Dienstag, März 22, 2005
To make a start
A couple of weeks after my arrival in South Africa I’m finally ready to start my blog :o)
Not that I didn’t want to do so before… But as some of you already know… I was a little busy…Busy with university:Before I came here I was accepted as a “occasional” student. Since my intention was to do a Bachelor of Honours I faced some bureaucratic challenges in the beginning to change my status and register for my courses. Eventually everything turned out well and now I do exactly what wanted to do. (First semester: “Sociology of Health and Illness” and “Advanced Social Research” (ok, that one is compulsory ;o) ). Second semester: “AIDS in context” and “Social Transition” (also compulsory) plus a Research Report in the end. That’s from the content point of view. From the practical studying point of view it’s not exactly what I expected (and definitely not what I’m used to in Germany!)… It’s a lot, a lot of work. Here the facts about my first four weeks: one big folder is full with the copied readings I got (and read!), I wrote 4 seminar papers, I used up one pad, one highlighter and two pens. Busy with accommodation:The first three weeks I spent in a student accommodation in Braamfontein. When I finally moved out people from my floor were joking: “Why are you moving out? Do you find the place too ‘ghetto’???” Hmmm, well, I didn’t tell them but, actually it summarised my reasons quite well. Now I’m staying in the AIESEC house. This is a vibrant place usually packed with people from all over the world. I say usually because the last few weeks were a little different since more people left than arrived. I got my own room so that when I have to study I can just close my door and whenever I’m tired of studying there are people around to have some fun. So far that’s working fine. And even when I’m still looking for an other place, for now I’m happy to stay here.Busy with getting used to Jo’burg:Ja, this city is huge! Coming from Hannover even bigger ;o) And even if Jo’burg is probably the most European Africa you can get, there are many things I have to get used to… For example the system of transportation. Since the city is extremely spread out and considering the danger of being mugged wherever and whenever you go, walking is not really an option. The fact that I don’t have a car makes it necessary to use public transport. One option are official double-decker buses (which are not an option after all since nobody knows neither the routes nor the bus stops. Additionally they are unreliable.) So what I usually use are Mini-Bus-Taxis (which remind me so much of the Ghanaian TroTros) they are all the time everywhere. All you need to know are the specific signs for certain destinations and where you want to get off. A bit complicated is that they are organized around the city centre. Means, you have to go to the centre first to take an other taxi from there, although the final destination might be much closer from where you are. You can also call meta Taxis, which are reliable but expensive. Oh ja, and what completely confuses me is the left-hand traffic! Cars keep coming from totally unexpected directions… To come to an end with the traffic/ transport subject: it’s a little bit funny that South Africans call traffic lights “robots” :o) What else is there I have to get used to? The food is pretty much the same as it is in Germany (at least nobody and nothing is stopping me from buying all the things I’m used to :o)) But of course I miss proper German Bread… Concerning the food it is to say that South Africans more or less live on meat. Where ever you go you see them having a Braai (Afrikaans word for barbecue). In the supermarket you can buy 5 litre bottles of BBQ sauce… During the last two month I have been to 5 braais – in Germany that’s the dose of a whole summer! Apropos ‘summer’: Summer is over :o( Even when the official winter months are June to September you can already feel that it’s becoming colder and colder. Especially during night time. But the days are still nice. Especially when it’s not raining… Ok, that’s it for now. What ever you do and where ever you are… I hope that you are all fine!
Not that I didn’t want to do so before… But as some of you already know… I was a little busy…Busy with university:Before I came here I was accepted as a “occasional” student. Since my intention was to do a Bachelor of Honours I faced some bureaucratic challenges in the beginning to change my status and register for my courses. Eventually everything turned out well and now I do exactly what wanted to do. (First semester: “Sociology of Health and Illness” and “Advanced Social Research” (ok, that one is compulsory ;o) ). Second semester: “AIDS in context” and “Social Transition” (also compulsory) plus a Research Report in the end. That’s from the content point of view. From the practical studying point of view it’s not exactly what I expected (and definitely not what I’m used to in Germany!)… It’s a lot, a lot of work. Here the facts about my first four weeks: one big folder is full with the copied readings I got (and read!), I wrote 4 seminar papers, I used up one pad, one highlighter and two pens. Busy with accommodation:The first three weeks I spent in a student accommodation in Braamfontein. When I finally moved out people from my floor were joking: “Why are you moving out? Do you find the place too ‘ghetto’???” Hmmm, well, I didn’t tell them but, actually it summarised my reasons quite well. Now I’m staying in the AIESEC house. This is a vibrant place usually packed with people from all over the world. I say usually because the last few weeks were a little different since more people left than arrived. I got my own room so that when I have to study I can just close my door and whenever I’m tired of studying there are people around to have some fun. So far that’s working fine. And even when I’m still looking for an other place, for now I’m happy to stay here.Busy with getting used to Jo’burg:Ja, this city is huge! Coming from Hannover even bigger ;o) And even if Jo’burg is probably the most European Africa you can get, there are many things I have to get used to… For example the system of transportation. Since the city is extremely spread out and considering the danger of being mugged wherever and whenever you go, walking is not really an option. The fact that I don’t have a car makes it necessary to use public transport. One option are official double-decker buses (which are not an option after all since nobody knows neither the routes nor the bus stops. Additionally they are unreliable.) So what I usually use are Mini-Bus-Taxis (which remind me so much of the Ghanaian TroTros) they are all the time everywhere. All you need to know are the specific signs for certain destinations and where you want to get off. A bit complicated is that they are organized around the city centre. Means, you have to go to the centre first to take an other taxi from there, although the final destination might be much closer from where you are. You can also call meta Taxis, which are reliable but expensive. Oh ja, and what completely confuses me is the left-hand traffic! Cars keep coming from totally unexpected directions… To come to an end with the traffic/ transport subject: it’s a little bit funny that South Africans call traffic lights “robots” :o) What else is there I have to get used to? The food is pretty much the same as it is in Germany (at least nobody and nothing is stopping me from buying all the things I’m used to :o)) But of course I miss proper German Bread… Concerning the food it is to say that South Africans more or less live on meat. Where ever you go you see them having a Braai (Afrikaans word for barbecue). In the supermarket you can buy 5 litre bottles of BBQ sauce… During the last two month I have been to 5 braais – in Germany that’s the dose of a whole summer! Apropos ‘summer’: Summer is over :o( Even when the official winter months are June to September you can already feel that it’s becoming colder and colder. Especially during night time. But the days are still nice. Especially when it’s not raining… Ok, that’s it for now. What ever you do and where ever you are… I hope that you are all fine!
# posted by Carolin @ 9:45 AM 
