Hi all,
Continuing the theme of blogging about islands other than the one I live on, a quick post about the island of Saipan, the capital of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). CNMI is a commonwealth of America. Yes, we have commonwealths. It was a US protectorate after WWII, and in the 1970s, the local government decided to form a covenant (not surprisingly called "The Covenant") with the US. Saipan was great for the US in that for a long time, textile factories could operate there, not pay the locals minimum wage, but still claim the product was "Made in the USA."
These days, Saipan is in a little decline and has taken on a little brother complex to Guam. This relationship between one place that is comparatively more built up and modern, and another place in close proximity that is not as built up, but lays claim to the status as more authentic, quaint, and less concrete, is not unique to Saipan and Guam. New Zealand has it with Australia. And of course, Canada has it with America. I learned about this little rivalry when I was first interested in applying to work in Saipan. During my interview with the attorney general himself (see "criminal charges" referenced below), he went into a 5 minute, unprompted tirade about the differences between Guam and Saipan. This is, mind you, in the middle of a job interview. I felt weird telling him I had even applied to positions in Guam.
Much like NZ/Australia and the Canada/US dynamic, the Saipan/Guam rivalry is so poignant because of how similar the two places really are. Saipan is very much like Guam, except that it's smaller, fewer people, and fewer street lights. But basically, they're two tropical islands 120miles apart. Any differences are ones of degree.
Anyway, because the people I do know on Saipan are fantastic people that were extremely generous with their time and connections in trying to get me to move there, I figured I should pay them a visit. They hosted an ultimate frisbee tournament last weekend with free flowing slushy sangria and Busch Lite all day, so it was not exactly a tough sell.
The tournament was a great one day event. Besides the aforementioned bottomless coolers of brew, the fields had massive puddles perfect for wantonly throwing your body around. Our team lost on the last point in the finals, but I did win the MVP, likely due to the fact that I was the muddiest person there.
The next day it rained a lot, so it was a recovery day of college football and all day brunch. It also gave me the chance to see what my life would have been like had different things happened. It seems rare that once you pick one path in your life, you have the opportunity to peer through the trees and see the other path that you might have taken. See, I was very close to moving to Saipan. Everything was going well until the attorney general (referenced above), had to go resign and get himself indicted. Your potential future boss committing some criminal activity has got to be the oddest (and funniest) way not to get a job. So this short weekend trip gave me a sneak peek at my Saipan life that never was--who my friends would have been, what I would have done for fun, where I would have lived, etc. After being so warmly received by the Saipan crew, I'll be sure to visit my Saipan life again very soon.
Fun Saipan fact of the day: Saipan has no waterfalls. One point to Guam in that category.
-More to come-
Continuing the theme of blogging about islands other than the one I live on, a quick post about the island of Saipan, the capital of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). CNMI is a commonwealth of America. Yes, we have commonwealths. It was a US protectorate after WWII, and in the 1970s, the local government decided to form a covenant (not surprisingly called "The Covenant") with the US. Saipan was great for the US in that for a long time, textile factories could operate there, not pay the locals minimum wage, but still claim the product was "Made in the USA."
These days, Saipan is in a little decline and has taken on a little brother complex to Guam. This relationship between one place that is comparatively more built up and modern, and another place in close proximity that is not as built up, but lays claim to the status as more authentic, quaint, and less concrete, is not unique to Saipan and Guam. New Zealand has it with Australia. And of course, Canada has it with America. I learned about this little rivalry when I was first interested in applying to work in Saipan. During my interview with the attorney general himself (see "criminal charges" referenced below), he went into a 5 minute, unprompted tirade about the differences between Guam and Saipan. This is, mind you, in the middle of a job interview. I felt weird telling him I had even applied to positions in Guam.
Much like NZ/Australia and the Canada/US dynamic, the Saipan/Guam rivalry is so poignant because of how similar the two places really are. Saipan is very much like Guam, except that it's smaller, fewer people, and fewer street lights. But basically, they're two tropical islands 120miles apart. Any differences are ones of degree.
Anyway, because the people I do know on Saipan are fantastic people that were extremely generous with their time and connections in trying to get me to move there, I figured I should pay them a visit. They hosted an ultimate frisbee tournament last weekend with free flowing slushy sangria and Busch Lite all day, so it was not exactly a tough sell.The tournament was a great one day event. Besides the aforementioned bottomless coolers of brew, the fields had massive puddles perfect for wantonly throwing your body around. Our team lost on the last point in the finals, but I did win the MVP, likely due to the fact that I was the muddiest person there.
The next day it rained a lot, so it was a recovery day of college football and all day brunch. It also gave me the chance to see what my life would have been like had different things happened. It seems rare that once you pick one path in your life, you have the opportunity to peer through the trees and see the other path that you might have taken. See, I was very close to moving to Saipan. Everything was going well until the attorney general (referenced above), had to go resign and get himself indicted. Your potential future boss committing some criminal activity has got to be the oddest (and funniest) way not to get a job. So this short weekend trip gave me a sneak peek at my Saipan life that never was--who my friends would have been, what I would have done for fun, where I would have lived, etc. After being so warmly received by the Saipan crew, I'll be sure to visit my Saipan life again very soon.
Fun Saipan fact of the day: Saipan has no waterfalls. One point to Guam in that category.
-More to come-
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