Speaking of ridiculous, the electricity in our house just ran out. That's right - electricity actually runs out here. There's a meter in every house that shows you how many watts you have left, and if it hits 0, your electricity just cuts off. No warning, no obnoxious beeping noises telling you there's 5 minutes of electricity left, just light one moment and then....darkness. It's like the beginning of the apocalypse.
The sad part is that I didn't even realize that our electricity had run out. I thought that I was finally experiencing load-shedding, which is a planned brown-out that lasts for a couple of hours in certain regions of the country at assigned times of the day to prevent country-wide black-outs that could take days to fix. Thankfully, it doesn't happen too often - at least, it hasn't in the 8 days I've been here... **knock on wood**
Anyways, when I realized that our power ran out, I had to run to the store to buy electricity. If I had to run to the store every so often back home to recharge my electricity, I would definitely be more conscious of the amount of power I use. I understand why the lights in my room here are so dim now! Living in the US has definitely spoiled me, and it's little things like this that make me realize that.
Anyways, when I realized that our power ran out, I had to run to the store to buy electricity. If I had to run to the store every so often back home to recharge my electricity, I would definitely be more conscious of the amount of power I use. I understand why the lights in my room here are so dim now! Living in the US has definitely spoiled me, and it's little things like this that make me realize that.
On the other hand, one of the things that I will miss when I leave Cape Town is the extremely favorable exchange rate. 1 US Dollar is equal to about 12 South African Rands here, so everything seems so cheap. A dinner out might cost R60, which is less than $5. Although I can do the math in my head quickly now, I still haven't gotten fully used to seeing the big numbers. Going to the grocery store and seeing R300 on the screen gives me a mini heart attack before I realize that it's only about $25. Hopefully I won't go back to the States used to the South African way, though. That would be much, much worse.
There are a couple of other things that I wanted to talk about, but it's 10:30 and I'm already tired. Normally, I'd be crazy to go to bed at this time, but the sun sets so early here (sometime between 6 and 7) since we're in the southern hemisphere and it's the middle of winter. Also, like I mentioned before, the lights in my room are really dim. It's like it always wants me to be tired - perfect for when I have to wake up before sunrise for my internship!
Hopefully I'll get around to writing more tomorrow. As always, thanks for reading. Love you and miss you all!
- Juyeon
How's food? What is the local specialty?
ReplyDeleteThe food is great! There isn't' too much that is different, though. My program VAC offers a meal plan during the weekdays, so I don't need to pack a lunch for work or worry about making dinner. Most of it isn't really ethnic food, but it's all delicious!
DeleteI haven't gotten a chance to try many South African foods, but I know that biltong - jerky, usually ostrich or antelope - is pretty popular. There is a lot of Indian food/people here, too, which was pretty surprising to me. It's very cheap compared to the United States, and really yummy. A popular tea here is Rooibos Tea, which I really love. I have a cup every morning at work, and I already bought a box of tea bags for the weekend.
Also, South Africans really love their beer and wine. Breweries are becoming more and more popular, and an entire district of the country is dubbed the "Cape Winelands" - people say that it's the Napa Valley of Africa. Have you or 이모부 tried South African wine?
What an extraordinary experience! I still have a difficulty to understand how the "charging" household electricity should work. Sounds similar to filling car in gas station here. Does it mean the South African stores are equipped with a big electric circuit box with all the switches to turn on and off for all the househods in an area or district? (?_?)
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think so. You can get electricity at very small convenience stores, too. When I went in to buy it, the cashier used a small device similar to the card reader devices that you see at stores. After he does that, he gives us a receipt with a series of numbers on it that we have to enter into our meter back home. I'm not quite sure how to whole thing works, though.
DeleteSo interesting that you have to "top up" your electricity! It actually seems kind of responsible and smart! I'm not sure how that would go over here, though! :) It seems like you're settling in and starting to dive in the nuances of South African culture. I can't wait to hear more about your internship! In the meantime, I hope your power is back on!
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ReplyDeleteYes, the people in modern states are living without worry about electricity. For them the electricity seems to be existing like water. Really the ratio of the run out of electricity is an index for the civilization, which is often forgetful. Grandpa
ReplyDeleteYes, the people in modern states are living without worry about electricity. For them the electricity seems to be existing like water. Really the ratio of the run out of electricity is an index for the civilization, which is often forgetful. Grandpa
ReplyDelete