Before I
officially moved in, I wanted to make sure that my car was "good to
go" and make some last minute errands. Gerhard and Marlize graciously
hosted me over the weekend after orientation. Before I can register my car, I
have to get a "road worthy test." Before I can pass the road worthy
test, I have to have specific car repairs done/examined. In order to make sure
that my car passed the "roadworthy test" I had to get the CV joint repaired
and fix the "boot" license plate light. Gerhard and I dropped the car
off Friday morning and unfortunately, it took the entire day to get both done
(they weren't in a big rush). Their slowness gave me time to do laundry and
unwind after the orientation. When the Gerhard, Marlize, and the girls got home
we all went for a swim and relaxed in the jacuzzi!
On Saturday
I spent the morning taking my car to get new front tires, registering with the
insurance, and getting a "roadworthy test." I didn't know what to
expect with the roadworthy test - I was hoping that I didn't have to get other
repairs (unseen) done before the car was officially registered. I arrived at
the testing center and had to produce my passport. The mechanic saw that I was
from America and was ecstatic, telling me about his trips to Atlanta, Florida,
and the Bahamas. Another mechanic walked around the car, drove it on a platform
to test the breaks and then walked underneath the car. Meanwhile, the first
mechanic followed me outside and talked to me about his travels. I showed the
utmost interest, knowing that he would sign off on the papers (not to say that
I wasn't interested). The test took less than 10 minutes! I then spent part of
the afternoon cleaning/waxing my car and making it feel "new". Rewarding
myself with a job well done I took another swim with the family before a storm
came. The weather pattern in Johannesburg is very tropical - it often storms in
the afternoon. Johannesburg is known for its lightening storms, they take them
seriously here; there have been a number of deaths and less seriously,
electric/cable/et cetera affected. I really appreciate the lack of humidity and
overall the weather is quite nice (even in the winter). In any event, in the
evening Gerhard and Marlize went to Pretoria for a dinner at one of Gerhard's colleagues'
homes. I took the girls out for "take out" - KFC (South African
style) and then we watched Despicable Me (animated),
played fingerboard (a billiards-like game), and looked at pictures of the
family.
Sunday was
the big move-in day! I packed the car, had breakfast and set off! Although I
really enjoyed staying with Gerhard and family, it was time to be on my own and
start the scholarship (well, officially).
A few of my roommates helped move me in and I unpacked most of the
morning. I enjoyed meeting my roommates
and learning about their diverse backgrounds: they are graduate students at
University of Johannesburg (near my house and University of the Witswaterand),
from Zimbabwe, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. I picked up Mariann, the other
Fulbright ETA at Wits, and we ran some errands (cell phone for her, pharmacy,
groceries). She's living in university housing and trying to find an
alternative quickly; the university charges an exorbitant amount for little
space/amenities. I spent the later half of the afternoon cooking meals for the
week, talking with the roommates, and getting everything organized.
This week
was my first official week at the University of the Witswaterand, I spent the
beginning of the week getting everything organized for classes on Monday (13
February). It took some time to set up my office, receive my ID badge, register
for internet/get my email address (scott.fry@wits.ac.za), get a parking pass,
recreation center pass, and meet my colleagues. This week is registration for
the students; I have meetings and other duties to get ready for classes to
start on Monday. I'll be teaching a course on literacy strategies, a module for
first year education majors, with around 600 students. They all attend a
lecture once a week, which is taught by a senior professor. Then the students
are broken into 12 tutorial groups (taught by twelve professors) - I'll be
teaching one of the tutorials. The tutorials meet four times outside of the
lecture during the week. I'm also going to be involved in conducting research
with professors (yet to be determined, I'm meeting with a few professors this
week), working in the writing center, and taking isiZulu language courses! The
campus is quite nice and it's "homey" - excited to see it full of
students next week.
One of the
books I'm reading, From Jo'burg to Jozi,
is a collection of short stories, anecdotes, and poems about the city. I was
struck by this quotation:
"Already
Jozi, the continent's big apple, should lay claim to be the capital city of
Africa, if such an idea makes sense. True, Lagos has more people, but the
general area around Jozi, with eight million people, is richer. Africa's
Manhattans is a square mile or so of a city suburb, Sandton. Nairobi or
Kinshasa are more central in Africa, but greater Johannesburg is the heart of
the continent's economy, employing one in eighth of all South Africans with
formal jobs. Oil money aside, the largest chunk of foreign investment in Africa
comes through South Africa and its businesses, most of them in and around
Johannesburg."
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| Library |
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| My House |
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| Name: "Wisdom" (in French) |
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| Office! :) |
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