Maui Adjustment (Lahaina: real estate, condo, house)
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Maui is a beautiful place but lets face it folks you are not on a permenant vacation when living here.
There is a huge adjustment to go through and when people say it is either a problem for you or not at all - THEY ARE SO RIGHT.
I have half way moved to Maui with my husband and I am not adjusting well. My husband however is in heaven.
Some things that are making it difficult for me are....
The bugs - am I living outside or are they living inside - I seriously cannot tell at this point.
The drinking- I think the locals are drunk or stoned all the time and that is why they are adjusting so well.
The lack of professionalism in business- Lets just all run our own agenda and change the game rules whenever it suits us and tell professionals they are not on the mainland.
The price of food in the grocery stores.
Locals hatred of tourists - are you kidding they are the lively hood of the entire island.
If I am in a tropical island why is there so much traffic- I could be back in LA
I've heard that you should give a place one year before you make any decisions. Do you attend church? That could be a great way to get to know more people. Are you working or is it just your husband? If it's just your husband that could be why he is adjusting faster. There is a big difference between being at your job all day long vs. being at home and doing the shopping, etc. and trying to get to know people in the neighborhood. I hope things get better for you.
Maui is a beautiful place but lets face it folks you are not on a permenant vacation when living here.
There is a huge adjustment to go through and when people say it is either a problem for you or not at all - THEY ARE SO RIGHT.
I have half way moved to Maui with my husband and I am not adjusting well. My husband however is in heaven.
Some things that are making it difficult for me are....
The bugs - am I living outside or are they living inside - I seriously cannot tell at this point.
The drinking- I think the locals are drunk or stoned all the time and that is why they are adjusting so well.
The lack of professionalism in business- Lets just all run our own agenda and change the game rules whenever it suits us and tell professionals they are not on the mainland.
The price of food in the grocery stores.
Locals hatred of tourists - are you kidding they are the lively hood of the entire island.
If I am in a tropical island why is there so much traffic- I could be back in LA
Do you mind if I ask you what did you think Island life would be like?
What you mentioned sounds like the norm for Island living. No on likes the bugs!! The only way you can avoid them is to live around a concrete area or in a high rise condo. However if your neighbor is a slob bugs can easily travel next door. Don't keep food out, wrap up everything. If you like tourist then why not get a part time job working with tourist, this will keep you busy. Churches are a great way to meet people even if you are not very religious. Take a class at a local community college. Learn how to surf. Don't hold other people to your mainland standards and you will be fine. Remember in order to let go of the mainland mindset and way of thinking your mind will go through the following changes: (DABA) =Depression Anger, bargaining and finally acceptance.
More importantly learn how to relax and realize there are millions of people that would love to trade places with you.
Last edited by manoagirl; 08-24-2008 at 10:21 PM..
Yup, "living in Paradise" only works while you are on vacation. Otherwise it's just about like everywhere else except in slow motion with coconuts in the background.
Why should we be professional in business? That's a mainland thing.
Why should we like tourists? They come here and expect to be catered to because they are on vacation and forget to pack their brains. Of course not all of them are like that and there are many who are actually polite and considerate of others even though they are on vacation, but frequently folks on vacation take a vacation from polite manners.
Price of food has a lot to do with being on the wrong end of a 2,500 mile supply chain. Take up gardening, fishing and hunting as well as sharing whatever bounty you have with your neighbors so they will share back again. You only need one or two avocado trees or lemon trees in each neighborhood.
Have you seen any centipedes or cane spiders yet? See if you can encourage geckos to move into your house, they do a lot to lower the amount of bugs around. Cats are good at catching cockaroaches, too.
The bugs - am I living outside or are they living inside - I seriously cannot tell at this point.
This is something that you can fix. It just takes a whole new way of dealing with things:
Keep your sugar in the refrigerator.
Put "Combat" roach and ant traps under the sink, at the back of the counters and in the bathroom. Change them religiously every six months.
Bag your garbage and seal the bags. Every bit of it. If you have something like chicken bones left after dinner, put them in a sandwich bag and put that in the freezer until the night before trash day, then put it in the trash.
Don't keep the trash in the house more than a day or two. Seal the bag and take it outside.
Buy containers that seal, like tupperware, and keep things like cereal, rice, pasta, etc in them. When you open a bag of cereal, put whatever you don't use right then in the sealable container.
In other words, Keep the things that attract bugs completely out of their reach.
It takes some getting used to, but after a while, it's just "the way we do it".
Yes, it is indeed an adjustment.
You've received lots of good advice on the bugs, so all I'll say is that the biggest adjustment there is that you can't leave food out of sealed containers or the refrigerator.
Drunk or stoned - gosh, maybe in your neighborhood, but you need to explore other friends or neighbors. There is a HUGE Mormon population with locals, both native and not, and they don't do either. Only a few in my neighborhood drink with any regularity, I moved over all my hard alcohol and it sits untouched unless I have visitors. On the contrary, I find lots of older hippies who are vegetarian and non-drinkers, or sports enthusiasts who only drink moderately. Yes, definitely a big drug problem on Hawaii, but it depends on who you hang out with. I think you need to really check into other areas or find new pals.
Professionalism bad in business - yes, OK, I sort of agree with you. It depends on which aspect of professionalism you are finding missing. Turnover is huge, but that is in great part to the fact that lots of people move here and then move away within 2 years. You'll read a lot of people on this forum who find Hawaii living is not like vacation living. Off they go, and the employer needs to find new hires. Unemployment here is less than 4%. Which is GREAT if you think about economies, or are trying to find work, but bad for employers in that there is a small pool of available people. Those that you do hire are probably quitting another job to take yours - again someone has turnover.
Professionalism bad - also I find that Maui has lots of entrepreneurs. People start businesses all the time because they think being your own boss is easier than working for someone else. Or maybe Maui attracts that kind of spirit. In any case, many find they don't have the skills of running a business, even if they know how to do the actual work (e.g. roofing). So they have problems with quotes or running on time, or the paperwork. Many go out of business, many don't do well until they learn.
Professionalism bad - Maui does not have much in the way of corporate/office work except the county and real estate. So much is service industry, so the youth don't grow up with learning office skills. You will have to train someone a lot, and again there's the turnover as they move away or decide to do something else.
Professionalism good - Sometimes the lack of the formal business style is a good thing. I've had people give me a hand or waive charges or come over during off hours because they have a small business and we've established a great relationship. I find people more easy-going, and that fits my style. So while the delivery of a couch might be a couple of hours late, the fellows delivering it are super helpful in moving the entertainment center and are happy to get a tip and a Coke and will give me tips on growing a plant they see in my yard.
Tourist haters - aww, that's not always true. Again I think it's who you hang out with. Are the people who you are around generally complainers? Do they complain about work, and tourists, and traffic? If so, again you need to find some new friends!
By the way, you yourself just complained about the traffic, and guess who that is? It's the tourists. You'll find that on slow times the roads are less full. But if you think tourists are the biggest livelihood, and you are right, then you must also be prepared for the traffic. Which, by the way, is SO not LA. The reason there is slow moving traffic here is that there are fewer roads. So you have everyone on a 2-lane highway (to Lahaina) or 4-lanes at most. Plus we drive more slowly, and let people in from driveways.
In Northern California, the freeways are wide and full and fast. Here they are narrow and slower and not always full. What people consider slow traffic here is 25 miles an hour (usually it's 45), but in CA in traffic I would have been fully stopped looking at a sea of taillights.
Here's what I propose - slow down, and look around. Notice you almost always have a beautiful ocean on one side. Check out the beautiful palm trees, the brilliant flowers everywhere, the white egrets, the blue sky and white clouds. Look at the people walking down the street - they are dressed comfortably, smiling at each other (happy tourists on vacation or friendly locals), enjoying the weather and the scenery. Don't be in a hurry and any slight traffic won't seem like so much of a problem. Don't expect the traffic to move FAST - please, we like the slower pace, and isn't that why you moved here?
Thanks for all the great advice on the bugs - I am going to start a new regime right away.
I do think I need to move into a neighborhood that is more family oriented. To say the least I have learned alot of things since I moved here and need to make alot of changes.
I think finding a home is first on the list. Living by the beach in California offers a cooler climate vs Maui where being further up on the hill is cooler.
I need to find a home that has newer , quality construction - along with the new regime - less bugs.
In business - plan ahead since being short on time is not working for me or making me happy.
Like I said - there are many adjustments that I am going through and for me it is a first since I am a So Cal girl born and raised.
So... you think it'd be better if everyone were unprofessional in business?
I don't get it. Are you stoned right now?
I think what Hotzcatz means is that the perception of what is professional is different from mainland views Example: A few days ago I heard a mainland Physician comment that he thought that this Island Physicians was unprofessional I asked him how so. He replied "Well he worn an Aloha shirt, and slippers to a medical meeting instead of wearing a suit". He also felt that for the money he made he should of been driving a better car such as a Mercedes Benz etc... Also the Island Physician was too friendly with the some of the nurses. This made the Island physician unprofessional.
I found the Island physician to be down to earth easy to talk too and non pretentious. This sometimes can be viewed on the mainland as unprofessional lacking mainland manner and etiquette. The Island physician was simply a humble man and not over come with his achievements. Best not to judge a book by it's cover.
Are you Ron? He's a Nickel. He'd probably already know the local kine business, though so probably a different Nickel.
Being "professional" in business as per mainland style is usually quite brisk and efficient and un-personal. Here is much more laid back and friendly. I've seen a lot of business done Japanese style where the social aspect is just as important as the business part. Things are done on a handshake (if even that formally) and everyone does what is right instead of what is in "the contract". Generally, being "professional" means if it wasn't put in the contract it isn't done but being "unprofessional" yet island style, you know that to do a good job a certain thing should be done then you do it anyway. Even if you "lose money" on the current job, when other folks will see your work and hear about your work they will hear and see good things so eventually you will make up the lost money. Most times if you mention to the person about the additional cost which wasn't in the agreement in the first place, they will cover the costs of it and be grateful you are being careful of their project.
Many times mainland business is all about making money and frequently local business is about people doing what they like to do. When you get a wood worker who makes furniture because it is what he loves, he will make some incredible furniture and folks will give him a lot of money to buy the stuff he makes. If you have a wood worker doing wood work to make money, he will not be as careful of the work or make as nice of stuff since he is trying to make money and not furniture so in the end, he won't make as much money as the first guy making furniture because that's what his passion is.
We have a guy in our neighborhood who fixes small engines. He does a great job of it out of his garage. He's friendly, not all that fast and half of his payment is socializing with the folks who bring in their engines for repair. I take stuff to him just for tune ups since he's a nice guy and who else is gonna fix my old stuff with magnetos? Very unprofessional - especially since he spends as much time chatting as wrenching but he's been in business for decades and is quite likely to be there for decades more.
So, yes, in Hawaii it might be best to be unprofessional.
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