Hi there, we are getting ready to move to Hawaii the begining of next year. We are kind on themidst of happiness and confusion. We have been to Oahu before and loved it but vacationing is soooo different than moving to a place for good. We have a 2 year old son and a bit concern about some racial issues mentioned in some online sites
This is making us a bit concern, becasue we dont know who to turn to for answers. We are wondering what are your experiences on finding schools, housing etc. We will be buying a house as well but dont know which place will be best. ANy ideas where to buy.
My husband wil be working in Aeia, I am current;ly a stay at home mom.
Any answers you could send me will be of great help.
Again thanks in advance and hope to hear soon from you.
Regards,
Welcome! I'm curious, what kind of racial issues have you "heard" about? I'm not sure I understand.
As for where to buy housing, it all depends on what kind of "environment" you would like. The Aiea/Pearl City area is okay (close to where your husband works), but depending where in the area, crime and stuff is not too great. If you're willing to spend more, there are other places outside that may suit your family (Hawaii Kai, Mililani, Kapolei). Again, all depending on what you would like.
Thanks for the reply, yes, rigth now we want to be in a nice area, with access to good public schools, and most certainly away from locations with crime and other. Mostly we want good schools for our son.
Some of the racial issues is the talk on how sometimes locals can be harsh towards foreign individuals. The also mention the problems from some schools where kids have been harassed/physical injured by other children from the same school for not being of hawaiian descendent. they talk about the whole Haole issue.
I am a bit hesitant to believe any of these comments, bc every time we have visited people have been more than wonderful to us. I am hispanic (cuba) my husband is caucasian and our son is a great child. Like any parent we want to make sure we are making the rigth decision for him.
Quoting nina1:Thanks for the reply, yes, rigth now we want to be in a nice area, with access to good public schools, and most certainly away from locations with crime and other. Mostly we want good schools for our son.
Some of the racial issues is the talk on how sometimes locals can be harsh towards foreign individuals. The also mention the problems from some schools where kids have been harassed/physical injured by other children from the same school for not being of hawaiian descendent. they talk about the whole Haole issue.
I am a bit hesitant to believe any of these comments, bc every time we have visited people have been more than wonderful to us. I am hispanic (cuba) my husband is caucasian and our son is a great child. Like any parent we want to make sure we are making the rigth decision for him.
I'm not too familiar with the public schools, but I know areas okay (I lived there for a few years). Mililani has been spoken of very highly--it's like its own community/island all on its own. It may be pricey to live there, though.
I think that since O`ahu is a lot more diverse, that "harshness" may not be there as much (unless you're in more "locally" concentrated areas). The "haole" thing is dependent--not all locals feel that way. Don't feed into the stigma that may/may not be there. Your son will do great, I'm sure, and he'll make a lot of friends.
Aloha, the racial concerns i'll be honest no matter where you go...it'll be there. Hawaii a lot less then the mainland I assure you. It doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. I can't speak for all of my people but what I do know is that we have a lot more aloha (Love) then most places that I've been in the mainland. Don't let your experiences with people take from your experience with the place. I hope that helped you somewhat, but again I can't guarantee you will not experience it. Aiea Heights has beautiful homes, pretty affordable in oahu close to one of our main malls, stores, and schools. Search online for the perfect fit for schools and homes. Homes are expensive here, no lies. I pray that you find all the help you need for a smooth transition to our islands. :) Aloha
Sorry just read this now, you know its sad when I hear how ignorant my own people can be! I don't mean that to be offensive but my people have so much hate in them and it makes us very ashamed. Haole just means foreigner it is used in the form of racisim in hawaii but it really should not be a word of hate. As said ^^^ we have so many different ethnicites thats why we are the rainbow state, people of different colors!!!
Crime is in every area but more in the country areas. Thats where you have opinionated uneducated hawaiians!!! lol sad to say, I myself stay away from those areas just to avoid the confrontations of my own people thinking i'm to good. lol I know where I came from and am not ashamed of it, our culture has so much more to offer if you are willing to embrace it.
As for schools, I just say private schools are always better then public school but you have many very good public schools in aiea and pearl city. Our schools have lots of bullying but because of that our schools have gotten more strict on it and it also lies within the parents and child/ren we need to teach our child/ren how to handle it if a victim and how to build friendships not enemies.
Whatever decision you make...is the best decision because you and your husband are making it for your blessed son! :)
Quoting nina1:Thanks for the reply, yes, rigth now we want to be in a nice area, with access to good public schools, and most certainly away from locations with crime and other. Mostly we want good schools for our son.
Some of the racial issues is the talk on how sometimes locals can be harsh towards foreign individuals. The also mention the problems from some schools where kids have been harassed/physical injured by other children from the same school for not being of hawaiian descendent. they talk about the whole Haole issue.
I am a bit hesitant to believe any of these comments, bc every time we have visited people have been more than wonderful to us. I am hispanic (cuba) my husband is caucasian and our son is a great child. Like any parent we want to make sure we are making the rigth decision for him
Thanks everyone for your answers, it helps a lot hearing what others have to say. We Love Hawaii and know we will do great. Everyt ime we visited people where more than nice and amazing, there were many, may wonderful people we met, and never had a problem.
Cant wait to move there, and know things will go smoothly.
Quoting r8abez:Aloha, the racial concerns i'll be honest no matter where you go...it'll be there. Hawaii a lot less then the mainland I assure you. It doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. I can't speak for all of my people but what I do know is that we have a lot more aloha (Love) then most places that I've been in the mainland. Don't let your experiences with people take from your experience with the place.
Agreed with this. Racial concerns are everywhere. In Hawai`i, you will definitely notice that the "minority" is the "majority". I think that might be different for some that are here.
I hope that you will continue to keep an open mind when you move here. I'm pretty sure that once you're here and settled in, this will not be one of your worries. You'll be amazed at how much a gallon of milk costs, and be sad over the fact that you can't get cheap yogurt! Hehe.
Hi there, Are you still popping by? Anyway, I just wanted to add to those that said something along the lines of "what you put out comes back." If you're friendly and warm, you'll be well received. Have an attitude and you may get one right back at you. ...like anywhere, right?
I'm white, and here's one question that you may be asked a lot ..."Are you military?" (I'm not asked, anymore and no, we're not.)
Aiea is pretty central from most points of the island. You might look at Mililani and Kailua. Maybe Hawaii Kai as well. All of these have good schools. There aren't a lot of stay at home moms anywhere, but you can find them. ...part time preschool, YMCA programs etc.
My experience (over a bunch of years) is that when you first get here it seems others who are newly here find you. As you're here longer, you find your friends have been here longer too. After a while, you'll have a rainbow of people amongst your friends.
What kind of work brings your family here?
Yoga Research for New Moms on Oahu
- nina1
on Sep. 1, 2011 at 8:46 PM