Journal of This Southern Africa Adventure
December, 2000
End-of-the-year parties began at the end of October and have been proceeding right through November. As was the case last year, many people are out of work during December. In fact it appears that the entire country shuts down in December. Many factories close as its workers begin their holidays. In the US, one can get a guarantee that if you buy an item within seven days of Christmas, it will arrive on-time. In South Africa, you can get a guarantee that the package will be lost, stolen, or mangled, or that it may arrive up to six months late. People avoid having any work done at this time of year, because the laborers are often drunk on the job, especially during the last two weeks of December. I have, on occasion, been offered an alcoholic drink on the job during a meeting. Never in America!
We will be back in the US the last week of December and first week of January. This will only be the second time back in the past 16 months!
Trivia - Did you know that:
In South Africa, transfers of moneys between individuals' accounts as well as individual to institutional account money transfers, are more often that not, accomplished electronically through ever present machines or via the internet. This is not the case in the US where checks sent via the US mail is much more common. (This phenomenon probably has more to do with the fact that the South African Postal Service is very unreliable).
In South Africa, trucks pose a hazard on the road because they drive too slow (not too fast as in the US). It may be that they are extremely overloaded but I am unsure about the reason for this phenomena. The lights on the backs of the trucks (and sometimes cars) are often poorly lighted, making for some interesting situations.
In South Africa, movie tickets include assigned seats. In the US, its first come, first served. Also, movie theaters in South Africa, often do not stagger the times of their movies resulting in some very long lines. Stadium seating in the movie houses is becoming the norm in most South African movie theaters.
In South Africa, retail outlets double-check your purchases (against your receipt) when leaving a store. Is it to prevent theft or to provide extra jobs?
In Geuteng Province, electronic switches and outlets are prohibited in bathrooms or near any water spigot. They do not use Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters as they do in the US. (This is probably due to the much higher cost of a 220 volt GFCI than a comparable 110 volt unit.).
In Pretoria, it has been reported that 30% of drivers obtain their driver's licenses by buying them. I believe it.
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