21 hours of flying

Goroka -> Port Moresby -> Singapore -> Paris -> Amsterdam is quite a journey. We have entered a new world here in the Netherlands. Millie is asking all kinds of questions:

• Why are there so many cars?
• Why is the place small and the roads big?
• Are we going on another plane?
• What is that?

Our journey went pretty smoothly for Papua New Guinea. We arrived early at Goroka airport for our 10 am flight. Our children were bursting with excitement to get on the “big plane”. Unfortunately, Air Niugini had cancelled the afternoon flight to Port Moresby the day before after checking in everyone’s bags. All the passengers who had been booked on that flight the day before received priority, and there was no space for a family of 5. “Come back this afternoon”, we were told.

We had prepared for this. We knew there was a good chance Air Niugini would have some kind of issue, as many missionaries have been experiencing flight delays. Thus, we booked an overnight stay at a hotel in the capital. This way, we had 3 chances to get on a plane that would connect us with our Singapore flight. The ticket we booked, the afternoon flight and the morning flight the next day. It is a good thing we did. We would have missed our connection otherwise!

Eventually, we did make it to Port Moresby and our hotel booking. Not being familiar with hotels in Moresby, we had booked at The Stanley, which we had heard good things about. It turned out it was a genuine 5-star hotel! It certainly explained the price tag, and we slept and dined like kings! We were up early and at the pool at 7:30 am. Our children were very excited to hear about the swimming pool as we told them about our stay in Moresby.

Next was checking into our long international flights. First up was 7 hours to Singapore, arriving at 11 pm PNG time. Needless to say, our children were exhausted as we coaxed their little feet along to walk to our gate for the next flight, the 13-hour one. The in-flight entertainment was working for this next flight and Oscar made good use of the screen in front of him 🙂 Sleeping on an airplane is always tricky, but Gerdine sitting with Alice and Millie found it even more difficult with constant questions about “can we get off yet?”

Jet lagged and sleepy, we arrived in Paris, then on to Amsterdam and then a 2-hour train ride to Gerdine’s parents’ house. Quite a journey, and we were glad to be able to sleep it off.

Now we’ve had the chance to sleep off the jet lag, we’ve been starting to explore the Netherlands. There is a lot to take in. Here are some observations:

• The roads are unbelievably well-maintained
• Food at the supermarket is very cheap compared to PNG
• Supermarkets stock far more fresh food than PNG stores
• Our feet aren’t ever muddy
• Wifi is FAST
• Next-day delivery from the internet is insane
• Life here is very complex with all its apps, loyalty cards, and technology

Our first trip to the supermarket left us feeling like old-age pensioners trying to understand the self-scan checkout, and we had to ask for help. The local village playground is the best playground we’ve been to for years, and our children are enjoying it. We’re also enjoying eating fresh fruit, veg and dairy. Perhaps you would expect us to gorge on chocolates, cakes and biscuits returning home. While there have been a few ice creams and cakes, the highlight for me is being able to have fresh fruit every day. We drank our first glass of fresh milk in 3 1/2 years.

There is also a sense of dislocation and being overwhelmed. I have had a few moments where all the needs are taken care of. Bags are unpacked, children are happy, we are well rested… what do I do? There are so many options that I get decision paralysis. Oscar too, as I watched him picking an ice cream flavour from the 30 options at the ice cream store. We need a little time to adjust to the quantity of all the new decisions we need to make. None of this is bad, it’s just an adjustment. It’s like we need to rewire our brains to be able to respond as quickly as “normal” people do.

While we were still in Kovol Gerdine and I had come up with a little plan. We decided that one day in the Netherlands, we would take Oscar, Alice and Millie to the toy store, give them a budget and tell them to pick up to 2 toys each. This would be a deliberate trip to the toy store with no other shopping, straight there, pick the toys and come home to play with them. In PNG there are no toy stores, and the quality of the toys you can find in pharmacies and supermarkets is very low.
Yesterday was the day for the treat. We had to help our children navigate through decision paralysis, budgeting and then afterwards buyer’s remorse. It’s amazing how opportunities like this can make us human beings suffer from regret and fear of missing out. They could have had no toys and been content, but splashing out and treating them brings the joy of new toys, but also the weight of needing to “pick right”. Great things to help them walk through as we also wrestle with similar adjustments. It was very interesting to watch our children pick. Where did they spend the most time looking, and what did they end up with? Oscar spent a long time in the Lego section, but ultimately picked Marvel superhero toys that he can run around with and play imaginative play. He’s been squirting me with his Spiderman wrist-mounted water blaster ever since!

So there are my thoughts after 1 week of life back in the Western world. My honeymoon impressions are that life here is unbelievably convenient, luxurious and comfortable. We truly are blessed to get to live in and enjoy the Netherlands. My thoughts often go out to my Kovol friends and wish that they could enjoy the same.