Well, I decided to do something that didn’t require leaving the house or doing something crazy but something that is right in front of us yet we take no note of. I decided to try speaking Afrikaans and only Afrikaans. Seen as I am English and I failed Afrikaans in matric I thought this would be somewhat of a challenge.
I have come to find many Afrikaans friends and my boyfriend is Afrikaans so the opportunity was right there to grab and hey, maybe I’ll actually learn something. Although I made a complete fool of myself and made no sense to the Afrikaans people around me I spoke Afrikaans the whole day. I found it extremely difficult and felt very judged which took me out of my comfort zone in a huge way.
I have to admit I did try my best but the language was just not as easy to learn as I thought . My friends thought I was hilarious but they also taught me as I went along and made more mistakes, which of cause you can only imagine was even funnier to them. After suffering to make sense and being the joke of the day I can honestly say I learnt a lot about a language that is around me every day. Surprisingly enough I feel good about the fact that I tried and now I have learnt the basics of another language.
Friday, October 30, 2009
what an exparience?
Unlike most people I’m not so outgoing or spontaneous so if I have to do something out of my ordinary I would have to pushed quite hard or just find myself in the situation. Working at the St Mary’s dining wasn’t my idea of fun or something I would even doing. I am quite content eating there but never thought that one day I would play a role behind the scenes. 20 hours of community service is what got me into this tight fix. After a night as playing the typical Rhodes student and acting the full in res I was wiping dishes and preparing food for peers. As much as this was punishment I tried making it as enjoyable as ever, mind you I had my friends there with me so it was quite funny. Well at least at first it was. The job grew to be more of a burden as was intended. The days grew quieter and the kitchen staff grew louder and in all honesty all I could do was listen at the stories that unfolded in our Grahamstown community each and everyday but because I was consumed by the happenings of Rhodes university had never heard. The stories of lost children, not literally but lost into crime alcohol and drugs and the numerous cases of teenage pregnancy that left most of these ladies taking care of families as big as ten people on a measly level 4 salary. People in Grahamstown are not getting the better life they seek for because the driving ambition is not a feature in their lives. The people of this small town are quite content with the impoverished lifestyles the have. A degree is a distant dream for most and the human capital goes as far as working at Pick ’n Pay or Better Yet Rhodes University. What makes this people not want to push for more?
Silencing of the Lambs - The Girlfriend Experiment
01tito - twitterDue to the continuous nagging and annoying whining, and general irritating behaviour made by my girlfriend I decided to conduct an experiment which would either annoy her into submission or result in me being physically assaulted. What that means in plan English is that I was going to provoke her in few different ways and see how she responded to them and yes, if the response was violent she would be restrained in which ever non painful way which was available to me. In order to gain an accurate measure of the success of the experiment, I was forced to include two more unsuspecting victims, my two friends; one male and the other female.
Before you take me to court I must say that the participants involved did consent to these actions and did some a somewhat dodgy but acceptable indemnity form, stating that I would not be held responsible for any grievous bodily harm.
To begin with I started by performing the age old “wet willy” experiment, whereby I put a little bit of spittle in on my finger and proceed to put it in the ear of my lab rats, while I held their hands. Sadly it was not as effective as I hoped. Hence another more inspiring method had to be employed. So I decided to continuously poke the subject with a finger to see how long it would take before they attempted to slap me or assault me with a choice weapon. One subject proved to be highly responsive to this method and proceeded to bite me. I was immediately forced to restrain her by taping her hands and feet together with masking tape and putting her against the door of my room. Seeing this opportunity the other two test subjects began launched an attack on me resulting in minor injuries to the laptop, cell phones and various other objects that were within the line of fire.
Ultimately the experiment failed dismally with no actual results recorded but a significant amount of masking tape was used to subdue and quell the efforts of the mutinous test subjects. An hour well spent.
Before you take me to court I must say that the participants involved did consent to these actions and did some a somewhat dodgy but acceptable indemnity form, stating that I would not be held responsible for any grievous bodily harm.
To begin with I started by performing the age old “wet willy” experiment, whereby I put a little bit of spittle in on my finger and proceed to put it in the ear of my lab rats, while I held their hands. Sadly it was not as effective as I hoped. Hence another more inspiring method had to be employed. So I decided to continuously poke the subject with a finger to see how long it would take before they attempted to slap me or assault me with a choice weapon. One subject proved to be highly responsive to this method and proceeded to bite me. I was immediately forced to restrain her by taping her hands and feet together with masking tape and putting her against the door of my room. Seeing this opportunity the other two test subjects began launched an attack on me resulting in minor injuries to the laptop, cell phones and various other objects that were within the line of fire.
Ultimately the experiment failed dismally with no actual results recorded but a significant amount of masking tape was used to subdue and quell the efforts of the mutinous test subjects. An hour well spent.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Liquid license
In light of the current situation of alcohol serving stopping by midnight thanks to liquor license restrictions...there is certainly a need to highlight this highly aggravating situation. Although it is done to reduce the levels of drunkenness on campus and the surrounding areas it has to be said that the exact opposite effect is occurring. For instance, now there is a higher need to get drunk earlier at the any form of pre-drinking activity. In all honesty it makes perfect sense, why drink slowly and then plan to get drunk at one of the local watering holes, for a larder cost to yourself, than just buy a bottle of Black Horse for R40 odd and get as drunk faster and cheaper?
To some smart minded people, this is the obvious solution to the problem hence there is far less incentive to spend lots of money at one of the bars or clubs due to this beverage restraint. Most people I know, including myself are far less interested in buying drinks in clubs or bars due to the fact that it becomes an inconvenience when you want to continue the good times but the bar is closed.
It really makes no sense for the local government or whoever it is enforcing such a law to continue defending it because it is a nuisance to both us, and them because the police are then involved in continuously checking bars and clubs to see if people are serving alcohol. The solution, relax the law and put yourselves under less pressure.
To some smart minded people, this is the obvious solution to the problem hence there is far less incentive to spend lots of money at one of the bars or clubs due to this beverage restraint. Most people I know, including myself are far less interested in buying drinks in clubs or bars due to the fact that it becomes an inconvenience when you want to continue the good times but the bar is closed.
It really makes no sense for the local government or whoever it is enforcing such a law to continue defending it because it is a nuisance to both us, and them because the police are then involved in continuously checking bars and clubs to see if people are serving alcohol. The solution, relax the law and put yourselves under less pressure.
The truth and nothing but the truth
Why do we choose to study journalism? Is it to become the new voice of South Africa or just so we, as individuals, can be heard. Well, for me, it was about writing what I wanted to write about and to do so by writing the way I wanted to. Shortly after I got to Rhodes I realized that this was not how it was going to be.
I thought being a journalist was about writing about our personal feelings and emotions on a certain topic but it seems to appear completely different. To be a journalist one has to be completely objective and show no emotions. What happened to knowing the truth? Isn’t that what journalist were there for, to tell the people the truth? If the people cannot even get the truth out of the journalists then there is no way the truth will ever be revealed.
It disturbs me to know that journalist couldn’t care about the right thing to do or have a conscience about the lies the make people believe. It’s not only journalist but the whole world. I sometimes sit and wonder about what the world would be like if everyone told the truth and nothing but the truth. The lives of many have been jeopardized by the over exaggerated “truth” written by journalist just to make money. I am one of the most honest peopleand I just don’t understand how people can go about living their lives as a complete and utter lie! That really ticks me off!!
By Storm
Friday, October 16, 2009
Droughts in Africa
The East African drought has now been running for five years, population is decreasing along with food, resources and livestock. In other words, East Africa is slowly but surely dying away. It is the worst drought Africa has seen in a long time. This story has even been covered by overseas newspapers such as The Washington Times and VOA (Voice of America) therefore indicating this is a serious matter right? So why is it that not one of these other countries, writing about OUR issues, are actually helping Africa?
I admire the fact that the first world countries are taking interest in Africa but we don’t need publicity but rather unselfish, compassionate financial aids. I find it very unfair that these countries feel that they have the right to write about such issues and not try their utmost to save the lives of the children that are the future of this world. I agree with the fact that it is not America’s responsibility to keep Africa alive but if we all work together and become one, poverty and crime levels will drop as there will an even distribution of wealth and health.
It offends me that other countries ‘feel sorry’ for Africa, instead of actually helping the poor people. It just shows how selfish and inconsiderate our world has become. So yes all these articles have angered me due to one fact, if writers can take the time to research and write an article on Africa why have none of them tried to help out in some way?
By Storm
The East African drought has now been running for five years, population is decreasing along with food, resources and livestock. In other words, East Africa is slowly but surely dying away. It is the worst drought Africa has seen in a long time. This story has even been covered by overseas newspapers such as The Washington Times and VOA (Voice of America) therefore indicating this is a serious matter right? So why is it that not one of these other countries, writing about OUR issues, are actually helping Africa?
I admire the fact that the first world countries are taking interest in Africa but we don’t need publicity but rather unselfish, compassionate financial aids. I find it very unfair that these countries feel that they have the right to write about such issues and not try their utmost to save the lives of the children that are the future of this world. I agree with the fact that it is not America’s responsibility to keep Africa alive but if we all work together and become one, poverty and crime levels will drop as there will an even distribution of wealth and health.
It offends me that other countries ‘feel sorry’ for Africa, instead of actually helping the poor people. It just shows how selfish and inconsiderate our world has become. So yes all these articles have angered me due to one fact, if writers can take the time to research and write an article on Africa why have none of them tried to help out in some way?
By Storm
Friday, October 9, 2009
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