Lessons Learned

People always say time flies when you’re having fun and now I know this is true across the globe. The irony I’ve learned from studying abroad is this: for the first time in my life, I finally feel like something besides a student; for the first time in my life, I finally feel like there is something I’m doing greater in life that is complemented, not dominated, by my education.

As an extremely studious (and, frankly, anxious) person, this is a new phenomenon to me. It’s refreshing, for instance, to go to Boulders Beach with friends on a random Sunday afternoon to visit the hundreds of African penguins that live there. Even if I’m not going on an excursion, something as simple as sitting on my apartment’s balcony with a gorgeous view in the 70 degree “winter” weather is something I never take the time to do at home.

It was such a treat visiting all of the little penguins at Boulders Beach! (Click photo to enlarge.)

I’m making a conscious effort to live in the present because, judging by the fact that somehow it’s almost August, I’ll be making my way back to Texas before I know it. In the mean time, I’m learning more things everyday. Here are the top 10 things I’ve learned from being in Cape Town thus far:

10. South Africa seems to have an affinity for KFC. I would have never guessed that Kentucky Fried Chicken of all restaurants would be an intercontinental chain, but lo and behold it’s true. There are KFCs everywhere – downtown, at mall food courts, even in the suburbs.  At least this keeps my hopes up that Qdoba will come to Cape Town before I leave!

9. Ketchup is called tomato sauce and instead of office hours, UCT has tutorials called “tuts.” Cultural differences like these never fail to amuse me!

8. It’s average for a native South African to speak 6-7 languages. This really trumps my bilingual abilities of English and American Sign Language.

7. I can actually survive with only 5 gigs of Internet per month, which is another refreshing aspect about living here. My life doesn’t revolve around social media and I am actually becoming friends with people in real life before we connect on Facebook.

6. UCT recycles and supports the green initiative on campus.

5. Even with an environmentally friendly campus, UCT is definitely not smoke free.

4. Self-service checkouts at supermarkets haven’t made it to this part of the world yet. Normally I wouldn’t consider this a significant cultural difference except for the fact that I spent a whole lecture in my Information Systems class learning about the “kiosks overseas that allow you to never have to speak to another person in the grocery store!”

3. South Africa is truly the Rainbow Nation. Though it got this nickname from the number of diverse cultures and people that inhabit the country, I also found this to be true in the literal sense. (See below.)

Even on rainy days, Cape Town is still beautiful! (Click photo to enlarge.)

2. Walking to campus is not for the faint of heart. I leave 30 minutes before class to complete the 20-minute hike to Upper Campus (literally, a hike) and reward myself with a 5-minute water break. Even with this precision, I still manage to make it to class looking less than stellar. But hey, at least I’m on time and will soon have calves of steel.

1. People don’t have to ask me if I’m American because apparently they can tell from my “sports clothes and bright shoes.” This was a lovely greeting from the first guy I ever talked to on campus.

This weekend I’ll be exploring Stellenbosch and spending as much time as I can basking in this beautiful weather. Happy August from my time zone to yours!