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I was seeking a better economic situation. I am from Hilo-side of the Big Island and when the sure mills closed and the jobs that were available were even harder to find, that was my signal to look elsewhere. I was a vocational counselor in Hilo and saw first hand the economic outlook as far as job availability. I live in Atlanta, Georgia and the main difficulties as I see it is the total lack of anything culturally Hawaiian. No music, no get-togethers, no halau of any quality. The closest thing we have is Asian markets where we can get ingredients to make local style food. The culture here was a little difficult to understand as the racial polarity seems much stronger here. I would prefer to live in Hawai’i, due to family, friends, the Hawaiian culture and understanding of the people around me. Financially mainly… unable to see us affording to live there at the level we can easily live here on the mainland. Anonymous  Cultural shock was the first thing that I encountered. Don’t get me wrong… I’m not a traditional looking Hawaiian. I’m tall, fair to olive complexion skin color (mother British from New Zealand) with slightly slanted eyes (father Hawaiian-Chinese). I don’t look like the typical “Californian” which at times worked to my advantage. My mother refused to allow us to speak “pidgin” in the house so we learned at a very early age to switch back and forth. This ability also assisted me in “blending-in” with the haole. It took me over 5 years to acclimate to the weather patterns of Northern California. You dress differently, for the seasons, and I had to expand my wardrobe to “fit-in.” This is very expensive so be prepared. The people here aren’t related to you in any fashion so greeting them with a kiss is out of the question. Not the same kind of aloha we have at home. The food was very different and this too was very difficult. Now it is easier that more of us are here. More stores are carrying Aloha Shoyu and Hinode Rice. I can find some stores that carry laulau and there are a few “Hawaiian Style” restaurants – some not all that good but it is an improvement. Luckily there are quite a few Chinese and Japnese stores around. My choice would be to move back home but I’ve been here so long that the weather back home bothers me a lot. The working wage is not comparable to what I’m making now and I have many relatives that don’t have steady work and not too much opportunity even if they are college educated. Too bad that home is no longer what I remember. Too many buildings, too many tourists and too many cars. The part that bothers me the most about moving back home is the various groups that want to label me and my siblings. We are Hawaiians born and raised but because we’re not half-Hawaiian we aren’t considered to be good enough. What a dilemma for us, not quite fitting in anywhere especially the place we call home. Hope this finds you well and perhaps one day you will share your story with me. Aloha no. Anonymous We moved to get a better education. There were more opportunities here, but we did encounter some prejudices. My wife on several occasions stood in line at the movie theatre to buy popcorn and in the grocery stores and was not waited on. The clerk helped the person on the right, then on the left and then her. I had some similar experiences, but not many. Our children seemed to have encountered a little of that in high school. If I had the choice to live here or in Hawaii, I would choose here because all my children live close by, we have seven grandchildren and we get together every Sunday for Family Home Evening and to have family dinner. I would love to move back to Hawaii but the cost of living is so high, we would have to work twice as hard to keep with the cost of living Anonymous in Utah My name is Mika'ele and was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1961. My parents moved to Canada in 1958 from England, where they were both born. My parents, my siblings and my daughter all hold Canadian/British citizenship yet my mom is Hawaiian. We are direct descendants of a servant to Kamehameha II Liholiho and Queen Kamamalu. When the King and Queen travelled to Britain on a state visit in 1823-1824 they took with them a good size entourage. When the King and Queen died, a good number of the entourage opted to stay in England and live out their lives. They married English people and had families. This is where my Kanaka Maoli roots come in. Although my blood quantum is not high through 175 years of ancestry, I feel more Hawaiian than Canadian or British. I travelled to Hawai'i for the first time in 1976 and knew immediately that I was home. For 150 years no member of my family had set foot on Hawaiian soil until I got off that airplane. Since U.S. immigration will not allow me to live in Hawai'i because of my citizenship, and they will not grant me citizenship based on my blood quantum (only US citizens may live and work in Hawai'i) I am happy to travel to my homeland whenever I can afford it. Unfortunately, it has been 13 years since I have been able to afford it. I will continue to work hard toward the regaining of our sovereign status so that I may return my ohana to our homeland. I am also currently doing research into the name of my forefather that travelled to England so long ago. I need to do this for myself. I have not had much luck so far but I will continue to check archives at the Bishop Museum and also with the English Government. There has to be some record somewhere. I hope I have been of some help to you incompleting your project. I do not understand why any Kanaka Maoli would want to live anywhere but at home in Hawai'i. Sincerely, Mika'ele I am moving back to Hawai'i because "I neva like leave in the first place." I am older now and not living the "fast life" anymore so I am just about ready to go back to where my heart has always been. Aloha, Bob 2.) It was difficult adjusting to the lifestyle, food and the fast paced environment here in the mainland. However, the most trying was being away from 'Ohana and the culture 3.) If we had our choice we would return to Hawai'i, if we could take our jobs with us. Although my husband is from O'ahu, I am from Maui and would prefer to return to Maui so my children can experience the life I was accustomed to. Most importantly so our children can have daily contact with their extended families. Sadly, the job market is not able to offer us what the job market offers us here and without that we cannot survive as a family in Hawai'i. I would even consider any Hawaiian island just to be close to the culture and family again. Our children are being robbed of the greatest gift that my husband and I was so fortunate to be born into and that is the wisdom, love and spirit of the islands. Anonymous added 11/10/05 I read some of the stories too, and just wanted to share my own experience with you. While we were living in Hawai'i, my husband and I both worked our okoles off and didn't have time for much else. I am sure the story is all to familiar to you. We were slaves to the economy and then with the birth of our second daughter in 2001, I took a 4-month maternity leave which was awesome. After that it was back to reality. We carpooled since he worked by the airport, and we had a babysitter in Kalihi. We were getting home at 6:30-7:00 nightly. Then there's the public schools in Kailua that suck big time. In fact, my daughter recently had a substitute teacher here who was from Hawai'i and taught at Kalaheo. We struggled, but was able to keep her in private school all the years we lived there. The teacher told my daughter how lucky she was NOT to have gone to Kalaheo. The school she goes to now is awesome. It has everything - every sport and sports facility imaginable, every extracurricular program imaginable. And it's a public school. She'll be writing in the school newspaper starting next semester. And of course, my hubby's job has MUCH more room for advancement away from Hawaii, although we're hoping it will come full circle some day and bring us back as well. As for me, moving to Texas has been the best thing to happen to me. Believe it or not, but I have the time to learn more about the Hawaiian culture here. I don't have to work. I'm a stay-home mom here, which is a job in and of itself. BUT, after hooking up with the right people, I have learned more Hawaiiana here in one year than I have living in Hawai'i. And that was mostly because I didn't have the time. Now, I have the time and have taught myself how to cook a lot more local and Hawaiian dishes, Hawaiian arts and crafts, 'olelo.......it's awesome and so IRONIC, but I am grateful to be fortunate enough to have time here, so I have devoted it to immersing myself in it. My fear was that my little one wouldn't know Hawai'i. She's four now, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. I am succeeding :) She had show and tell last week and had to bring something with the letter "H". She brought her stuffed animal Honu. Jodi Benevides
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