What would you expect to see and experience if you visited Papua New Guinea (PNG)? Perhaps you think the people would try to eat you (Please don’t). Maybe you assume the food will be weird and unappetizing. Or, you might envision seeing captivating seascape sunsets while sipping kulau (young coconut milk) from an actual coconut.
Knowing what to expect when you go to a new place is hard. I don’t know what I expected when I first went to PNG. I might have expected to make friends, learn a new language, and be able to swim in the ocean every day. I simply don’t remember. But, that doesn’t matter, because PNG gave me more than I expected.
I went there as a missionary kid, so you’re going to find my perspective is skewed toward Christian missions. Whether you’re religious or not, though, I think you will still enjoy reading this. So, without further ado, here is what I learned in the place I called home for a few years of my childhood.
Friends Are Best Served Up Cross-Cultural
Living in PNG allowed me to build friendships with people who do not look, speak, or think the way I do. And, I am forever indebted to my PNG friends for teaching me how to do friendships across a cultural divide.
I really believe that because of the warm and welcoming people who befriended me in PNG, I have a better understanding of relationships. While I’m nowhere near perfect, their example of authentic friendship with a person from another culture has given me the motivation to be warm and welcoming to people from other cultures. In fact, I love meeting people from around the world and I believe God instilled that love in me by bringing me to the shores of PNG.
Don’t Leave Your Bike Outside
I did not learn this lesson well. I cannot tell you how many times my bike was stolen* by local rascals (Raskol in Pidgin) because I didn’t put it away. I tell you this because I don’t want to give the false impression that PNG is a land of only warm and welcoming people. It has its baddies too. If you visit, please don’t underestimate the dangers of the country.
Mangoes Are Mean
I only associate mangoes with red and itchy welts across my face. They don’t like me and I don’t like them. Please don’t try to arbitrate a peace between us.
Rumor has it that the mangoes of PNG are amazing. So, if you’re not allergic, you should try them.
The Cuscus is One of the Coolest (and cutest) Animals in the World
Seriously. Go look at them.
South Pacific Music is Unique
Is it any wonder that we swoon over island music? It’s beautiful stuff. In PNG, their big gatherings are called sing-sings**. They love music here and they are quite good at it. With instruments like the thongophone and the garamut and genres such as Tolai rock, PNG offers some unique sounds. Plus, I think many of the people have wonderful voices and they harmonize in ways I haven’t heard anywhere else — just my personal opinion.
Stepping on a Sea Urchin is Excruciatingly Painful
Just don’t do it! Trust me on this one.
Dental Hygiene is Important
Which is worse?
- Growing up in a society that teaches and encourages good dental hygiene but choosing to ignore it
OR
- Growing up in a society that doesn’t know much about good dental hygiene, so it is what it is
Definitely the former option. Sadly, I chose that option when I went to PNG as a teenager and paid dearly for it. Living with an abscessed tooth in a tropical climate with poor water filtration and easy access to malaria was nearly the end of me.
PNG doesn’t really do dentists. This is why my poor dental health was detrimental. BTW, doctors aren’t exactly a prominent feature of their healthcare landscape either. I should have known better than to take a tooth issue to a place where the people’s favorite pastime is chewing drugs that rot your teeth. Even the kids do it.
The lesson here is: if you move overseas, take care of your dental issues before you go. And, if you go to PNG, do not; I repeat, DO NOT try the buai (betelnut) just for the fun of it. You’ll look and feel ridiculous.
My Tastebuds Are Pretentious
It feels a little shameful to admit that I never did learn to enjoy a PNG mumu. My parents did. But, there’s something about coconut milk-drenched meat and veg in a banana leaf packet that never appealed to my palate. At least I tried it from time to time.
What I didn’t try were the sea cucumbers and sago grubs. I was never hungry enough. There was, however, a moment when I did get very brave and tried my friend’s dish of pitpit. It made the thought of trying a sea cucumber seem a lot more appetizing.
Lest you think I’m a complete food snob, I will gush over a Tolai Aigir. Just writing about PNG food has made me crave some Morobeen Beef Crackers. If you end up in PNG, expect to try some very interesting dishes. And bring me back a package of those crackers.
My Sense of Spelling is Off
I find myself arguing with my computer’s American English spell check too often. That’s what happens when you learn the British spelling first.
You Can Smell Ghosts
The spirit world is very real in these parts. They speak of zombies, long-haired giants, and the smell of ghosts with little to no curiosity. Where we in the Western world are enamored by the supernatural, PNG natives are constantly geared for their next run-in.
But, when your society is built upon secret initiation rituals that zombify Elementary-aged boys, you can expect to deal with some awfully disturbing stuff.
While I never did smell a ghost there, my sister and I certainly heard one running around our house in the dark. Ya, there’s more to this story, and maybe someday I’ll dive into it, but for now, just understand that these are terrifying encounters and not something people want to experience again.
BTW, there are no such things as ghosts. These beings are demonic.
Ghosts or not, you can expect a lot of strange smells when you visit PNG.
Travelling ≠ Living
When you vacation, you pack a few bags to make your touristy activities more comfortable. When you move, you pack all your belongings to make your everyday life more comfortable. One activity does not equal the other.
Moving into another culture takes some time. You must get used to the stares, the awkward conversations, the lack of what you deem normal, and the overwhelming homesickness. The irony is that you’ll eventually feel awkward in both your new home country and your old home country.
After a while, you’ll adapt, and being a part of two different cultures will feel familiar, normal, and homely (the British version). I’ve felt this way a very tiny bit, but I’m not a true third-culture kid; I just happen to know a lot of them very well.
Failing ≠ Being a Failure
I’m enjoying the ≠ sign in this article :) Now, don’t let my attempt at humor distract you because this is a big statement.
When I left PNG, I left angry and disillusioned. I never wanted to go back and I rarely welcomed a discussion about the place. Because of negative attitudes, I knew I had failed to thrive and it made me give up on a lot of intentional living; after all, I would probably just fail again. So, I lived as though I was a failure.
I may not have lived up to my potential while living in PNG, but I am not a failure. Until God calls me a failure, I am a work in progress. All the bad decisions, all the regrets, and all the negative attitudes I’ve associated with my time in PNG are actually God’s opportunities to do an amazing work in me. Once I embraced this, I could see God redeeming my life.
Now that He has been working in me for quite a few years, He has begun to work through me. Just sharing this part of my life with you is a testimony to how much God has done in me. There is nothing that God cannot redeem and use for good.
Of course, I don’t have a monopoly on God’s redemption. These promises are meant for you too. It’s just that PNG was the impetus for my learning about them. Perhaps after reading all of this, you can say it is the impetus for you too.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
“God is at work in every situation to conform us to the image of his Son…God is at work to complete the work of salvation he began before the earth was made…Behind…circumstances is a God of love who is relentlessly at work to make us holy…Rather than telling us that God has forgotten us, our circumstances shout to us that he has remembered us and will not leave us until his work is complete!”¹
- *Yes, we always got my bike back so I could lose it again. The teenage missionary boys would go looking for it. I think they enjoyed the activity.
- **I’m not recommending that you attend a sing-sing. They include some events and activities that I would never want to participate in, especially as a Christian.
¹Tripp, Paul David. War of Words. P&R Publishing, 2000, pp.77.
