Out and about is the column where we chat with people who are living or working abroad, or who used to live and work there and have returned to South Africa. We would like to hear more about the experiences you want to share with us. This week we chat with Neels Nieuwenhuis, who works abroad for ten months a year.

Hi Neels, it’s great chatting with you. You are spending ten months a year abroad for work purposes. Tell us more about your job. What does a typical day look like?

First some background about the company so you can get an idea of how things work.

I work for Park West Gallery, the biggest privately owned art trader in the world. Our contract is six months work and then six to eight weeks of leave. We have country galleries in Michigan, where our head office and museum are located. We also have galleries in New York, Honolulu, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

Park West Gallery has a gallery on more than 90 cruise ships across the world. We are placed on any one of the 90 ships. A typical team consists of an art preparator, who deals with the logistics on the ship and ensures that all the art is suitable for us, and two art assosiates (I am one of them) – a gallery director and an art auctioneer.

This is what a typical day would look like: We mix with the passengers, build relationships with them and get them to attend our seminars and auctions. We present art enrichment seminars about different artists, history of art, art masters, etc. On auction days people attend the auctions and bid on different works of art they like.

Tell us more about your family. How often do you see them?

We live in Paarl. My wife is a teacher and we have a little boy of five years – 31 April is his birthday. Two little black pugs, Kingston and Molly, also are part of the family.

Do you get time to travel and see the countries where your ship makes a stopover? What interesting things have you discovered about the countries you have visited, things you did not know before?

We call it “port days”. Our gallery is usually closed during the day, because most of the passengers get off the ship to do sight-seeing. So yes, we do get quite enough time for sight-seeing where we have a stopover. For the first three months of my contract we are cruising between Los Angeles and Hawaii.

Our ports in Hawaii are Honolulu (the capital), Hilo, Maui, Lahaina, Maui and Kauai.

What I have learnt is that Hawaii is much bigger than I ever thought. Honolulu looks very much like Cape Town. Everywhere in Hawaii the water is clean and warm. There are tropical fish and marine turtles everywhere you swim, and you swim among them. However, it is a very expensive country – if you are planning to visit, be prepared for an expensive holiday.

You mentioned that you will be cruising between Vancouver and Alaska from the end of April until August. You visit many countries that many people will never see. Places you will be visiting in Alaska include Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Tell us more.

I am so excited to see Alaska. I feel like a little boy. We will be there by the end of the month, and then I will be able to tell you more. But according to people who have been there, it is going to be a huge experience.

Do you meet other South Africans abroad?

Our team of six currently is made up of five South Africans and a guy from El Salvador. My roommate is from East London and we mostly speak Afrikaans, except in guest areas, where we have to speak English. At the moment on the Crown Princess where I am working there are between 20 and 40 South Africans of all races. Many of them are working in the medical centre, and some South Africans are working in the spa, gym, casino, shops and in HR. So I feel quite at home here.

What did you find most difficult to adapt to abroad, and was the work culture a challenge to get used to?

I would say being away from my family is the main adaptation and sacrifice. But we are working according to a long-term plan and it was a joint decision that it would be best for us as a family.

I have always been in sales, and this is mainly what we are doing here. 75% of the time we are working with Americans, and 25% with people from other countries. At the end of the day they are all the same. My next step is gallery director and then auctioneer, and I am now doing a fast-track programme to learn everything to become an auctioneer. Addressing an audience of 50+ people and doing auctions is totally beyond my comfort zone, but I am almost ready for it. I sometimes present seminars, and this has given me comfort and confidence to address an audience.

What do you miss most about South Africa when you have to work away from home for so long?

Firstly my family, and then preparing food or having a braai. I love cooking but here we are served, so I do not have an opportunity to prepare food myself. Apparently we may have a braai in one of the ports in Alaska, and I am looking forward to it.

Any lessons you have learned?

Life sometimes takes some strange turns and things do not always work out the way you have planned. Just think back to Covid and the lockdown. Nobody expected it and for many of us it was the most horrible time of our lives. But persevere, believe, hope and use new opportunities you come across and make a success of it. Work hard and look after yourself and your family, because nobody is going to do it for you.

Watch this space – Neels is going to write again for AfriForum Worldwide about his experience in Alaska.

ALSO READ: Out and about: an e-mail from Sweden

Write to us

Do you live abroad, or have you recently returned from abroad? Then you too can write us an Out and about column. Send an e-mail to wereldwyd@afriforum.co.za and we will send you questions to answer.