Newcomers get clued in on how to 'Live Aloha'
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Islands Editor
Longtime Maui resident Jill Engledow has advice for newcomers to Hawai'i: If you did not grow up here, do not try to speak pidgin.
Buy those sweetbread or linguiça tickets your co-workers are always selling for their kids' fund-raisers, and be humble and polite, not pushy, she says.
Thousands of mainlanders move to Hawai'i each year, and most are clueless about what they are in for, according to Engledow, a freelance journalist and author who conducts "Island Life 101" seminars for new residents and businesses and government agencies that hire out-of-state workers.
The 3 1/2-hour seminar covers Hawaiian history and culture, how to pronounce Hawaiian words, what it means to "Live Aloha," and more practical matters, such as the need to provide an original Social Security card in order to obtain a Hawai'i driver's license.
Engledow, who first moved to Hawai'i in the 1950s and co-wrote the award-winning "Magic Maui" travel guide, recognized a need for newcomer orientation while working at the Hawai'i Community Foundation office on Maui, where there were many discussions on the importance of building "social capital," the bonds between people that make a community strong.
She recalled an executive in a high-tech firm lamenting that he spends thousands of dollars recruiting employees with special skills who end up staying only a couple of years.
"It's really hard to move into a new community," Engledow said. "You have no connections, you don't know any people and you don't know where things are. It's even more difficult for newcomers in Hawai'i because of the history and cultural mix."
By not helping transplants find a place in the community, "we're in danger of diluting the social capital that has always made Hawai'i so special."
"In addition, some of these people we want to stay," she said, because they contribute skills and resources.
Before starting her seminars in August, Engledow conducted focus groups with people who moved here five to 10 years ago, to learn about their experiences. She also met with kama'aina to find out what they want newcomers to know, namely: "There's a previously existing culture here. Hawai'i is not a little piece of California that broke away and floated off into the ocean. They need to adjust to that."
Engledow published a 40-page handbook that provides a nuts-and-bolts collection of resources and hints for living on Maui, including information on local food, Internet resources, local government, health care, child care, calendar of events, disaster planning, coping with the cost of living, and ideas for getting involved with the community through volunteer work.
Although her seminars have been confined to Maui, she hopes to expand statewide.
"The Island Life 101 Handbook" is available for $11.95, plus shipping.
The next "Island Life 101" seminar will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 pm. Saturday at the Hawai'i Nature Center in 'Iao Valley. The cost is $59 per person or $99 per couple, which includes handbook, snacks and lunch.
For more information, visit www.islandlife101.com, e-mail Engledow at islandlife101@verizon.net, or call her at (808) 242-5459.
Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
