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!
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