South Africa, A Guide To ....

[tywrie]

haha sorry about the gender mixup and i totally agree that there is so much to learn from going to SA. I will have to tell my parents what you said. also responding to what you said about your host family, what did you do once you found that they didn't like you... get reassigned, stay with a friend, deal with it?

[tywrie]

i just thought of something else i wanted to ask you, i looked into rotary a while ago, but they made it seem like i couldn't pick my country, is that true or did you get a choice?

[Andie]

Originally Posted by tywrie

haha sorry about the gender mixup and i totally agree that there is so much to learn from going to SA. I will have to tell my parents what you said. also responding to what you said about your host family, what did you do once you found that they didn't like you... get reassigned, stay with a friend, deal with it?

It's fine
Well, it was a hugely difficult situation for me because they weren't just my host family, they were my councellors. I was sharing a room with my host brother and this other exchange student (also a guy) from Sweden. I had no privacy, and the family treated me like I was dirt and they were constantly comparing me to the other exchange students and saying everything I did wrong and all this. I finally got out of the situation, I wasn't supposed to stay with that family because they were my councellors, and they had a hard time finding families for me. I moved to a family where one of the daughters was in my grade at school and that's how I started to really make friends in SA. It was great there.
After a lot more problems with the councellors (they made me move back because, well to be honest I don't know. I think they just wanted to feel like they had power over me.. But that's a personal opinion. But when I went back it was even worse, they treated me 100times worse than before) and that's when I really had had enough and I went to my Rotary Club President, and at the time I had been in contact with some Rotarians back home, and I got reassigned a new councellor, and those people aren't going to be hosting again. It was a mistake through Rotary, and I should have told someone when it first became a real issue for me, but I dunno.. I guess I was scared. I mean the guy was like over 300lbs, tattoos EVERYWHERE, and every second word was a curse word, and he had this booming voice. I was scared shitless of him. Anyone would really. I don't even know how they got involved with Rotary. My club President did not like him one bit, and as I've come to find out, many others as well. I was extremely depressed for awhile because I thought it was all entirely my fault these people hated me so much.. I was close to the other exchange students and one of them was super close with his councellor and they would always see each other and go out just to go to the beach or to the malls or to rugby games and whatnot. My councellor didn't do any of that, he just yelled at me for 'losing' the house keys, when really his son had taken them from my side of the room and had lost them himself. Was so stupid.
Rotary had told me to be aware of things like that happening with host families, and to report to my councellor, and then if I had issues with my councellor to go to someone else. I shouldn't have put up with it. But I was more focused on other things I guess.

i just thought of something else i wanted to ask you, i looked into rotary a while ago, but they made it seem like i couldn't pick my country, is that true or did you get a choice?

Rotary.. is funny. From my district they gave us a country list of 40 countries we had to order 1-40 in order of preference. South Africa was my second option (first being Australia). I know some other students from other areas of the world, different Rotary districts (I'm guessing, from meeting everyone and asking about their applications that every district is a bit different). They told us to look more into our top 5. I know several people who got their first choice. It also depended on the available number of spots for that country. I had a higher chance of getting SA than I did Australia.

[tywrie]

omg thats horrible! haha i would not have reacted well to sharing a room with 2 guys, it seems almost like a common theme that everyone gets sucky host families in SA for their first placement. hearing stories like that though almost make me want to go even more, its weird i know, i just think that everything that happens in exchange really makes you a better person and it seems like people learn to become more independent and deal with problems...but then again what do i know haha, since ive never been on an exchange. honestly though, if you could change where you went do you think you would, or do you still like SA even with everything thats happened??

[Andie]

hm, well. I wouldn't really say that. I know some exchange students who've had amazing first host families. They told us before we left that we'd more than likely have at least one family we didn't get along with. But there's always gonna be that one special family that is YOUR family. No. I wouldn't have changed anything. Sure, I didn't learn a language or anything, but I've had an experience. That's what I wanted when I came on exchange regardless of where I was assigned, was an experience I could learn from. Exchange gives you something that text books can't. I didn't care where I went, but to be honest I'm so glad I got SA. It's a beautiful country, with a lot to learn from. Sure I want to see other countries, places I haven't seen, but SA is like my second country. I love this place.

[becca12]

hey! i'm no longer an exchange student (i was in spain) but i live in botswana now with my family. i have a bunch of friends in durban though, which school in durban do/did you go to?! my dad also lived there for a year in uni, he went to the university of natal back in the 80s. we go to SA all the time living only like 30 min from the border! i think we're going to rustenburg on sunday to pick up world cup tickets

does rotary or afs or any other program place students in afrikaans families?

and all the south africans i've met have all been really upbeat and friendly, and i've met quite a few. there are huge problems in SA, but like it's been said, you've just gotta be careful and smart about things. there are parts (like east london) that you don't find burglar bars on every window of every house, so it's not as dangerous as it's made out to be. it's sad that most news out of this area of the world is mainly bad news.

but, when there is crime in SA, it's pretty freaky stuff. some of our friends in joburg have had scary experiences, so it's not like crime doesn't exist there. most of the south africans we know living in gaborone moved away from SA because of the crime.

but i love south africa. it's SO beautiful, and as long as you are smart about things it's not somewhere to avoid at all! it's such an amazing country.

[hannah_22]

South Africa is not sucking as bad as everyone said they would.

(halfway through one game, but still.)

[KatieK]

Originally Posted by hannah_22

South Africa is not sucking as bad as everyone said they would.

(halfway through one game, but still.)

Exactly what I was thinking while we watched it in science

[Andie]

I went to Eden College Durban. It used to be Crawford College a few years ago but they changed it.

[JaquiJ]

Hey guys! So i'm thinking about going abroad in 2011-2012 and I'm having a hard time deciding where to go. I want to go somewhere were they speak english because I've never been very good at learning languages.

I've been really interested in South Africa because I think there is more of an experience to be had there then in some of the other English speaking countries.

I also hoped there might be opportunities to do more than just go to school. I am especially interested in the Community Service aspect of it. Were there any students who in their year abroad participated in a structured organization where they got really involved in some part of the community and helping people?

I was also wondering whether most people were placed in urban environments or rural places? And whether people were happy with the towns/cities they were placed in.

Thanks!