[Sleuth]

Originally Posted by bostonmike

I live in Boston, very very liberal stances on every political matter and the northeast does carry the Blue States (Democratic) with the exception of New Hampshire (the Texas of the Northeast)

At the rate people flee MA for NH, you won't be able to say that much longer.
It will be much like the people who flee to AZ for their allergies, but bring all their plants with them and then wonder whatever happened to the dry, desert climate.

[Alby]

Originally Posted by Sleuth

At the rate people flee MA for NH, you won't be able to say that much longer.
It will be much like the people who flee to AZ for their allergies, but bring all their plants with them and then wonder whatever happened to the dry, desert climate.

Wow the reality of New England culture ... reaches far and wide ... all the way to Hong Kong.

[Sleuth]

NH is losing itself and will soon rename itself Eastern Vermont or Northern Massachusetts.
Personally I think Massachusetts is just upset having lost Maine all those many years ago and has become neo-colonialist.
And, no, not NH, I'm from CT.

[KnowItAll]

>> It is a bit of a bar sport here in Hk to wind the American up with
>> baited topics, ruffle a few feathers so to speak

This is usually the case, because Brit politics does not get on the news as much as American politics does. God knows no one is talking or bothered about Gordon Brown's cock-ups as much as they're bothered about Dubya, Billary and Os/bama.

[Libby1328]

Hi all, I can't help but jump in on this thread. My husband and I are relocating to HK in August. From Newburyport, MA. But I grew up in... wait for it... New Hampshire. And the "Texas of the Northeast" comment ruffled my feathers- NH went blue in 2004!

Looking forward meeting the New England contingent in HK this summer!

Libby & Dan

[bostonmike]

Libby and Dan

Are you relocating for job opportunities as well? If so, this is getting interesting. The folks I've been speaking with in HK have been telling me that a lot of Bostonians have taken particular interest there.

Sorry to ruffle the feathers there, I've been in Boston 11 years, downtown and Brookline for the most parts, I've just never had good experiences in those parts...it could also be that I'm a yankee fan from CT and they seem to get agitated by anyone with a Yanks cap.

Sleuth, Where are you from in CT? North or South of Hartford?

[stocklobster]

Hi Mike, I had to jump in. I'm looking at a job in Hong Kong, and so is my husband, who has 25 years experience in NY working on WS. I'm a freeland business analyst, and I can tell just in the past three months that 'The Business' is moving in a significant way to Hong Kong and probably Tokyo and Singapore. In all the time I've done job searches, I have NEVER seen this many front office credit derivatives, trading and similar key positions in Asia, let alone Dubai and Kuwait. It's astounding.

Due to the mad Wall Street scientists who have blown up the financial lab, New York and London have taken a blow below the waterline, and will be losing ground, jobs and investment $$$ for a few years at the very least. By the time they come back, othes locales may have replaced them. Dubai, Hong Kong, even Sao Paulo and Delhi are powering through the credit downturn, barely feeling the impact so far, whereas NYC is projected to lose 200K jobs, and a similar, proportional bloodbath taking place in 'The City", UK. The next few years will tell how much the rest of the world suffers a downturn, but I imagine that cash rich Asia, tied to China and India's surging economies, wil fare better.

I'm about as far as you can get from a GWB fan, but then again my mom's family are all in the Brazilian foreign service, and I know what the outside world has thought of US behavior for lo these long 8 years. It is surprising to me, however, that there are many americans who are unaware of the near universal scorn with which the man and his policies are held in foreign capitals, and when made aware, become very hostile and defensive. However, I venture that those people are also NOT looking to move abroad, tg.

I grew up in an expat community in Rio de Janeiro, and I can say that in my experience expats tend to be a much more interesting crowd. Whatever their nationality, they are generally more open-minded, adventurous, well travelled and informed than most of their countrymen. In fact, I am the one agitating for this move, because I deeply miss being in an expat group and am tired of the provincialism I find even in NY. Trust me, once you go expat, it is difficult to go back.

Anyway, my sense is that given the job growth explosion I'm seeing in the key finance infrastructure jobs, I'd say that HK is getting ready to take a center stage position within a year or two. This could be the time to get in...just my sense, of course. At the very least you might get to spend what could be a nasty recession in an economy that will be a bit cheerier than either NY's or Boston's.

and btw, what's with all the New Englanders relocating? We've spent the past 15 years in Connecticut..lol. Must be in the water

GLTU...and can anyone tell me what the sailing is like in Hong Kong? We'd love to be in a place with year round sailing. That would clinch the deal.

[stocklobster]

Libby, I went to school in Providence, partied in Boston, and lived in Hanover NH while working for 'The Valley News' out of White River Junction, VT..lol.

as far as Texas of the NE, I don't think so, although I have on occasion wondered if parts of Maine are the Alabama of the North. Its the only state where I've seen both Nascar and 'Stars and Bars' stickers proudly displayed on the back of several pickup trucks parked next to each other (wait a sec, wasn't Maine on the Northern side of the Civil war? Oh never mind)

This is too funny. Now, just let someone open up a Dunkin Donuts in HK, and all will be perfect

[Alby]

My family 7 owned DD's in Claremont, NH and WRJ, Vt and about 5 others in the region until the late 1990's.

I have been told that sometimes in my sleep I say,

"how do you take your coffee? Small medium large Would you like a donut or muffin with that?"

Suppose you know where I spent my weekends and holidays as kid... and not always on the ski slopes at Okemo.

The smell of coffee still reminds me of New England and even relaxes me!

A DD in HK needs an initial US$3 to $5 million investment when I checked in 2001. Plus time spent at DD University ---- man what an experience that is ...

The world is just too small!

[stocklobster]

LOL! I nearly lived on the slopes of Okemo for two years..lol. The best skiing in the region, imo.. and Ludlow was a great town to party in.

re coffee, my bloodtype is Java, double caf...heh heh.

Small world indeed