Update

February 17th, 2009

I woke up much too early. As I was driving to the airport with my dad, I was sitting there thinking to myself "Sun rises are anti-climactic" and "Cape Town is not in Canada" and "I hope my parents remember to return my library books" (hint hint). Unfortunately when we got to the airport I came to the realisation that, despite popular opinion, Calgary is in Canada... therefore [insert first sentence here]. This resulted in a lonely hour where I was the only person at the boarding gate.

When I get to Calgary I have to find my way from the domestic to international terminal. Instead of following the somewhat clear signage, I chose to ask someone. She directs me down this weird deserted corridor. Finally I get to the end of it and I have 3 options 1. wait outside a gate that isn't mine 2. go back the way I came 3. go down the white hallway with cameras, gates and "Do not stop in this hallway" signs, all the while hoping the closed doors at the other end open. Ha! I don't even know why 1 and 2 are options. I start walking down the hallway, quickly so it's easier to start running if necessary. I get to the end of the hallway and the doors...don't open. SHIT! So now I'm afraid of stopping in the hallway 'cause the sign said not to, so I start walking (quickly) back and as I do an alarm goes off, a camera flashes and the doors open...well, the doors opened so I might as well use them. Needless to say, for the rest of my trek across Calgary's airport I involuntarily hid my face when eer I saw security.

Now, overall, I would say Lufthansa is a fantastic airline (granted the only other airlines I have to compare it to are Air Canada and Westjet...), there was only one thing that made me kinda sad. I was sitting in the window seat and there was this overweight guy beside me in the aisle seat. He was super nice and we were chatting and he was laughing at me 'cause the guy in front of me was a jerk who kept slowly crushing me with his chair. Anyway, good times were being had and then the stewardess came and asked him if he wanted to move implying that I am probably uncomfortable sitting beside him. He said he couldn't because the seats where she wanted him to move to were smaller and I said I didn't want to 'cause I like the window and didn't mind sitting beside him. She seemed to think I was lying/being polite and asked him to move anyway. He finally just agrees to move and the whole time I'm thinking about what a horrible situation this is, so I tell him to stay and tell the stewardess that he's good company, which she takes as us having some sort of airplane love affair and gives us a knowing "oooooh" before walking away, thereby making further conversation moderately awkward. Now I'm sure there was just a miscommunication in there somewhere, but it was still pretty horrible.

February 18th, 2009


Ok, so I arrive in Frankfurt, get my bag, go through customs, check my bag, have a mini airport-style shower in the bathroom and as I'm about to figure out how to actually leave the airport I glance over to see some chick waving at me. "That's weird" I think to myself and as I continue to walk away it clicks. That's not some chick at all, it's in fact a friend from school. Of all the random things to happen...think of all the stars, planets and space junk that had to align...blows my mind. Anyway apparently we were on the same flight from Calgary and she's headed to Africa as well. So I spent the day with her and the family friends she was there to visit. They were incredibly nice; invited me into their home, fed me, let me sleep on their sons bed, and were just wonderful all-round. The day was relatively uneventful aside from my friend getting bitten by their hamster and the development of my love for German salad and knowledge of the German school system. Oh and we saw a cathedral, which was pretty.

February 19th, 2009

The flight to Cape Town was relatively uneventful as I spent the majority of it asleep. I found the guy holding the sign for me when I got there and we drove to the university. A different guy took me to the hostel where I left my stuff before returning back the campus to wander around looing lost before asking 5 different people for directions (I only ended up finding half the places I was supossed to). Then I slept for 14 hours.

February 20th, 2009

I met my boss today! He was really nice and introduced me to some of the people I'll be working with/near. Then he told me to go explore the city and he'd see me on Monday...which I did!

TODAY!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with people coming up to me and speaking Afrikans. I hate that I don't know what they're saying and have to ask them to speak English, but I love that they think I speak Afrikans, which is significantly better than the alternative - them thinking I'm American. For example, there were these little kids throwing acorns across the street, so I gave them a "please don't throw acrons at me" smile. Then they asked me a question in Afrikans to which the only thing I could think of doing was smile sheepishly and shrug my shoulders...laughter ensued.

I've come to the conclusion that South Africa has the perfect sized coke cans. They're in between our normal size and those little half-sized ones...fantastic! Also, why have I never been into rugby? It's possibly the most perfect sport for me. There's a moderate amount of violence, constant action, goals scored at interesting intervals of time...it's like everything I look for in sports entertainment!