Updates!

What a crazy four months this has been!


I love being back at school. I love being busy again, and I love waking up in the morning to face a day filled with things to do.


And those things have kept me BUSY! Some days I would leave the house at 8 am and not return until 11 pm. Needless to say, I also love my Sunday-morning periods of laziness. But it’s been worth all of that running around (especially when I look in the mirror to find that more than 20 pounds have disappeared!).


First of all, classes have been going very well. Initially I was worried that it’d be a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things academically after such long hiatus, but it’s been a very easy transition. I’m able to connect the concepts discussed in different courses with my actual life experience, almost on a daily basis. I’m thrilled to be able to fulfil another minor dream of mine and learn French (how’s this for globalization: I’m basically an American, studying a European language at an African university, with a professor who is Brazilian). Also, I’ve noticed how learning French is a mini-tradition in my family: mom studied it in college, and my sister did in high school.


Since my undergraduate degree program takes only three years to complete, I’m considering either an Honours degree, or a Master’s. Two different people in the last two weeks have told me that they saw a doctorate in my future, so perhaps there’s that in my future as well…


On the extracurricular side, things are just as interesting. I’m now a front page journalist (visit UCT’s Varsity Newspaper)! Working on the paper has sharpened my journalistic talents, and has helped me to improve my interview techniques. I covered a speech given in April, and that was a great exercise in filtering out the rhetoric and getting to the “meat” of what was being said.


On the radio, we’ve hired a new station manager, who is dedicated to taking the station to new heights. He’s given me a semi-promotion, so that in addition to doing general news, I’ll also have a daily business news report! During this vacation I’ll be busy researching for that.


I’ve also joined the sub-committee of the Cape Town Globalist, which is the student-run current/global affairs magazine (similar to TIME Magazine), as a contributor and sub-editor. This is a great chance to get more experience writing and editing.


Our choir had two beautiful concerts this semester, as well as a two-day workshop, and if I can brag for a minute, we performed beautifully! I can already see improvements in my own singing, which is always nice. We’re going on a charity benefit tour in September, which I’m helping to plan, and for which we are all excited.


And, next year I will be an Orientation Leader! This is something I knew I wanted to do the minute my own orientation started, and I’m definitely looking forward to welcoming all the freshmen next year. It’ll be a great leadership and teamwork experience. And it doesn’t hurt that it means I get to spend more time in Cape Town…and it REALLY doesn’t hurt that it’s a paid position.


--

So school is going very well, but what about life in general? Well, this week marks one full year of my living in South Africa. WOW. It has gone by so quickly. So, a few observations after a year of living here:


-Compared to other African (and other) countries, I’m very fortunate to be in South Africa. While the country does have it’s problems, it’s one of the, if not the largest, economies in sub-Saharan Africa, and there are many things we have here that people in other countries can only dream about. I’m privileged to be attending a world-class university, with a parent who is gainfully employed. We have access to good health care. The country’s constitution grants us many freedoms that others in the world do not have. The nation serves as an example to surrounding nations.


-I’ve managed to teach myself to stop speaking Spanish so often. Learning it in high school, and interacting with Spanish-speaking people in the US as often as I did, I was unaware of just how integrated Spanish was into my vocabulary. It’s funny when I order quesadillas here because I have to mispronounce the word for people to understand me.


-The winter holidays absolutely do not compare to those in the States. I don’t just miss the snow and the winter cold, I miss the festivity! There’s no real holiday spirit here that I’ve noticed—people seem more excited to have time off from work. Instead of Christmas carols, all I heard around Christmas was more house music. Depressing.


-I HATE IMMIGRATION.


-Customer service here, in some aspects, isn’t that great. This relates to the immigration issue a bit, but I’ve found in one or two cases that I’ve almost had to beg people to do their jobs. And the bigger problem I see is that people here are used to it, and therefore don’t challenge it.


-Speaking of challenging things, I’ve definitely become more assertive. I certainly like the realization as I get older that I don’t have to take crap. I’m more in touch with myself than ever before, and it’s easier for me to voice opinions that I might have otherwise internalized. I know what I want and am driven to do what it takes to succeed.


-No matter where I am, and no matter what flavour of mess is going on in my life, I continue to be blessed with great friends, for whom I am eternally grateful.


Of course, not everything is perfect. There's family drama, as always. I could always use more money haha. I miss my family and friends in the US like you wouldn’t believe (and that means YOU!).


But honestly, I’m a lot better off.



Listen: "I Choose" -- India.Arie

The Degradation of Manners.

I was sitting at lunch with some friends a few weeks ago, when one of them got up to get a drink. While she was gone, somebody came over and just took her chair. He didn't stop and ask if anyone was sitting there, or if we were using it, he just took it.
--

I was on the radio last weekend doing my news reads, and during one of my breaks, a DJ-in-training, whom I had only met just moments before, saw my phone sitting in front of me, and asked to see it. No problem...until she started looking through all of my photos and even read an email or two.
--

Everyday, I have to fight my way off the elevator, off the bus, and out of the lecture halls, because people force themselves inside, whether there is room or not.
--

People push and shove their way through/past, without even a hint of an "excuse me."
--

I was entering a members-only area of campus the other day, and had just swiped my access card, when someone just swooped in, past me, through the now-open door, and closed it.
--

Perfect, or near-perfect, strangers sometimes come up to me and ask the most personal questions, fully expecting me to answer them.
--

Students ask rude questions about a person's salary during a career talk, and persist even amidst numerous rebukes.
--

What is happening? Am I the only one who notices these things? Please don't tell me I'm the only one bothered by these things.

Some of the above examples are just a small portion of what I see on a daily basis, not only happening to me, but to others as well.

Some of them really don't make sense--I mean, really, there won't be any room for you to get into the elevator/bus/lecture hall if I don't first leave to CREATE the room!

And then others are just plain rude. I understand wanting to check out an acquaintance's phone's features etc., but what happened to asking for permission to browse through one's personal photos? What gives people (and I don't mean friends, I mean the odd person you might happen to see on a semi-regular basis in a class, at the bank, on the bus, etc.) the impression that they can just ask any old random question they want about you, with no regards to boundaries or personal decency? Questions about your romantic life, your salary/bank account, your family business...

What about common sense and decency (which, like Mom said, isn't as "common" as you'd hope)?

Are manners things we're taught, and then only practice at home? Why do we leave them there?

What's happened to respect???

---
Listen: "Push and Pull" - Nikka Costa

On My Grind.

You will just have to forgive me in the coming months. This being busy thing is no joke, and unfortch, the number of updates here may diminish a bit, although I will work hard to make sure that does not happen.

In addition to taking English, Media and Society, Sociology, and French, all of which meet every day, I am writing for the school newspaper, writing for the student-run global current events magazine, doing the news for the radio station, and singing in the choir. I'm going to try to fit in a part time job in there somewhere, somehow (but don't be fooled; I still take donations! haha). Add cooking dinner, finding time to clean the apartment, grocery shopping, and numerous other errands/meetings/discussion groups, setting up my empire (people will KNOW MY NAME en masse by the end of this year), finding time to relax...I need a secretary.

Real pictures soon, hopefully! Still working on getting the camera fixed. Much love!


Listen: "Work It Out" - Beyoncé

Back to School, Part 2: The Not-So-Live Blog.

Ok, ok, I admit it: while the idea of a live blog was great, the execution was a complete and total FAIL. Not a failure, but a FAIL. (In case you don't know what a FAIL is, visit the FAILBlog and you'll get a pretty good idea.)

Anyway, the reason for the FAIL is that it takes a few days to get connected to the Internet from my residence, especially during Orientation, or O-Week, while everything is being set up. Trying to blog on my phone is fine for a quick post, but that's about it.

That being said, what I said in the last post is 100000000000000000% true. This. Place. Is. Gorgeous. I feel like an idiot half the time because I'm standing around just gawking at everything. Standing on the main campus is amazing. If you look one way, you get a beautiful view of the surrounding Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. If you look the other way, you get this majestic view of Table Mountain (with its own "tablecloth" of cloud cover) and Devil's Peak, the mountain whose slopes the University inhabits. And if you lower your head a bit, you get to take in the beauty of these wonderfully classic buildings covered in ivy. It's amazing.

Now, let's talk a bit about the school itself. It is ranked among the top 200 tertiary institutions in the world, easily the best in both South Africa and Africa as a whole. Seven different faculties exist, educating some 20,000+ under- and postgraduate students. Students come from all across South Africa, Africa, and the world. The University is spread out over three main campuses, and four satellite campuses, including the Groote Schuur Medical Campus, which encapsulates the Groote Schuur Hospital, the oldest teaching hospital in South Africa, and the site of the world's first heart transplant surgery. The school has produced 5 Nobel Laureates; its students have historically been on the forefront of social and political civil rights movements, and has produced the first South African entrant into outer space. The MBA program was recently rated among the Best Value for Money, worldwide. The city is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and is in my opinion the most cosmopolitan of South African cities.

Yep, that's MY school! Am I bragging? Yes! There are some people out there (DAN!) who still think that Africa is full of cannibals and people riding elephants and sacrifices to the Sun-god. So I'm just doing my part to EDUCATE!

I'm doing a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Production, which under normal circumstances is a three-year degree, but I'm most likely going to do the Honors/Masters program and extend it to four years. The Department is strong and offers a few different production specialties, of which I am considering Radio, Print, and Web. It's quite competitive--you apply to get into your chosen specialty in the middle of your second year. But that means I have 18 months to develop my skills now, working on the school newspaper, the Cape Town Globalist (international affairs magazine affiliated with Yale and Cambridge Universities, among others), UCT Radio, and various other internships, student societies, and part-time media-related jobs within Cape Town. And with my experience at Ithaca, I'm confident in my abilities and I'm ready to achieve! I'm thrilled!

(Sidebar: a group project I worked on at Ithaca, discussing improvements for a popular soda company's advertising, is STILL featured on a professor's page, almost three years AFTER I left the school! Check it out, I wrote the first few pages)

Part of me can't help comparing UCT to Ithaca, though, and in fact there are definitely differences from your average American college experience. For one thing, since the legal drinking age is 18, people go out to clubs etc. socially pretty often. I'm not saying they drink more than American students, but it's a different experience to an American college, where people are limited to having dorm parties during their freshman year. Taking into account safety concerns that are involved in going out, I think that ultimately people learn responsibility when it comes to things like drinking a bit sooner than they might in the US.

Based on South Africa's size, you wouldn't think that the student population here would be terribly diverse, but in fact it feels like a mini UN! A lot of people think South Africa is just black and white, but there are also large Indian and Chinese populations. Then you get the really interesting combinations, like a friend who's originally South African, but grew up in Hong Kong, or another who's originally Croatian, but grew up in South Africa, or another who is originally South African and Irish, who has lived in the US, the Philippines, and Dubai. Then you get the international students, who really are international, like an Indian friend from Kenya. Add the study-abroad students and you've got just about every country represented here. And of course, EVERY single one of them can pick out my accent.

(Sidebar: I went to high school in PA with one girl who's doing a semester abroad here. And her mom was my homeroom teacher. I thought I was hallucinating the first few times I saw her, but it was definitely her! And it really is a small world!)

My apartment is perfect--it's part of the University's housing system, so it's a lot cheaper than getting an apartment of my own. Plus, that means that the free University bus system also comes directly here and brings me to and from campus, which is about a 20 minute walk uphill. I share a bathroom--with a shower! Hallelujah--and a kitchen--with more storage than the kitchen at my dad's place!--with two roommates. There's a pool and a computer lab, and of course, the magnificent view of the mountain! Goodness. It's right next to a few supermarkets and transport to the major malls. I'd say the only bad thing about my residence is that it's actually second-tier housing, meaning it generally houses second and third year students, and thus isn't necessarily ideal for the whole freshman/making friends/communal activities scenario. So I often find myself heading to a friend's res and joining in the fun there. But those other buildings are not far at all, and I'd rather have this room than do the dorm thing again. Trust and believe.

So far, we've been doing various Orientation programmes (I have to get used to spelling UK-style!) and student outings etc. That translates to mostly boring stuff throughout the day, then having fun and making friends at night. Next week I have a radio interview, a choir audition, a few parties to go to, and I've even been invited to spend a Sunday on a friend's yacht! Gotta love college life!

I'll leave you with some pictures!









































































Listen: "Girl, They Won't Believe It" - Joss Stone

SHUT UP.

I've just landed and this place is gorgeous.

More to follow.

Back to School - the Semi-Live Blog!

After months and months, and lots of stress and worrying, planning and packing, I'm finally sitting in the terminal, ready to board my plane to Cape Town! EEEEEEEEEEE!

Stay tuned in for regular updates and pictures!

THROW IT OUT!

When my mother passed away, my sister and I were left with the incredibly exciting task of having to figure out to do with all of her/our stuff. Mom had two garage-sized storage units, filled with the contents of a four-bedroom house. When I say filled, I mean filled. The reasoning behind keeping most of those things was that we we wouldn't need all new furniture etc. etc. should we move into a new house. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, so we were left to do as we pleased with all that stuff.

Seeing some of those things was like going back in time--opening up a wardrobe box to find a housedress my mom used to wear while cleaning, or finding a quilt she had knitted (I used to think of it as the Magic Quilt, because I would take a nap on the couch with no blanket, and whenever I woke up, there it was!). Things like that are the things to cherish, and I'm glad we were able to recover them.

HOWEVER.

My mom was also your typical PACKRAT. She would keep EVERYTHING. And by everything, I mean everything.

For example, I've always been a singer. I sing all the time, at home, at school, at church, at parties...anywhere there's a microphone or a stage, I'm on it. So of course I was in my elementary school choir. My (crazy!) music teacher Ms. West and I were good friends.

Anyway, our school, like most others, had concerts every winter and every spring. Band, orchestra, and then choir was last. When I was in fifth grade, Ms. West introduced a new song for our winter concert that involved the one thing most of us were scared of: a SOLO. Now the thing about the music program at my school is that every student had to be involved in music. If you preferred using an instrument, you had the choice of Band or Orchestra, but if you didn't select either one of those, you were in Choir by default. Obviously, then, not everyone in the choir was, well, a singer. So the idea of a solo? Didn't go over so well, and there were no volunteers.

But since I had experience singing with the worship team at church, and was pretty confident I could do a good job, I volunteerd. My first solo! Yay. It went well; I was incredibly nervous, but it was fine. (And not gonna lie, I LOVED the instant popularity I received the next day after the concert--parents, teachers, kids, even janitors were coming up to me and asking, "Were you the boy who sang last night? You were great!" This is how divas are born, people.)

Now, pictures and video of the concert were both taken, and of course my mom ordered both. The pictures even ended up in that year's yearbook, which we have two copies of.

The video, and the pictures, were in my mom's storage unit. Definitely a memory to keep, for both her and I.

But guess what else we found? Fifteen (15!) copies of the video order form.

Now, why on EARTH would anyone keep this?! We have the pictures, we have the yearbooks, and we have the video. WHY DO WE NEED TO KEEP THE VIDEO ORDER FORMS?! There was nothing special about the forms, nothing about me was mentioned on the forms. And this concert took place in 1996. We opened up the storage unit in 2004. WHY KEEP THESE USELESS THINGS FOR 8 YEARS?!

Ugh. And you know, there were many many examples of this throughout the units. My motto for those few weeks it took us to get rid of everything was, "THROW IT OUT!"


Now I'm living with my dad, and let me tell you, I can see why they got married. My dad also keeps EVERYTHING. When I moved in, I had to basically clear out the office so that I could have a bedroom. That involved getting rid of useless computers from 1989 that were just sitting there collecting dust, emptying out the entire closet and getting rid of even more old magazines and miscellaneous papers from work and home (please tell me why you need to keep your work schedule from 1999? From a company from which you've long since retired?!). He has a subscription to Time Magazine, which he never reads, just keeps. So they just sit there and pile up. It took me a week and a half to get rid of everything.


So, I am begging all parents: PLEASE go through your things at least once a year, if not more often. Those things you think you "might have a use for someday"? Re-evaluate. Will you REALLY need it? Will you REALLY use it? I'm all about keeping things that have sentimental value, but even then, use some discernment. I can keep the ticket stub from that Beyoncé concert, but do I really need to keep the ticket order form, or the parking slip, or the wrapper from the Snickers bar I got at the vending machine? NO.

You will save your children a lot of time and stress in the future if you get rid of things you really don't need.

But this doesn't apply solely to parents. I have moved enough times to know that it is NOT worth moving junk. If I'm going get sore feet, lots of stress, and risk pulling a muscle, it had better be worth it. So even you single people, students--whomever--go through your things every 6 months or so decide what and what not to keep. All those things clutter not just your room or desk, but your life. So get organized! And who knows, maybe someone else needs what you're keeping!



Listen: "Turn the Beat Around"- Gloria Estefan