The simple task of getting home.

I was having a great day today, then it all kinda turned. well not really, I'm being dramatic, I just got held up. Amazing how little things like that can really change your day!

I was having a great start to the week. I had a good class this morning, although I'm not sure if they understood me at all, but they smiled :) And at the end of the day I had final exams from the last class and everyone made me proud! I also got a new project from the boss which I was really keen to come home and work on. So I left work feeling pretty swell.

I got to the bus station early, early enough even to catch the 17:05 Retreat Station bus, except it never showed. This alone is not so unusual, but neither did the 17:15, 17:25, or the 17:40! Finally at 17:50 the bus showed up! By this stage of course, the line to the bus was so long that we didn't get away until well after 6pm, and when I popped in to the grocery store to get bread for dinner, it was closed. Yay, now its frozen sausage rolls for dinner!

So, walking home, not feeling great, I am almost physically ill when I see the garage door had been left open for the better part of the day (not by me I must add). Immediately I saw all of my possessions making their way through the black markets and pawn shops of Cape Town, then I wondered if someone might be in there right now. I pictured going in there and doing something like this:

After a moment of day dreaming I returned to my senses, called my security company and got them to inspect the house before going in. One of the advantages of needing security, is that here it will arrive within a minute when needed. Quicker than the police.

So, the house is safe, amazingly, nothing is touched. A garage is open all day and nobody even pokes around. Another turn of unbelievable luck. Still, after getting in you can hardly blame me if the motivation to work has disappeared almost entirely! Oh well, another day another unbelievable encounter.

I discover the SA Government AND my ability to be pathetic...

Today was a big day for me, I got my Learners License... and a rude lesson about SA Government Departments.

I booked the written test for my Learners about 3 weeks ago, give what I'd heard about the SA Traffic Department I was pretty impressed with the turnaround! Because of this 3 week turnaround it was very important to pass first time to, as I have been a bit stranded without a car here.

The test itself was horribly worded, and I'm actually quite surprised I passed; that anyone passes for that matter. But after starting an hour late, and taking an hour longer than necessary, I was out of there in 3 hours with a Learners License.

The next step was to register for my actual Drivers License test. I was feeling pretty confident, because everything thus far had gone relatively smoothly. I went to the lady who dispenses forms and proudly said "I'd like to apply for my Drivers License please" (smiling broadly). To this she replied "Sorry, we are not taking applications because the next available spot is not until March 2010"... MARCH 2 0 1 0 !!!!

OK, I hadn't wanted it to get to this, but here it is. I went into the managers office, put on my most pathetic face possible and launched into this speech about how I'm just a foreigner trying to make it in South Africa, I'm worried for my safety without a car, blah blah blah...

New date for test: 24 August 2 0 0 9 !

(I feel dirty.)

A quiet night interrupted...

I was sitting here on my computer tonight when I was interrupted by a commotion outside. I ran to the window to see what was happening and this is what I saw:

A man being beaten by 7 or 8 other men with big sticks. I called the police straight away and whilst on the phone I was able to figure out what was happening. The man being beaten had been (allegedly) caught trying to rob one of the other men's houses and was chased into the street. From then the men proceeded to subdue the man violently, and pinned him down by the neck (pictured above). One lady drove past at this point and got out of the car and started telling the men off for beating the alleged robber. "You can't just beat him, that's not OK" she kept saying, and the men kept replying that he had robbed them, "But then you call the police, you don't beat the man".

This is when the police just arrived. They took the alleged robber and locked him in the back of their van.

That would have been it if not for this lady (pictured to the left of the police van) who insisted that the other men be reported as well. The police ignored her, to quote one police officer "We are here now, you let us do our job, we have secured the situation, now you go away."

Eventually the lady forced the police to take her details.

In the end, there were two police vans, and two armoured response cars, 7 or 8 vigilantes with sticks, and one lady fighting for justice.

Bizzare Night Out in Cape Town...

After work tonight I went to meet my housemate Estoban at a bar in the city called Cafe Mojito, for their Monday Night specials. Estoban is an American here doing research fro his university. It was a pretty normal affair, I met Estoban there and he had some friends there, 3 Xhosa girls, and we had some food and drinks. The bizarre happened after we left the bar.

I suppose we looked quite strange, I was in my full work outfit, "suited up" and the others were normal, and of course, I am very white, and they are all black. The bizarreness started on the walk back to the bus station. We where all walking in a group, then a car pulls up and a middle aged white man gets out, actually physically pushes the others out of the way to get to me and starts asking me in Afrikaans how to get to the Holiday Inn around the corner. He actually seemed quite scared, but I don't know why he thought he could trust me, as I was obviously with these people he was scared of. as one of the girls later pointed out, it was a sadly funny situation. The Xhosa girls where obviously offended, I was as well because I was the catalyst to this event, but we all just ended up feeling sorry for that guy. He could have asked any of us for directions.

After that, we went to the bus station, and whilst it wasn't that late (7pm) it was quiet. I felt immediately uncomfortable because not only am I very white, but I was dressed up, and looked like money (a deceptive image :). My unease was shortly proven. A group of 3 guys came up and demanded money, luckily I was with he right people. As soon as the situation turned threatening, lots of people came to make sure nothing happened. I think this was because I was with some Xhosa girls, I got the feeling that if I was alone I would have been alone, so to speak.

The sad thing is, it seems to be a self full filling prophecy. That guy wouldn't talk to the black girls because he was scared of what might happen, those guys decided to pray on me because I was there, not for any malice toward me.

I have to say that whilst I constantly find myself being the only white person alone in the city, I have never felt uncomfortable. I need to trust that feeling more.

My Work Life in Cape Town....

OK, so part of the settlying down process in CT was getting a job. I arrived, sent out my CV to heaps of agencies (mind you, this is the first time I've properly applied for a job in years!) and one got back to me. I went in there for an interview and 3 days later I was working for the agency! They hired me as manager of their Training Academy. Its a great gig, I'm teaching people to be waiters and barmen, and the students are from completely different walks of life to me. Most of them are refugees from Zimbabwe and Congo, and the others are from very disadvantaged parts of Cape Town. Its really interesting getting to know them, seeing where they are coming from. It can be so heart warming when you help someone get a job which will change their lives, but at the same time it is heart-breaking to have to tell someone they wont make it in the hotel industry...

But asside from the fullfillment of the job, there is the day to day. I get up at 7am and I'm greeted by this view (I usually dont close the blonds because I know it wont get light before I get up...). The sun comes up as I get to work.

Most mornings I catch a "Taxi" to work. A taxi in South Africa is different to most places, they are minivans that drive certain routes picking people up and dropping them off wherever they like. Its very easy, I walk down to Main St, put my hand up, a taxi stops and picks me up and takes me to the taxi rank pictured which is above Cape Town Station, a 5 min walk from work. It costs 5 rand (about AUD$0.80) and takes about 20 minutes from my house to my work.

I should also mention that by some freak of planning, the Southern Suburbs are all served by a Main St, which is not unusual, except that its the SAME Main St. It stratches from the city through Woodstock, Mowbray, Observatory, Rondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, Wynberg, all the way to Simon's Town about 40km away! Makes it so easy to get around...

Anyway, back to it. After getting a Taxi into town, I walk to Greenmarket Square (pictured) which is where I work. Its a lovely little tourist market which is surrounded by a hotel, a church and cafes. My building is opposite the newspaper distrubutuon building, so the road is always chaotic, but otherwise its a very peaceful area.

After work, I don't catch a taxi back home, I get a bus. Its strange because in the mornings the buses are packed, and the taxi's only half full, in the afternoon its the other way around. They caost about the same though, and are just as convenient during peak hour. I catch the bus from the bus terminal which is opposit the Town Hall (pictured). The buses all look about 50 years old, and have the engine actually in the bus (covered), which becomes prime seating when its cold, cus the engine is warm, and it vibrates....

Introducing Cape Town! - My Home :)

So I mentioned in my last post that after staying with the Meirings for a couple of weeks I found my own place. I got an email forwarded to me, which was forwarded twice before reaching me, about a place in Upper Woodstock that was available for 2 months. I jumped at the chance. It is close to transport and gives me the chance to find out where I want to live before committing long term. And this is the place:

This is the view from my window (pictured above, top right) on a sunny day. The house is up on a hill, or more accurately, on the side of Table Mountain, and overlooks Table Bay. You can see the shipping yards in this photo.

This is the view from my front door. Directly ahead is the CBD, and behind that is Signal Hill which was used to communicate from the port to the city back before the days of radio (like Batmans Hill for those in Melbourne). The CBD is quite small in Cape Town, the population is only just over 2 million, and it is very spread out. But it is a truly beautiful CBD.

So all the photos I've shown you are on beautiful sunny days, but that's only half the story. The weather has worked quite suspiciously to a strict timetable of one horrific week of torrential rain and wind, followed by a week of beautiful sunshine and hot weather. Its the middle of winter. I arrived to one week of storms, the next week was beautiful, the following week was floods, this week is beautiful... This photo is my bedroom on one of the rainy days. Its such a nice setting to read a book of watch a movie....

I'm blogging... I guess.

Hey,

I have just moved to Cape Town, South Africa and I want to show you all my life here. The plan is to put stuff up here randomly and send it to you guys... I hope you enjoy :)

Just to give an intro, I arrived on Cape Town (CT from now on) on the 22nd of June '09 after spending a fantastic month in Seoul, South Korea. I left Melbourne (my home since the age of 1) on the 19th of May, flew to Osaka, Japan, caught the Shinkansen fadt train to Hakata, then jumped on the boat to Busan, South Korea, and took the KTX fast train to Seoul.

Arriving in Cape Town I was greeted by the Meirings, who were (still are) so good to me and made my transition so much easier. After 2 weeks living with them I have moved into my own place.