What did you do for the holidays?
I think I've peaked at age 25 with my answer to that question:
"Oh, just spent 2 weeks in South Africa."
Africa was amazing, as expected. Indescribably gorgeous, great weather, great food (had the best sushi of my life), fascinating people, all around amazing. The first thing I saw as I stepped off the plane for my layover in Joburg was a small African boy in an Iverson jersey, so right away I knew things would go well. Unfortunately that was followed by an Amazing Race audition that included immigration, customs, baggage claim, hoofing it from international to domestic departures, re-checking in (in a line about 30 people deep), and getting through security in about 75 minutes. I guess making the 2nd flight was also a good sign, as everything else went rather swimmingly for the next 10 days.
The overall atmosphere is very friendly and laid back, but there were of course lots of cultural differences to cause plenty of complications and hilarity. For instance:
The warped sense of time. Food service at most places took double the time it takes here. New Year's Eve we were given a table at 7 by promising to be finished by 9, which sounded like a breeze, but we didn't make it. (Of course that was a night we ordered 2 entires meals each, one of Vietnamese, one of sushi.) However, driving 30 min somewhere seems unheard of to residents. The conversation with the front desk about where to take a wine tour one day went like this:
"We'd like to go to some vineyards. What do you suggest? Stellenbosch?"
"Yes, very nice, but very very far."
"What about Paarl?"
"Oh even farther. Very far away.
"Can we make it in a day."
"[Pause] I'm not sure. It's very far."
"Well how long would it take?"
"45 minutes."
Then the directions for getting there are always something like "Go straight until you see it."
But everyone is so kind, you sort of overlook it. Like at breakfast one day when I ordered a scone. Some time after placing the order, an unfamiliar waitress approached our table, crouched down low, and announced (read this in an Afrikaans accent) "I have some very unfortunate news." Then after a pregnant pause in which Doug and I puzzle over what horrible announcement this waitress could possibly have, "It seems we have exhausted our supply of scones.......There are no more scones! All that can be offered is a muffin." Perhaps that was a little more unnecessarily frightening than kind, but her heart was in the right place.
Possibly the biggest difference is TV isn't a top priority, as evidenced by the teeny number of stations, especially when you eliminate the 1/2 dozen that show cricket, rugby, or soccer at all times. MTV World, Discovery Channel, ESPN, and fake CNN rounded out the selection in our hotel room, plus the "networks", on which almost all shows are imported, with a special focus on discarded US series. However, the variety and honesty in advertising is refreshing. A typical ad for the night's lineup would be something like "Laguna Beach is home to the world's richest and most spoiled teens! Watch them act bratty and promiscuous tonight at 20:00! Followed by Eve at 20:30, then The Bachelor 3 , Blind Justice, and R. Kelly Trapped in the Closet on SABC!"But the worst was ESPN. I'd get all excited when I flipped on ESPN and saw NBA or American football, and then they'd go to commerical and come back to like World's Strongest Man 1984, right in the middle of the game.
The randomness extended to radio as well. Again, I really enjoyed the music variety (and PS, why has Robbie Williams never caught on in the States?), but the djs would frequently just start talking about anything for 15-20 minutes after songs, and at the least they'd add personal commentary to songs. Ex: "Great tune by XYZ, who was clinically obese at age 12 before he started gyming." Next song.
Now for the pictures. The captioned photolog can be found at this site:
capetownza.shutterfly.com
For those of you really down with OPP (other people's pictures), the unedited (but partially captioned) photo album is here
In conclusion, go to South Africa. I'd go back in a second (plus 17 hours transit time) if given the chance.
**This and other Africa tales can also be found at dougbritt127.wordpress.com
"Oh, just spent 2 weeks in South Africa."
Africa was amazing, as expected. Indescribably gorgeous, great weather, great food (had the best sushi of my life), fascinating people, all around amazing. The first thing I saw as I stepped off the plane for my layover in Joburg was a small African boy in an Iverson jersey, so right away I knew things would go well. Unfortunately that was followed by an Amazing Race audition that included immigration, customs, baggage claim, hoofing it from international to domestic departures, re-checking in (in a line about 30 people deep), and getting through security in about 75 minutes. I guess making the 2nd flight was also a good sign, as everything else went rather swimmingly for the next 10 days.
The overall atmosphere is very friendly and laid back, but there were of course lots of cultural differences to cause plenty of complications and hilarity. For instance:
The warped sense of time. Food service at most places took double the time it takes here. New Year's Eve we were given a table at 7 by promising to be finished by 9, which sounded like a breeze, but we didn't make it. (Of course that was a night we ordered 2 entires meals each, one of Vietnamese, one of sushi.) However, driving 30 min somewhere seems unheard of to residents. The conversation with the front desk about where to take a wine tour one day went like this:
"We'd like to go to some vineyards. What do you suggest? Stellenbosch?"
"Yes, very nice, but very very far."
"What about Paarl?"
"Oh even farther. Very far away.
"Can we make it in a day."
"[Pause] I'm not sure. It's very far."
"Well how long would it take?"
"45 minutes."
Then the directions for getting there are always something like "Go straight until you see it."
But everyone is so kind, you sort of overlook it. Like at breakfast one day when I ordered a scone. Some time after placing the order, an unfamiliar waitress approached our table, crouched down low, and announced (read this in an Afrikaans accent) "I have some very unfortunate news." Then after a pregnant pause in which Doug and I puzzle over what horrible announcement this waitress could possibly have, "It seems we have exhausted our supply of scones.......There are no more scones! All that can be offered is a muffin." Perhaps that was a little more unnecessarily frightening than kind, but her heart was in the right place.
Possibly the biggest difference is TV isn't a top priority, as evidenced by the teeny number of stations, especially when you eliminate the 1/2 dozen that show cricket, rugby, or soccer at all times. MTV World, Discovery Channel, ESPN, and fake CNN rounded out the selection in our hotel room, plus the "networks", on which almost all shows are imported, with a special focus on discarded US series. However, the variety and honesty in advertising is refreshing. A typical ad for the night's lineup would be something like "Laguna Beach is home to the world's richest and most spoiled teens! Watch them act bratty and promiscuous tonight at 20:00! Followed by Eve at 20:30, then The Bachelor 3 , Blind Justice, and R. Kelly Trapped in the Closet on SABC!"But the worst was ESPN. I'd get all excited when I flipped on ESPN and saw NBA or American football, and then they'd go to commerical and come back to like World's Strongest Man 1984, right in the middle of the game.
The randomness extended to radio as well. Again, I really enjoyed the music variety (and PS, why has Robbie Williams never caught on in the States?), but the djs would frequently just start talking about anything for 15-20 minutes after songs, and at the least they'd add personal commentary to songs. Ex: "Great tune by XYZ, who was clinically obese at age 12 before he started gyming." Next song.
Now for the pictures. The captioned photolog can be found at this site:
capetownza.shutterfly.com
For those of you really down with OPP (other people's pictures), the unedited (but partially captioned) photo album is here
In conclusion, go to South Africa. I'd go back in a second (plus 17 hours transit time) if given the chance.
**This and other Africa tales can also be found at dougbritt127.wordpress.com
posted by Alexis @ 6:40 PM
1 Comments:
At 1:31 PM,
Ryan Mrazik said…
Please tell me you smuggled a penguin home with you and are currently planning a "Meet My Penguin" black-tie affair.
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