First Impressions

March 29, 2013

While our passports (and the tax man) argue that March 22, 2013 is the date we took up residency in South Africa (as it is the date we landed), we consider March 29, 2013 to be the first day we began living in Joburg (the date we arrived back from Cape Town, and started to look at South Africa in more permanent terms rather than as a holiday). 

In no particular order,  here are our initial impressions of Joburg:

1. It is a clean city. I was not necessarily expecting this. There really is not the pollution that I expected for a city of this size and nature. In the middle of the city you can see the stars perfectly clearly at night. I was also surprised at how lush and green the city is. It is however worth noting that there is no recycling or composting facilities from what we have seen so far. 

2. The roads are quite well maintained. After everything I'd heard and read, I was expecting the roads to be in terrible shape with pot holes everywhere. While there definitely is room for improvement in the road markings and filling-in of pot holes department, it really is much better than I expected.

3. There are loads of really cool restaurants/coffee shops/shops, set in unique quaint neighbourhoods. I was expecting a strict Mall culture. Don't get me wrong, Johannesburg does not have a shortage of malls, but I was expecting that to be it.

4. The traffic is bad, yes, but it is nowhere near as insane as I feared. The "taxi buses" drive wherever they want, yes, but everyone else seems to more or less follow the rules of the road (unlike other countries I've visited). 

5. There are very few street lights. No, I don't mean "robots" (traffic lights), I'm referring to the lamp posts you see every few feet along the side of a street. Strange observation, I know, but true. I notice this most when I go for a run in the evening, as it really seems pitch black out (Don't worry, I wear an ultra-stylish head lamp while running to address this). I think this stems from a serious shortage of electricity in this country, which also results in regular black outs and power outages (nearly every day there are "robots" that are not working). This is separate from the power outages caused by thunderstorms (the worst of which I think we escaped this year, as they generally occur in the summer, and we arrived at the onset of autumn).

6. The food is really fresh. This applies to Cape Town as well, but is worth noting. While we could and did get "fresh" food in Canada, the difference is that South Africa has the climate/geography to grow/raise/source nearly everything, so the food does not have to travel thousands of miles. The bananas and other tropical fruits actually taste different because of this (they don't have to prevent them from ripening for the journey, and then force them to ripen). 

7. Afrikaans- while I knew a bit of the story of the language and that it was spoken here, I didn't understand just how much. I will definitely need to learn at least a few words while we're here. I'm aiming for one word a week. This week: Lekker (nice, pleasant, sweet).

8. There are lots of nice parks and places to walk/run; while caution is definitely required, I thought that the crime/safety issues might make this impossible, and it really is not the case.

9. It gets cold. I realize that all of the Canadians reading this will think I'm crazy for saying this, but here's the thing; most of the houses and buildings do not have central heating. What this means is that whatever the temperature is outside, it is the same inside. This is fine in the summer, but is more challenging in the winter. I will be buying a winter jacket (and lots of blankets!).

10. In restaurants and coffee shops the restrooms are often unisex. In malls and airports they are separate, but in smaller places they are very often shared. If the stall themselves are designated for males or females, the washing facilities are shared, or else everything is shared and everyone waits in one line. It still catches me off guard when we're at a bar or out for dinner and a guy comes out of the stall next to me...