Since moving here we have made many mistakes. Many things have gone right and we have really been adjusting pretty well, but with any move to a new place (and this place does have it's own culture) we have discovered that we had things to learn! I have been keeping a running list because that's how I amuse myself. So in no particular order Here they are:
- Leaving lunch unattended while taking a quick dip in the ocean.
This actually happened the first day we were here. We picked up Subway (because we had no food or
anything in our house, except for the 18 boxes we brought with us) and took it to the beach. Mason was so excited to try out the water that he left his lunch for just a few minutes... this is what he came back to:
There are a lot of pigeons and other scavenging birds here, ready to pounce! We have learned that they don't like lettuce.
- Not packing long-sleeved shirts
I just assumed that since we were living in Hawaii, we wouldn't need any sweatshirts. I was very wrong. The first 5 or 6 weeks, it was in the low 60s with wind. I'm not complaining! I just wasn't prepared for anything less than 75. Thankfully my mom came to visit within 2 and a half weeks and she found our bin of winter clothes and brought my requested long sleeves. Here Lochlan is wearing mine because we got caught in a rainstorm while hiking in the botanical garden...
I went to the DMV twice and had to leave without my license both times because here you have to have your marriage license (not certificate), social security card, and birth certificate. I had to order our license and now I have everything I need to go back. So far, the only things I've determined can make a difference having a Hawaii license vs. an Oregon one is that we can get into Hanauma Bay for free, and we get a Kama'aina discount for shave ice on the North Shore.
We were woefully unprepared for this little pest. They are knocking on our screens at all times of the day and night, and a few manage to get in when we open doors or keep them open for very long. I googled natural solutions and found that coconut oil is pretty good at keeping them at bay. We lathered the kids with it every night for several weeks until we were able to kill most of the ones that had been lurking in our closets and pantry.
But we made our worse mistake when we went hiking to Maunawili Falls. Coconut oil did not cut it! We all got a few bites, but Cambria fared the worse when we finally got there. We all hung out near the pool of water with the mist and breeze. Cambria and Locke stayed back a little further... perfect bait for the mosquitoes. She was eaten alive wherever her suit wasn't covering her.
You're lucky I didn't take a picture of this, because it was gruesome. Geckos hang out on walls and doors and screens in and out of our house. But sometimes (twice in our house) they made the mistake of being in the tract of the screen door. They were unfortunately decapitated. Now we close our doors a little more slowly.
- Car testing certifications
I spent a couple of hours driving around to different mechanics, shops, and car dealerships trying to get our tags for state requirements on the car. They all had
excuses of various reasons: The guy who does that is sick, we don't check your kind of car, we only do that on Tuesdays... I went home empty handed and Cliff finally found a place on his day off that could do it if you wait 2 hours. Well, now it's done!
- Kayak Capsizing/ turning too fast
You will dump the people and contents of the kayak if you turn too fast. It is a good thing that one rookie mistake was not that we didn't have a dry bag. We have two and one of them now contains Kaiah's diabetes supplies since she goes Kayaking frequently...
- Not being able to get on base
Since we are not military, we are unable to get on base without the proper car decals. When I asked them (with a smile) if my transformer decals count, they did not smile and just said, "No."
We have attempted to purchase several things from Craig's list and unfortunately many of them are on military bases. One guy came to the gate to sponsor me so I could get in, but we still couldn't do it because I didn't have Hawaii insurance... they are sure particular! I guess that's good for government security and all.
We have bought a few things in haste that we wish we wouldn't have. In reality, things turn over so fast here, that patience is key, and the thing that you really want will pop up fairly soon if you are diligent to look consistently.
- Leaving a glass of milk out
You must never leave out a glass of milk, or anything else with food for that matter, for any length of time. Doing so will result in a huge trail of ants throughout your house. We don't even try to control them with ant killers or anything, because if there is no food source, there will be no ant problem. There are always a few lone ant and cockroach searchers in various parts of the house, but I am not bothered by them anymore. I just make the kids clean up/vacuum after themselves often and we keep all food in air tight containers.
- Accidentally buying mustard lettuce
There is a lot of produce here that I've never seen before. My mom and I bought some lettuce that looked a lot like romaine, but it wasn't. It was spicy... interesting!
It rains a lot here, and tiles are very slippery... but they dry very quickly when the sun comes out.
It took me four times to get this right. Once I didn't have a membership. Once I didn't pull up some handle. Once I spilled gas on my shoe. Once I entered in the wrong zip code for the card I was using and was locked out of the tank. It was humbling to go ask for help. They don't understand that Oregon won't let you pump your own gas... so I was just the haole idiot :)
This little fella (whom we named Banana Baby) was riding on the banana tree that we bought at a country nursery. We felt quite comfortable in our car and jumped all around! We didn't know we needed to look out for hitchhiking geckos.
There's a big difference. But we called them all geckos for awhile. The first pic is a lizard, the second is a gecko. Also, we never find lizards in our house.
- Buying wrong size of Silpat on Amazon
It's important to check the fine print of stuff that we order online. We are doing this a lot more now that we live here. We've received a few things that were incorrect because we didn't pay close attention.
- Signing up for sports (Canoeing) that race on Sunday mornings
Christians who go to church on Sunday will need to choose between church and some sports. They do not make it easy. Canoeing regatta races are every Sunday all day for the whole summer and Flag football has made us change our attendance times and churches on more than one occasion. I really don't like that.
When you sign up to bring snacks for sports teams, what they mean is that you must bring a picnic lunch and drinks for every member of the team. This is about a $40-$50 cost by the time you are done purchasing personal pizzas, Gatorades, fruit, and chips with a dessert for each kid. Man, I'm glad I wasn't the first person on the flag football team snack sign-up. They would have thought I was a stingy jerk. Granola bars and a juice box are not enough apparently!
This is very difficult. You must have the element of surprise and basically get them on the first or second attempt. Those suckers are fast and agile! And I just learned that they can swim...
The state of Hawaii makes it extremely hard to recycle if you don't have curb side service. Coming from the green state of Oregon, it seems like a cardinal sin to just throw this stuff away! The horrible thing is that they ship their garbage to Oregon and Washington anyway! So we did our best to try to find places to take our stuff. Most spots that take it will only do bottles and some plastic. We have been having to throw away our cardboard, some glass, and paper stuff. It almost physically hurts!
- Waiting too long to eat veggies/ fruits
Produce spoils very quickly here. We have learned that you must eat it within 3 days of purchasing it if you don't want mold or rot. Costco stuff is the worst. By the time it makes it over the ocean, it really doesn't have long at all.
- Hanging up towels in an area that is not well ventilated
Towels will not dry when hung in a bathroom or laundry room with the door closed. It's just too humid.
Mold will grow very quickly in the cupboards under cups that aren't moved regularly. I try to dry all dishes well before putting them away.
- Calling someone by the wrong title
No one calls anyone Mr. or Mrs. here when kids are concerned. Everyone is Aunty or Uncle. Even if you've never seen them before. It felt weird at first to have a complete stranger (like at a garage sale or at a new church) tell my kids, "Aunty will give you that toy if you like it.", or "Uncle's lesson today is about kindness." It's kind of fun that people enjoy kids and see them as a blessing and that they all sort of assume the job of helping to raise them or help take care of them.
This awesome caterpillar is gorgeous... but in the community garden we have, we are supposed to chop it in half. I guess they are destructive. We are also supposed to call the leader whenever a chicken is caught in a trap. They are captured quite often and eat a lot of produce. But Mason is unable to stand it, and tries to free them and put them back over the fence whenever possible.
I'm sure there are more, but this is what I was able to come up with from our first 3 months. We have learned a lot, and our brains are on a little bit of overload when it comes to new names and information. But for the most part, we're figuring things out! The culture here is just different enough to be amused and make a few mistakes without being completely overwhelmed :)
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