If not now, then when?

If I do not stopping blogging now? Then when? I can continue forever. But I can also use this time for my research, which is going really well! I can also fill this time with adventures things, like paragliding this Friday. I’d better work on my research towards my Communication Bachelor degree. If that is finished in two weeks I can chill and have a holiday till December 10^th, when I’m flying back to the Netherlands. But first my mother and sister are coming over to visit. Finally I will see them again and I can show them all the nice things here. And when they are leaving, I still have a month to do all the things I want to do here. Because if not know, then when? I have this date that everything must be done here. I think that will be hard for my South African friends, as they always keep inviting me and planning great things, which never happen. So lets do it right know! (After I said thanks to you Marian, for having this great experience in your class :)

The best medicine

What do you do when you are having a flu? I laid in bed for five days with a head full of snot. My boyfriend bought me painkillers, cough syrup, vitamin drugs, nasal, and a lot of tissues. It helped, I was slowly getting better. But normally it doesn’t take me so long to feel better. The thing was; my mammy was not here. Normally when I feel sick I go to my parents immediately. My mom and sister will take care of me and cook things which make me feel better. I am already in South Africa now for  101 days and I really miss my family. I miss my friends, the food. But maybe the most of all my bicycle. I have one here, but cycling here is so different! It is dangerous to cycle, I can’t park my bicycle properly and there can be mountain along the way. The best thing about a bicycle is that you can drink and drive. But not here, because cycling during night time is not possible at all. OK cycling didn’t make me better. It was a lot of rest, boring days in bed. I couldn’t read of watch movies or stuff. I felt to sick even for that. I think it was three years ago that I was so sick as this. Next time I hope I’ll be sick at my moms house again. Because I can have all the medicines of the world, but the best one is your mammy!

Watch this space

It is empty, there are no decorations. The only thing that it is here is one ugly couch, it doesn’t even sit nice. I parked my bicycle here, it looks nice, but normally you park it in the garage. Then we have one space with a bed, closet and table. There is no nightstand, mirror or chair. In the kitchen there are four glasses and three mugs, two small frying pans and enough plates. How can I cook a meal? Is it possible to have guests? Look at the sealing, its all brown and yellow; it leaks. Also the bathroom is leaking, I have a swimming pool around my toilet. The only way to the bathroom is trough the kitchen, that’s a weird thing. Last, but not least I have a grass bush in my garden, because the landlord doesn’t want to mow it. And off course those steps were I slipped off. Ach, at least I can park my car behind my electric fence. But oh, the fence isn’t under voltage. Oh and I am not a client anymore at the armed security company. And that is what they call a nice, save and furnished house here. I had to get used to it, its my house. You are welcome.

Howzit my bru? Talk like a South African

I was on trek in my bakkie to the dorp where my Cherry lives. My bokkie needed muti for a mozzie bite. I had to stop at the robot and a bergie with damaged takkies offered me a boerewors. I thought aikona, is he doff?! I’d like to have a lekker sammie. I said sorry my China, now now. Something further on the way I bought a biltong, but there was a miggie on there. My bru is a fundi in braaien, I called him and he said “ag man, izzit? I’m just jolling in my cozzie”. No braai just now.

My favourite cat is the hat book is; The racists guide to the people of South Africa

When I came to South Africa three months ago, I had never heard of South Africa being a ‘rainbow nation’. I knew that there were blacks and whites, but that’s it. I must admit, I didn’t red anything about South Africa, but still… I thought I will see what happens when I be there. After a while it didn’t seem to work out communicating with all the divers cultures. I was so happy that I found ‘The racists guide to the people of South Africa’ written by Simon Kilpatrick. The book is about putting all the races into boxes; “            South Africa is a complex land with a lot of confusing race-related stuff going on and, quite honesty, nobody really understands what the other races are up to. It’s always been a bit of a problem. Well, problem solved! Because now this racist guide is here to help you distinguish between our many races so you can better place everyone you see into a box (because people are easier to deal with when they’re in boxes)”. This book really helped me to see why South Africans act the way they do. But this book is not only nice for foreigners like me. Everyone should and can read it. Buy that book, its only 100 rand.

The best thing on earth

It is the best thing every human have and makes use of. It helps you with working, studying, or whatever you are doing. It is bright, it is yellow, it can be white. But it is always here, if you want it to be or not. It gives you vitamins, it lets things grow, it gives colour. It give power, electricity, it gives warmth. It gives light, it shines. It makes me possible to tan. It is beautiful to see it getting down, it is the biggest star in the universe and after all it will burn earth. You know what I mean.

Why I have conversations?

SA: Hi, how are you?
Me: I'm fine thanks, how are you?
SA: I'm good, nice shoes. Where are you from?
Me: I'm from Holland
SA: I could tell, those shoes are not from SA. Do they sell marijuana on the street in Holland?
Me: Uhm no?
SA: Where in the Netherlands?
Me: Utrecht
SA: Oetrekt​?
Me: No Utrecht
SA: Oeeetrekt

Why am I having this conversation over and over again? Why do I even have conversations? Because they are all the same. I really like talking, sometimes I talk so much to my boyfriend, that he is getting bored. Than we don’t have a conversation. What is the golden trick to have a real conversation? How can we really bring a message to people. I think this can be done by listening to people. If you listen to people you get to know their view of life and you can adopt your message to that context. A second thing that must be taken into account is the environment which the conversation is held in. If you want to have a real conversation, you need to hear each other and have the possibility to concentrate on what the other is saying.

My Bucket List

Like I wrote earlier Dutch people don’t make big plans for the future, they try to just see what comes on their path. I say try, because Dutch people are control freaks. This is not the bucket list of all Dutch people, but just mine. So I will give it a try;

Ride an big elephant; marry my boy Chris; travel to India; learn about cultures and how to interact with them; my parents visiting me here in Cape town; getting a baby (quite smoking); loose five kilo weight; graduate my bachelor; work as a wedding planner; fly a airplane; get my parachute license; look as good when I am 40 as I am looking now; see the most countries as possible, not only the tourist sights, but the real life; sailing on a boat; have my own smoothie machine; being a guest on a Indian wedding; bake a apple pie like my mom does; when I am really old, riding with a scooter to the beach and build sand castles; a cat with little kittens; learn about photography; raise nice and lovely children; own a Landrover;

But most of all being happy with my family and friends and also important: relax. Sometimes that is hard for me.

Grote Ramp

Last week I slipped of the stairs outside my house. I couldn’t move my arm, so I ringed at the neighbours and met Stephan. He brought me to the closest hospital from Obs; Grote Schuur. You can better call it ‘Grote Ramp’, which means ‘Big Disaster’. We came at Grote Ramp and we didn’t know where to go. No one told us. We walked around and asked the security guys. They brought me to the trauma room. Again no one was their, no reception or anything you expect in a hospital. Normally you have to check in and wait in the wait room, but at Grote Ramp, they just put me somewhere in a box with a lot of medicines I could steel. I didn’t liked it at all. I decided to search for another hospital. Stephan found one and brought me there. I love the private hospitals here, better service than in the Netherlands!

And then I found out that Grote Ramp is a government hospital, which offers free health care. If you want to be helped you have to be there 5 a.m. and if you are lucky they help you in the afternoon. Now I now I’ll never go to Grote Ramp again. But at least I met my neighbour, who stayed with me the whole time.

Bergie

I wanted to give my neighbour a package of Dutch beers to say thanks for the whole day in the hospital. Imagine: I am standing in front of his gate with my beers and a bergie comes to me.
Bergie: ‘Give me a beer’
Me: ‘No, it is a gift to my neighboor’
Bergie: ‘Give me your cigarette’
There is no question, I just have to give it. What should I do? I don’t now how to interact with bergies. This afternoon I was driving from CPUT to my house and there lies a bergie next to the robot. Is he dead? Or was he just stressed and in need of a sleep? I learned that bergies like their lifestyle of sleeping everywhere they can and drinking alcohol. They buy papsaks; a five-litler foil bag with wine, which they give new lives after drinking the wine. They blow them up and use them as pillows to sleeping off their hangover or fill them with helium and use them as a happy birthday-balloon.

My big fat BIG dream

Is a big problem to me. I am spoiled, because everything that I want can come true, I only have to make the decision and it will happen. But so scared to take the wrong decision, nothing happens and there are no dreams. The following things can be my dreams;

- Marry my boyfriend and live the Dutch middle-class life. We call it huisje-boompje-beestje. That means home-three-animal. The men works, the women takes care of the house chores and raises the children.

- Live an adventures life. Emigrate to wherever I want with my men and see what happens. I think I’m not going to make it. Because I am a Dutch person in blood and vanes. I will get stressed if things don’t happen in time or if people don’t do as agreed.

- I want to apply for a job as a wedding planner. I think I can be good at that. So that is the first thing I am going to do when I am back in Holland.

OK that’s quite a dream, but not a Big one. The problem in the Netherlands these days is not the opportunity to become something (everyone gets money from the government for studying), but the choice you have to make and to go for it.

Dutch just don’t know what they want, they don’t have a dream and don’t make anything out of life..  

Mind your eye in South-Africa

They warn you everywhere in South-Africa. You are alerted for the smallest and most absurd dangers. Along the way, both in the middle of the city and in the middle of no where, you find a lot of crazy traffic signs. There are signs that suggest; ‘Warning, look under your vehicle for penguins’. ‘Hold your grandma’s wheelchair, because these hills gets it out of control’, ‘Do not poop on the street’, ‘Please keep God’s window clean’, ‘Dung beetles have right of way, do not drive over dung beetles or elephant dung’ and ‘Ring for service, the waiter is in love’.

 

The sign on the left sign says: don’t come near to South-African women, they’ll kill you.

And for the dummies among us: At almost every robot you find a sign ‘before you the cross the street you must first press ‘knoppie’. Than you have to wait till the traffic stops. And you have to cross quickly’ But what they really mean is: ‘If the light is green, run to the opposite pavement or the traffic will hit you’.

Dutchies in Capetown

It doesn’t matter if there’re here for 8 or 50 years; Dutch people stay Dutch and they like to meet and interact with other Dutch. They don’t integrate with other South-African cultures, even if they are naturalized. They hold on to their  Dutch traditions. The place where I recognised this was just like a place in Holland: ‘Het Huis der Nederlanden’. They had ‘kroketten’, ‘erwtensoep’ and ‘stroopwafels’, there was a library with Dutch books and a Dutch market were they can buy Dutch brands. They were also talking in Dutch, they didn’t forgot it after 50 years. I also heard about a Dutch retirement home in Johannesburg, where is also Dutch market and they watch Dutch television and play Dutch games. Dutch people seek each other. “It is not easy to make friends in South-Africa, everyone has his own culture and it is hard to fit in there, now I don’t have to make adjustments”. So that’s why they just do the conventional. Conventional is a good fallback position isn’t it?

It's so hot!

I’m Dutch, for the ones who didn’t knew. And one characteristic of Dutch people is that they can talk about the weather. By talking I mean complaining. In winters it is to cold, in autumn there is to much rain, in Spring there are to much pollen in the air. At this very moment it is summer in Holland. Last weekend is was 35 degrees over there, the hottest weekend since 1976. But that is not good, because no one can concentrate at work, you need a lots of water to cool down and the elderly people die because of the warmth.

Me, the Dutchwomen, is not complaining about the winter weather here in Cape town. I think this weather is great for winter. There are lots of sun which is really nice to sit in with shorts. But I think it is the cold inside the buildings and the darkness in the evenings, that makes me sad. It is normal that it is dark early in winters, I know. But when I came here, sunset in Holland was at 10.30 pm. I am here now for two months and I’m still not used to 6.30 pm. See there I go again, complaining... Lets try to be positive; The thing that I like the most of the Capetonion weather is that it changes all the time. You’ll never know what to wear. There can be lots of sunshine, but from that moment to an other, it can rain, and I don’t mean drizzle, I mean rain, the one were you get really wet of. And then two minutes later it stops and the sun shines again. Ach, maybe I should say that Dutch people are always busy with the weather. Instead of asking; "Hi, how are you", what everybody does here. Dutch people will ask you; “lekker weertje he?”

Dear mini-bus drivers,

I really hate you and your mini-buses. Especially when you are driving next to me and in one moment you just switch lanes. And getting angry at me?! Because I was driving to fast!?? It was a 60 road and I was driving 50. It really pisses me off. Stop doing that.

Ok I must admit that I also like you, sometimes. That is when you are driving me to town. It's so easy, I just stand on the side off the road and you pick me up and for 6 rands to bring me to town. A taxi costs me ten times 6.

But I still say that I hate you. You are a danger for my life and from others that are using the road.

Kind regards,

Someone that has her own car

I can't chase two rabbits at the same time

Who can? This feeling keeps chasing me, what can I do about it? When I was in Holland I had to much to do. It just did not work out, because I wanted those two rabbits! It was so bad that I almost had a burn-out. On that moment I made the decision to let go one of the rabbits (quite my part-time job). It really was a hard decision, because from that moment I had to loan money for my study, in stead of earning it myself. It felt like I failed on something. On the other hand study is an investment, I am sure that I can pay the money back after graduating. It turned out to be the best decision I had ever made in my life. Because I could focus on my studies and graduate earlier. Also I felt better, when I accepted the fact that was loaning money.

But the feeling of chasing two rabbits at the same time is back. Now I am here in South-Africa, to graduate for my school in Holland. I’m also following lectures, and with those lectures there are a lot of assignments. I can do this assignments, but I don’t think that I will have enough time to do my research for graduating. And than I have to consider why I came here. Those two rabbits are simply to much. And at this point I hope I learned something from the last time; I have to let go of one rabbit, so I can focus to just chase the other rabbit.

Have you figured out the second head fake?

My answer is no, I did not. I don't even know what that means. It is really hard to be bad at English, while having conversations in English, making assignments in English and read in English. But while practicing I will learn it. That’s why I take this challenge. I think it must be hard for a lot of people here in South-Africa. Because for the most residents English is not their native language, so I'm sure I am not on my own. But still I am struggling, even when I’m not on my own.

So can anyone explain to me what it means?

About getting petrol

Every time when I drive my car I am looking at the petrol meter. Most people want their tank to be full and don't like to see the meter going into the red zone. But when I am coming close to the red zone I will drive some extra kilometers to get their sooner. Because when the meter is touching the red zone; It means that I am going to do something really nice! Yes, I can go to the petrol station! You must be wondering why; “Going to the petrol station isn't that great, you have to pay a lot for petrol and it costs time. Do you have a crush on the petrol boy or something?” No, I think getting petrol in South-Africa is a luxury treatment. It is just like you go to the beauty salon. You just drive to the pump, park you car, and you don't even have to park it on the right side. You give your keys to the petrol boy, lets call him Sheun. You tell Sheun which petrol you're car wants and how much you want to spend. And than you can sit back and relax, while Sheun is checking oil, water, cleans your windows, measures the tires. Than when the tank is as full as you like, I am still wondering how they do it so precisely, you can still stay in the car while paying. Its great! And off course; I don't want Sheun to put my tank full of petrol, because it will take too long before I can come back. After paying I have a sad moment because I'm leaving the petrol station. But first I thank Sheun and give him a couple Rand. But when I'm driving I feel so relaxed and I know that I can handle the rest of the day. Thank you Sheun!

SA ♥ BB

The first time I walked into CPUT and my class, I noticed that everyone has a BlackBerry. And they love them, boy they do! There is nothing better than a BB and according to them; I am nothing without one. The funny thing tho, in Holland, where I come from, BBs were hot seven years ago. Reitze, the father of a good friend of mine had one when they were just invented. I thought black berry is a strange name. 'Zwarte bes' if you translate it to Dutch. I still think it's a weird name. I never liked them and I never had one. But they were very hot in Holland, were very hot. These days you are only 'aloud' to have one, if you are in high school. My question now is; didn't Apple bring their Iphone to South-Africa? And Google their Android? Does is take that much time to get it here? Or did they already introduced it here, but no one will buy it because they love BlackBerrys that much? Someone?

I am...

I am Helmine. I am studying communications... in Holland. I am now an exchange student at CPUT. I am going to do research in Capetown for my study in Holland. I am also following lectures. I am in South Africa for 5 weeks now. I am still thinking about the first month I stayed in Houtbay. I am still enjoying the views and the people I met there. I am now living in Observatory in a international students house. I am wondering if I can go to the university on bicycle. I am also going to follow a lecture called media studies. I am supposed to write blogs for this lecture. I am now posting one. I am delighted to do this. I am looking forward to meet you, Marian Pike. I am going to see you on Tuesday.