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February 15, 2005
Settling In
I have officially settled in to life at UWC: my room is unpacked and decorated, my classes have already started assigning too much work, and I know my way around campus so well that I can even walk around at night and not get lost! But never alone, of course, although I find it incredibly inconvenient and annoying that I need someone else to come with me if I ever want to leave my dorm after dark. Women have a long way to go in South Africa...
I have decided that I'm somewhat tired of standing out as an obviously international student. I dress the same and look the same as a lot of other people on campus, but as soon as I open my mouth, I get the strangest stares from people who are trying to comprehend my accent. The funny thing is that there are 11 national languages in South Africa, so accents certainly aren't unknown to most of the people here, but I guess that an American accent is just too different to be comprehensible sometimes.
For example, yesterday I went to my math class dressed in my windpants and t-shirt, as I was headed to the gym to lift immediately after the lecture. As I sat down, the student next to me turned and started asking me a question. Given that I had been bluntly pointed out as the American student on the first day of class, this guy obviously knew that it has difficult for me to understand what he was saying. Unfortunately, I don't think that he predicted that he would have to repeat himself three times before I understood that he was asking me if I was going to the gym. I wish that I could adopt a South African accent so that I could blend in here, but we all know how well my attempts to blend in usually turn out.
I feel like I should be more involved with stuff on campus, but it seems like I'm always too mentally and physically exhausted to spend the time looking for groups to participate in. Also, last week a few students helped out with Habitat for Humanity in a nearby township, which would have been very interesting. Unfortunately, my 6-hour-a-week math course prevented me from being able to participate. If it's not crew, it's math...I think I'm just too busy to be social and have lots of life changing experiences.
I have a journal to write for the professors I'm traveling with, and I keep some other thoughts in a personal journal, so it's hard for me to remember what I've written about where. Therefore, if anyone has any questions or wants to know more about a particualr aspect of my experience here, just leave a comment and I'll direct my posts towards potentially more interesting subjects. I have sorted through all of the emails that accumulated during my three week absence from the world wide web, so I now have more time to spend on blog postings and keeping everyone updated. I have also discovered that the computer lab is open until 9:00 at night, which means that I can come back after dinner and just sit down at a computer without having to worry about if I signed in for an hour earlier in the day. The nice thing about a majority commuter campus is that a lot more things are available for the students staying in res after everyone goes home.
I hope all is well in the United States for everyone...
Posted by rgutwin at February 15, 2005 03:17 AM
Comments
You should definitely come back with a South African accent. That would be awesome.
Posted by: Diana at February 15, 2005 10:39 AM
You've noted the men in South Africa have a different approach to male-female relationships (e.g. your comment about women walking after dark), so it's not so big a shock.
Vis. your being too tired to be social after school: welcome to my world.
I would really like to know more about the food there. What's popular? Any new discoveries for you? Anything you really hate (aside from the stuff you hated here in the US).
Oh, one more thing - what are you learning in Combo?
Posted by: Paul Gutwin at February 15, 2005 09:30 PM