Proudly presented: THE PLAN

My last two weeks in PNG have started - countdown! 4 months here are over.

I can’t believe the time ran so fast! Following the Melanesian culture I know would have to make a lengthy review of my time here, acknowledge all the important people that have enabled my stay to be so fantastic etc. Maybe I’ll do this on my very last days. Now I feel much more excited to look at my plan for the next months. For several reasons I decided that I will use the time out of Europe more extensively and not to come back before mid March. More precisely March 17th.

With a short stay in Brisbane and Sydney to get a taste of the pleasures of western civilization again I will hop via Singapore, Manila and Guam to the Federated States of Micronesia. I have accepted a voluntary work assignment on Pohnpei Island for December and January. I will be working with the Micronesian Seminar, a NGO which is concerned with preserving traditional culture and raising awareness for the importance and the uniqueness of the several cultural groups in Micronesia. Most probably I will be assisting with the creation of education material about the cultural traditions in and around Pohnpei, combining this with my work previously done around anthropology under colonialism, especially the German colonialism in the area. Did you know that both PNG and Micronesia were a German colony (“Deutsche Suedsee”) until 1914?

I will live and work in Kolonia, the capital town of Pohnpei, whether with a family or in the housing area of the Jesuit Church community will be clarified upon my arrival. It is a great opportunity for me to get to know Micronesia as a country and its people living there. No doubt it’s one of the most beautiful and paradise-like places on earth.

After my time there the motto is: Minna no Nihongo!!
I will fly to Japan, where I will be attending a Japanese language school in Tokyo and live with a family there for six weeks. Probably after over half a year in the Pacific region I’ll find it easier than ever to adjust to Japanese lifestyle, but we’ll see.
With a brief stopover in Seoul on my way back I’ll be concluding my big trip and will land in Frankfurt on March 17th.