Top 5
Top 5 things I dislike about P.E.:
1. No brewed coffee. Okay, occasionally Rob will make a pot of coffee, and if you go out to a restaurant, they usually have brewed coffee. But everywhere else (school, home) everyone drinks this instant coffee called "Nescafe." It's not bad, but I just love the taste of good, brewed coffee.
2. Words and phrases like "zed" (for Z) and "not" (i'm not sure how it's spelled but it sounds a lot like "node") for zero. In math class the kids look at me funny when I say Z and zero. I am trying to adapt to the culture and learn some of the words that they use here, but I just can't make myself give up zero and z. Also, I hate the phrase "I'll see you just now" or "I'm leaving just now." It's so ambiguous. It can mean soon, later, in a while, in a few minutes, and so on.
3. The crime. There isn't much violent crime, but a lot of theft. It seems that everyone I meet can tell you how many times their car has been broken into or attempted to be broken into (and usually its more than 5). I know that things like this happen in the US, but here it seems that theft and muggings are almost a fact of life.
4. Being a pedestrian or a passenger in a car. For the first week, I felt like I was going to die every time I got into a car. I admit that part of it was driving on the left hand side of the road. But still, driving here is horrible. Even my host family, who are very good drivers, roll through stop signs, occasionally run a red light when no one's coming and it takes forever.... It can be scary. Also, pedestrians NEVER have the right of way. Cars never slow down if they see someone at the side of the road or crossing in front of them. They also rarely let you cross one of the side streets if they want to turn down that street. You really have to be aware of the traffic all around you.
5. Horrible public transportation. They do have some taxis that you can call to pick you up, but they are expensive. The "taxis" that you usually see are not something you want to take. They're basically big white vans that fit 16 people, but often they pack more into them. The vehicles are not fit to be on the road: I've heard that some don't have steering wheels, just a stick they swing back and forth. They also do not obey traffic laws. On Saturday a taxi ran a light and crashed into a big truck, killing almost everyone inside the taxi (there were 25 people crammed into the vehicle). Very tragic.
And now, just so that my mother doesn't worry TOO much about me (I'm sure I gave her a heart attack from those last 5)... 5 things I LOVE about P.E.:
1. The accents!!! They're so uniquely South African, and the accents in this province, the Eastern Cape, are even different. I love walking through stores hearing people talk because you hear such a variety of languages: theres the Xhosa, the Afrikaans, then a lot of people are British, and then my favorite is what I call the South African accent. When I hear Americans talk, our voices just sound so weak.
2. People here are so amazingly friendly. And once they hear the American accent, they love to talk to you and ask all kinds of questions. Everyone is willing to help you out and give advice and take you places and show you things and tell you all about South Africa. Also, the guys are super polite: every time I go out with my guy friends here, they give me the front seat in the car and then buy me all my drinks. It's very nice.
3. Rugby. It's on TV all the time, and you always see people playing at the beach. It's such an exciting sport. My favorite part on TV is when you see a huge pile up of people, and the action stops for a few seconds... then suddenly you see the ball come flying out of the pack of people and someone grabs it and starts running and the action is back on.
4. The gorgeous beaches and warm Indian Ocean. Also, the craft/flea market at the beach on Sundays. My favorite place to go on the weekends.
5. "Big City Life." One of the popular songs that I hear every time I go out. I didn't like it at first, but it starts to grow on you. It's a good dance song.
1. No brewed coffee. Okay, occasionally Rob will make a pot of coffee, and if you go out to a restaurant, they usually have brewed coffee. But everywhere else (school, home) everyone drinks this instant coffee called "Nescafe." It's not bad, but I just love the taste of good, brewed coffee.
2. Words and phrases like "zed" (for Z) and "not" (i'm not sure how it's spelled but it sounds a lot like "node") for zero. In math class the kids look at me funny when I say Z and zero. I am trying to adapt to the culture and learn some of the words that they use here, but I just can't make myself give up zero and z. Also, I hate the phrase "I'll see you just now" or "I'm leaving just now." It's so ambiguous. It can mean soon, later, in a while, in a few minutes, and so on.
3. The crime. There isn't much violent crime, but a lot of theft. It seems that everyone I meet can tell you how many times their car has been broken into or attempted to be broken into (and usually its more than 5). I know that things like this happen in the US, but here it seems that theft and muggings are almost a fact of life.
4. Being a pedestrian or a passenger in a car. For the first week, I felt like I was going to die every time I got into a car. I admit that part of it was driving on the left hand side of the road. But still, driving here is horrible. Even my host family, who are very good drivers, roll through stop signs, occasionally run a red light when no one's coming and it takes forever.... It can be scary. Also, pedestrians NEVER have the right of way. Cars never slow down if they see someone at the side of the road or crossing in front of them. They also rarely let you cross one of the side streets if they want to turn down that street. You really have to be aware of the traffic all around you.
5. Horrible public transportation. They do have some taxis that you can call to pick you up, but they are expensive. The "taxis" that you usually see are not something you want to take. They're basically big white vans that fit 16 people, but often they pack more into them. The vehicles are not fit to be on the road: I've heard that some don't have steering wheels, just a stick they swing back and forth. They also do not obey traffic laws. On Saturday a taxi ran a light and crashed into a big truck, killing almost everyone inside the taxi (there were 25 people crammed into the vehicle). Very tragic.
And now, just so that my mother doesn't worry TOO much about me (I'm sure I gave her a heart attack from those last 5)... 5 things I LOVE about P.E.:
1. The accents!!! They're so uniquely South African, and the accents in this province, the Eastern Cape, are even different. I love walking through stores hearing people talk because you hear such a variety of languages: theres the Xhosa, the Afrikaans, then a lot of people are British, and then my favorite is what I call the South African accent. When I hear Americans talk, our voices just sound so weak.
2. People here are so amazingly friendly. And once they hear the American accent, they love to talk to you and ask all kinds of questions. Everyone is willing to help you out and give advice and take you places and show you things and tell you all about South Africa. Also, the guys are super polite: every time I go out with my guy friends here, they give me the front seat in the car and then buy me all my drinks. It's very nice.
3. Rugby. It's on TV all the time, and you always see people playing at the beach. It's such an exciting sport. My favorite part on TV is when you see a huge pile up of people, and the action stops for a few seconds... then suddenly you see the ball come flying out of the pack of people and someone grabs it and starts running and the action is back on.
4. The gorgeous beaches and warm Indian Ocean. Also, the craft/flea market at the beach on Sundays. My favorite place to go on the weekends.
5. "Big City Life." One of the popular songs that I hear every time I go out. I didn't like it at first, but it starts to grow on you. It's a good dance song.
posted by Katie | 2:52 AM
4 Comments:
Sounds like the public transportation and rugby have a lot in common. Do they call it rugby or football?
katie, get home!!! did you meet any nice cats? yesterday i slipped out the door and before mom and jake could get me, i was way in back messing around and when they came, and i ran. then jake caught me and he said i was grounded. i got scolded. but at night i made a cute face so mom gave me a treat. i miss laying on your lap and purring. love blue p.s. could you tell granny not to put that stinky flea spray on me? and tell her im not on a diet anymore!!!
Love reading your blog! I learned all about rugby from some 2nd grade boys last year at school. They would tell you that you have the name wrong - they think it's called rugbeat. Love, Kim
hi katie, i will send you a coffee pot. they need a star bucks there. i will drink a good cup for you. hannah still wants to come there. take care. love rhonda
Post a Comment
<< Home