There is a vast difference between visiting a place and working in a place. From 1984 to 1986 I found West Africa to be a wonderful place to live and to work; tourists, however, experienced problems with the authorities and the near complete lack of a tourist infrastructure. Fortunately Ghana has made a steady and amazing recovery from those hard times. In 1992 I visited the atoll island Mwokilloa and found it to be an incredible beautiful place to visit, I also remembered that I was told in 1984 by U.S. Peace Corps that atolls had the highest early termination rates. That is, they are hard places to live. In my own opinion Pohnpei is a fantastic place to visit and to live.
This is a document painting a non-tourist picture of working in Micronesia as some have come and not been overly happy here. Others have come and fallen in love with Micronesia. We figure better to come in with lowered expectations and be pleasantly surprised that things are not all so bad after all than come in with visions of Tahiti or Honolulu and be not so pleasantly surprised. The material was written for potential post-secondary employees, hence the collegiate slant on the material. The core of this document was originally put together by former Chair Languages and Literature Danny Wyatt.
Former Chair Natural Sciences and Mathematics Calvin Burgoyne edited and expanded the document.
Dr. Lewis MacCarter, a member of the department of Natural Science and Mathematics with a degree in Public Health, added the health issues paragraphs in the wake of the abrupt departure of a couple of older instructors. The pair, a married couple who had already retired from state side jobs, left in part because of their perceptions of the state of the medical support facilities on Pohnpei.
Dana Lee Ling has added and updated material based on his own personal opinion and on discussions with other members of faculty.
This document continues to generate heated discussion as to its accuracy. I maintain that those who have stayed have found Pohnpei agreeable and hence everyone here finds this too negative. My guess is that those who left after two weeks, or a month, or a single year found something about this place they did not like. This is written with the hope of exposing those reasons why someone might have left "early."
As with any file that sits on the Internet, the information in this document ages. Things change. Once again in January 2008 the document has been said to be too negative. Again by those who have chosen to remain here over the longer haul. Many who live here love living here and bridle at the negativity found in this document. I considered softening portions - the document was said to have almost discouraged a new hire. Then that same new hire lasted less than a week.
Many have left, they are the silent voices that this document reflects.
Temperatures range from an average low temperature of 23.3°C (74°F) to an average high temperature 30.6°C (88°F). The low temperature is usually a night time temperature, the high is a day time temperature. The diurnal (day to night) changes in temperature exceed the seasonal changes in temperature.
Over a fifty year period the record low was 16.1°C (61°F) with a 50 year record high of 36.1°C (97°F). These extremes are exceptionally rare. The standard deviation in the 50 year temperatures is 1.4°C (2.6°F)
Humidity is always high, year round (books and papers get soggy and moldy, clothes gather mildew). Cotton clothes are recommended. Instructors are expected to dress neatly but not formally. Footwear is often the local zori or flip-flop. Long pants and shirt for men, loose pants, dress or skirt (knee length or below) for women. The average rainfall is 4770 mm (187 inches) in Kolonia and an estimated 10000 mm (400 inches) in the mountains. We are one of the ten wettest locations on the planet, in a good year we bust into the top three. Bring an umbrella. Locally we refer to there being two seasons, the rainy season and the rainier season. You will find yourself taking lots of showers.
Many instructors have cars or pickup trucks. The college campus is beyond walking and biking distance from Kolonia and the bulk of the housing is currently in Kolonia. Automobile bodies do not last very long; they rust away. As of 2008 the circumferential road was paved all the way around the island. Tropical conditions mean that some sections are already in need of pothole repair. Bikes can be used for shopping and so forth; they are becoming much more popular as there are even a couple of places in town that sell them. More intricate bike parts are difficult to get on island; bring spare parts if you know what will wear out first, like bearings and what not. Fairly reliable used cars are available at $3,500 to $5,000 and up and can be resold. Motorcycles are not recommended due to the combination of year round daily rain and slick asphalt road surfaces.
Cockroaches will eventually take up residence in your car if you stay here long enough. One solution is moth balls.
Housing varies and the quality is often less than one would like. Instructors live in small houses or apartments. Housing up to $600 a month is provided by the college and the college assists one in finding housing. The College always arranges for an apartment and faculty are usually free to move to other quarters if they find something they like better, bearing in mind that the College will only pay the first $600.00 of the rent. Housing is only available to hires from off-island.
The college provides housing only; instructors are responsible for utilities. Almost all areas have water the entire day. Tropical storms hit no more than once a year, if that often. Statistically, typhoons are rare events. A tropical storm can knock out both water and electricity for days, a typhoon can cause loss of water and electricity for months. Neither has occurred in the past fifteen years, but historically these islands have been hit by typhoons. The risk rises during El Niñ years, drops in La Ni˜a years. Telephones run about $11.00 per month for local service. Overseas calls are expensive during business hours, up to $3.00 per minute. Calls made at night using the TelCard system introduced in 2000 were a dollar a minute to the United States and fifty cents per minute to other FSM states during non-business hours. A scant few faculty have elected to pay the difference to live in better or larger housing.
Cell phones and cellular service now exist in Pohnpei. FSM Telecom also sells phones. The system is GSM-900 and supports SMS. In 2005 FSM Telecom introduced GPRS services.
Homes and apartments are usually cement structures and may have air conditioning. Air conditioning is expensive, however, as electricity rates are high. A single air-conditioner can add two hundred dollars to a power bill. Hot water heaters are found in most housing for expats. This author turned off the hot water heater in 1997 and halved his power bill. The water from the tap is never truly cold, it just feels cold on rainy mornings. With a family of five the cost of power now runs around $80 per month. Power is bought in advance using a "cash power" system.
Around 2003 the United States Post Office decided to phase out domestic U.S. mail services for the freely associated states over a five year time from from 2006 to 2011. This process began in 2006. As many were using U.S. mail to obtain overseas goods this had a strong negative impact. Due in large part to the lobbying of the chamber of commerce in the Marshall islands, the USPS reversed their decision and as of 2008 U.S. domestic mail services were restored. The loss and restoration of this service was an interesing pair of examples of on one hand the lack of voice these nations sometimes have in decisions that impact the nations and on the other hand the ability to successfully lobby for a reversal of that decision.
The electricity can and does go off without warning, but in general it has been fairly consistent since the addition of new generators in Nahnpohnmal. In addition, power surges are common. It is strongly recommended that EVERYTHING electrical have a surge protector or voltage regulator. People have fried their stereo, television, microwave oven and computer when surge protectors were not installed. Bring protectors with you -- they are relatively cheap in the States but good ones are costly and often unavailable here. Bring a UPS unit with any computer with built in line conditioning capabilities. Power is USA 110 at about 60 Hz. for a while the island generators were running a little fast and clocks that timed themselves by wall current wre fast. In the late 1990s the generators were slightly slower than 60 Hz and thus clocks based on the line current were slow. The main point is that we do not have a true power grid, just a set of diesel engines in single location. Power is dependent on whatever happens there.
Running an air-conditioner can add up to a couple hundred to one's power bill. The cost of power has been climbing with rises in the cost of fuel. Price rises outpace those seen elsewhere as shipping oil to the islands consumes fuel, hence there is a double-whammy in every world fuel price rise. During the rainy season (which has been known to last almost 12 months some years), hanging clothes to dry may require days. Fans are frequently used for both cooling and drying, they are cheaper to run.
Pohnpei uses USA dollars, all costs are quoted in same. The cost of living is higher than one would expect. Gas is always at least a dollar higher than the rate in the United States. In August 2007 prices were pushing up through $4.30 per gallon, by April 2008 we hit five dollars a gallon. Food costs are HIGH and climbing. Virtually all food is brought in by ship, and ships use fuel. For example, milk is over a dollar a liter, fresh tomatoes (when available) are about $2.50 a pound, dry cereal is $5.00 to $7.00. Food is expensive if it is brought in from off-island, and favorite foods (including most vegetables and fruits) are often unavailable. Local produce available consists mainly of bananas at 50 cents per pound and cucumbers at about $1.40 a pound. Some of these things can be grown in your own garden if you have one, though the soil is poor and needs help. Seasonal fruits available are papaya, star fruit, pineapple, guavas and wild mangos. During 2007 the closure of the "public market" had the fortuitous effect of spawning a number of small privately owned vegetable and fish markets. Green vegetables are generally more available than they have been in the past, though selection is limited, especially compared to the typical western supermarket.
There are other causes of purchasing power erosion of which to be aware. Our social security payments are increasing over the time frame 2008 - 2028. Money paid in cannot be collected upon termination of employment and departure from the nation. There may be the possibility of collecting back your portion of the contribution as a lump sum when you reach 60 years old, but only if you are vested in the program. There are more complexities, the core upshot is that this is not your home nation and your own concept of what might be fair or right simply does not apply. Nations are sovereign, and non-return of social security payments is not a violation of human rights per se.
There are a number of restaurants on island, ranging in price from $5 for lunch up to $30 - $35 per person. A household with two working can do okay, but you won't get rich. Currently our income and social security taxes total about 10%. Americans do not pay US income taxes once they have been in country for 330 days. This foreign earned income exclusion has been under attack in the US Congress from time to time.
Medical care is cheap ($3 per hospital visit) but QUITE limited. Kolonia has a small local hospital and clinic with VERY limited equipment and supplies. Supplies can run out prior to the end of the fiscal year. A routine visit can take several hours (or days!). Care is provided primarily by local medical officers who were trained here in Kolonia. Have all medical and dental problems taken care of before you come, and bring any medications (both prescription and over-the-counter) with you. Like any third world tropical place, there are health problems, though less than in, say, sub-Saharan Africa. Impetigo is fairly common. The water, which is officially chlorinated, is from surface waters. It is occasionally contaminated by intrusion of water contaminated by pigs and humans during outages and during maintenance. Some people boil their drinking water. The water has gotten more consistent and cleaner with improvements in the system. Everyone should take worm medicine at once or twice a year.
Leprosy (Hansen' s disease) used to abound here and had until 1996 its highest per capita incidence in the world here. The actual probability of contracting the disease for a member of faculty would be next to nil. However the island has completed a one year eradication program involving the oral administration of specialized antibiotics once a year for two consecutive years. The final dose was in the Spring of 1997. The medical cocktail was administered to everyone and left some feeling slightly nauseous. This is an aspect to living in a developing nation: the World Health Organization could conceivably come along and require everyone to take a course of treatment.
Hansen's is related to tuberculosis and many students and some faculty tested positive for TB about five years ago. This is more of a nuisance than life threatening for most people, but it may lead to a prolonged course of antibiotics. Conjunctivitis is common. Flu and colds are frequent and often severe. Scarlet fever with subsequent heart valve damage is common among the students. The worst tropical disease such as yellow fever, malaria, and schistomosiasis are unknown here.
Sexually transmitted diseases are rampant. Some people experience fungal skin problems due to the high humidity, regular showers with regular anti-bacterial soap usually prevents this. My experience is that the longer one lives here the more varieties of funguses one will have had the joy of experiencing. I have found that the anti-bacterial soaps are not fungicidal.
I have been here since 1992. In 1996 I found I had to abandon stick anti-perspirant products and switch to regular Ivory soap and coconut oil. It took a lot of convincing to get me to put oil on myself in a hot climate, but it works. From 1992 to 1996 I regularly battled athlete's foot and other fungal skin problems without much success. Since 1996 I have been fungi free.
If you or a member of your family are sensitive or reactive to fungi you should consult your doctor about living in rain forest climate. The air is full of mildews and molds. Some air conditioned buildings are also problematic due to mold and mildew build-up in the air conditioning units.
The locals include very few people over 55 years old. The exact cause of this short life span is a subject of conjecture (Dr. Lewis MacCarter contributed this and many other portions of this section).
The hospital is scenic but not very reassuring. Expatriates also seem to have a higher death rate here than in, say, Seattle. This is partly because serious stroke, heart attack, auto accident, bleeding ulcer, difficult delivery, etc., must first be stabilized and then flown to Guam, at least four hours away. The College has in the past hired retirees and will likely continue to do so; however many have expressed concern as to health issues once they get here. The length of paved road and the number of cars on the road have exploded over the past six years(6000 cars in 1998). Drivers education, traffic laws, and traffic law enforcement has not developed at the same pace as the changing conditions demand. The result is something like one accident with injuries per week.
Bear in mind this is a community of 34,000 and most of the accidents are up in the central town of Kolonia with only 10,000 residents. This would be like the Chicago metropolitan area having 800 serious accidents per week. Alcohol is often a factor. Driving on a weekend night is becoming dangerous as result of the mix of alcohol and driving.
In 1996 Dr. Brian Isaac opened Pohnpei's first private health clinic and his clinic has become the first stop of choice for many island residents, both local and expatriate. Dr. Isaac is a general practitioner and is especially known for his gentle and reassuring way with children. He is very capable and stocks his own supply of pharmaceuticals. He handles everything from diarhea to broken arms very deftly. Dr. Brian Isaac's services are reimbursable out of your group health insurance policy available from the College. You pay Brian and then submit some forms and NGEHI (our group health policy) sends you a check.
A member of the staff hurt their ankle playing football (what Americans call soccer). He went to Dr. Brian who suspected a break. The staffer went down to the hospital and got x-rays confirming the break. The hospital set the cast and the staffer is back at work now. Dr. Brian charged $10 and the hospital charged $10. Total cost: twenty bucks. I pay $12 a month for health insurance with the supplemental option, another $12 covers my wife. Group life insurance is also available through the college.
My wife has given birth to two children during our time here, each one set me back $3.00. That's right, three dollars. One child went into the hospital with bacterial diarhea for six days in late 2001, total bill $22.00. The level of care, however, left something to be desired. Four times the IV ran out and air entered the IV tube. The lab took ten days to diagnose the cause of the diarhea, by which time my child had recovered on his own. The bacteria would turn out to be a gram negative Erythromycin resistant bacteria. Erythromycin is what the hospital had put him onto after the fourth day of diarhea. So the medication was not the cause of the recovery. So medical care is dirt cheap, but you get what you pay for.
In April 2000 we learned that HIV had spread into the Micronesian population on Guam and Saipan. We also learned that six HIV+ cases were confirmed on Pohnpei. There is no systematic testing on Pohnpei, the six HIV+ were Pohnpeians identified as HIV+ while living on Saipan and who then returned to Pohnpei. In 2006 there were a couple deaths directly connected to HIV/AIDS. Accurate numbers are not available.
In May 2000 a cholera epidemic hit Pohnpei. I think all told we had something like 19 fatalities. The epidemic has essentially burned out, many of us took an experimental vaccine to try to bring the epidemic to a halt. Cholera is still present on the island, but basic hygiene will keep one from contracting it.
We also had a large number of cases of diarhea and nausea in children due to Heliobacter pylori bacterial infections in 2001 and 2002.
By 2005 the Genesis clinic had grown into a full fledged private hospital. MiCare, the new name of the national health insurer which also covers college employees, has extended coverage to Genesis. Genesis is now our family's "middle of the night high fever" and other childhood emergency first stop. The lab, emergency room, and pharmacy are open 24 hours a day. They also have a variety of surgical service available. The health care picture has been radically altered for the better with the addition of Genesis.
Whenever an experience in Pohnpei does not go well, I am left pondering whether to reflect some of our sidewalk conversations into this document. The recent tragic loss of a young faculty member feels too sensitive and too particularly personal to comment upon, and yet the sidewalk conversants all seem to agree on one point. If one is battling serious clinical depression, one should be keenly aware that Pohnpei lacks the support systems, counseling services, and at times even the medications one might need. The FSM has high rates of youth suicide, the reasons are complex and deeply local. The lack of evening recreational options can contribute to a tendency to hang out in the local watering holes. Alcoholism is an old ghost that continues to haunt these islands. The combination of a lack of support, alcohol, and clinical depression can simply be deadly.
About a year and a half after the tragic loss mentioned above, another faculty member was asked to terminate their employment with the college dues to issues of clinical depression, suicidal tendencies, and alcoholism. If there are times during the year that you need special medications to deal with depression or mental illnesses, this is really not a good place to live and work. The island has none of the support services other places might have, the island lacks anything other than basic pain killers such as acetominaphen and anti-biotics, and living here is far more stressful than one might imagine. The images of a tropical paradise as seen in travel brochures is just that: an image. Root word imaginary. Read Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit. " L'enfer, c'est les autres." Pohnpei is 34,000 people on a rock in the middle of the ocean. Hard to get here, hard to leave, no where to get away to once you are here. Some of the highest early termination of service rates for Peace Corps volunteers were recorded here in Micronesia.
If you "self-medicate" with alcohol, do NOT even attempt to live and work here. This is not your new start.
Kolonia Town has a population of about 10,000 during the week, maybe 8,000 on weekends. The dominant religions are Protestant and Catholic, and most people attend church. There are many missionaries, and their influence is very strong. English is spoken throughout the town, although the vernacular is used more often. Churches/religions here include non-denominational Protestant, Catholic, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Kosraen Congregationalist, Jehovah's Witness, Bahai, Mormon. Public elementary schools teach in English and Pohnpeian. Three private schools are available: Baptist, Catholic, and Seventh Day Adventist. Staff members have children in all these schools.
The general consensus is that this is a excellent place for small children not such a good place for older ones, especially teens. Teenagers often find "fitting in" to the local social scene difficult at best, and expatriate parents might not concur that the social aspects involved with "fitting in" are good. Where for some expatriates an infant is considered desirable when certain conditions of financial, age, and marital status are met; here children are treasured, welcomed, and desired without the same level of regard to external conditions. We have a high teen pregnancy rate and not a single orphan or unwanted child in the nation.
Quality educational options (as defined by expatriates) are very limited for teen-age children. Pohnpei does not provide quality educational facilities for children beyond grade 8. The local public schools went to a four day week 01 April 97 due to a Compact funding step down. Religious schools are the only ones that are functional at any level and they charge $500 - $1000 per year per child for their services. The Seventh Day Adventist school is currently regarded as the best of the high schools (about $60 per month for the sixth grade not including uniform and registration costs). Calvary Christian Academy has also been expanding their capabilities and their seniors perform on par with the Seventh Day Adventist seniors. In Pohnpei many functions begin with a Christian prayer and blessing and almost all Pohnpeians consider themselves to be Christian. In a public school there may not be the rigid separation of church and state such as is typically found in the United States.
Home schooling is an option that some members of faculty have pursued. I feel this may work even better here than in the states. Where in the states most school age children are in school, this is not true here. Thus it is not unusual to not be in school for children here. A child runs little risk of ostracization due to non-attendance of school. This cuts both ways. A member of faculty here long ago had a son who decided he did not want to attend high school anymore. Although it is conceivable there are truancy laws on the books, they are not enforced here.
Bringing children or a spouse is possible. It is recommended that essential items be brought by air as the wait for the ship bringing your belongings is about two months (or longer). Previous experience determines the possibility of getting work for spouses. Having a Master's degree or professional qualifications such as a CPA is a big plus. It is difficult to say everyone can get work easily, but finding work is usually possible. It takes time. We are also starting to see the fruits of the labors of the local two-year college: young Micronesians are returning home with completed Bachelor's degree and filling out the ranks of middle management. Spouses without a higher education will probably find it difficult at best to find work.
Pohnpei offers some of the finest snorkeling and diving anywhere in the world. We have a very large lagoon and beautiful coral reefs. Sports fishing is very good with a large variety of fish. Almost all land is private. Usually owners will allow you to cross their land, but even so, there is no ready access to the ocean and no beaches. The island is almost completely surrounded by a mangrove belt. If you planned to do much swimming you will need a boat. You can buy your own, buy a share in one or just bum rides. There are two or three diving organizations; most are locally run and staffed, some are only for organized tour groups.
SCUBA classes are available but on a very irregular basis. Getting out in a boat is not cheap. The going price to go out on the water in an open boat is between $30 and $50 per person. You should ask old timers who to hire to be assured of safety and to keep costs even this low. Thus much of your life will be lived as though you lived in some tropical town in the interior of a continent. You can buy and outfit a simple and relatively safe boat for the lagoon for perhaps $4200, but that must be considered against what COM-FSM pays. The motor will need replacement roughly every two years at a cost of about $1800. Salaries are not expected to increase significantly and there has been a trend towards reduced benefits.
Sewing is very popular among local women, although this activity is usually done only within the homes. There are no sewing clubs or bees and learning to sew local dresses would have to done by contacting a local family directly.
Hiking in the interior can be arranged. There are two small libraries on the island, one is located at COM-FSM and the other is a Public Library which costs $1.00 per year. Books in both libraries are old and very limited, consisting mainly of best sellers. Very few magazines (old or new) are available. COM-FSM has a good collection of audio-visual materials both for classroom and entertainment use. We also have a small but nice museum of Micronesian culture as well on occasional cultural shows Evening social life is somewhat limited.
Cable television is available in and around Kolonia proper. Basic cable is $25 per month. Two premium packages exist for $10 a month more, one with a movie channel, the other with the Filipino channel. The mix of programming varies, but the line up in mid 2007 has been:
| 02 Al Jazeera 03 PREL local access 04 Australian Broadcasting Corp 05 Turner Classic Movies 06 07 Nick Junior 08 CNN International 10 TV channel guide 11 Bulletin board 12 Eternal Word Television Network 13 ESPN International 14 Star Movies sat. premium 15 National Geographic sat. premium |
16 NHK Japan 17 The Filipino Channel sat. premium 18 MTV 19 Cartoon network 20 Local access channel 21 BBC World News 22 Star Sports 23 Channel V 24 Discovery 25 Star (Fox Asia) 26 Knowledge Channel (Philippines) 27 Was China CCTV, then Russian television, Jan 08 VOA/CSPAN 28 Local sports 29 A1 Adventure (2007: renamed itself NatGeo Adventure) channel 30 Trinity Broadcasting 31 Arirang Korean television |
The local bar scene is not to be recommended but many local restaurants are very comfortable and friendly. Restaurants here often have a Japanese food focus and sashimi is found in nearly every restaurant. Pizza is now delivered by two places on Pohnpei. The bar scene is changing in many directions. Probably Micronesia's best known bar, restaurant, and hotel, Palm Terrace, has closed down. Pohnpei's Flamingo bar, the largest bar in Micronesia, is, relative to other places, upscale with a dress code and pricier drinks. The bars at the Pacific Skylight Hotel, Paradise Cove, Nantelik's, and Across the Street, are rather upscale and tourist oriented. PCR restaurant at Nantelik's on the Nett River ("t" being pronounced "ch" here) that is a lovely place for lunch and dinner. PCR is open to the air on the sides, with a substantial cement roof, and faces the tidal river and the basalt mount of Nett Point.
Some enjoy going to the local sakau en Pohnpei bars. Sakau is the Pohnpeian version of kava, the drink is foul tasting slime that anesthetizes voluntary muscles. The feeling it gives is quite nice. The sakau bars are quiet and safe, sakau is deeply historic and an integral part of the culture. Sakau is an effective way to build a local social network. The consumption of sakau is socially accepted and respected. Newcomers should be aware that sakau is not always prepared under the most hygienic circumstances and the transmission of viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections is a possibility. Sakau is not known to be addictive, neither physically nor psychologically.
My first night here a local sat me down next to a stone and I drank myself half sick on sakau en Pohnpei. If you drink too much it will upset your stomach. The next night my newfound friend asked cautiously if I was game for another night at the stone. He presumed I'd had my fill of the foul tasting stuff. "Show me the rock!" I said. He smiled and later told me he knew I'd do alright here. Sakau is the principle local evening social activity. If you are a sakau drinker, then you never need to sit around the house staring at twenty cable channels of television wasteland thinking, "There's nothing to do at night around here."
In June 2000 I was clearing up my second case of amoebic dysentery from sakau consumption when the cholera epidemic hit in full. Given that I had also had giardia a number of times from sakau, I opted to take a hiatus from my seven year habit of Friday night sakau.
In December 2000 I took a few Christmas cups of sakau. Since January 2001 I have returned to my Friday night sakau sessions. This puts me back at risk of worms, giardia, and amoebas. Sakau is not everyone's cup of tea. On the other hand, the unchallenged immune system eventually seems to either prey on its host (allergies, asthma, auto-immune disorders) or become hopelessly weak and unable to fend off basic common viruses (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, SARS, etc). I prefer to keep my immune system busy with foreign bacteria. That way when I feel particularly fatigued I know it is worms and not CFS.
Pohnpei's business sector consistently principally of food, clothing, and appliance retailers. Industry is limited to tuna export. Agriculture is small scale and geared towards the local restaurant market. Tourism is a minor sector, with the majority of our tourists sourcing out of Japan. The nation has plans that call for the expansion of tourism. The nation has about 500 rooms and 20,000 visitor per year nationwide. A garment factory was built on Pohnpei, but the operation has collapsed as of April 2002.
Travel from Pohnpei is expensive. Travel between islands is limited to one airline, Continental Micronesia. Kosrae and Chuuk (formerly Truk) are both close and can be visited for $378 to $408 round trip. Yap and Palau are much more expensive because of the necessity of flying through Guam. Guam is our major hub to Asia, a round trip just to Guam is on the order of $1000+. All of this information will be out of date in mere months as fuel costs are climbing insanely in mid-2005.
Travel from here is never cheap. Join "One Pass" sponsored by Continental as the miles will add up. Many of the smaller atolls can be reached by either boat (the Micro-Glory is a real adventure) or small planes (landing strips on Mwokilloa and Pingelap only). Kosrae makes a nice vacation-time getaway with beaches, hiking trails, small streams, and two ancient stone cities. Accommodations with air conditioning, close circuit cable TV and a small swimming pool is available at the Nautilus Hotel. More traditional thatch roof housing is available at Kosrae's model eco-tourist project, the Kosrae Village Resort. Both Nautilus and KVR offer diving and handicap access.
Those who are already full-time faculty at the College can teach part-time during the summer sessions. Salary for the summer is currently set at the part-time rate. The 1999 summer schedule was 8 weeks instead of 16, 1.5 hour classes 4 days a week with Friday off. Instructors teach two courses a week instead of 4 or 5 they teach during the regular school year. In 2002 the summer session was compressed to 6.4 weeks five days a week. There is some prep time before and after summer session for the upcoming semester. There is also the possibility of working at one of the college campuses on Yap, Kosrae or Chuuk if one wants do so. That is between the instructor and the director of the state campus on the island where one wishes to teach.
The College of Micronesia-FSM is the national campus with about 750 full time students and five state campuses that service mostly part time students. The national campus is located 9 kilometers southwest of Kolonia. All apartments and almost all homes are currently located in Kolonia. Instructors at the new national campus will need a vehicle to get to and from work. There is no public transportation. Taxis are two dollars one way and may not be timely.
Programs include: Liberal Arts, Liberal Arts-Health Career, Accounting, Agriculture, Business Studies, Marine Science, Health Career Opportunities Program, Computer Information Systems, Micronesian Studies, Media studies, Teacher Education and a third year Certificate for Elementary Teachers.
Students are very QUIET: they are not culturally encouraged to speak out. English skill level varies greatly. Most students need to take remedial reading, listening and speaking and writing classes. We have three or more levels of each. It is common for students to spend several semesters bringing their English level up to American College Standards. Teaching here can be difficult but rewarding.
Our contracts run from two weeks prior to fall term (early August) until graduation day in May. Unless one is a United States or FSM citizen, one needs a full-time position to obtain the necessary entry and residency permits. Without holding a full-time job there is no way for non-American/non-FSM citizens to remain here under current immigration laws. The fall term typically has between 850 and 950 students, with only a half dozen non-FSM citizens in any give term. The faculty is roughy sixty to seventy members, a mix American, FSM, Canadian, Filipino, and other nationalities.
Our teaching load is heavy; Instructors get a desk, an office they share with several others, optional work study students to help with some of the more monotonous tasks. There are three computer labs, Business, English, and Math, with 28 to 30 Windows XP based computers. All computers on campus have Microsoft Office in one form or another, often only Small Business Edition (often no PowerPoint). The library has 40 computers. Bring your own personal computer for home use if you have one, there is little to no support available for Apple computers. Listening/Speaking classes can use a tape player with tapes we have purchased through the years.
Books and specialized supplies are very limited; bring the support texts you need and any specialized support materials.
Our math program is taught out of the department of natural sciences and math. The number of sections varies from term to term: MS 095 PreAlgebra (typically three sections of thirty students in August) MS 096 Elementary Algebra (two to three sections), MS 099 Intermediate Algebra, MS 100 Algebra (four to five sections) MS 101 Algebra and Trigonometry (one section) MS 150 Statistics (two sections) MS 152 Calculus (at most only one section of twenty students, not taught all terms) The core to our science program is: SC 101 Health Science SC 120 Biology SC 130 Physical Science Other sciences: SC 122a Anatomy and Physiology I, SC 122b Anatomy and Physiology II, SC 180 Microbiology, SC 230 Chemistry. On line schedules track what is offered in any particular term.
The society here is very complicated, even though it may appear very "Americanized" on the surface. As a result, some newcomers have made major faux pas during their first weeks on island. It is hard to regain face or reputation once it is lost. Things in Pohnpei are especially complicated because people from many island groups live here, and behavior that is acceptable to one island group or caste may not be acceptable to another. The rules for expatriate behavior vary slightly with your age, sex, marital status, parenthood status, reputation, prestige and even your choice of companions. On the other hand, some expatriates live here quite happily and remain completely oblivious to all these subtleties. It's up to you. This is, after all, a tourist destination and many residents are familiar with non-Micronesian ways.
I recall one new hire who, at the end of the first week of work, stood up in front of the faculty and said, "If you questions, please ask, because I have all the answers." Whenever you arrive in a new culture you have none of the answers and do not even know the questions. Spend six months watching quietly and listening. Because the locals and long-timers are watching and listening very carefully.
In terms of population, Pohnpei is a very small town with only 33,692 people in 1994 with an average age of 17.8 years. These numbers are not much different in 2005. This is world in which there is little to no anonymity, a world in which American concepts of privacy do not hold. This adjustment is sometimes difficult for newcomers.
Marriage between cultures here are difficult, though not impossible. Expatriate males lack status in the huge extended family structures. They may also have crippling economic obligations to multitudes of relations. Women may be able to marry very admirable local men and obtain their husband's status. However the offspring of female foreigners will lack status within the traditional system (blood line titles flow through the matrilineal lines). Even with marriage, there is no way an expatriate can plan to stay here permanently.
In 2004 an expatriate hire came to Micronesia with his Micronesian spouse whom he'd met and married abroad. The expat was excited to find a home next to his spouse's relatives. Those of us who live here and are married locally - some of us quite happily married - all had the same thought, "Oh no." Although concerned, none of those of us who knew better said anything - kind of a part of the local custom to be reserved. The expat left after year, in part crushed by the needs and wants of the extended family. As one expat married locally said, "You fall in love with your heart, but you quickly have to learn to find a balance between your head and your heart." Being an expat happily and lovingly married to a Mintoan abroad does not mean one knows or an cope with Mintoan culture in the homeland.
In Micronesia, dogs are both pets and food. A family's own dog is a pet, the neighbors pet is food. Large well-fed dogs have disappeared here. This is stressful for the owner and their family. The treatment of dogs is not the same as you would find in the United States or Britain. People with strong positive emotions concerning dogs may find living here stressful.
Living here is living as a guest in a foreign culture. Living here in the exact manner as one might be able to live in a major western metropolis is not necessarily possible. Micronesia is a world in which some roles are still proscribed by particular combinations of occupation and sex. The combination that is possible most likely to cause difficulty with functioning as an instructor out here is that of the single woman who likes to go out partying and dancing in the bars. Unlike a city where one can go a few suburbs away and be anonymous, there is no anonymity here. For example, a single woman drinking and dancing on her own in a bar here is considered improper behavior for an instructor, and the lack of anonymity means everyone will know by Monday morning.
The extent to which, if at all, one might have to adjust to live here varies. If one tends to involve themselves heavily in their own research and studies and tends to keep to oneself, then one probably does not have to adjust their habits in any manner. If one tends to be very social and outgoing, then one will likely have to adjust to the nature of social interactions and the social rules of Micronesia. This is not California, this is Micronesia. If you are completely unwilling to consider possibly changing some of your social habits you might to inquire before coming out here as to the repercussions of those habits. Quite frankly, if you are completely inflexible about changing your social habits, then you might consider seeking jobs at home.
The extent to which one must adapt remains a matter of lively debate here. Some instructors have found they had to make no changes in their habits, some have felt more at home here than where they came from, and some have had to leave when they found they could not behave as they were accustomed to doing so in the United States. The debate among the expatriates tends to center on whether one should have to change their own habits. For many locals there is no debate, this is their country and you are a guest, if you act in ways that infringe upon the culture then it is time for you to leave.
Every time someone leaves and the parting is not a mutually sad affair I think about what cultural factors led to their problems. There were a couple departures that centered around the same factors. Both of the employees were some of the nicest people you could meet. But on rare occasions their tempers flared up. But here is the complication: neither person realized that their behavior was perceived as being a loss of control of temper. Micronesians and longer-term residents felt that these moments of excitement were signs of unprofessionalism and instability, constituting verbal assault.
One of the employees, however, said words to the effect of, "I've done nothing wrong. I scolded a few clients. I was not shouting at anyone."
My own observation was that the employee was shouting and the clients could have claimed verbal abuse. But then I've been here a while. Maybe there are places where a touch of temper is taken in stride. Anyway, this is a place where any public display of strong emotions is taboo, especially for men. Men are the "rock," the emotionally stable strong hold in the wind and the rain. Men, and women, here are quietly proud of bearing pain without complaint. And men never show anger. After you've lived here for a number of years you may eventually come to know when someone is angry by subtle changes in their use of words or the cant of their head. But that is about it. And scolding is rarely done, and then done sotto voce.
Micronesia standards of probity tend to run conservative and family oriented. Here on Pohnpei Micronesian men wear long pants to work and women often wear long muumuus or skirts that run below the knee. The students can and sometimes do wear less, but in general exposing a lot of flesh is not considered proper. Bear in mind the island is 100% theistic, with virtually everyone considering themselves a Christian.
The longer term outlook for the College is not conducive to considering it to a place an expatriate can settle in for long career and retirement. It is difficult to save money towards retirement, the College is directly dependent on Compact funding that ends in 2023, the students are virtually 100% Pell grant supported, and the future of the Pell is dependent on the whim of the United States congress.
One of the hopes here is that the College will one day be staffed primarily by Micronesians. The goal out here is to replace yourself, not settle down. Money issues have more recently seemed to be near the center of some frictions in some departments.
The bottom line is that if you are trying to save up money towards retirement or to cover paying for college for dependent children, then the pay scale here is not going to yield the returns that you are likely to deem sufficient. There occasionally seem to be unrealistic expectations on the level of income this nation can provide expatriates at this time.
Some consider overseas positions tend to be bad for the career advancement of US citizens. Working in Micronesia is no different. Independent persons, such as those who already have a pension and a home to return to are the preferred candidates. Because of the present lack of demand for PhD's in the States, the staff has an ever-increasing proportion of extremely well qualified PhD's. Their hopes of accumulating enough to retire on are non-existent and the problems of seeking an academic position from here are extreme.
The COM-FSM system is connected 7/24 to the Internet via a fractional T1 satellite link, an asymmetric 768 Kbps up/512 Kbps down in 2005 for all six campuses. During the weekdays the limited bandwidth causes high latency in the system. Email works great but web sites designed for broadband will be dog slow or inaccessible except on weekend off hours. Although change here often comes all too slowly for the new arrival, change is occurring and anything said above could be out-of-date by tomorrow.
If you usually spend two to four hours a day in telephone contact with family and friends and are hoping to continue to do so out here, better for you to stay in the wherever you are currently. Although those who live out here are better connected than we were in the past, you are still moving to a remote Pacific island. If contact with family and friends wherever you are now is a daily need, you probably should not leave wherever you are presently. If you work for the college, the college network is owned by the college and is for academic use only. Other uses are subject to restriction by the college.
Cybersurfing Pohnpei has an Internet Service Provider, $20 a month for five hours at 28.8 Kbps, $20 initial set-up fee, $2.00 an hour after the first five.
Wet surfing: Requires a boat to cross the lagoon and is reef pass surfing, can be fickle but good when it goes off. Kosrae has a fringing reef making the surf more accessible, one is almost always out alone.
Pohnpei is a tourist destination and Japanese tourists visit the island. Pohnpei can be a very pleasant place to live and work. Past instances of unmet expectations have led to the above description. This document itself generates debate here, with some feeling the document is too negative. Those who feel the document is too negative are also those who have stayed, I have no input from those who terminated their contracts early. Our most recent early departure was an employee whose teenage daughter apparently found the sudden loss of her support network of friends too much too bear. I never met either the employee or the daughter: they lasted only a couple weeks.
Salaries at the college currently range from around USA $14,000 (master's entry no experience) to USA $17,000 (PhD entry no experience).
The cost of living is creeping up towards a US state side level, supporting a large family on the salary may not be possible.
Further reading:
Lonely Planet Publications Micronesia Guidebook
David Stanley's Micronesia Handbook Moon Publications 722 Wall Street Chico CA 95928
P.F. Kluge's The Outer Edge of Paradise: America In Micronesia Random House, 1989.
Dana Lee Ling
P.O. Box 159 Kolonia
Pohnpei FM 96941
Fax: 011-691-320-2479