The light at the end of the Joburg Tunnel

The last few weeks have really been a blur. Not because I’ve been having so much fun; rather the kind of blurry-eyed non-awareness that happens when you work 12-16 hour days and then crawl into bed and then get up and do it again and again and again. But as I am fast-approaching the end of this project (Friday!!), I can look back now that I have a little more time to reflect on things. In fact, I’m hoping with (much) more time I can look back on my time in Johannesburg and on this project with more (than zero) positivity than I feel right now. That’s usually how it goes in life – you end up learning the most from the bad experiences.

There have been some good times! I did manage to go out to dinner with people a few nights, and one Friday night we even went out dancing to live music. This live music club happened to be in a mall. You heard me, a mall. I went dancing in a mall. South African life seems to revolve around malls. They are safe and controllable and people feel more secure. It was great to hear live music though (even if all covers) – the only other live music I’ve heard was during the client’s end of year party. That was actually a lot of fun. I was having a terrible day, and went with 2 others to the cafeteria for a quick lunch - we have to eat everyday in the company-provided cafeteria because it’s not safe to walk down the block in complete daylight. Yes, it is nice that lunch is free but you do get sick of the same food for 6 weeks! Anyway, we walk into a complete off-the-hook Hawaiian-theme party with an awesome live Jamaican band and everyone dancing! Even though Hawaii and Jamaica aren’t the same thing, my mood changed in an instant. This is one of the many reasons why I love music. There's not too many things that have that power over me.

 

I also went on a tour of Soweto with several other KPMGers. This was a great, eye-opening experience – a must-do for anyone coming to Joburg. It was one of the highlights of the trip so far – it feels weird to talk about a “highlight” when what we saw was so heartbreaking in some parts. But sometimes it was also funny (trying their homemade milk-beer), sometimes empowering (Nelson Mandela’s house), sometimes sad (Hector Pieterson museum and learning about the Soweto Uprising), sometimes a bit scary even with a guide (white people walking into a bar full of black drunken Sowetan men and being grabbed and heckled).

 

Beyond that, the other educational thing I’ve done in the last few weeks was going underground at an operational platinum mine. This was for work to understand the client environment, but just as much for my amazement / amusement. I was very lucky to be invited along and was the only person from my team (even if it meant a day of lost time that I had to make up over the weekend). I was the only female – as we all know, mining is still a male-dominated, and some might say, sexist field. It was all in good fun, but I was straddled in between the legs of a man in the people-carrier (which you ride in down into the shaft), and separately was also offered assistance with my shower, and teased about getting muddy. It’s all just funny and I don’t take offense to those guys. They all also made sure I was ok and checked on me at various times and were quite chivalrous (being miles beneath the earth can be a scary experience). On a different note, I have been severely insulted as a woman on this engagement over and over, but that was not any of these guys. I know the difference between good-natured teasing and when I am being belittled in business and in a job I am clearly VERY good at. There are some very sexist men in South Africa and I’m not sure I’m ready to fully reflect on this issue yet. I’m not making a blanket statement, just telling you what I have blatantly experienced. Sometimes it’s clear that it is just “the luck of the draw” where a person is born.

 

Another awesome thing was that I got flowers. For no reason at all. I went on and on to all my co-workers (“did I mention my flowers?”) and they are all pretty sick of hearing about Chris. THEN what happens? My birthday comes along and I get more flowers!!! Which I have set up in our workspace so everyone can enjoy them. And more of the same, “have you seen my flowers?” Chris, I’m supposed to tell you that you’re making all the men look bad and all the women a bit jealous!

 

I have just moved out of the hotel (yet again, sigh) but this time I’ve moved into a co-workers granny flat which is so nice. I’ll be here until Chris arrives (only a week now!). I don’t think I’ll write again until after my wonderful travels are over, and I’m sure I’ll have lots of fun things to share and I’ll sound and feel more like myself. For now, I’ll share what’s on my mind of what I will and won’t miss about Jo’burg.

 

Won’t miss:

• The Africaans accent, how they say “yah” or “eh” at the end of everything – I don’t know why, the accent just never grew on me (no offense anyone….I don’t like New Jersey accents either). I love listening to Zulu though!
• The issues of Apartheid, it doesn’t matter that it ended in (only) 1994. It’s still very awkward for me to understand how and why. I don’t pretend to understand it. They have a long way to go.
• The weird feeling of having all black labourers. Most of the white people have black help in their homes. To me, it feels weird to have people “waiting” on you…..I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it, and I know that my friends’ employees are relatively well-paid and feed their entire families on this income, and their medical is all paid for. It’s unfair for someone coming in, who doesn’t understand everything, to make any comments on this.…..I don’t know, it’s just a hard issue and I grapple with it constantly while I’m here. So I’m looking forward to getting away from my “grappling” I guess
• My constant concern for my safety and a constant heightened awareness (whether it is warranted or pounded into me by everyone else, I’m not sure). There are seemingly endless stories of muggings, car jackings, “smash and grabs”, rapes. Last week we were informed that one of our co-workers got accosted in her car on her way home (luckily she got away). Generally the rule is, no cell phones or your purse on the seat next to you - always put everything in the trunk of the car so people don’t try to get into your car at stop lights. Most people just run stop-lights at night.

Will miss:

• The cats at the zoo meowing at night, I could hear them from my hotel
• South Africans call traffic lights “robots” – I mean, that’s just funny
• Biltong – like beef jerky but a million times better
• Braai – a South African barbeque
• Rusk – sort of like bready, crisp, granola biscuit; great for breakfast
• The service – slow compared to US, but gold-standard compared to Perth
• I will miss seeing black people – come on Perth! Where are all the black people? It will be strange to go back to Perth and only see mostly white faces. Not to generalise, but I miss their “energy”
• I will miss a few of the people I’ve met (notice how I didn’t say “all” haha). A few of the UK guys and SA girls have been pretty cool. And I’ll miss spending time with my favourite Russian-American in the whole wide world!

South African Adventure - week 3

I wish I had exciting things to tell you about my work week, but I don’t. I’m thankful to work and live in Australia (or the US).

Obviously the one exciting thing that happened this week was the US presidential election. Everyone here was asking me about it, from all countries. It’s one of those things that I find interesting about America and the rest the world. In the US, we might get some highlight coverage about election outcomes in other countries – particularly if there is violence involved. But often times US media doesn’t “bring in” a lot of world news. Neither does our education system (at least mine didn’t). Conversely, in most other countries, the news from the US and the presidential election are heavily covered (and a lot of other world news). I wish people would see that our news coverage put us at such a knowledge disadvantage in the US.

On Friday night, I went out to dinner with some other KPMGers at an African restaurant in Melrose Arch. It was more like an "African experience". We had our faces painted, listened to music, played with African instruments, and had a fantastic meal – even if it was all a bit “touristy”….but hey, that’s what I am! We even tried the ox-tail, which is a very South African thing to eat (it was good – like roast beef).

African princess

Saturday I had organised a trip for several of us out to the Rhino and Lion Park. What a fantastic day! I was a bit worried because I had set it up and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s about an hour drive out there so we were all hoping it was worth it – and it was! It is a large park that has many different types of animals roaming free (in general). It takes over 2 hours to drive around it (and you're not allowed out of your car for safety reasons). It even has 3 of the “Big 5” (referring to the big 5 famous African animals – the giraffe, buffalo, rhino, elephant, and lion). This park had buffalos, rhinos, and lions…not to mention tons of other typical African animals such as the eland, impala, mongoose, wildebeest, cheetahs, etc. It was a great day. I’m hoping to do at least 1 fun thing like that each weekend.

With baby white lions

Our friend Rhonda the Rhino. Of course I named her!

Tomorrow I have to check out of the executive apartments and go back to the Westcliff. There is no room for me here, not even a double to share with Kate. I am very sad about this, being away from the group and restaurants and shops is hard, especially without a car. But I guess it doesn’t really matter, and hopefully I don’t have to move anymore until I am packing up to go travelling - only 26 more days!

South African non-Adventure - Week 2

Week 2 has been sufficiently hectic. Every day, my co-worker David, from London, and I had a driver take us from the hotel to the office in downtown Joburg. We were the only 2 of our team in the hotel instead of the executive apartments. Every night I got a ride back to the hotel from one of my other co-workers with cars, usually past 7pm, and ordered room service for dinner. Sometimes I worked more or called people and sometimes I just went to bed. Here's a pic of the exterior of my hotel for the last 2 weeks:

The Westcliff

On Wednesday I had to be out at one of the mine sites for more meetings. It takes 3+ hours each way and leaves me with even less time for work or anything else. There were major strike actions again, and several people were again injured or shot by police. I hope I don’t have to go there again.

Friday was the day that I moved out of the hotel (after almost 2 weeks) and into an executive apartment, where the rest of the team also have apartments. Packed up my bags, got to work, and it was a good thing I called the apartments to check on my reservation (set up through KPMG). You guessed it, they had no idea I was coming and had no place for me! After several hours of panicking with the admins on my team, we got an apartment, but I will have to move again in a week – into a shared apartment (2BR 2 Bath) with my friend and co-worker, Kate. Kate and I get along great but it kind of sucks not to have your own space and we both have visitors coming. Plus this means she has to move yet again!! But at least I’m not homeless in Johannesburg, of all places. And it will be more fun with Kate around as we've already been roommates out on the game reserve :)

There are 41of my comrades on this project, with 18 travellers from outside South Africa. Those of us from other countries (India, US, UK, and now Australia) all stay at apartments near Melrose Arch (except for David who is still at the hotel). The apartments are really lovely, quiet, and secure. The KPMG group pretty much has the whole complex except for a few units. I feel sorry for these other people. Melrose Arch is a very safe and trendy area, and across the street is a secure outdoor shopping complex with shops and restaurants. And I can finally either get groceries or order takeout instead of room service. And I have a washing machine!!…..oh the small things in life.

Do I sound happy? You’re right, I do not. It isn’t really what I expected or hoped for, but I plan on making the most of it. Friday night we had some drinks as a group in one of the apartments for a birthday party. The younger kids went out to a club and the “more mature” crowd stayed in. I can't believe it, but I am now comfortably and happily part of the "more mature" crowd. Saturday was a bit of down time in the morning, a late lunch and grocery shopping with Kate, and then 5 of us watched a movie and ordered pizza for dinner. Today (Sunday), I went with 2 others to the Apartheid Museum, which was informative but sad and unbelievable. They also had a special exhibition about Nelson Mandela. The story of apartheid is too complex for this blog….too complex for my brain at this point. Maybe when I’ve had some time to digest and learn more, I can cover in a subsequent post. If you want to learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid_in_South_Africa.



Apartheid Museum - "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,
but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." - Nelson Mandela



The entrance to the Apartheid Museum

The absolute BEST thing that happened this week is that we worked it out so Chris can come over to visit at the end of the project!! Normally the policy is that international projects allow a flight home every three weeks, and all flights are business (or first) class. Instead of me flying back to Australia in the middle, Chris can fly here instead (and we're both flying economy). I worked it out with KPMG, Chris got approval from his work, and viola we're all set for him to fly over on 6 Dec and then we'll do some fun stuff for a week! :) Happy times. It's only a month away. A person can do almost anything as long as they know when the end is....it's when there's no end in sight that will drive a person crazy.

Right now I should be working instead of writing this blog. I am multi-tasking by doing my laundry, typing this blog, and warming up samosas in the oven for dinner. I am so glad I am in an apartment instead of the hotel! Hopefully this week will be productive, with less night terrors (for real), and next weekend I will do something fun like a Joburg and Soweto tour. I’ll keep you posted!

Signing off from South Africa