Sticky post
Sunday, January 13, 2008 11:23:30 AM
New Start
Starting from November 30th 2008:
I don't know why, but apperently opera has changed it's coding and it doesn't work any longer with my customized CSS code. It sorts of pisses my off but I don't have the time or inclination right now to try and fix and therefore I chose just one of their standard designs. Don't like it very much but really can't bothered to do anything about it. Our new life in South Africa is hectic and exhausting enough, so I will stick to the basics.
Due to our past our friends and family are fairly far spread geographically. This blog is an attampt to stay in contact with people by having a central platform in which we tell our tales. This is a considerable change of this blog's beginning, where I wrote book reviews etc. But there are better places for that and if I want to continue to do so I will do it there.
Sunday, September 14, 2008 6:27:29 PM
house, South Africa, animals
Added two more galleries today with photos of
wild animals (result of us visiting a near by game park) and then some snaps of
the house in which we are living in now. I have to admit, living in a house definitely beats living in an appartment. But that is a different story.
Monday, June 30, 2008 7:24:45 PM
Strike, South Africa
Originally I figured that I should have the next entry in a positive light, writing about the good sides of living in South Africa, and believe me there are many. But recent events prompted me to do otherwise and have this little entry and to postpone my story about the delights of Johannesburg.
Last week the metropolitan police of Johannesburg was on strike. They blocked a highway during rush hour and caused a major traffic jam. That is already somewhat remarkable, as the police in many countries is not allowed to strike and even less to cause such a disruption of public life. But it is getting better.
In response the riot police (which is federal) was sent in to clear the mess. Pretty good story already, federal police in riot gear sent to disperse other police units on strike. But hey, we are in South Africa and it gets even better.
The different police forces started to shoot at each other! Now, there is humour in that, isn't it? Funny enough, the metropolitan police which shot with real ammunition didn't hurt anybody, but the riot police which used rubber bullets injured several metros.
Welcome to South Africa!
Sunday, May 25, 2008 4:24:46 PM
South Africa, Violence
Maybe it is best to start this posting with some clarifications. We are still in South Africa, we haven't booked a flight out of the country (at least not yet) and we are not planning to abandon our plans to live here for the next two years. Unless the situation will dictate at some point to do otherwise. But the worldwide media has been full of stories about the outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa over the last two weeks and this is in outside view of the events from inside the country.
South Africa has a reputation for being a dangerous and violent place. The recent news at least confirms and even strengthen this image. This level of violence is not ordinary even by local standards. The papers are full of horror stories and the TV probably, too, but we don't have television right now. I scanned the internet and what I read there was enough to make me almost believe that I moved with my family into a civil war zone. The picture is grim and for many reasons adiquate. What happens in the townships is horrendous and hard to comprehend.
But what may be the strangest thing of all is, that the recent events have had no impact on our lives, at least so far. Up to now the violence was limited to the poor areas, we haven't witnessed anything. Hence the outside view from the inside.
The German government gave out a travel warning not to visit townships and the area of downtown Johannesburg anymore. Especially the latter sounds dramatic, but the truth is that center of Johannesburg was a no go zone for many years and only recently it became safe enough to visit it again during the day. It basically slipped back – hopefully only temporarily – to its former status of a bad neighborhood. All major businesses left the area many years ago, most to the northern suburb of Sandton. No one I know ever said that there is a reason to go the city center.
The bottom line is that I don't think our personal risks are right now higher than they were when we came here. Talking to South Africans there seems at this point no reason for us to be more concerned for our personal safety than usual.The affected areas are out of bounds for us anyway, even on a good day. Yes, in quiet times townships can be visited, but for ignorants such as us only with a guide. Obviously, right now that is an activity which I will not pursue. But no matter where you go, one has to be careful (but not paranoid) here .
The life in the areas that we frequent does not differ from our previous stays here. Shops are open and just as busy as before, the restaurants are frequented as if nothing unusual is going on and everybody carries on just as always. It definitely feels like an atmosphere of denial.
It is obvious even to the casual visitor that South Africa is facing huge challanges. On the way between the airport to the city center of Capetown one drives on the highway past one township. What I saw there very well fit my mental image of a slum. Improvised shacks made of srap material like sheets of corrugated iron and plywood closely standing to each other, with billows of smoke from open fires above them. Ironically, there are even power and telephone lines in these areas, stemming from an earlier attempt by the government to improve peoples lifes. But the services had to be turned off shortly after their introduction, because people couldn't pay the bills. Life there must be hard and during the winter season downright miserable. Unemployment is officially around 40%, in reality probably higher. And the jobs that many of the employed have don't really fit a standard job description of a industrialized country. Where ever one goes there is a service person assisting you. Pushing the shopping card back to the supermarket after you are done with it, assisting you while pulling your car out of a parking lot, you can even get it washed right there and then, while shopping. And of course you don't fill the gasoline into your car yourself.
Obviously, all these jobs pay badly. To improve the living situation of those people is a task of major proportions for the government, it makes the problems that their colleagues back in Europe have to face almost tiny. But if the standard of living is not improved for the people at the lower end of society I would imagine that life here could become pretty rough and dangerous for everyone. Then the violence could easily spill out into the better areas as well.
I hope that it will never come to this and that the situation will improve over time. How big the chances are I don't know, but my optimism is limited.
Of course my selfish me hopes at least, that we will be never personally affected in any way by this unrest and violence.
Sunday, May 18, 2008 4:34:19 PM
Mexico, South Africa, New Life
“We are moving to Africa”. This sentence has a special sound, at least to me. For years I wanted to go to this continent after reading Hemingway, Markham and watching Hatari numerous times in television. Although I was more thinking of a holiday I guess, safari and what not. Instead we moved to South Africa, which, in a way is more an Africa-light, but still it is enough of a beginning of an adventure that it warrants to take note in form of a newsletter outside the customary newsletter season at the end of the year, reflecting on the past twelve months.
It is just over four weeks ago when we returned from Mexico, where Adriann's sister married near Cancun. It was a big family reunion and the whole trip was fun. We stayed a big resort south of Cancun, I took a scuba diving course and we did one cultural outing in form of a visit to some maya ruins called Tulum. The water is beautiful and overall it is really not a bad place to go. But be warned, it is expensive. I think the American tourists are driving up the prices. And for Europeans their places equally as nice closer to home and cheaper.
After our return from that holiday we had 2 weeks to pack up, to renovate the apartment ( a typical German way of doing it, get a place nice just before you leave so the people after you can enjoy it) and to get on the plane. Sounds like a pretty straight forward program, but kept us up quite often until the middle of the night to get things done. Really stressful. Luckily the move is paid by the company and professional packers did at least the bulk of the moving work. It was also the time to meet some friends and to say good by for two years. It is not so bad for us adults, but it is not so easy for Oliver. Two years is just too long of a time for him to comprehend. So he thinks we are just on another holiday and soon we will be heading back. We explain him that will still be a while.
And now we are HERE. Adriann and me had wanted to go abroad for several years now, had hatched several plans which didn't work out for one reason or another. At the end we were offered a limited time position in South Africa, near Johannesburg. South Africa? We were skeptical, the place does not have the best reputation, and our precondition was that the company would fly us all down for a week so we could see for ourselves how it is down there. To be honest, it is better than one would expect, in many ways. Johannesburg is, contrary to common belief, not the most dangerous city in the world, but it can be pretty rough. Last week there were riots in an area called Alexandra between native South Africans and Zimbabwe immigrants which resulted in several deaths and many injured. That area is not one that we would ever go to anyway, but we drive past it on the way to the airport, which is a good reminder that this place has its troubles. Being more careful than one would be in most European places is definitely in order.
Johannesburg is a big metropolitan area, seemingly stretching on for ever, but it is nice. It is fairly hilly and there is a lots of green around. The area is really pretty. On the other hand the traffic is horrendous. Any traffic jam aficionado amongst you? Make Johannesburg your next holiday destination! You will have plenty of choice already at 6 in the morning!
As mentioned above,we are here for a limited time only. Right now the plan is to go back to Kitzingen in two years, just a few months before Oliver has to go to school. In theory we have to make an active choice in 18 months if we want to stay longer and if both sides agree the stay could actually be longer, but that is still far away and it is too early to make any calls on that. Right now our mind set is based on the plan of return in 2010 and anything else will have to be seen. If nothing else this is a good little adventure and an excellent opportunity to explore another corner of the world before Oliver has to go to school and staying in one place for longer periods is the thing to do.
The company that I work down here for belongs to the same corporation as the company back in Germany. That makes things much easier and I even have a job guarantee for a position with my old company in Kitzingen. So there is not much of a risk involved in this little adventure. Currently we are staying in a furnished house in an area called Fourways, north of Johannesburg. The house in a so called estate, meaning it is a neighborhood surounded by walls and fences, with gates and security services. That sounds pretty dramatic, but these residential complexes are really nice when you are inside. The house is huge by our standards. It has three bedrooms, two bedrooms a dining area, a kitchen (of course), two lounges a small garden (without a pool though) and a double garage. We are constantly are getting lost in it. To find anything is difficult. I wish that everything we owned had a pager function, but once we get a bit sorted it will get better.
While we are down in SA, Oliver will be going to the kindergarden of the German School in Johannesburg, so he will face no problems when we are going back and he has to go to a German school. For Adriann the biggest change in her daily routine is that she will have to drive a car. In Germany she refused almost completely but this is not a choice here. The distances are to great and it is also a matter of safety.
As can be expected, live is still hectic and in transition. We first had to find this temporary place, sort out the basic telecommunication, will have to buy a car for Adriann next week (so Oliver can go soon to his new kindergarden), sort out the visa etc. Luckily we get more than the usual share of support of my boss. His name is Bodo a total family man and he does everything in his power to help us along, that we feel comfortable and that we get in contact with some people. It is definitely much more than is standard with any other company that I worked for in the past. We are really greatful! Also the colleagues have been very good. There is a family from Denmark, with two kids (the older one Oliver's age) who came a year and a half ago for two to three years as well. They are also giving us all kind of tips and pointers, because they have been in the same situation.
Anyway, this is it for a now. The next few weeks will still bring a lot of news and I will send out another letter, when it is worth the while.
Friday, March 21, 2008 4:10:36 PM
South Africa
It has been discussed for a very long time and I think many people that know us are already aware of our plan to once move again. Something exotic this time, although Japan would qualify for that as well before one has lived there. But I guess that can be said about every place. Once you lived there for a while and dealed with the idiosyncricities of daily life it looses quickly the exotic flavour. It becomes the place where your life is.
Anyway, we are going to South Africa. I signed the contract yesterday and so it is officially official. It is a two year limited contract, although it could be extended by mutual agreement. There are a lot of reasons why extending would be a major step like dropping out of insurance coverages back in Germany, Oliver starting school (although the German school in Johannesburg seems to be great), we are really far away from our families (which is then extended over three continents) etc. So at the moment extending is not an issue. We first have to get ourselves down there and then we see how we like it. Then we could still reconsider.
The company that I'll work for belongs to the same group as my current employer in Germany and I have a job guaranteed by them at the end of the two years. This is also an important factor in the seriousness of extending the contract in SA as the job guarantee is also limited to two years. But that could potentially be extended as well. The new company also supplies breweries with equipment, so I stay in the same line of work. The position also means a small step up, but not at all major. Still, better than nothing. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to work for someone else in the first place, at my current employer I am a bit stuck.
Obviously, going to SA is not all about work. We all went already for a week in January to check it out before we decided to consider the position offered to me. I was there a second time for a business trip. This is a very limited experience to go by, on the other hand it is much more than I knew before I decided to go to Japan. But then the situation was completely different. I was single and Japan does not have the security issues.
What we saw on our trip and what we heard of people who live there (some of them also expats) the security issue can be managed. Of course, there will be always a remaining risk whatever one does, but it can be reduced by living accordingly. For one we will live in a secure housing estate with walls, alarm systems and guards on duty all the time. That sounds horrible, I know, but once your inside these estates, they are rather nice. A lot of green, well maintained, often with a club house, nice houses, beautifully laid out etc. Defenitly nicer than your average German housing development. I will also have to restrain my haphazard exploration scheme by just tying new 'short-cuts' and getting lost in the process. There is some more planning to be done. And we will have to get used to frequent power cuts that started recently.
On the other hand the life style there is very appealing. The climate is very favorable. We will be going down during the winter months, meaning pretty much sunshine guarantee with day time temperatures around 15 degrees. It is normal to have a maid at least several days a week. People seem to be more relaxed in their attitudes than Germans, but then, who isn't? Barbecuing is big down there, it can be done all year round without bordering stupidity. And have I mentioned the pool? We will have a pool. It is ordered by the boss. He said if we come down there for two years we may just as well make the best of it and that definitely includes a pool. Well then. He is paying the housing.
What becomes of SA in the long run I don't know. I think politically the future is still uncertain. A lot of South African's are leaving I heard. But by going there for two years we don't really invest a lot in the country. So it is more an extended visit. So, the only thing to do now is to get packed up, move south and enjoy the time.
Thursday, February 7, 2008 8:42:23 PM
color, holiday, Lanzarote
The
second part of the photos of Lancarote is online now, this time the color version.
And I know, I know, I owe pictures of the boy, THE BOY; big time. Will post some soon. Promised, sort of.
Sunday, February 3, 2008 3:19:19 PM
holiday, photo, lancarote
Finally started to get through the photos of the holiday on Lanzarote last fall. This time I took the big camera with me and spent a bit more time to snap along.
The galleryI put on today is only the first part of the photos, those which are black and white. The island is so dry and void of plants that monochrome is a very good way of taking pictures. Later on comes a second gallery with color photos.
The holiday in short, little statements:
1.If you have no children you can explore the island easily in 3 to 4 days.
2.The island is good for you if you like it dry and sunny.
3.Visiting Lanzarote once is good enough.
4.Of the three tourist centers Playa Blanca is my favorite. Puerto del Carmen is too big and mayham and Costa Teguise looked like a ghost town when we drove through.
5.The
restaurant of the museum Castillo de San Jose is very cool 70's including the uniforms of the waiters and the food is excellent, too.
6.Cesar Manrique is getting a bit much after a while.
7.Doing a holiday all inclusive in a resort is good with kids but I would stay away from that otherwise.
8.Spending a whole day at a resort can be source of quite some frustration.
9.Arrecife is no tourist place and that makes so enjoyable.
10.Oliver, like all kids, likes pools and heavy sand shoveling on the beach.
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