One Just About Me

Okay, so enough of the spiritual truths from Guru Cook! Here's one just about me and the whole new experience of moving country, moving out, and anything else that comes to mind. I'll just rattle them off as I think of them.

• Well, the one that sort of exemplifies all the sorts of things I mean and was my example when thinking about writing this post is Nesquik - yes, Nesquik! I'm finding that suddenly I love the stuff. How have I lived without it for so long? I used to greatly enjoy it as a kid, but haven't had it for years. But, saw it in the Spar when I first got here, and I'm already over halfway through a big tub of strawberry! I think at home I never really knew whether if using up a big chunk of the milk at random would cause someone else some problems later (something I don't need to worry about here), so I never really used it on occasion, so never developed the habit. Strange, but go Nesquik!
• The way South Africans speak is just bizarre! The accent is one thing, but there's so many little phrases from putting "eh" at the end of every sentence, yet saying it with a lowered tone and not a high one like a question. It's like being in Canada! "How are you?" is actually, "How is it?", and "now" doesn't mean now! So if you say I'm going to do something "just now" that means more like "a bit later", or "at earliest convenience". If something will happen "now, now" it means very soon, but not quite yet. "Now, now, now, now..." means "right this second" as does "right now". Personally it seems people have to add more now's because "now" simply doesn't mean what it should! Grr! As South Africans would say, "Ach! Shame, man!"
• If South Africanisms are one thing, Afrikaans songs in church are something else! They are just so hard to follow. They tend to be very wordy, with slightly odd tunes, and just so unpredictable in the pronunciation. Imagine something that looks like German but has pronounciation like what would happen if someone decided to randomly change the sounds of all the english vowels around (so U sounds like E, and I like A, etc)! Zulu songs are very cool though - VERY cool!
  
• Cooking regularly is a new one (I can do it, but never really done it ongoingly). Cooking for one is silly as you end up using like 1/2 a clove of garlic and things! So I tend to cook for 3-4 and just use what's left for lunch the next day, or freeze stuff in my tiny freezer. Makes a better economy of time and money. It's good fun though and I'm enjoying learning new things and making some pretty tasty stuff, I might add! I'm a messy cook though. I clean up after, but during things are everywhere, and there's already a bit of splatter around! Finding ingredients in the supermarket is strange too.... things are all ordered according to some strange logic! Food is quite cheap in general though. Meat in particular is a lot cheaper than in the UK.
  
• I've not missed having no TV very much. It'd be nice to see a bit now and then, to be able to flick on the news, or watch the Grand Prix, or just catch the odd episode of something funny, but it's altogether a good thing just not having TV. I wonder how much I'll maintain the habit coming back to the UK.
• Insects are something else here. You can really tell that the wild world outside is a powerful one and wanting to push into every human establishment at any opporunity (e.g. monkeys jumping all over the roof at various times of the day). The ecosystem is just relentless here. So ants are around in a lot of places and I need to spray them with some stuff that'd probably be illegal in the UK! There are some nasty red suckers too - ants that are more like little spiders or maybe half a bluebottle in size. I would not like to get bitten by some of those! I chucked a millipede out of my place the other day when I found it on the floor after having a shower. There's loads of others about too that I'm sure I'll tell you more about some time. To top it all after all the rain recently we found a HUGE snail stuck to the side of the house. No kidding, this thing was 4-5ins long!
• I'm enjoying going to the gym. It's not as expensive as the UK (about half the price) so I can finally afford it. Feels good to pump some weight and to get some general fitness back. It can be a bit crowded at times, especially with poseurs on the free weights. I just need someone to spot me now.
• Last night I finally managed to make the clicks and pops of Zulu/Xhosa! You don't understand how happy I was! For days I'd been walking around sounding like Rebekah Clevely just making random noises, and then suddenly - breakthrough! It's not perfect, and my success rate is probably below 50-50, but I can do it now, and I'll be getting better. Wahey!
• Yet to meet any available young godly women :o( As ever, all the ones I start to take an interest in, or vice versa, I quickly find they're married or engaged! Grr!

Umm... I think that's it for now. I'm sure I'll add more pointless chatter later. By the way, you can add comments to this blog, so please do and let me know that you're actually reading this thing!

Keep in touch, people!