A bit of culture

Today I’ll provide you with 2 short reflections about cultural adjustments I’ve made:

Use of time:
I had been told that African culture has a different sense of time than North Americans do in that it is not as stringent. For a very scheduled, down to the minute kind of person such as myself, I thought that learning to be relaxed may ironically cause me some stress! But it has turned out to be quite a nice lifestyle, and to make things easier, nothing has been excessively late. It’s nice to have a lenient starting time at work and to simply start work when everyone is ready to do so (within reason). Our churches could learn a thing or two about not having an expected time for the benediction to occur, as Xhosa services will go until all is finished, even if it takes over 3 hours. It’s nice to not always have to be aware of the time, and I’m getting used to being a much less scheduled person and not even wearing my watch all the time!

The colour of my skin:
Living and working in Mthatha brings my first experience of being a visible minority. For the most part, I don’t mind being one of very few Caucasians in the area (ie besides the Sawatzky’s, Jenny, and Sarah, I think I’ve seen 2 other people who have the same colour of skin as me). Sometimes it’s nice for people to have a reason to talk to me, as asking where I’m from is an easy conversation starter and it is interesting to talk about our differences. Other times it is an annoyance to be conspicuous—like having to introduce myself at church, being asked for money as I walk down the street, or getting male attention and being asked out on dates. Who are they kidding that any girl, no matter what colour their skin is, would say yes to a random guy in the grocery store?? I also worry about the image I am portraying. At times I fear that I come across as rather arrogant and aloof because I don’t talk to people. But this is all because I do not know the language, and not because I don’t want to get to know the local people. I want to be friendly, yet a smile hardly seems to suffice. I want people to know I respect them and am here to learn from them, and have not yet found a good way to communicate this.

Every day I observe so much that my mind hardly knows how to process, never mind finding the words to express it. Another week is now before me, and I look forward to discovering what it will bring.