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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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 Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Tiger Beer wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
| I hear from the locals that now is the time to buy property on Guam as values will rise with the closure of the U.S. military base on Okinawa and increase in troop presence in Guam. |
Okinawa is closing its bases? Where did you hear that? |
Locals on Guam told me there will be a MASSIVE SHIFT from Okinawa to Guam of personnel, as the miltary "moves out" of Okinawa as a "major base".
I heard it from Guam locals TWO different times in the last week and a half.
Perhaps the Americans will leave a skeleton operation in Okinawa, I dunno the specifics. |
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SpuriousGeorge
Joined: 01 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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Well, if the move to Guam is going to happen, it won't be until something like 2015 according to the big dude in the Pacific Command.
Also, they are considering moving to Australia, not Guam. |
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Geckoman
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:18 am Post subject: Move to Guam! |
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If you can't afford to live in Hawaii, then move to Guam.
Guam is exactly like Hawaii but smaller and cheper.
It's a secret not too many folks know.
In fact, one of the mottos for Guam is "America's best kept secret."
Some Americans are so dumb they don't know Guam exists, or if they do, they think it is its own country.
Is California its own country? No. It's part of the US of A just like Guam. How stupid would we think an American is if he thought California was its own country. Yet too many folks think Guam is its own country.
If your not a Yank and you didn't know Guam is part of the US that is acceptable as America is not your country. But if your a Yank you should
at least know what places are part of your country.
Guam is awesome!
If you can't afford Hawaii, move to Guam!
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:43 am Post subject: Re: Move to Guam! |
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| Geckoman wrote: |
Guam is exactly like Hawaii but smaller and cheaper.
It's a secret not too many folks know. |
Hawaii is a U.S, state whereas Guam is a U.S. territory; a Hawaiian can vote, even become President, whereas the citizens on Guam cannot vote in U.S. federal elections. They are like the citizens of Washington, D.C., disenfranchised for no good reason. The Democratic Party wants to change the Constitution, and thus in the meantime give votes during the primaries, Guam 2008 results: 3 went to Obama, 3 to Clinton.
Hawaii has volcanoes and the accompanying voggy weather, Guam has trade winds bringing very breezy weather.
Hawaii is a tourist trap on an international scale whereas Guam is a tourist trap for the Japanese mostly, and some other Asians.
Hawaii has a bona fide city in Honolulu whereas Guam has no city of any size, just small towns really.
Hawaii is a long ways from anywhere but have tons of flight to everywhere whereas Guam isn't far from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan but only have flights to those few places (and to nearby islands like Saipan).
Hawaii is famous and the locals ham up their culture in touristy ways whereas Guam isn't so famous and the locals practice their culture quietly when not working at hotels, restaurants and massage parlours for Asian tourists.
Hawaii is a surfers paradise with huge waves whereas Guam is a windsurfers haven with so many windy days.
Hawaii is 'cool!' whereas Guam is 'huh?'
Hawaii has many islands whereas Guam is just one of the Mariana Islands in very interesting Micronesia. |
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Geckoman
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:14 am Post subject: Re: Move to Guam! |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
Hawaii is 'cool!' whereas Guam is 'huh?'
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Another reason to visit Guam!
If a place is "huh?," that's another reason why you should visit it. Any place that is "huh?" to you, means that you should go visit it so that you get educated about it and so that it is no longer "huh?"
Guam is actually not "huh?" to Asians, though it is "huh?" to North Americans.
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Geckoman
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:37 am Post subject: Re: Move to Guam! |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| Geckoman wrote: |
Guam is exactly like Hawaii but smaller and cheaper.
It's a secret not too many folks know. |
Hawaii is a U.S, state whereas Guam is a U.S. territory; a Hawaiian can vote, even become President, whereas the citizens on Guam cannot vote in U.S. federal elections. They are like the citizens of Washington, D.C., disenfranchised for no good reason. The Democratic Party wants to change the Constitution, and thus in the meantime give votes during the primaries, Guam 2008 results: 3 went to Obama, 3 to Clinton.
Hawaii has volcanoes and the accompanying voggy weather, Guam has trade winds bringing very breezy weather.
Hawaii is a tourist trap on an international scale whereas Guam is a tourist trap for the Japanese mostly, and some other Asians.
Hawaii has a bona fide city in Honolulu whereas Guam has no city of any size, just small towns really.
Hawaii is a long ways from anywhere but have tons of flight to everywhere whereas Guam isn't far from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan but only have flights to those few places (and to nearby islands like Saipan).
Hawaii is famous and the locals ham up their culture in touristy ways whereas Guam isn't so famous and the locals practice their culture quietly when not working at hotels, restaurants and massage parlours for Asian tourists.
Hawaii is a surfers paradise with huge waves whereas Guam is a windsurfers haven with so many windy days.
Hawaii is 'cool!' whereas Guam is 'huh?'
Hawaii has many islands whereas Guam is just one of the Mariana Islands in very interesting Micronesia. |
What you say is true. However, your comparing ALL of the Hawaiian islands to the single island of Guam. So it's not a fair comparision.
But if you compare just the Big Island of Hawaii, which is what this thread is about, to Guam, Guam is a lot more exciting.
Tiny Guam has more people on it than all of people on the Big Island.
And given that the Big Island is as big as it is, with that few people, and that much land, everyone is all spread out and there is no real urban environment. Laid back? Yes. Urban excitement? No.
Guam however, being as small as it is, and with more people than all of the Big Island, is more compact and so there is more of an urban environment.
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Geckoman
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:08 am Post subject: Okinawa to Guam |
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Here's a recent news article about the upcoming move of US military personnel from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam, USA, that was in The Washington Post the day before yesterday, on January 3rd.
To see the article go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301286_pf.html or see below.
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Guam, focus of new US strategy, faces hurdles
By ERIC TALMADGE
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 3, 2009; 3:16 PM
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Sprawling toward the horizon in every direction, Andersen Air Force Base is surprisingly quiet, leaving the impression of a big, empty parking lot.
For now, anyway.
Over the next six years, nearly 25,000 U.S. Marines, soldiers, family members and civilian Defense Department employees are to descend on the tiny Pacific island of Guam, transforming the sleepy tropical outpost into a hub of America's military in the Pacific.
But the metamorphosis seems as fragile as it is ambitious.
Guam's transformation will cost at least $15 billion _ with Japan footing more than $6 billion of the bill _ and put some of the U.S. military's highest-profile assets within the fences of a vastly improved network of bases.
The newcomers will find an island already peppered with strip malls, fast-food franchises and high-rise hotels serving Japanese tourists who want a closer-to-home version of Hawaii. The plans for the base are fueling a fresh construction and real estate boom which Guam hopes will accelerate its prosperity.
But Guam is smaller than some Hawaiian islands, with a population of just 155,000, and many of its officials are worried that the military influx could leave the island's infrastructure _ water, highways, and seaport _ overwhelmed and underfunded.
Felix Camacho, the elected Republican governor of the U.S. territory, says he believes in the long run the troop influx will be "tremendous" for Guam's economy, but it will be "a difficult and complex process."
"I remain hopeful," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Our challenge is that we know that the Department of Defense and Japan will build a first-rate base." But Guam has "limited capacity" to develop its own infrastructure to absorb the influx, he said.
Joe Murphy, in a recent editorial in the Pacific Daily News, Guam's main newspaper, focused on the upside.
"The shift of Marines may cause problems," he wrote, but "Transportation should get better. Our nightclubs should get better. So should our restaurants and movie theaters. It all should trigger an advancement in the social scene on Guam. This is a new era, and we've got to move forward."
However, the whole plan could collapse if Japan fails to build a replacement for a busy Marine Corps air base on its southern island of Okinawa _ a festering issue that one senior U.S. military official acknowledged is fraught with difficulties.
The buildup plan, to be carried out by 2014, represents a major realignment of U.S. forces in the Pacific:
_About 8,000 Marines are to be shifted 1,200 miles southeast, from Okinawa to Guam, making it the Corps' second largest permanent overseas staging and training area.
_The Navy has already deployed three nuclear-powered submarines to Guam and is seeking improvements to accommodate the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which carries about 5,000 sailors and airmen.
_The Army wants to deploy a ballistic missile defense task force, which would bring roughly 630 soldiers and 1,000 dependents to Guam.
_Long-range B-2 bombers have begun regularly deploying to Guam, along with squadrons of F-16 fighters. Military planners are considering bringing in the new F-22 fighters as well _ though details remain sketchy _ along with Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft and a dozen tankers.
The buildup is designed in large part to ease the long-standing over-concentration of forces on Okinawa, the U.S. military's key Pacific outpost since the 1950s, without pulling them back too far from such potential flash points as Taiwan and North Korea.
Although China and Russia, the U.S.'s main rivals in the Pacific, have been quiet, North Korea is characteristically wary. In an editorial, the state-run Minju Joson newspaper said it was meant to enable the Pentagon "to carry out its strategy for a surprise pre-emptive attack."
But keeping the Marines at their present levels on Okinawa has become unrealistic.
By treaty with Tokyo, more than 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed throughout Japan, which pays billions of dollars each year to support them, more than any other country with a U.S. base on its territory.
Okinawans have long complained that their crowded island has to absorb too much of the presence, and of the crimes and other misbehavior of U.S. personnel stationed there. More than half of the U.S. troops in Japan are on Okinawa, as is Kadena, the biggest U.S. air base in the region.
In U.S.-Japanese negotiations, Guam has emerged as the most practical alternative.
Okinawans have generally welcomed the move, and Tokyo has pledged to invest nearly $3 billion in building barracks, offices and other facilities for the troops on Guam, and to lend another $3.3 billion for developing supporting infrastructure.
Roughly 10,000 Marines are to stay on Okinawa, however, and Tokyo has run into serious opposition in trying to move the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to a less congested part of Okinawa. Many Okinawans want it off the island altogether.
Lt. Gen. Edward Rice, commander of the U.S. forces in Japan, says the whole move to Guam depends on Futenma getting new premises on Okinawa.
"There are serious and significant challenges that remain for us to facilitate the transfer," he said at a news conference in Tokyo.
� 2009 The Associated Press
Source: The Washington Post; Saturday, January 3, 2009; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301286_pf.html |
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Godhasbeengoodtome
Joined: 28 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with all of the above. Hawaii is beautiful and a paradise, but the people are tough. The natives hate whites from the mainland. Whites are killed, beaten, and bullied out of jobs.
I went to a church there once and they treated me badly because I was white, and that was a church. (Actually that happened in two churches.)
So go to enjoy but be careful. |
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Geckoman
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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Bigfeet
Joined: 29 May 2008
Location: Grrrrr.....
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| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Sounds like some serious job opportunities opening up if there is indeed a large move of American troops to Guam. |
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Geckoman
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:30 pm Post subject: Military Move to Guam a Guarantee |
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| Bigfeet wrote: |
| Sounds like some serious job opportunities opening up if there is indeed a large move of American troops to Guam. |
The moving of American military personnel from Okinawa to Guam is not a "maybe" but a "guarantee."
I've been following the story since it first broke.
I've also posted an article about it above. Check it out as well as google the topic to find many additional news stories about it.
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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I think the problem is that Guam is so much different than Hawaii.
The Big Island Hawaii lacks GI's all over the place. Nothing wrong with being a GI, but its a culture to itself, and not being a GI, means I'd be clueless as to what they are talking about and dealing with, and clueless with what the locals are talking about. However, if one had former ties with the U.S. military in some fashion, then perhaps a match made in heaven, as you'd be able to know about the needs of the GI community and know how to profit from it somehow, or get a job base-related.
In addition, from what little I know of Guam, it sounds hot and muggy and flat with lots of development, and soon military installations everywhere. In that case, seems better to be in say the Panhandle of Florida or somewhere. They both have beaches, and that's really the only real plus to moving there cold.
In contrast with Hawaii, it has a very agreeable climate, and gorgeous mountains as well as gorgeous beaches. World class facilities in addition are located in Honolulu, and one of the world's most beautiful beaches - Waikiki. The Big Island is close for those amenities, and then you just have a very agreeable very varied large island as well with the Big Island - snow, ocean, desert, tropical, rain, even farming areas that look like mainland in the U.S. - up in the northern parts. Just tons of microcosms on one large island. |
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mistermasan
Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Location: 10+ yrs on Dave's ESL cafe
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| Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:06 am Post subject: |
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| i was once stationed at hawaii volcanoes national park. it got cold at night and was often rainy for days. the whole hiloside is wet whereas the other side is bone dry. hiloside was still local style. the dry side felt like sad diego. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:34 am Post subject: |
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| Tiger Beer wrote: |
I think the problem is that Guam is so much different than Hawaii.
The Big Island Hawaii lacks GI's all over the place. |
Same with Guam.
10 days in Guam and I didn't see a single GI. There was one (just one) guy who I suspected was a soldier, a young muscular burly guy on the beach in the water with a friend. |
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Geckoman
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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