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+--- Thread: The current situation (/showthread.php?tid=9514)
RE: The current situation - Carey - 11-17-2011
We moved from outside of the Chicago area (corn-farm country) to Hilo - main observation, Hilo & Hawaii Island are ag areas with much of the small time feel (all of it, good & bad), only with really much better weather....and a nice salt water playground.... and a few great mountains to explore (can you tell we are flatlanders from the midwest???) and a real live volcano, and a university nearby, and....OK, we did fall in love with almost all of it....
I am fairly glad we had not had the "resort' view of Hawaii first, it seems many people vacation here, & then move here expecting the same experience when they live here (I cannot tell you how many people are surprised that it is not just like their vacation.... I often wonder if they would have expected the "Disney" experience if they moved to Anaheim or Orlando to live & work...but that is just me...)
I do not know first hand about the nursing situation, but I do know that with most any job, it will take time (sometimes a couple of years) to build up credentials here for a good job....(it is really small town - most of the people that grew up here know some connection to each other, so it is easier to 'fact check' - when you just move, you are much like a blank slate) If your wife can get a toe hold with something like travelnursing, then you both may be able to build local credentials - oh, and your two degrees may have some worth at the university or community college....so don't circular file them....
We do have a friend with a son that is an upper level Aspergers & he found a school that was a very good fit for him - I used to teach environmental sciences & diving to special needs student back in the midwest, & have done SPED sub teaching in Hilo. I have found that most children here are not a severe as those in the midwest on the kids I have delt with....
RE: The current situation - Kapohocat - 11-17-2011
quote:
Originally posted by Justinwrites
I appreciate that. I'm from a pretty diverse background, the only white student in the school kind of thing, living in primarily Asian and African (as in immigrants) segments of Kansas City. So I'm pretty fast to adapt to cultures. I only say that so you know I'm not some hick with a piece of straw in my mouth and wide eyed optimism.[]
And my understanding of Travel Nursing is that it involves a multiweek contract that can be re-upped one or two times. So yeah, we're not diving in without a way out....
My husband is also from Kansas - a small farm town outside of Wichita - and he adapted pretty easily. His son did because although he went to Hilo HS, the local kids in our neighborhood liked him and showed him the ropes. Mind you, we don't have your wind, or cold, or heat as you do in KS... LOL
The traveling nurse program gives you a nice safety net to see if you like it here - many people freak out in November as it is our rainy month and this year has been more than typical.
Just for that reason (a safety net), the traveling nurse program, I would do it! HAAS is a nice school and one of our PW'ers works there too.
Or come during a school break, went it wont interrupt your child's school and visit.
RE: The current situation - the hare - 11-17-2011
I'm guessing that someone who sees Costco as the only plus to Kona is not a beach person
RE: The current situation - csgray - 11-17-2011
Hilo hospital uses many, many traveling nurses, we used to live next door to an apartment that was rented by the agency that handles their contracts and met quite a few. They were usually on 3 to 6 month contracts, and were supplied with furnished studio apartments, couples that were both nurses got 1 bedroom apartments. The nurses got no choice about the apartments and they ranged from primo ocean front like the one next to us, to really funky ones at the Reed's Bay condo that were full of loud partying tourists and cockroaches. I do not know if they would work with a family of three on suitable housing.
Your idea of using the traveling nurse avenue to check out Hawaii is good. It would be a good way to see if this is what you want. The DOE schools tend to be pretty tough to gain acceptance in, being an athlete can help for the older boys, but not always. I teach at a charter school in Hilo, and we get many new kids from the mainland, they have no harder time than any other new kids. My school, Connections, is also a full inclusion school, and we have support for kids with a wide range of needs, such as Aspergers, who are educated in the same room with other students, with specialized support.
Good luck, you will never know how you like it unless you try it, just don't burn all your bridges behind you.
edited to fix that typo I saw just as I pushed send.
Carol
RE: The current situation - punafish - 11-17-2011
"...Reed's Bay condo that were full of loud partying tourists and cockroaches."
@ csgray: LOL. I've seen loud partying tourists before, but never loud-partying cockroaches. I'll have to check that out
RE: The current situation - csgray - 11-17-2011
I think the cockroaches were the better neighbors.
Carol
RE: The current situation - dayna - 11-17-2011
quote:
Originally posted by the hare
I'm guessing that someone who sees Costco as the only plus to Kona is not a beach person
Strangly as someone who loves Hawaii so much, I am not a beach person at all. I much prefer the mountains (which is why we purchased land at 2800 feet) lol.
Dayna
www.AvianNation.com
RE: The current situation - sherry - 11-17-2011
I actually ended up in Hawaii because my sister was a traveling nurse. She ended up with a 3-month contract and they supplied her with a 2-bedroom condo, so she invited me out to stay with her in the extra room. It was great. At the end of the contract, they re-upped her and she stayed an extra 3 months. During that time, I ended up loving Hawaii and stayed after she returned to the mainland.
If you continue to homeschool on island, there are several homeschool groups in the area. We have homeschooled our son for the past year and have met many wonderful families through the local homeschool groups.
RE: The current situation - Kelena - 11-17-2011
Nurses are in demand in Hawaii. Which is why I put my ex-boyfriend through nursing school. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
RE: The current situation - pslamont - 11-17-2011
I would be happy to answer questions and give your encouragement, We have had a wonderful experience, diverse, full of ups and downs. We have some excellent information on school opportunities for special needs kids, I am a retired nurse, husband is a spec ed teacher, we live out in the country up the mountain.... feel free to be in touch.
Pam (pslamont@yahoo.com)
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"