Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

[mjj]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

ETA: MJJ...as I see it, your major stumbling block will the the $65k job. The cost of living in so much of California is sky high that moving to Hawaii may not come as much of a financial shock to you.

You are right, I'm not very shocked by cost of living as I live in South Orange County which is pretty expensive, most people here too cannot afford to own anything more than 4 walls and roof here either. Also the gas prices really were nothing we have seen before here.

I am putting alot of thought in to the money issue. I guess really the answer to that kind of depends on the answers of my original questions. If Hawaii is really as special as I got the feeling it was then I'd venture to say I could live with a pay cut. Based on how many thoughfull and warm replies I have already received from two different message boards I'd say it might just be true! That says alot about the people, or atleast about the people who frequent these boards.

Thank a lot.

[MadAzza]

I'm half white / half Filipino but I look 1000% white

Well, you already have the odd idea (only in Hawaii!) that "white" is an ethnic group, so you should fit right in.

I've worked for the state now for 7 years... Even If I continue in my "Technical" position... I still won't be making 65,000 per year in 20 years at the current pay scale that the State has set.

Oh, you're angry about that, are you?

If I had a job where I had time to post to Hawaii Threads 27 times a day during my shift, all at the taxpayers' expense, I wouldn't be bitching about it, at least not in public. I'd be ashamed to.

You could get out of that cushy job and compete in the private sector, but then you'd have to actually work. Probably not an attractive alternative.

[mjj]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

Well, you already have the odd idea (only in Hawaii!) that "white" is an ethnic group, so you should fit right in.

Is it not true that in the context we are speaking that it doesnt matter what my background is? I look like a "Haole" and will be treated as such.

[MadAzza]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

Is it not true that in the context we are speaking that it doesnt matter what my background is? I look like a "Haole" and will be treated as such.

Yes, it matters. It furthers the idea that "white" is an ethnic group. Otherwise, why mention the Filipino part? (Rhetorical question.)

[mjj]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

Yes, it matters. It furthers the idea that "white" is an ethnic group. Otherwise, why mention the Filipino part? (Rhetorical question.)

This is true, that part really doesnt matter either when it comes down to what we are talking about here.

[helen]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

By the way what sort of sub-field of IT are interested in? Programming? System Administration? Networking? User Support? Setting up desktops on people's desk? Troubleshooting hardware?

[tutusue]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

You are right, I'm not very shocked by cost of living as I live in South Orange County which is pretty expensive, most people here too cannot afford to own anything more than 4 walls and roof here either.[...]

My daughter lives in Irvine. I'm guessing you're a bit further south. I'm originally from Laguna Beach. The cost of living there may be a bit higher than Hawaii, esp. factoring in the property taxes. I know someone who lives in an older, small, charming, bungalow style 3/2, 5 blocks up a hill from the beach. Her prop. taxes are $14,000./year. Unbelievable. Even if I sold my Hawaii condo I couldn't afford to return to Laguna. My daughter's prop taxes in Irvine are $5000+/year.

As a couple of my clients and I told my daughter...it's about quality of life. That's why I live in Hawaii and I think that's her main reason for wanting to move back. I know I was willing to make financial sacrifices to live in Hawaii. The truth is, those sacrifices are what led to the increase in my quality of life. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, tho'!

[Mahi Waina]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

Anybody that is making an issue out of your ethnicity is not likely to have much effect on your ability to make a living, so just ignore them. Beware of the bosses/owners/managers (haole or otherwise) with the attitude that they can pay you for less than what you are worth, or work you to death, because they are doing you a favor by giving you a job in Hawaii. True, the competition is greater, but that never seems to apply to their compensation! It's those buzzards, not the locals, that drove me away.

I wish some of the more vitriolic anti-haole posters here realized that we have a lot more in common as victims of rich and/or power mad sociopaths than I had in common with my ex-bosses, who didn't treat me any better though we were of the same ethnic extraction.

[Jonah K]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

You are right, I'm not very shocked by cost of living as I live in South Orange County which is pretty expensive, most people here too cannot afford to own anything more than 4 walls and roof here either. Also the gas prices really were nothing we have seen before here.

Ah.... South Orange County... no wonder you want to move to Hawai'i. If you aren't too concerned about buying a house, it's probably a little cheaper to live in Hawai'i. Here's a "cost-of-living" calculator to play around with:
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/cal...c.html?type=to

Furthermore, wow, I have never seen so many beautiful Asian girls in one place at one time in my life and from what I hear the stream is never ending. (I generally date asian girls anyway, white girls don’t like me because I don’t drive big trucks, motorcycles, etc, you know the general stereotypes that put those girls out of reach). I find the Japanese girls particularly intriguing and I don’t know why.

By the time it was time to go I couldn’t wait to get home and start looking for a job on Oahu, get rid of things I don’t need and start taking Japanese classes. But, after reading the forums for a few hours I have become deflated as I guess things are how I thought they were. So I wanted to get some feed back from you guys on the reality of Hawaii and what you think my prospects might be.

However, if the above two paragraphs are any indication of your primary reason for moving to Hawai'i, you might want to consider moving to Guam instead. IT jobs are rather plentiful there, it has a relatively low cost-of-living, and you shouldn't have much of a problem getting a Japanese girlfriend (or two).

[mjj]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

My daughter lives in Irvine. I'm guessing you're a bit further south. I'm originally from Laguna Beach. The cost of living there may be a bit higher than Hawaii, esp. factoring in the property taxes. I know someone who lives in an older, small, charming, bungalow style 3/2, 5 blocks up a hill from the beach. Her prop. taxes are $14,000./year. Unbelievable. Even if I sold my Hawaii condo I couldn't afford to return to Laguna. My daughter's prop taxes in Irvine are $5000+/year.

As a couple of my clients and I told my daughter...it's about quality of life. That's why I live in Hawaii and I think that's her main reason for wanting to move back. I know I was willing to make financial sacrifices to live in Hawaii. The truth is, those sacrifices are what led to the increase in my quality of life. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, tho'!

Yes, I live in Irvine as well, and its just far too expensive to own here right now but I'm imagining what you get for 1200 rent here is alot nicer than what you will end up with in Hawaii.

I guess I need a second, thrid, and fourth trip to have a look around see what the conditions are like.

[mjj]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

Ah.... South Orange County... no wonder you want to move to Hawai'i. If you aren't too concerned about buying a house, it's probably a little cheaper to live in Hawai'i. Here's a "cost-of-living" calculator to play around with:
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/cal...c.html?type=to


However, if the above two paragraphs are any indication of your primary reason for moving to Hawai'i, you might want to consider moving to Guam instead. IT jobs are rather plentiful there, it has a relatively low cost-of-living, and you shouldn't have much of a problem getting a Japanese girlfriend (or two).

hmm, interesting, how are the beaches? the people? might be worth a visit

[mjj]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

Guys, I just want to make clear, I would not be looking for trouble at all, I am fully open to the culture, its just stories and articles like these that have me worried:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...6fe72227c14615
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...d87208c82c18a9

and the other stories of road rage found on this site, etc.

[Jonah K]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

hmm, interesting, how are the beaches? the people? might be worth a visit

The beaches are quite nice, especially Fafai Beach and Tanguisson Beach, even though most of the tourists prefer the beach at Tumon Bay. As for the people, I'd say that the Guam locals are as friendly as the locals in Hawai'i (maybe even more so). Here's a link to some general info....
http://www.guam-online.com/

[tikiyaki]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

Guys, I just want to make clear, I would not be looking for trouble at all, I am fully open to the culture, its just stories and articles like these that have me worried:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...6fe72227c14615
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...d87208c82c18a9

and the other stories of road rage found on this site, etc.

Not for nothin' but did you look at the date on those posts ? They're 10 years old. Perhaps things have changed a bit since then...I don't know.

[i-hungry]

Re: Was my Hawaii trip false? sheltered? naive?

MJJ,

There's bad in Hawaii too. I'm not going to list any of them but you'll see it sooner or later.

I still rather live in Hawaii than the mainland.