Living and Working in S.A.

Things I’ve learned so far…

Slang and accents can create a bit of a language barrier, even though everyone is speaking English.  I’d say it feels somewhat similar to Toronto compared to South U.S. .. not as different as Toronto compared with Newfoundland.

I am incredibly lucky to have grown up in Canada, where it is safe, and we don’t have bars on our windows, or big fences surrounding our entire properties.. The thing I wonder is, how do they meet their neighbours?

Going out alone past dark is a priviledge in Canada.

It’s cold in South Africa during the winter season, which is at the opposite time of the year to Canada. It even snows in some parts.  I actually caught a cold.

Peanut butter and Banana sandwiches are not a normal thing to eat in Somerset West, S.A.

The public transit in Toronto is AMAZING. It is fairly non-existant here.

Food and clothing is slightly cheaper here in S.A., but not by much.

Afrikaans is the language I hear the most, other than English. It sounds sort of like dutch, and their accent when speaking English sounds like a cross between German and British (to me, anyways). An Clemintine Orange in Afrikaans is called Naartjie.

The chocolate here tastes a bit sweeter than it does at home.  I had an Aero bar and wasn’t expecting the sweetness.

My housemate has two guitars at the apartment, so I’ve been trying to learn new songs to play.

A very friendly cat in the complex has been coming to visit. We try not to keep her too late because we expect her owners probably want her back.  It turns out that she’s a bit of a houdini.  We put her out the front door and she climbed in through the window. Not and easy task.

Men trying to make money will stand in a parking lot and help you back your car out, as well as prevent break ins.  Cars get broken into very frequently here, and every parking lot I’ve been to has a “car gaurd”.

The Rhino poaching problem really isn’t a huge problem, because the death rate does not exceen the birth rate of the rhinos.

You can ride an ostrich here.. I might give that a try. You can also eat ostrich here, but it’s expensive.

The pidgeons here are just like the dirty pidgeons on the streets of Toronto.  Other than that, the birds are very different.  My housemate/Operations Manager at work is helping me to learn birds species in the area.

That’s it for now!! More photos to come…

Written by: Stef