Magnum Mania!

WoW.... wish I could make the move too, how did you get along with your work visa? "Teacher Only" Visa? or can you look for other work? I am still trying to figure that one out for myself, I am Canadian and would love to just be a Bartender in Waikiki... but I don't think they have a work visa for that ;{)

I was doing a little investigating about food/gas prices and living expenses and where I live now: Prince Edward Island, Milk and Gas is more expensive than Hawaii!!!

erock308 wrote:Prince Edward Island, Milk and Gas is more expensive than Hawaii!!!

More a factor of Canadian taxes and American agricultural subsidies, than shipping costs. Interesting point though, considering trucks can still drive to PEI! I bet you have cheaper potatoes!

All I can say is good luck, Kolchak! I'll be keen to hear how you go!!

My wife and I went to Hawaii for the first time in March and I've been dreaming of going back ever since. Ashamed to say I've lived in Australia my whole life and my first surfing experience was at Waikiki. Heh.

Anyway. Excited to hear you're giving it a go. Hope you get that job soon and it allows you to stay there to live the dream.

Thanks guys for the support.

Here's the latest from Paradise. My wife, who is American (that explains my visa), has gotten work at a school. 1 hour a day. Yes, 1 single hour a day.

I've been finding the same deal. In Hawaii once you work 20 hours a week your employer is obliged to provide you with medical insurance by state law. So what a lot of companies do here is make sure they give you less than the magic 20 hours.
That means there are an awful lot of people here working 2 or 3 part time jobs trying to string together enough to live on.

We've also noticed that a lot of the people we've met here have some miltary connection, ie their partners or fathers work on the base here. Some of them live on the base- insurance, accommodation-bing all solved!

We've talked to several 'true' Hawaiians and when we ask them how they do it, they all say 'it's hard'. And they all mention 'ohana'- family. They really rely on the support of their families here, often 3 generations are living together, working 2 or 3 jobs and pooling their resources.

My wife and I think we could make it work here but it would be a bit of a struggle. Much like Magnum in "Home from the Sea", we'd be just keeping our heads above water.

All of this means that we're still trying to decide whether living in Paradise is really worth it. When we take a swim in the afternoon sun on the windward side and watch the most amazing sunsets, we think it is. When we have to go the supermarket and work out our budgets some of the glitz starts to fade away.

Still we're undecided. Will keep you posted guys.

That health insurance in the US is a bitch. Coming from OZ it must be a terrible shock. If you don't have insurance just don't get sick!

I met some canadian teachers there. They ended up teaching at really bad schools on the west coast. Might be an option if you don't think kids sniffing glue, etc. would depress you too much.

Good luck.

Mahalo Styles. I'll check it out.

How's it going, Kolchak?

Hope all is well!

Good luck on the move. The various islands are so different. I've been to all of them, lived on Oahu, and they each offer advantages and disadvantages.
Oahu can be hard to take unless you're a city boy. Traffic, congestion, tourist traps, crowds, etc. Kauai is beautiful but gets the most rain and is fairly isolated and small. Maui is a great blend. The Big Island tends to get most of the new settlers from the mainland, or Oz, in your case. But you have to choose between sides, the Kona side which get "vog" or the Hilo side. Molokai....forget it. All local and 50% of the people live on welfare and don't want it to change. If you are a die hard surfer, then it's Oahu pretty much. Maybe you take a tour and stay where your heart tells you.

When you get there, serious, join an outrigger canoe club. You'll get exercise, make friends and become "localized" pretty quickly. All the islands have OC clubs and many paddlers are serious racers and many are simply recreational paddlers. I've done the Molokai to Oahu race the last two years!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UIf4Tqs-kY

Styles don't talk to me about Canadian taxes. Lousy HST....aaaaaaahhh!!
Instead of 5% we now pay 12% on most things in the Province of BC. Anyways...gotta love taxes...

People aren't going out to eat much anymore, or going out in general, and BC was hit hard. Thankfully I found a job again back in June and hopefully ill do well enough to keep it. I was out of work for 8 months but so far so good.

Can't imagine things in the US though, but Im near the North West, so i'm not too sure...

Italian Ice wrote:Styles don't talk to me about Canadian taxes. Lousy HST....aaaaaaahhh!!
Instead of 5% we now pay 12% on most things in the Province of BC. Anyways...gotta love taxes...

People aren't going out to eat much anymore, or going out in general, and BC was hit hard. Thankfully I found a job again back in June and hopefully ill do well enough to keep it. I was out of work for 8 months but so far so good.

Can't imagine things in the US though, but Im near the North West, so i'm not too sure...

But it's an oh-so-beautiful province. You can't put a price on that, bro! Orcas swimming off the coast, dense forest and some of the best skiing in the world... Miss it dearly!

Yes, its a nice province, winters aren't too harsh here. Well, not Vancouver anyways.

Didn't know you frequented my side of the pond...

Italian Ice wrote:Yes, its a nice province, winters aren't too harsh here. Well, not Vancouver anyways.

Didn't know you frequented my side of the pond...

I'm from Toronto originally, but I've lived all over (including a stint in West Van!).

Howzit Kol!

Good news, bad news. Bad....yeah, it's expensive. Good....you're living in a great place. Jobs are available although you may start out being a barista or waiter or...? People are pretty friendly if you're friendly. You may be a haole but you have an Aussie accent, infinitely more preferable than a California, "Hey dude! Let's party!" accent. Also good....if you start out by being an ocean person, participating in ocean related sports, you're less likely to develop Island fever. I always considered the ocean as just an extension of the land, an integral part as it were, and never got the urge to leave. Plus, free steak from da' sea.
Advice...don't try to sound like a local by speaking pidgin. Unless you live there all your life, it comes out sounding fake. Don't drop in on any local boys at surf spots. Lastly, get involved with outrigger paddling. You'll make connections pretty quick or 'wikiwiki' as they say. Half the paddlers are female so there's another good reason if nothing else.
Here is the website for the organization on Oahu. 18 clubs.
http://www.ohcra.com/
Not to worry, novices are always welcome and have their own division and coaches. Big sport in Oz also. Hawaii has alot or recreational-type paddlers, not just racers.

Hui Hou!

You guys are champions. Thanks so much and sorry I've been so quiet lately. My wife and I have been working as much as we can and rented a small (tiny) place in Oahu. I have watched the outriggers going up and down the Ala Moana canal and it does look like a really good way to meet more locals. Will check that out. We have talked about checking out the big island too but jobs there are even sparser than in Oahu.

We are considering also heading back to Oz for now, making some more moolah whilst the job situation is good there, and heading back to Hawaii when the economy improves. We are sure that we want to live here, but maybe with the crappy job market at the moment, we need to regroup and make another attempt later.

We do both feel much healthier here. The sun, those beautiful trade winds, the general good vibes here and swimming in the ocean everyday just add up to an all round sense of vitality.

Will keep you guys up to date.

Will keep you guys up to date.

?

Just curious how things turned out...