flurry.
I have read the forum for a while. My wife does not and does not believe the schools/drugs there to be a such a problem. At least not worse than here. I have to agree it is societally widespread here, our schools don't seem too bad though.
It is sad to hear again though. I would assume those problems are worse in the higher grades..?

[kaupani]

Originally Posted by Oboy

The wifee and I are seriously contemplating moving to S. Kaua'i from Oregon. We have been there three times with our keke's . We are mostly tired of the cold long winters here followed by the hectic summers and thinking we are ready for the more consistent climate and more even pace lifestyle. Of course the thought of living in paradise invokes the "to good to be true" thought for me....

If you think that living in paradise means leaving the cares of daily life behind, then yes it is too good to be true.

Originally Posted by Oboy

We are prepared to either rent our home here and try it out for a couple years or sell our home and buy outright there. In the low to low medium price range.
We believe we would love it there but I am not 100% sure we would not eventually get homesick.I know no one can answer that for me. We have resided here in SW OR for most of our lives and are not regular movers.
I am a successfull self employed contractor with a wide range of construction/handyman skills. Specializing in res.tile for last twenty years though. Wife is great mother to our kids and hard worker .We both have variety of skills and determination.
We are hoping to find the right thing ... Home , career , lifestyle, weather, aloha activities, community with unity, positive environment for keke's, good school experiences, etc.
Would like advice on a few things and any extra ,Mahalo.

Will we be welcomed as neighbors with our complete just respect for Kaua'i life?

Not immediately. It takes a while to integrate into the communities of Kauai. A lot of people move here and then move away within two years; many long-time residents don't want to take the time or effort to welcome someone who may be gone soon anyway. There are also people who have the same kind of attitude that you expressed in one of your posts, where you wrote that Oregon degenerated after Californians arrived, "Having grown up here , I can say things were not this way till Meth and Californians arrived." People here point to Mainlanders with the same accusations.

Originally Posted by Oboy

Can a 40 somethin year old Haoale find decent work with just skilled labor?

I would strongly suggest dropping the "haole" thing right away. It might sound endearing from the Mainland, but it sounds like an over-the-top attempt to fit in from here.

Originally Posted by Oboy

Will being a Haoale always be there?

You'll always be a foreigner to some people. But if I were you I would worry more about finding employment than trying to fit in.

Originally Posted by Oboy

Will keke's be welcomed ? Mostly?

I don't have kids so can't help here. However, it's spelled "keiki."

Originally Posted by Oboy

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Mahalo,mahalo,mahalo.

I lived in Eugene for over a decade, while an under grad and later in grad school. I too got sick of the weather. I love Kauai, but Eugene has many things to offer that you can't find here. It's good that you've visited the island so that you at least you have a flavor of island life.

Also, I don't know this for a fact, but I imagine it is really difficult to break into the construction/contractor trade here. A lot of the work comes from people who know people, and unless you're in those circles it might be difficult to find jobs. But then again, that is not my trade so I may be speaking out of turn. There are plenty of archived posts on this site that will undoubtedly help you in your search.

[Oboy]

I appreciate your honest advice.
I did not expect to leave the cares of daily life behind , just to be able to live somewhere so wonderful is hard to imagine. Vacationing and living are two different things.
I would suspect the attitude toward "mainlanders" would be similar to Oregonians for Californians. Personally I do not resent Californians if they become Oregonians and leave what they left behind, if ya get my drift. So I can see where Islanders would get irritated at transplants bringing their baggage and trouble along. It's kinda like someone rollin in a lowrider here tryin to look gangsta... ? Why not go back to da hood ?
What I mentioned in my post regards the fact that here we are having rampant burglaries alot now. I know of several folks that just left for work and their homes were ransacked. That used to be very rare here. I know those things existed down south in da hoods years ago.
And are we not haoale's? Don't locals use that term regularly? I was trying to get used to some of the common words there like keike (thanks for correcting me).
And as far as work goes I am hoping to just fit in and find something confortable that I can excell at.
By the way , I forgot to mention , my wifee's childhood buddy and her family have lived in Koloa for twenty years... So we do have at least one family of friends there.
Mahalo .

[HiloDiver]

Originally Posted by Oboy

Don't locals use that term regularly?

No.

[kaupani]

Originally Posted by Oboy

And are we not haoale's? Don't locals use that term regularly? I was trying to get used to some of the common words there like keike (thanks for correcting me).
And as far as work goes I am hoping to just fit in and find something confortable that I can excell at.
By the way , I forgot to mention , my wifee's childhood buddy and her family have lived in Koloa for twenty years... So we do have at least one family of friends there.
Mahalo .

Good thing about having someone on island; that can help in so many ways.

Look, as far as "haole"; you are free to do what you wish, however I would suggest that just as people warn against newcomers trying to talk pidgin to fit in, going around referring to yourself as haole will likely not endear you to anyone. I work in a fairly professional environment, with both locals and not, and I seldom hear anyone use the term haole. I heard it more often on Oahu, but it was still rare.

If you want to use common Hawaiian words, concentrate on keiki, makai, mauka, wai, kai, kukui, lanai, lilikoi, aina, honu, kapu, hale, niu, ono . . .

When I search for the word "tile" on Craigslist's job section, I come up with three solid possible positions (tile setter/tenders), paying between $20-$35/hr. They require you to have your own tools.

[Oboy]

Mahalo again.
I love straight shooters!
I get it on the haoale thing. I remember being in an office in Kaloa buying inner island ticket back to Oahu once, the lady was curious about my Portuguese last name spelling being a little different than local. She say's" Oh you are haoale"! I said "what do you mean"? She says something like" That is not how you spell M***z here that is mainland". So it stuck with me ... And I have seen it around different forums. So I am straightened out on that , better now than later . Thank you ...
I really do appreciate all your help.
Aloha for now.

[Oboy]

Oh yeah,
almost forgot. I have checked jobs on CL and having been tilesetter for long time ... I am thinking would like out of "contracting" alltogether. If right thing happens , OK. Would probably rather be a setter's helper now and am pretty good at either . Would really be interested in like condo maintainance/handyman if that was something needed there. I am hoping to be a benefit to someone somewhere. And vice-versa. Gracias.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The only thing I have to add is that real estate on Kauai is very expensive. I don't think there is anything available in the low to low medium price range. Even tiny falling down mill shacks on postage stamp size lots are way up there in price. So perhaps you could examine some realtor's websites and see what your money could buy for you.

Or look at the rental section on Craigslist to get a feeling for rents.

Other than that, I can't criticize Kauai as a choice for a place to try out. Keep your eye on the OPB schedule. They occasionally do a special about Hawaii that is nothing but a fly-over of each of the islands, set to some music. Surprise, none of the islands look like people general dream Hawaii will look like. But still, very beautiful and the film is worth watching if you are interested in Hawaii.