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My friend says whenever she goes to the mainland she becomes "Mexican" since nobody can figure out any other ethnic pigeon hole to place her in. Betcha this isn't anything new and they did the same thing to the princes.
Hey, ya notice nobody complains that we put all the Norwegians, Danes, Kiwis, French, English, Russians, Aussies and all da kine into one big group and call 'em all "haoles"? Seems if we can tell Asians and Islanders apart, how come we can't tell Swedish folks from Danish folks?
LOL! This one made me laugh, not in a mocking way--I just thought is was funny, especially trying to tell Norwegians from Danes! It was like when I went to Austria and if you mistook them for Germans (or the reverse) the got SO angry!
After a summer there, I could mostly tell by the accent. The insane part was that, when I visited my relatives in Germany before leaving, everyone THERE thought I was Austrian! That turned out okay, because it was right after the Munich Olympic killings & during the Vietnam war and NOBODY like Americans! So I "passed" for Austrian! Funny...but sad!
The other problem with being American was also that almost all European guys back then thought American girls were "easy"! I got chased all over, until I stopped wearing blue jeans!
Before we get this thread off on race and/or neighborhood GPS, let's consider again how remote the Hawaiian Island are once you actually get here. When you wake up here on vacation, it feels (and looks) like paradise because you know you are really far away from everything. When you wake up and realize you're here to stay, it can be overwhelming. Somehow, everything that is really appealing for vacation can just take your breath away when you realize you're in the middle of the Pacific on a tiny volcanic protrusion. Then there's the tendency (for many whites) to feel overwhelmed by a predominantly Asian culture, new "ways," blah, blah, blah.
Those of us who have chosen it after years of consideration can still be surprised by its "different-ness." No place you move to is ever like the comfy, familiar place you've left, and nothing focuses your attention on that like thousands of miles of ocean. No roads to drive out on like you have on the mainland. No way back except the way you came.
This does seem like a rather extreme example of escapism-gone-wrong, but let's face it -- we see escapism all over these threads. This person had a job and a plan. It just didn't work out, didn't match up to her "vision." Call me crazy, but I'd say "mid-life crisis" before I'd jump on race or the hotel neighborhood. Especially now that we know where she stayed. [A couple of years ago, I stayed outside LA in Northridge at a friend's for a few nights, and there were helicopters with spotlights -- presumably law enforcement -- all night one night, but I didn't "freak out" and it didn't make me feel I needed to flee. It didn't make me want to move there, either. The next day, there was no evidence of whatever had gone wrong the night before. At the other extreme, I stayed on the Grand Canal in Venice and was awakened by the garbage scows three mornings a week. Stuff happens.]
I'm only sorry that this is potentially keeping other Portlanders from visiting the islands. Whether they want to stay or not, I think it's a state that's worthy of visiting. There's nothing like it anywhere else.
This was a GREAT answer, IMO! I actually thought about this, now that my kid wants to go there for several months...but I figured NOBODY else would think that but me!
I felt the same thing in Europe, after the school I went to (Near Salzburg, Austria) closed and after my traveling companions left for home. I had a BLAST that summer, but once it was just me, traipsing around Germany, coming back to a cheap, empty hotel room every night, it was REALLY lonely and depressing!
I was supposed to go to college in Freiburg for a year, but the town didn't appeal to me, so I blasted back to my beloved Massachusetts--and man, did that first lighthouse I saw, jutting out into the Atlantic, look SO comforting! I love traveling, but "there's no place like home"! I've never regretted my decision. Thanks for the excellent perspective.
I've lived on Oahu for over 3 years now and have never heard a gun shot that wasn't on a firing range.
I've spent a lot of time in Honolulu too. I agree there are nasty areas but the vast majority of Honolulu is very clean and safe.
I have felt the haole thing once in a while but not very often at all and I've never ever been called one except by another white guy...
The people here are more kind than any other state I ever lived in, they are outgoing and genuinely friendly for the most part.
The weather is the best of any state that I know of, it's amazing year round.
I suspect your friend made a hasty decision and is too embarassed to admit it so she's laying it all on a 2 day stay in Waikiki...which is clean safe and beautiful by the way.
I pay around 4,000 a month to live directly on the beach and I understand that prices are extremely high here for housing. Perhaps even a cursory look at a real estate/rental site could have prepared her for that?
Sadly now that I'm retired we're going to have to move back to the mainland and we're really having a hard time deciding where.
If houses weren't so expensive here we would never leave.
its a mystery. its kind of like working for amusement parks here, i hear rotten things about it.
i think visiting and working for the system are 2 different things. i meet a lota people with issues from hawaii.
Sadly now that I'm retired we're going to have to move back to the mainland and we're really having a hard time deciding where.
If houses weren't so expensive here we would never leave.
Mark, try Big Island? Houses are a little cheaper over here than on Oahu. I know I hope I never have to leave. Our biggest problem is specialized medical care.
I read with interest. I moved from 18 yrs in Florida, 2 years ago to S.C. Charleston, planning / researching Hawaii, to go live there as retired military,etc & single. Anyone needs to do good research and look at maps,Google images, read widely. Of course, food is more expensive across the board, almost everything is shipped there! Wide eyes I saw in Florida too; it is NOT Miami Vice, or Hawaii 5-0 in Oahu! Reality is the practical aspect of living anywhere. I decided to remain here, as I can visit where I wish anywhere, and live cheaply here. People salivating on Hawaii, especially now, should wait or move to Florida-good weather-but hurricanes and very crowded too! I lived on the ocean and it was expensive, and those living inland 2-5 miles receive little breeze, very humid, and may as well live in Indiana. Of course right now, the real estate market is horrible in South Florida too, and costs for rentals are high since "buying" is tough, and competition for "rentals" is high, meaning high rent prices! See the relationship? Read the stories from people that moved to the US Virgin Islands, St Thomas, St John, St Croix, and it is very similar in results. Many got island fever to leave after a few months. GO first if planned and done cheaply.
Suggestions to visit Hawaii are good, but, that is quite expensive too, unless she stays on base with her daughter while there. Her daughter will be involved settling in and supporting her husbands new challenges there too. Her daughter may be able to shop/buy food for her on base/military sources cheaper, but only if there are not authorization obstacles. Still, shipping costs are expensive no matter what, as Hawaii is in the middle Pacific! The roommate said she could clean homes, etc., but that requires "transportation", and being "on time". Think! It may also require a surety type bond enabling her to clean inside homes for liability reasons, so it is not just walking in and grabbing a dust cloth. Think!
Paradise is wonderful, but shoddy preparation will make that a hell if you do not know more and plan things well. At least if in Florida, you could drive out easier, but, Hawaii means flying and that is expensive. BOTH locations (Fl & Hawaii) can have tropical storms too, and even Hawaii had a tsunami in the late 1940s ('48 perhaps) at Hilo Bay with 30-40 feet "waves" and much destruction. These islands are in a volcanic chain, and Big Hawaii Island is active. Think! Regardless, best success and please plan well!
Last edited by Fortunekookie; 01-18-2009 at 09:41 PM..
Having lived and worked on Oahu for a number of years, and living just a few blocks from the Equus, I can understand your friends concern. That area is trashy - on the edge of Waikiki with lots of condemned buildngs, drugs and other problems.
Most of the locals I know from Hawaii haven't been anywhere beyond their home island so many on this board defend their home strenuosly - but without much knowledge of the real world and how it works outside of their little island 'paradise'.
Yes, the area isn't the best, Waikiki areas don't tend to be. But, with a $2800.00 budget, she should have done herself a favor and ventured a little further out than walking distance...it isn't Oahu's fault that she was too ignorant to conduct due dilligence for herself and rent a car or catch the bus.
On the second paragraph, I agree with that to a degree, there are tons of locals, born and raised that have never left, and never will. These are the same people who would rather live, five to a room, than move somewhere 'easier' - it doesn't even cross their minds. BUT, there are also tons of locals, like myself, who grew up in Hawaii, often visited the mainland, and moved up there, whether for school, or work. In fact, I have more friends from high school that live in LA, SF, SEA etc than back home - not all local born and raised islanders are as completely ignorant and sheltered in their existence as you think. Yes, you've employed hundreds - but in what field? If it's a field that will get you high school graduates and nothing more, you'll tend to get the locals that you describe, if it was more of a management or services oriented business, you just might have gotten a different result...
Anyway, back on topic. I feel for the woman, moving is never an easy experience, but to move somewhere without at least having a VERY GOOD idea of what to expect, is foolish at best. Knowing the area very well (my mom is a hotel manager down the road), I have no idea how she could have gotten such a purely negative reaction...she's literally a five minute walk from the Ala Wai Harbor (an area that is very picturesque and has tons of Japanese tourists taking wedding pictures all the time), and a ten minute walk from Ala Moana Shopping Center (one of the top SC's on Earth), and a fifteen minute walk the other way will take her to the new Beachwalk et al.... So, I'm confused? Is she a closet racist? Was she not able to understand her pidgin speaking boss and co-workers? Or did her hair turn into a fro-ey mess from the heat and humidity? Only she knows I guess, but I'm glad she has newfound appreciation for her home, I myself appreciate Hawaii a lot more now, than when I lived there.
I am an lpn with 3 kids looking to move ...i know i can find a job..i hope..my only true concern is that of my children..while i really dont see any real problem ..i just wonder how islanders think of bi-racial (black and white) people...i would want to get the feel for that situation in any state obviously..i get along with everybody so i think we'll be okay..just wondering of the exp. Of others..
I am an lpn with 3 kids looking to move ...i know i can find a job..i hope..my only true concern is that of my children..while i really dont see any real problem ..i just wonder how islanders think of bi-racial (black and white) people...i would want to get the feel for that situation in any state obviously..i get along with everybody so i think we'll be okay..just wondering of the exp. Of others..
My youngest is bi racial and he's only been adored here. Racially your children would fit right in since being mixed is almost the norm.
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"Tiny Volcanic Protrusion"!
