Wednesday, August 16, 2006
3 weeks down, 101 to go...
Yesterday marked the official three week mark of my arrival. It seems like closer to 3 months not three weeks! Settling in has been a bit of a challenge and I'm patiently (okay...not so patiently) waiting for the fun and excitement to start. you kow that stuff that everyone's talking about when they say "You must be so excited!" when you tell them you're moving to South Africa.
As much as everthing seems pretty similar on the surface to North America, there are some very real differences that cause some cutural consternation.
1. Opening a bank account. This takes at minimum 5 trips to the bank, not including the trip you make thinking they'll have regular work hours. Now I understand "banker's hours". Banks close at 3:30 here and 11am on Saturday. Well, now I know. Anyway, because of fraud and serious capital flight risks caused by people sending money out of the country at the end of apartheid, it takes a lot for foreign nationals to open accounts...even savings accounts. Chequing accounts take 3-6 months longer, once you've proven yourself! So it takes proof of a residence (and if you live in a room rented from someone else they have to write a letter stating that); proof of a job contract in letter including contract duration--and when you provide that they will then tell you they can't open the account today--they have to call the employer to verify;ID obviously; and 3 passport photos. Not exactly sure why and they had no explanation. To get the work visa to come here only took 2 and they sent one back. Since I don't have a printer here yet, that means going a half hour to the mall to get the print offs and pictures taken care of. Then more trips to the bank.
2. Food. Retaurants are similar here...pizza places, hamburger joints including McDonald's (that's the only western hamberger place I've seen), and KFC is big here too. But other than scrambled eggs and peanut butter sandwiches, i have yet to have anything that tastes close to reasonable. I had pasta and ham& mushroom cream sauce the other day--the sauce tasted like neither ham nor mushrooms. More like plastic. Not good. Having said that, food in restaurants is very good generally. Slightly different, but quite good. Other than I got food poisoning from some pasta I ate on Monday.
3. Security. We've all heard about the high crime rate in South Africa, and they are well aware of it here. I live in a gated community with a guard house and high walls with electric wiring. But that hasn't stopped at least 5 break-ins in the last few weeks. Luckily it isn't violent crime, more portable theft...laptops and ipods. It's pretty easy to jimmy open the slider door and just walk off with it. My next door neighbour and the guy up stairs have been hit in the last 2 weeks. It's tough to know what to do--if you take that stuff with you, someone could break into your car. I'm going to get slider door bars so I don't get broken into.
On the plus side, it has been amazing for winter. We had a cold snap of 45 - 55 degrees for a few dsays and someone said snow in Joburg but I must have been sleeping. It was the first snow in the city in 25 years. It's cool and cloudy today but it has generally been about 75 degrees (22C), clear and sunny most days.
I'll be getting my furniture delivered in about 10 days and my sister, jaclyn in coming at the beginning of next week, so it's all looking up!
As much as everthing seems pretty similar on the surface to North America, there are some very real differences that cause some cutural consternation.
1. Opening a bank account. This takes at minimum 5 trips to the bank, not including the trip you make thinking they'll have regular work hours. Now I understand "banker's hours". Banks close at 3:30 here and 11am on Saturday. Well, now I know. Anyway, because of fraud and serious capital flight risks caused by people sending money out of the country at the end of apartheid, it takes a lot for foreign nationals to open accounts...even savings accounts. Chequing accounts take 3-6 months longer, once you've proven yourself! So it takes proof of a residence (and if you live in a room rented from someone else they have to write a letter stating that); proof of a job contract in letter including contract duration--and when you provide that they will then tell you they can't open the account today--they have to call the employer to verify;ID obviously; and 3 passport photos. Not exactly sure why and they had no explanation. To get the work visa to come here only took 2 and they sent one back. Since I don't have a printer here yet, that means going a half hour to the mall to get the print offs and pictures taken care of. Then more trips to the bank.
2. Food. Retaurants are similar here...pizza places, hamburger joints including McDonald's (that's the only western hamberger place I've seen), and KFC is big here too. But other than scrambled eggs and peanut butter sandwiches, i have yet to have anything that tastes close to reasonable. I had pasta and ham& mushroom cream sauce the other day--the sauce tasted like neither ham nor mushrooms. More like plastic. Not good. Having said that, food in restaurants is very good generally. Slightly different, but quite good. Other than I got food poisoning from some pasta I ate on Monday.
3. Security. We've all heard about the high crime rate in South Africa, and they are well aware of it here. I live in a gated community with a guard house and high walls with electric wiring. But that hasn't stopped at least 5 break-ins in the last few weeks. Luckily it isn't violent crime, more portable theft...laptops and ipods. It's pretty easy to jimmy open the slider door and just walk off with it. My next door neighbour and the guy up stairs have been hit in the last 2 weeks. It's tough to know what to do--if you take that stuff with you, someone could break into your car. I'm going to get slider door bars so I don't get broken into.
On the plus side, it has been amazing for winter. We had a cold snap of 45 - 55 degrees for a few dsays and someone said snow in Joburg but I must have been sleeping. It was the first snow in the city in 25 years. It's cool and cloudy today but it has generally been about 75 degrees (22C), clear and sunny most days.
I'll be getting my furniture delivered in about 10 days and my sister, jaclyn in coming at the beginning of next week, so it's all looking up!
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