English Brings People Together.

Hi guys! 

So, I've been wanting to share my South African journey with all you peeps on my blog but haven't got the chance and the time to. As this opportunity comes, I'm going to grab it. Yesterday, we were needed to split ourselves (my class) into groups of three to four for this Newspaper-in-Education magazine-making project. And instantly and without question, the threeblackwidows paired up, well, in this case, tripled up. No, grouped up. This year's theme was Why English? And some of the topics were history, travel, communication tool and a whole lot more which I don't remember. So, we decided to go for English as a communication tool. We are supposed to fill the blank magazine sheets with a masthead on the front page with blurbs and what not and inside, articles, jokes and 'thambis' (inside joke), polls and stuff like that. We figured the easiest thing to do is to relate everything to our own personal experiences. How English has played a imperative role in our life, how we communicate and interact with people. So, it was imperative and pretty predictable that I should write about my youth exchange stint in South Africa. 

So, here it is! First published on off the record. Pretty neat, don't cha think? Haha Comment below on what you think! I'd love to hear some feedback! 

***

English Brings People Together

When people I know got to know that I was going to South Africa for a youth exchange program, the stereotyped reaction of them has always been the same shocked kind of reaction. They would reply as such, “Why South Africa?”, “Do you know that there are a lot of Malaria cases?” “Do you know that the crime rate is really high?” “But there’ll be lions and wild animals running around at night. It’s so dangerous!” I was stunned by how ignorant they were towards the world!

But again, not everyone knows everything about everything.

I was extremely excited about this South African trip to be a really fulfilling and enriching period of my life. And it, to be the stepping stone of what I want to do with my life in the near future and achieve my goal in life which is to travel round the world, especially to third world countries, and to help the not-so-fortunate people; People in need, basically. I’d take inspiring photos and write about the livelihood about different people with their unique cultures.

When I got to do just that in South Africa, I was in seventh heaven.

I have gone through amazing experience and got to learn different cultures and backgrounds of South Africans and I must say, communicating and interacting with them was really enjoyable. I was in South Africa for one whole month and I had different host families at each city I traveled to. There were host family transitions at namely Mafikeng, Orkney, Durban, East London, Cape Town and Gansbaai, just to name a few. Although most of them communicate with each other in their official language which is Afrikaans on a daily basis, I was amazed on how open they are and how they told me the story of their life oh-so-invitingly, in English, of course. Being the only language we all were fluent in, universal. And I can fervently say that all of them, my host families and my new friends, made me feel at home and welcomed me with their utmost South African hospitality

By conversing with them and exchanging friendly handshakes and hugs on the first day itself instantly shook off the nervousness I had before I arrived through the arrival hall gates of A.R. Tambo International Airport in the heart of the bustling city, Johannesburg. All the nervousness had become excitement. 

Throughout my whole South African journey, English has played such an important role in allowing me to interact with the locals and the aborigines I met whom only spoke really Basic English and understand their story. Lovemore, a young thirty-something gentleman was my elephant guide during my trip to the elephant sanctuary in the infamous tourist spot, Suncity. During the 1-hour elephant ride along a jungle trail, it was inevitable that he told us (my host sister and I) about the livelihood of the elephants and the vicinity of the area. He told us that the funny thing about these beautiful huge creatures is that whenever they feel like answering nature’s call, the elephants would just stop their triumphant strut immediately, open up their legs in a quirky stance and do their thing. It was nice to witness the beauty of nature. Along the trail, he shared with us his story about his passion for animals, especially elephants and how he loved how graceful yet clumsy they can be at the same time.

Kirsty and I rode on Michael, the ele which guide was Lovemore. 

Being a native Zimbabwean, Lovemore came over to South Africa in search for a better job that involves elephants and that was when he picked up the English language. Although his salary isn't all that much but it is enough for him to fend for himself and he added that there’s just nothing like being able to work with these awesome creatures everyday and sharing his life with curious, inquisitive tourists. I find Lovemore a really iron-willed soul, in terms of his love for his job, moving to a foreign land starting from scratch and his willingness to learn up English to communicate with people.

I spent my second week in hot and humid east coast city, Durban. People spoke more Afrikaans and native Zulu there. There, I got a chance to step foot into an aboriginal Zulu neighbourhood in the Valley of a Thousand Hills to learn more about the Zulu culture. It is about an hour-and-a-half drive from Durban North, where I resided. The valley is named after the many hills which rise up from the banks of the Umgeni River as it flows from the distant Drakensberg Mountains to the Indian Ocean. We were all enthralled and enchanted by the colourful costumes of the passionate Zulu dancers who performed a Zulu dance. The way they danced and sang was mesmerizing. 

The dancers also did a sketch about traditional Zulu marriage in a mixture of Zulu and English. A translator was at hand to translate the Zulu parts of the sketch. The sketch was really hilarious. A Zulu man had to give 20 cows as dowry to the Zulu woman and in exchange, the woman will present a beaded necklace. After the sketch, we got to interact with some of the dancers and they told us more about the Zulu customs and their rich culture. In exchange, I shared with them a little about Malaysia. And I wasn't surprised at all when they asked me where Malaysia is.


During my last week in South Africa, I got to spend some relaxing quality time at my host parent’s holiday house by Kwaggaskloof Dam in Worcestor with my host parents, my host brother and a couple of his friends. We celebrated New Year’s Day and had a countdown the night before. Again, they spoke Afrikaans among themselves but they’d let me know what the conversation’s about and I’d chip in my opinion. Being around them and interacting with them about everything was really a great eye-opener for me. 

Chatting through New Year's Eve around the campfire.

We talked about almost everything under the sun; about the raise in car prices, the age limit for drinking, politics, history, university entry requirements, how racism still exists, why buying a 200 Rand shirt is way worth it than buying a 50 Rand shirt, our families etc. I remember we would chat whilst playing card games, flinging each other with watermelon pieces or barbecuing dinner and we’d just chill and chat all through the night till about 2 in the morning. They’d teach me some Afrikaans lingo and I’d teach them some words in Bahasa Malaysia. And funny thing is ‘banana’ in both Afrikaans and Bahasa Malaysia is ‘pisang’! Who would’ve known?

In a nutshell, this whole journey has been an amazing and it was such an eye-opener for me to the world and what the world can bring to my life. It made me realize that the world is so wide and beautiful that you can never stop learning about everything.  

It doesn't necessarily require a trip to a tourist spot or a visit to the tourism board to understand the culture and what people from another country are like. It just takes a single conversation with a local and you’re basically on your way. Be it face-to-face, phone-to-phone or screen-to-screen. And nothing could be possible if English wasn’t in use. And I am so blessed and gratified that English has brought my host families, my new friends and I closer. Even now that I’m back in Malaysia, English continues to work its magic as we exchange friendly letters, postcards, packages and emails.

English brings people together.

***

Thanks for reading till the end! This is just a lil snippet on my whole journey. Trust me, of course my whole journey is much more than that! Hope you liked the article as much as I liked reminiscing the moments and stringing them down in words.