Learning The Way

June 29, 2013

We have officially been in Joburg for three months. In some ways it feels like we are really starting to settle and set up our lives here, and in other ways it feels like we are still very new to our surroundings. I imagine both are true, in their own right.

Since I wrote this post, I've come across of a few more things to add, so I thought I'd update with a follow-up post. Here are a few more things worth noting:

1. When you press a button in the elevator (or lift, as the case may be), and you realize it's the wrong floor, you just re-push the button to unselect it. Amazing.

2. Most houses/buildings have outlets for three prong plugs. Except that most small appliances (cell phone charger, lamp, coffee maker, hair dryer, etc) are two prong. And no, you can't just plug the two prong into the three prong, that would be too easy. It actually requires a converter. So this pretty much guarantees that every plug in our house has a converter on it, either because it's a Canadian plug or because it's a two-prong plug.

3. At a restaurant, when the bill arrives, you need to write the tip on the slip before they swipe your card. I think this has something to do with the fact that all of the information is entered before the mobile credit machine is handed to you, so you just have to enter your PIN. It's not something you can just leave either, as the server will wait awkwardly until they know the total.

4. Where else can you find people with names like Memory, Wisdom, Progress and Patience?

5. Parking Guards: I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about this when I read about it before we arrived, but now I think it's brilliant. At most places where there are shops/restaurants, these lovely souls watch your car for you while you are shopping, and they even show you where the empty spots are, and help you when you're backing up to guide you out of the spot. Payment is usually a R2 or R5 coin (between $0.25 and $0.50 CAD).

6. People greet each other by kissing on the lips. I imagine this is by far not the only place in the world you could see this, but it's not something that is common in North America, and when I see two of my bosses kiss each other on the mouth at work, it catches me a bit off guard.

7. Johannesburg could, in a lot of ways, be easily confused with a city in any developed country in the world. However, the reminder of Africa comes when you pass a woman on the road carrying a basket piled high on her head, or when you see a dozen or so people crammed in the back of an open pick-up truck barrelling down the highway. Africa, indeed.

8. The keys to most houses are like old-school castle keys, or something you might use to open an old-fashioned wine cabinet, rather than a front door.

9. People drive nice cars. Regardless of the state or nature of their home, there could still be a Benz or an Audi parked out front. South Africans are fanatical about their cars.

10. In our first three months we have been stopped by the police twice. And neither time did we need to pay a bribe. This doesn't for a second mean I don't think our time will come, just that it hasn't yet. And for the record, we are on a mission to make it through our time here without handing over a single Rand under the pretence of a bribe.