It feels very special being in Samoa. On the one hand, it’s so isolated and surrounded by the vastness of the Pacific Ocean; on the other hand, many of the global invisible lines meet here. It’s remote, but it’s all about globalization here: the planes departing Samoa are full of groups of enthusiastic workers flying to Aotearoa and beyond to work in construction and agriculture. At the same time, in Samoa, many stores are run by Chinese …
Vanuatu consists of roundabout 80 islands and is located three hours by plane north of New Zealand, east of Fiji, slightly north of New Caledonia, and west of the northern tip of Australia. Still, somewhere almost forlorn in the blue vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Ten days as an end-of-teaching-for-the-year trip with two colleagues from uni: visiting an active volcano and some snorkeling was on the list.
The Kingdom of Tonga – I promised a second posting and here we are! Despite all that stunning paradise-like scenery there is always a different story, a reality that I don’t want to hide. First of all Tonga is no first world country. The Kingdom struggles of poverty, severe weather events, the lack of satisfying and good jobs and way less tourists come here than to the „neighbouring“ islands of Fiji and French Polynesia.