Just-in South Africa 'Opening Match Day' Friday 11th June

Its always crazy getting things ready for a guest, making sure the room is clean their welcome gift is taken care of, towels are available there is sufficient toilet paper in the bathroom. Especially when the day before their arrival EVERYONE wants a piece of you - coffee, meetings, running errands. Eeek!


This was the case on June 10th the day before Justin arrived from the USA for Soccer World Cup 2010 and a whirl wind tour of my gorgeous country South Africa. Here on vacation from Washington DC, yes he traded the warm but humid DC temperatures for the bitting cold of Southern Africa or at least Johannesburg. But it would turn out to be an awesome week long excursion.


Running late for goodness knows what reason I arrive at the airport in a bit of a tiz, and being me I need about 15 minutes to gain composure from a frantic state of not being able to find parking and the rig morale of finding the entrance to the terminal at Oliver Tambo International.


Justin miraculously found me amidst the chaos that JNB was in. How I dont know I might attribute it to his super power as we would later discover his super hero persona as the Golden Boogey.


Having returned to my house with Mr Kahrl and giving him some time to freshen up and have tea and hot cross buns. We began the trip I had planned and detailed out hour by hour. Off to the SAB world of beer in Newtown Johannesburg (that is downtown Jo'burg or the CBD - central business district). Enroute we experienced world cup fever in its totality, people on the streets blowing vuvuzelas, hanging out of cars and taxis, hooting (honking their horns). It was crazy, but you could feel the true spirit of Africa and her people as the excitment for the opening match at 2pm drew near.

At the SAB we went on a tour experiencing the history of beer from ancient Egypt, to the Sudan, Germans and home made African Sorgum, which we drank out of a calabash. Walking through brewaries, experiencing early life in Jo'burg on the gold mines and the typical shebeen (Irish word for a place, house, where alcohol is sold without a license). Upon completion of the tour we had 2 coupons each which we used to taste various SAB brands - Sarita and Castle Milk Stout, no need to tell you who drank the girly drink.

Back in the car and off to a opening match party, I drove Justin and myself to Honeydew, where we would watch the opening match South Africa vs Mexico. As we were driving the 20minute car trip Justin fell asleep, I attributed this to jet lag, him having just flown in that morning, however I would soon realise that this was another one of the Golden Boogey's super powers-a man of many talents.

We eventually arrived at Kevins place after a number of U-turns, this being my super power under the alias Stealth, and a trend that I would continue to repeat throughout the remainder of the trip.

As South Africans we were filled with national pride as our team played hard and well against the Mexicans drawing to a 1 all close. Summing up the evening we had Babotie and oxtail for dinner and desert was Koeksisters, milk tart and cappucino.

A successful evening of fun and resulting in a deep nights sleep.

Read Justin's version
http://nogimmickneeded.blogspot.com/2010/06/south-africa-journal-day-1-ive-been.html
http://nogimmickneeded.blogspot.com/2010/07/south-africa-trip-day-2-picked-up-at.html

Graduation - Hons Psych

Its really been a LONG time since I wrote a blog type entry. Sorry I’ve been so slack in staying in comms, at first I thought it was because I was study (Honours in Psychology) but with the completion of my exams in February I now realise I’ve just been useless in staying in contact.

2009 saw me leaving the USA and returning to South Africa, where I began studying for my Honours Degree in Psychology, I did 6 subjects – Research Psychology (which is stats), Therapeutic Psych, Psychopathology, Community Psychology, Psychology of Work and Psychological Assessment. I got 2 distinctions, which was disappointing as I was aiming to Cum Laude. I just missed distinctions in the 4 subjects but my marks fell in the bracket that wasn’t eligible for a remark. Some of my US friends were querying how the examination process works, and not knowing how the US system works bear with me. Throughout the year we’re required to submit assignments and research projects which make up a mark that determines whether we will be allowed to sit the exam. My examination session was in February (yes I studied over Christmas and New Year, when everyone else was on holiday – it was tough) and each exam session is 3 hours long, the exam format is written essays (except for stats which was multiple choice), I now believe this is an archaic way of conducting an examination especially in an age where everything is typed; in complaining about this there is an undertone – after the first exam my hand was in agony from writing for 3 hours solid. The exam would count between 90% and 80% of the final mark, depending on the subject. So all the work you do throughout the year makes up 10% or 20% of your final mark.

I did my Honours Degree through the University of South Africa (UNISA), having done my undergraduate degree through the University of Johannesburg, a graduation I missed because I was living in the USA. I graduated last night, 31^st May 2010, from UNISA. The ceremony was great the chancellor’s speech was uplifting and portrayed the importance of a united South Africa regardless of race, gender, orientation or age. This was on the back of the Super 14 final at Orlando Stadium between the Blue Bulls and Stormers. (Brief history lesson and contextualisation to follow)

The Super 14 is a rugby tournament between Australian, New Zealand and South Africa, there are 14 teams representative of the top provincial teams from each country. Orlando Stadium is in SOWETO (South Western Township), an area that was demarcated for the black population to live in during apartheid. Soweto is still predominately a black township. This year the Super 14 finals were played by 2 South African teams the Blue Bulls, from Pretoria in Gauteng, and the Stormers from the Western Cape, rugby has typically been viewed as a ‘white mans’ game and even more so is strongly tied to the Afrikaans culture, if you’ve seen Invictus the Clint Eastwood movie with Denzel Washington and Matt Damon you’ll know what I’m talking about. The game was held at Orlando Stadium as Loftus Verveld the home of the Blue Bulls in Pretoria is geared up for the Soccer World Cup. It was a monumental event and symbolic of unity having 2 South African teams face off in the final in addition to playing the game at Orlando Stadium. Its another reminder of how far the Rainbow Nation (a term coined by Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu to describe post apartheid South Africa) has come in the past 16 years.

The chancellor did challenge us to take up the reigns of driving our careers forward and growing our country from strength to strength “if you do not, then who will?” simple words but incredibly powerful. He further iterated that we the graduates and anybody else in the audience with a tertiary education are privileged to have had the opportunity to study and receive a higher education degree. A sobering thought living in a country where the majority of the population lives in poverty and the lifestyle of a working class citizen is elite.

Where to from here?

Thats a question I’ve been asking myself. I need to get my masters degree in order to practice Psychology in South Africa, but masters is extremely difficult to get into, depending on the university candidates are streamed and there are quotas that need to be met. Currently I am looking for an internship or an organisation that I can do volunteer work with until the beginning of the next academic year (February 2011). If I dont get into Masters I can do a 6 month internship and write a board exam and register as a counsellor. Alternatively I will do my Postgraduate Certificate in Education a 1 year course which will allow me to teach and then go on to do educational psychology. In the meantime I have registered to learn Zulu, so it will be a slower academic year this year.

A quote from one of my favourite books - Dr Seuss ‘Oh The Places You’ll Go’

”Congratulations today is your day your off to great places your off on you way.”