Last night was our second-latest night out in South Africa after spending five (FIVE) hours out with new-ish friends. After two hours out I normally start getting antsy, and three is generally my limit, so it says something about what an amazing time we had that I was enjoying myself as much at the end of the night as at the start.
Our company was a co-worker and his new fiance, both Afrikaans. I'll start by explaining that "Afrikaans" does not mean black, which I somehow mistakenly thought our first few weeks here. Afrikaans is the language that originated with Dutch settlers in South Africa; it then picked up words from a whole mix of other languages, including Malay, Portuguese, the Bantu languages, and the Khoisan languages. My impression is that most non-black folks (in South Africa this means Indian, white, mixed - the last of which they call "colored") at least understand Afrikaans, although only the Afrikaans people themselves - the ones descended from the Dutch settlers - grow up speaking Afrikaans as their first language in the home. The language sounds quite similar to German, only friendlier.
We haven't had an opportunity to learn much about the Afrikaans culture yet but it seems generosity is one of its defining characteristics. Our friends - who are younger than us - insisted on treating us to a night out for South African wine tasting, followed by a three course dinner at a fun restaurant called Moya ("a unique destination for a modern, sophisticated African experience" according to the website). They would only agree to letting us cook them dinner sometime in return, and that was after much negotiation.
Our hosts met at "varsity" (South African for undergrad) because they both had the same bursary (not sure about spelling). Bursaries are apparently a common type of scholarship here where companies will agree to pay to send someone to varsity in exchange for an agreement to come and work at the company after graduation. The commitment is generally a year for a year: one year funding in exchange for one year at work. This sounds like a quite common arrangement - I'm curious to know what percentage of varsity students in South Africa are funded by a bursary. When I find out I'll be sure to let all of you know. :)
I know that the founder of Edge Growth, where we're working this summer, also went to varsity on a bursary - after hearing his story, it sounds as though while common, applying for bursaries is kind of like studying for the SATs in the States - it only happens where there is some minimal amount of education or experience in the household/schools/support structures.
Conversation throughout the evening was heartfelt, reflective, and engaging - topics ranged from South Africa's development to 9-11 to Afrikaans culture and American culture to how to live a meaningful life.* It was great getting to know our hosts better, and it was wonderful spending an evening with such conscientious and thoughtful individuals.
*TJ Footnote: Particularly striking -- in addition to their warm friendship and generosity -- was their openness and willingness to talk about the complexity of cultures within South Africa, where the history of apartheid is immediate and always present. They spoke passionately about the young Afrikaans who look back in shock that such a thing like apartheid could happen, about the country that tries to honestly address its history without becoming a culture of guilt or blame, about what a shame it is they "only" speak Afrikaans, English, and one African language each, about building a new future that isn't driven by guilt but by duty. There are no crisp answers here, but their enthusiasm was still inspiring.
Our company was a co-worker and his new fiance, both Afrikaans. I'll start by explaining that "Afrikaans" does not mean black, which I somehow mistakenly thought our first few weeks here. Afrikaans is the language that originated with Dutch settlers in South Africa; it then picked up words from a whole mix of other languages, including Malay, Portuguese, the Bantu languages, and the Khoisan languages. My impression is that most non-black folks (in South Africa this means Indian, white, mixed - the last of which they call "colored") at least understand Afrikaans, although only the Afrikaans people themselves - the ones descended from the Dutch settlers - grow up speaking Afrikaans as their first language in the home. The language sounds quite similar to German, only friendlier.
We haven't had an opportunity to learn much about the Afrikaans culture yet but it seems generosity is one of its defining characteristics. Our friends - who are younger than us - insisted on treating us to a night out for South African wine tasting, followed by a three course dinner at a fun restaurant called Moya ("a unique destination for a modern, sophisticated African experience" according to the website). They would only agree to letting us cook them dinner sometime in return, and that was after much negotiation.
Our hosts met at "varsity" (South African for undergrad) because they both had the same bursary (not sure about spelling). Bursaries are apparently a common type of scholarship here where companies will agree to pay to send someone to varsity in exchange for an agreement to come and work at the company after graduation. The commitment is generally a year for a year: one year funding in exchange for one year at work. This sounds like a quite common arrangement - I'm curious to know what percentage of varsity students in South Africa are funded by a bursary. When I find out I'll be sure to let all of you know. :)
I know that the founder of Edge Growth, where we're working this summer, also went to varsity on a bursary - after hearing his story, it sounds as though while common, applying for bursaries is kind of like studying for the SATs in the States - it only happens where there is some minimal amount of education or experience in the household/schools/support structures.
Conversation throughout the evening was heartfelt, reflective, and engaging - topics ranged from South Africa's development to 9-11 to Afrikaans culture and American culture to how to live a meaningful life.* It was great getting to know our hosts better, and it was wonderful spending an evening with such conscientious and thoughtful individuals.
*TJ Footnote: Particularly striking -- in addition to their warm friendship and generosity -- was their openness and willingness to talk about the complexity of cultures within South Africa, where the history of apartheid is immediate and always present. They spoke passionately about the young Afrikaans who look back in shock that such a thing like apartheid could happen, about the country that tries to honestly address its history without becoming a culture of guilt or blame, about what a shame it is they "only" speak Afrikaans, English, and one African language each, about building a new future that isn't driven by guilt but by duty. There are no crisp answers here, but their enthusiasm was still inspiring.
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