Guam

What is there to say about Guam? Well the first thing people generally ask me is "Where is Guam?" I am here and I am not exactly sure! Go look it up.

Guam is an interesting place of sorts. A smallish island, lush with vegetation, but mixed with a strong blend of poverty and wealth. The difference between the tourist area of the beach, filled with Louie Vitton, Coach, gold, jewelry, and resorts against the rest of the island is striking. Even there, strewn between the bastions of excess are strip clubs and massage parlors complete with there resplendent neon signs. It is a testament to the state of the islands economy. Gucchi for those that have it and a seedy massage parlor for those that don't. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of other small businesses, but these two in such stark contrast tell a story all on their own.

I have had the opportunity to travel a fair bit the situation here is the same I have seen in other places. Yep, this is my social commentary moment. Here you have a long time domestic population that was colonized and subjugated. First by the Spaniards a few hundred years ago, and then ceded to the US in the late 1800's. It is a place that has been used with little concern for what happened to the area or native population. In WW2 nearly all American citizens (translated whites) were evacuated prior to the Japanese invasion. Everyone else was left to fend for themselves and when the Japanese invaded they were treated as an occupied enemy.

Today it would be generous to say people are left to fend for themselves. if that were the case I believe they would be much better off. Rather, it is an island that scraps by on tourism and handouts with unrealistic expectations placed on it. The real money goes to those that already have it and the scraps go to those barely getting by. What's the solution? Got me, but I think full autonomy would be a good start. I know, that is just crazy talk. What would people do with out the US Govt in their life? How would anyone survive?

Airport Hell

Right, so going to Guam I learned several things:

1) Just because you have a reservation and you’re told everything is GTG, don’t count on it. I showed up at the airport only to find that my ticket had not actually been purchased. Sorry Karl, this one is one you, we will reimburse you later…

2) Narita Airport, the major international airport in Japan, just outside of Tokyo, the King of Electronics, the “We install monster sized PV solar panels to save the earth” airport does not have any internal wireless network aside from the Executive suites where you are issued a name and password. As if I really want to be a part of that uber-elite wireless network anyway. Screw them and their “you will never know the joys of what’s behind these doors” selves. Just give me some peasant class wireless to go with my peasant class economy ticket. I’ll plug the damn thing into the network if I have to, just give me a place to do it. Oh yeah, they also don’t give you anywhere comfortable to sit down and wait when your flight is delayed 5 hours past the scheduled departure time.

3) Did I mention the screaming herd of kids sitting right behind me, right now? Anyone have a stun-gun? Where is security to drag these brigands to the bowels of the airport? Oh yeah, probably hassling some 65 year old grandmother with a brick of cheese in her luggage.

4) I want an iphone. However, it probably would not work here either.

5) Why are Japanese Cell phones so much better than ours. Don’t get me wrong, they are just as much evel about it as we are, all the phones are locked down to specific companies, but they are much more capable. For instance, with the phone I was using I was able to use the phones camera to scan Kongi (the Japanese / Chinese character) and it would translate them into English, or vice versa. Show me a phone in the states that can even come close to doing that! They almost all have built in currency exchange calculators and financial management assistance, and some go so far as to have a built in TV and / or radio tuners, all the while being only slightly larger if not the same size as what we have. US Cellular is holding out on us. (OK, this one has nothing to do with going to Guam)