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

Happy New Year!

Peace, love, and happiness to all o' y'all! May 2009 be YOUR year, and may you "move on up" to bigger and better things in every aspect of your life! To quote one of my favorite songs at the moment: "What are you waiting for--spread your wings and soar!"

Family + Disrespect = [THAT DOES NOT COMPUTE!]

Hopefully you had a happy holiday! I successfully avoided melting and a pleasant time with family...for the most part. Based on the amount of EDUCATION I've had to hand out lately, I'm expecting a teaching certification any day now...goodness.

Anyway, let me get my pressure down and just tell the story.

On the weekend before Christmas, one of my second cousins (let's call her Susan) asked my other second cousin (let's call her Sally) to ask me to house-sit for her for a few days after Christmas. Susan is currently in the process of renovating her mother's house, and she wanted someone to be at her home as "security" while she was away for the weekend (Friday-Sunday). As most of the family was headed up there for the holiday anyway, it wasn't really an inconvenience. I had no real plans post-Christmas, and while there were things to be done at home, nothing was overly urgent. So I agreed.

Now, a little background on her house: it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Well, not really, but it sure feels that way. It's about 2 hours from my dad's house, in the province to the north of us. The area isn't rural, but it might as well be. She lives in a small suburb, which is very quiet and secluded. It would be the perfect place to either raise small children, or retire, since nothing really happens there, and there isn't much to do. At all. The most exciting thing I did during my time there was visit the supermarket. Really.

Then you factor in the heat factor--a flat valley with little shade and direct sunlight for the majority of the day. Not cute. Of course, she doesn't have air conditioning, so you can't even bear to be in the house without every door and window open. And since this country apparently doesn't believe in window or door screens, this of course invites all of the insect kingdom to come inside. And I do mean all. And all over the place too--even inside my luggage. NOT CUTE AT ALL. NO. HEY GIRL NUH-UH.

And then she doesn't have cable. Which in the grand scheme of things, isn't exactly a life-or-death situation, but when you're sitting in someone's house all day with nothing else to do...well, you get it. (Thankfully there was a video rental store next to the supermarket.)

(In fact, the only really redeeming quality about this place was its multiple bathrooms with showers. My dad's house has a bathtub, which to me is a step backwards--I've been showering since age 9. I've had to re-teach myself how to take a bath. Speaking of which, if you want a laugh, just Google "how to take a bath." People are creative!)

Now, after the first day or so, I was thoroughly bored. I've spent the better part of the last four years staying home and doing nothing, and have gotten sick and tired of relaxing, so to be there, unstimulated, was no fun. Even more not-cuteness. I was there with two of my third cousins (I was not kidding about how HUGE this family is), and even with three of us we ran out of entertaining ideas pretty quickly.

Then comes the deal-breaker.

If you'll remember, Susan was only supposed to be gone until Sunday. Now, Susan doesn't have a car, and relies on rides from family/friends, or public transport. So I would have been totally understanding if she hadn't been able to come back until Monday.

I found out, however, that she, in fact was not planning to return until Wednesday.

How did I find this out?

From my third cousin.

Not Susan.

When did I find this out?

AFTER Susan had already left for the weekend.

TIME OUT. STOP. HOLD UP. WAIT.

Number one: the agreement was that she was to return on Sunday, with Monday as an unofficial grace day. You can't just go changing arrangements as you please, particularly when others are involved.

Number two: if it does become necessary to modify the arrangement, be responsible and TELL SOMEBODY. I should not have to hear about your change of plans from anyone else, be it relative, friend, colleague, newspaper reporter, prophet---I should hear it from your mouth first.

I am an adult, and so is Susan, and I expect an adult relationship with her. Which means that she, or any other adult in this situation, should be responsible, respectful, mature, courteous, and straight-forward enough to let inform me of changes to the program. I am not employed as her house-keeper; I am doing her a favor.

Now to be honest (and to keep the pressure down), again, it's not as if there were fires at home waiting to be put out, that I could not attend to due to my absence. There were no other plans I had made.

And it may seem to some of these people that I am still a child. As the youngest of my father's children I suppose it's easy to see me in that light. The last time a lot of these people saw me, I was in diapers. And currently, I don't have too much going on.

But the reality remains that I'm not 2, or 12---I'm 22. If you can trust me to be responsible with your HOME and all its contents, why can't you be mature enough to talk to me, and see if I am still available to manage with new arrangements? Especially since I was the oldest one who was going to be there, and therefore the one responsible for greater welfare of us all.
Even if you have my personal schedule memorized, it is simply rude not to discuss the situation with me.

I mean you just don't DO that! No matter who it is--stranger, customer, friend, colleague, family, St. Peter--you just do not do that Disrespect can't and won't be tolerated.

Well. As an adult, I know that this is not a situation worth getting angry over. My energy is not expendable like that.

The bottom line is that Susan and I will have a discussion about this, and move on. I believe when you're getting to know people, you set up the framework for the way they treat you. Build the foundation incorrectly, and the whole thing will eventually crack and crumble.

What about you: how do you handle being offended by family?