Living in Hawaii

Have you ever seen the term OCONUS and wondered what in the heck that means? It means Outside Contigous/Continental United States. Hawaii and Alaska are considered OCONUS even though they are US States; so is Guam, Puerto Rico, and other US Territories; then there is Japan, Germany, UK, Singapore and anywhere else. The chance to go OCONUS during a military career is a great opportunity for you. We haven’t had the chance once but several times. In fact my husband was already stationed in Hawaii when we met so when we got married I moved there and we were there 3 ½ years before PCSing to Washington State. We actually had an opportunity to go back to Hawaii again 4 ½ years later and it was a chance we took, to bad it was only for 18 months.

Hawaii what a place to live in, great food, great people, great beaches, pretty much great everything if you know what to do. Common questions are asked so here is some Q&A for you

Q - Isn’t Hawaii expensive for groceries?
A – Yes it can be but not if you know where to go. If you are there with the military then using the Commissaries and Exchanges is the best thing. But you can also use the chain stores if you have the shopping card for the deals and there is also Sam’s Club & Costco. Pearl Harbor has the biggest commissary there but bigger isn’t always cheaper. It can be cheaper at Hickam or Kaneohe Bay or Schofield depending on the products you are looking for. Sometimes it is cheaper at Sams or Costco and other times the major grocery stores. Read the ads and do comparison shopping.

Q – What about eating out is that going to be a lot of money?
A – Yes it can be there as well but again you need to know where to look. We would eat out quite frequently but often it was under $25 for a family of 4. Of course now the kids are older it would cost more but not that much more. We would go to the small ma & pa owned restaurants. One we always recommend is Young’s Ramen in Salt Lake Shopping Mall by Radio Shack. Their food was awesome and cheap. We would also do plate lunches at Yummy’s Korean BBQ or went to Ann Miller’s. Plus we did a comparison between Washington State and Hawaii and you know what it was actually cheaper at McD’s in Hawaii than in Washington State. Along with some other places we ate out either cheaper or around the same price give or take a few cents. The reason, the sales tax in Hawaii is over ½ of that in other states. Just look for small places, try new things and you can get easily wowed over with the choices you have. Our kids eat more Asian food than they do American food.

Q – Don’t locals hate outsides/haoles?
A - Haole doesn’t mean just white person it means any foreigners. And to be honest after what some of the foreigners did to the locals I wouldn’t be happy either, but that was many generations ago. Yes you can have some problems with locals, but you can have that in any location. They don’t hate you, they can though hate your attitude. If you go there with a chip on your shoulder, always checking your back, being disrespectful and everything else then you are going to have problems. When we first got married we lived way out of town in Kunia but I worked in downtown Honolulu, so every work day I would take the bus. I was the only haole on the bus and never had an issue. In fact I made some great friends on that bus. We also went to the small local beaches and never had issues there either.

Q – what about the schools for kids aren’t they horrible?
A – that depends on you as a parent. The schools the military kids go to have more funding than other schools because of the DoD putting money in there. But you also have to be involved in the education of your child to and can’t leave it just to the teachers. Yes there is some bad schools but that too happens in any state, there is other school districts that are just as bad but not a comparison to them. If you make sure you are getting the right information, talk to the teacher, help your kids, then they can be successful. There is always going to be ups and downs in any school. Our kids went to a top school in one state that I found was horrible and they didn’t like it. Our daughter was actually behind when she went to our next school and had a lot of ground to catch up on.

Q – what else can you tell me
A – Hawaii is a place you either love or hate. I know people who have hated it while they were then but as soon as they left they realized how great it was and wanted to go back. Others loved it and never had issues. Yes it is hard being so far away from family & friends and getting there to visit is expensive. But it is what you make it. You have local friends and military friends and all become part of your family. Calling you Auntie and Uncle shows you that. People are respectful to each other. There is great food to eat, beaches to go to, things to see and people to meet.

We have ties there that will be forever that is something I know. To us Hawaii is and always will be home.