Text 15924, 116 rader
Skriven 2007-05-26 00:20:04 av RUTH HANSCHKA (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: MILITARY BRATS 79525
============================
->  -> one reason or another (like "the law") to live in more civilized
-> 
->  RH> That could be a problem.  
-> 
-> Prison in PNG was not the most desirable of domiciles.  One of these
-> "misfits" I met when he was out on bail, awaiting trial for breaking
-> into a supermarket while drunk and stealing packets of laundry soap,

Stealing soap?  He must have been hard up for things to steal.  Then again,
it's easy to unload soap.

-> was a chronic enemy of authority.  (He offered to sell me some soap,
-> cheap, but I declined.)  Later, he spent 6 months in prison, where he
-> gained privileges by maintaining the warders' cars.  He particularly
-> disliked one of these warders, and so, the day before his release, he
-> did a service on that man's car, then welded up the engine and
-> transmission drain plugs and filler caps.

(absolutely grinchly grin)  I almost like this guy; I favor creativity, if
not thievery.
  
->  RH> ...which is the good part, provided the mercenaries were decent
->  RH> teachers.  
-> 
-> Any who were reluctant to pass on their skills to apprentices did not
-> get their contracts renewed.  Those who were particularly good, got
-> promoted to foremen when they had a full complement of competent,
-> qualified local tradesmen.  As training in the government workshops was
-> good, and we produced high quality tradesmen, private firms often
-> raided our ranks, offering more money than we paid our mechanics.  That
-> was not a worry, as the country benefited, and we continued training.

Everybody would make out under that system.  It spread trained people all
over the place, who no doubt trained more.  A friend used a system like
that in the Philippines, privately funded, but close enough.  They
specialized in boat and motorcycle engines.
 
->  -> other entertainment.  The Papua New Guinean girls were popular,
dancing
->  -> topless, in grass skirts.  On one occasion the Sri Lankans were down
a
->  -> dancer, so for that day my eldest daughter became a Sri Lankan to
make
->  -> up the number.  There were always lots of Filipinos.
-> 
->  RH> I definitely could have gone for that.  The topless dancing ...
maybe
->  RH> not... but the rest would have been fun.  
-> 
-> I have been told that those grass skirts were very itchy!  As with

I wouldn't have gotten that far.  Most Connecticut yankee girls aren't
exactly comfortable with dancing topless (unless in college and sozzled of
course, and even then...).
  
-> other dance performances in PNG, authenticity was always insisted on,
-> and bras were not traditional!  No one ever objected - not even the
-> modern missionaries.

I'd imagine not.  There's a difference between tradition and titilation
(ahem).
  
->  RH> That's one of the advantages, although I have to wonder how useful
->  RH> pidgin would be on whichever mainland they came from.  
-> 
-> I have found that PNG Pidgin is, in fact, quite useful, as with some
-> minor variations it is spoken quite a lot among the Melanesian
-> population around the Pacific area.  The Solomon Islands version has
-> more English words incorporated into it, while the PNG style has more
-> German and Malay words.  In Vanuatu, it is written using French vowels
-> sounds instead of German, but it is similar enough when spoken for me
-> to carry on a normal conversation.

Cool.  I'd imagine it might even be useful in parts of California, if the
Samoan version is anything like.  Maybe even in Hawaii - lots of Samoan
immigrants.
  
->  RH> been an interesting conversation - diesel information in PNG
Pidgin.  
-> 
-> There are quite a few American missions in PNG, particularly in the
-> Highlands.  The "Seven-days" are strong, and both German and American
-> Lutherans, Jehovah Witnesses, Catholics of course, and particularly in
-> the Papuan region, the London Missionary Society.  They each had their
-> own areas of influence; the Germans the North coast, where they
-> encouraged the population to work hard and make money from coconut
-> plantations.  In the South, the LMS taught the locals to play cricket.

In some circles, converting locals to cricket may have been more important
than the original job.:-)  (BTW - and severely off-topic, most groups
listed above wouldn't count the JWs as Christian but rather as a cult or an
"other" religion.) One does wonder how Adventists make out there,
food-wise, since a lot of those I know are vegetarian....dragging this
on-topic.
   
->  RH> That, and at the PHD level the pool of people is smaller and more
->  RH> concentrated.  The travel comes into it too, since a lot of
doctoral
->  RH> students change states and countries for degree work.  I haven't
->  RH> noticed the same thing with law students, although a lot of them
earn
->  RH> the equivalent of a PHD.  MDs follow the PHD pattern. 
-> 
-> One reason for that is probably because lawyers have to be familiar
-> with the laws of the country in which they practise, and laws can vary
-> a lot between countries.  The same laws of Physics, however, apply in
-> all countries, so it is easier for engineers and scientists to move and
-> apply their learning anywhere.

Doctors too, especially if they're moving around as students.  It's harder
to move your license to practise, but the underlying stuff can be done
anywhere.  My cousin did his med school in Israel, but he's an intern in
Pennsylvania.  He came back with the same American wife he left with, and a
baby that was born there.  
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