Category: this is south africa

Ten Years

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Yep. Today marks 10 years since I emigrated to South Africa. In that time, a lot has happened, probably the biggest things being my marriage to a wonderful woman and the arrivals and growth of our two wonderful children. [And this blog, of course – Ed.]

Yes, and this blog, of course.

South Africa is home for me. It has been for a long time. And yes, it has its difficulties and its quirks, but then so does everywhere and one learns to adapt and live with the stuff that the place chucks at you. Life is rarely dull, and perhaps that’s one of the reasons that I’m so happy here. Yes, I still miss friends and family back in the UK, but there’s technology which lessens that, at least to a certain extent.

I’m not sure if this anniversary is a thing that one celebrates – I mean, do people mark anniversaries of moving within one country? – but I’m always game for anything involving a steak, so that’ll be what happens this evening.
Maybe a little understated, but tender and pleasant. Just like me.

In the meantime, here’s to the next ten years.

Cheers.

Team with dreadful record still has much support

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For many, this weekend was the final straw. Yet another disastrous performance – letting the country down when we were all so full of hope – was just too much. There’s been repeated harsh (and entirely justified) public criticism – “useless” and “losers” just a couple of the words bandied around – but it merely seems to fall on deaf ears.

bf

It wasn’t the first time, either. It sometimes seems like we’re lurching from one poor performance, riddled with errors and incompetence, to the next.
For some, the problem is obvious: they choose to blame the man in charge, but I don’t think it’s necessarily that cut and dried. In my mind, the performance of the whole lot of them has been repeatedly calamitous. Fairly regularly, it’s actually been embarrassing for the country. You’d be excused for thinking that maybe they’re simply not up to the job in hand, and yet they’re highly paid and highly respected. How can this be?

It’s all so different to those glory days back in the mid-90’s. Back then – yes, perhaps under better management – things were so much better and the achievements were clearly there for all to see. Since then, however, while there have been occasional moments of triumph, it’s mainly been a steady downhill and 2014 shows no signs of bucking that trend. It’s actually rather sad.

And yet, there remains a huge level of support for these guys. Perhaps it’s because the population feels there’s no other team that is worthy of their support, or perhaps it’s habit, because they’ve just never supported anyone else.

But yes, the ANC will still win the elections again this year.
Incredible.

Some sound advice from Good Housekeeping magazine

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Or “God Goalkeeping” magazine, as my phone keeps trying to rename it (Jesus Saves?).
Anyway, you may spot this in February’s issue:

image

which seems like a very good idea.

There’s also a lovely write up on The Guru’s blog.
The only issue is having to buy a publication with Sicky Dion on the front cover. However, I found that hiding it inside a hardcore pornography magazine made things a whole lot less awkward when going to pay.

In Search of Tranquility

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The Telegraph has come out with their list of Britain’s Most Tranquil Places and there at number six is the Isle of Man, a fact that they chose to illustrate with a rather disappointing photograph of the Calf Sound:

quiet6_2783623k

That image really doesn’t do it justice. Some of the other photos on the slideshow (link above) are very pretty though.

But looking at the rest of the list, remoteness and simplicity is key for inclusion. That’s something that we can almost take for granted in South Africa, but the UK is packed and there are far fewer places where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of normal daily life.

Interestingly, it appears that I have lived in both the quietest (Oxford) and noisiest (Newcastle) cities in Britain. Being generally of average volume, I’m not sure that I did anything to contribute to either of those achievements. Plus, I haven’t lived there for 10 years, anyway.

The Isle of Man is also home to:

the largest concentration of Dark Sky sites in Britain. Dark Sky Discovery Network announced in 2014 that the island has a total of 26 designated “Dark Sky Discovery Sites”.

Again, we’re spoiled for this in SA, once you’re anywhere outside the big cities. The difference and detail that one can see in the night sky between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas is a good case in point. It’s not quite that simple in the UK, as generally, once you’re a sufficient distance from one city, you’re generally approaching another.

So, where are your quietest spots in SA (or wherever you are)?