I know I haven’t posted much in a while, actually – in quite a while…. Needless to say, it’s primarily due to the “PNG Work” factor. One of the things you get to experience here In The Land of the Unexpected, is the most work that you could ever crave for – it’s a workaholic’s dream, and a partners nightmare…
Before you decide to make the move, ask yourself “is 50 hours too much?”, “is 60 hours too much?”, “is 80 hours too much?”. Am I happy living my job, socializing with my colleagues, getting on each other nerves, dreaming work, having lunch interrupted by someone trying to do a deal, having your evenings and weekends decimated, your wife and/or husband pissed off with you. Yup – welcome to your Expat Job here in PNG! That’s not to say that there aren’t great rewards, however most of the unhappy expats are those that aren’t happy with the amount of work… Even harder is seeing other Expats (tax-free ones are the best) going off out of country, or over to Tufi etc, whilst you are doing the hard slog trying to get through to a holiday.
But then you have to take stock – you are living in the tropics, an hours flight from Cairns, with diving and fishing on your doorstep. You don’t need to both be working, someone does your cleaning for you, someone else is paying for you to live, and paying for you to go on holiday. You have membership to exclusive clubs, and party up every month. Life’s not bad, and it could be worst – you could be spending 2 hours a day in traffic, connected to work because Internet is so cheap – never getting a holiday, having your staff not respect you and your boss not caring that you are OK… Your partner does the same as you, and the kids forget that you are their parent…
It’s not bad at all 🙂
A Kiwi Expat in PNG 