As was to be expected with this blog, I've been a bit slack with keeping it updated. As soon as we got home from Cape Town uni work just started to pile up and before I knew it, exams were approaching. The past few weeks have been spent finishing off the last few assignments, studying for exams, finishing those exams and doing a bit more exploring around Johannesburg. The university year is officially over for me and I can now say I've completed my second year of university - only one more year to go!
Everyone is leaving Johannesburg at the moment, which is quite sad. Most of my friends from the Malaysian campus will be returning home and several of my friends from South Africa will be heading off as well. There are few people on campus at the moment, and although I'm glad to have a break off of study, it is bittersweet as I've had a really great semester studying here and I'm going to miss some of my classes and teachers and the friends I've made. Nevertheless however, this is one of those moments where I'm glad I had to foresight to apply for a whole year abroad and I'll be looking forward to returning in February!
I'm planning on leaving Johannesburg in the next week or so and beginning my summer of travel. Over the rest of November, December, January and February I shall be exploring southern Africa (and returning home to Australia for Christmas of course). Anyways, here a quick look over what I've been doing for the past few weeks (that don't involve study ...)
FOOD N' FRIENDS
Not having classes everyday has meant more free time which means more time to cook! Quite a bit of time has been dedicated to having little dinner parties and making meals together. While my Malaysian friends have enjoyed trying to recreate their meals from home, I've enjoyed making vegan meals for everyone to try.
INTER-COLLEGE SPORTS DAY
This was the day I got super sunburnt after sitting in the sun all afternoon watching a bunch of guys run across a football field. It was actually kind of fun and I'm pretty sure Monash won most of the games played against the other university. Rin plays for the Monash volleyball team, but the other volleyball team cancelled at the last minute so they spent 3 hours playing volleyball amongst themselves. Other sports included basketball, netball, rugby, soccer and apparently tennis.
SUPERBALIST IN THE CITY
One Saturday night my friend Rin and I were bored, we'd just gotten back from Cape Town, submitted several major assignments and were looking for something fun to do. We didn't have to look very long until we found out that there was a music festival happening at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens the very next day. Cape Town had just had a music festival called Rocking the Daisies where Foster the People had been playing, however we couldn't go because it didn't fit into our university schedule. Turns out though, that all the major acts at Rocking the Daisies were doing a similar concert in Johannesburg.
We bought tickets then and there (about $28aud) and heading to the botanical gardens the next day for some music and fun. While there is a very trendy and 'hipster' population in Johannesburg, you don't really see it in Roodeport. Here at Superbalist in the City however, everyone was hipster, and I almost felt as though I was at a music festival in Australia (especially since the majority of people at this festival were white).
We spent the day wondering around and listening to the acts. The only two artists I knew were Foster the People and Mac Miller, but I only knew songs from Foster the People. All the other acts were pretty good though, and we got to listen to some South African bands play. Mac Miller had so much energy on stage. Rin and I stood for 45 mins to get a good spot up close to the stage to hear Foster the People play 'pumped up kicks'. We were not disappointed.
GRASSY SPARK
One of the South African bands we had heard at Superbalist at the City was Grassy Spark, an indie band from Cape Town. Their songs are very upbeat and happy, and as soon as we had gotten home I looked them up and started listening to them on Spotify (sidenote: South Africa doesn't have Spotify (I can use it because I use my Australian account and I have to pay to use it abroad) but several South African bands are on it??). I got hooked to their album and found out that they were having an album launch in Johannesburg. So after making my friends listen to their music, we headed to Rumours Lounge to go see them live again. It was also halloween weekend and the theme of the concert was to dress up ...
I've been to several concerts in Melbourne, so I've was expecting a bit of a crowd at the venue, however there weren't that many people there. Furthermore, when we got there we got sat at a table behind some other guys. At first I didn't realise who it was, but after a quick google image search I realised we were sitting behind the Grassy Spark merchandise table where several of the band members were sitting. It was very random and unexpected and we spoke to a few of the members before they performed on stage. Their set was really good, loads of energy and all their songs sound great live. Afterwards we got to chat to more of the band members and get a quick pic with the band!
APARTHEID MUSEUM
The university arranged a free trip for the exchange students to go to the Apartheid museum. When I first arrived in South Africa I had very little knowledge about the country's history. I'm grateful that I've been able to learn about the turbulent history of South Africa whilst in the country, as reading about the process of apartheid, or the protests, or the people involved would not be so meaningful had I been in Australia. The Apartheid museum is a whole lot of information in a short period of time, granting you access to informations about South Africa, from the first inhabitants of the land, the Khoisan, to a biography of Nelson Mandela himself.
VIVIAN'S SURPRISE PARTY
Pulling off a surprise party is not as easy as one might think and involved secret group chats on WhatsApp and stalling for time when we weren't prepared fast enough. Vivian was under the impression that she was having a Malaysian dinner in South Africa for her birthday, however we had planned to decorate her house and invite over several of her friends. It resulted in a lot of tears as she entered her apartment and turned on the light to a loud "surprise!", and even more tears when she received the gift Rin and I had made for her (a memory book of her time in South Africa ... while Rin and I are spending next semester here, Vivian is heading to Australia for exchange). The night was spent with lots of laugh and fun, and while there were a few missing, it was a nice reminder of how many good friends have been made while on exchange here.
SOWETO
(SOuth WEstern TOwnship)
Hector Pieterson Memorial
Hector Pieterson Museum
We spent a day in Soweto with our friend who does volunteer work in the community as part of her university course. This was the second time we used the minibuses to get around, however this encounter was much smoother than our first since we were with someone who actually knew what they were doing! We took a minibus into town and changed at the bus depot to get another one to Soweto where we were dropped off at the Hector Pieterson memorial.
Hector Pieterson was the child in the iconic photo taken by Sam Nzima during the Soweto uprisings in 1976, where school children were protesting the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of teaching. In the photo he is being carried by a man who had picked him up, alongside his distraught sister. The photo gained a lot of traction worldwide, revealing the dangerous effects of the Apartheid regime and the cruel police brutality that was occurring. Most of the information in the museum I already knew because I had studied it during the semester through the 'South Africa Democracy and Development' unit I took, but its always interesting to learn about something where it actually happened.
Nelson Mandela's house
The other main tourist point in Soweto is Nelson Mandela's house. He moved in with his first wife in 1946, but didn't spend much time there in the ensuing years due to his imprisonment. After he was released he moved elsewhere. While the Hector Pieterson museum was full of information, this was just a display of the house. While interesting, there are better places to learn more about Nelson Mandela and his life (ie. the Apartheid museum).
Soweto
Coming home from Soweto we got split up from our friend when the minibus we were in wanted us to hop into another. She went with Vivian and the rest of us (four of us) were taken from Soweto to the bus depot in the CBD without her. With the help of strangers we made it inside the bus depot and on a bus towards Roodeport. Walking around the Johannesburg CBD, while dangerous, is also kind of thrilling. Minibuses are everywhere (and drive within inches of other vehicles and won't stop for pedestrians) and there are thousands of people around. We managed to get on our bus safely and made it home just as a torrential downpour happened upon us.
Until next time!
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