Short drop to North-Coast

Holiday mode

Oh my its weekend, 3 whole days of stressfree chilling and no sign of work, this can’t be bad. We had packed our stuff already on Thursday and were ready to start our engines around 4am on Friday morning. We were headed for Umhlanga, a city on the North Coast just above Durban. Excited but dead tired we started the 8 hour drive to the coast, back seats sleeping and the front seats staying awake.

On the road

Avoid Wimpy's! I’m telling you, we stopped to have some breakfast at a gas station and what we got was cold burgers and raw fries, lovely. Almost everyone disappointed on their burgers we were ready to hit the road again. The one driving until this point was in desperate need of sleep so change of drivers and we were back on the road. The scenery was breathtaking with hillsides from the LOTR movies. The other cars were clearly heading for vacationing like us. Many cars were dragging their asses from the weight in the trunks. Also many were filled with laughing and partying kids that had taken their matricular exams. Going to the coast for a three week long party tour is a strong tradition here. After some fun with the others on the road and naps we had made it, Umhlanga it is baby!

Umhlanga

Umhlanga Rocks has many luxury hotels and apartments right on the beach including the Cabana Beach Hotel, the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Umhlanga Sands Hotel and Pearls of Umhlanga apartments. Many of these have views of the landmark lighthouse.

Once we got there we just dropped our stuff at the clean and cozy B&B, Villa Calla, and went to check out the beach. Everyone was thrilled to finally get a touch of the ocean. Everyone was playing in the water like little kids and having the time of our lives. Later on that day we had a little incident with our car, and it had to be left to Umhlanga. This was a slight knockback to our holiday mood, but we took care of everything necessry straight away. It was easy to get back to holiday gear at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping . The amount of shops was tremendous and everyone found something there. For example the highest indoor climbing rock in the world. The evening came soon and after enjoying some quality time with the group at the Villa Calla bar we were ready to check out the nightlife of Umhlanga.
Normally you really can’t walk around after dark in South-Africa , especially all alone. It’s said to be dangerous and shouldn’t be done. That’s why we were so excited once we heard from the owner of Villa Calla that in Uhmlanga you can walk anywhere at anytime, it’s not dangerous. Of course we wanted to check if it’s true on our first night. And yes, it was! After several beers no one still came to ask for our wallets.

The next day after a wonderful breakfast, we headed back to ocean to body board. It was pretty cool but the waves were not big enough to lift these big boys. Even the lifeguard told us that the waves are too small and we should use flippers to get on the wave. After some bruises in our chest we gave up and orientated back to Villa Calla.

We had some uncertainty of how to get back to Pretoria, since our car had to be left at the garage. After checking out the possibilities we opted rather to rent another car than to sit 11 hours on the Umhlanga-Pretoria bus. This ment we would have enough space for everyone to enjoy the ride and more kilometers for the drivers to drive.

It was hard to even hear our own thoughts since our bellies were moarning for food, and we decided to find some cozy restaurant. We didn't have to go far because there were a lot of restaurants near by. Oh Lord, some people really can make food!! Salads, stakes, pizzas you name it, they all tasted fantastic!

After the excellent dinner we went to the beach to walk around and enjoy the views. Some of us also ended up buying tickets for a local party to celebrate some more. Most of the party animals were at the age of 18-21 and the spirits were high! Dancing, drinking, yeah babe, this is what we have been waiting for after all those weeks of hard work!!

Early Sunday morning we jumped out of our beds, some feeling better than others, and thought we'd go to the beach one last time. It sure was worth the early wake up, although the body board rental was opening a bit too late for us. We just used our own bodies to ride the waves. All were sad to leave the beach so soon, especially since for the first time this weekend the sun was shining.

Back at Villa Calla we packed our stuff quickly and it was time for goodbyes. Big thank you for our host Janelle, she did so much for us and was lovely right from the start. A taxi took us to the Durban airport and it was time to drive that VW back home to Pretoria. Avoiding Wimpy's of course for the whole trip back.

Creating contacts

Just before the trip we were briefed about the task and goals that our group should achieve in South-Africa. Our main purpose is creating contacts to local organisations and companies. Now, after the first two weeks we can say that creating those contacts has really been an eye-opening experience in many ways.

We had our own doubts about the way to approach local people and organisations and especially how they would respond to our presentation. Surely our uncertainty is quite understandable with South-Africa being on the other side of the globe. Also we started making the contacts from nothing. On the day we landed we had only one meeting arranged in South-Africa.

When still in Finland, we started to create the contacts, We sent e-mails to Finns who already had been in South-Africa. These people we found like you find everything else nowadays: by googling. We believed they might have ideas on how we should approach the local people and maybe even which ones to start with. From them we got our first contact at the Finnish Embassy. At the embassy we were given lots of time and attention. Because of the people working there we felt right at home already on our first night in Pretoria. The following day we visited the South African offices of an international ERP -provider, SAP. From there, we also got an excellent welcome and lots more contacts. After our first two presentations we had plenty more people to approach. The start for the project could not have been better.

First phone calls: exiting.

Generally the way how the contacts have come up seems to follow a certain pattern: someone knows someone and so on. So after almost every appointment we have at least one more person to approach. Although we have the contact information, the first approach is always the hardest, getting in touch with the person and deciding a time to meet. The way of how we should approach people here in South-Africa was also a lesson to learn. Once you get over the sometimes not so good phone connections and funny receptionists, there is still the e-mail culture. Although e-mail is as common a way to be in touch with people here as it is in Europe, there are some differences. Quite fast we learned that making a preliminary call before sending e-mail is essential. Many of the local people don’t like to read e-mails without knowing the sender, or at least won't answer them.

After getting the contact the arranging of the appointments has been surprisingly easy. Almost everybody has been available in a few days and everybody also has been very open-minded and polite. In general we can say appointments have been very fruitful and we have gotten plenty of new aspects for our project.

Now, when most of the meetings are already behind we can say that all those expectations and doubts we had before the trip about how the meetings would go have cleared away. We have approached many highly educated people in a totally different culture and everybody has given us ample time and has taken us seriously.

Golf in South-Africa

We got two golf-addicts (Tomi & Visa) in our group and every once in a while we try to pack our stuff and hit the greens. Turkish Airlines is awesome when it comes to golfing, we got our bags in for FREE. Anyway, what can I say, beautiful courses and buildings, cheap green fees (10€) and the weather is astonishing. Courses are mainly super-good and the greens are fast as Maurice Green. There are plenty of options when choosing the golf course.

Sounds perfect if you only scratch the surface. As we have played few rounds, we have noticed that the golf-culture is a bit different here. Of course, with a lot of tourists playing we may get the wrong picture, but still, three times the golf-ball landed 3 meters away from us and no one shouted FORE. Also some people hardly use pitch forks, which is a shame if you notice your ball lying on a ball-mark. But mainly, everyone is very nice and greets as you walk by. If there is something here to learn for the finnish clubs, it would be that in S-A, student-prices are half the normal price, which you barely ever see in Finland.

Interesting Saturday and lazy Sunday

Not early to bed, but early up, again. After some intensive gymnastics and a fresh breakfast we were ready to be picked up. Accompanying us were women from around Europe, even a Finn.

Our first stop was downtown Johannesburg. The place was eerie. Many of the big buildings were abandoned due to the high crime rate, even a five star hotel. An image that stayed in mind was an abandoned city hall. The massive and beautiful building had big steps of stone in front of it, in which were carved the words “Lest we never forget”, abandoned.

After a shop full of monkey carcases, horns and herbs and playing some “spot the white man” (no points there), we headed for the Apartheid Museum. Some of us had read a bit on the subject beforehand and in not vain, because otherwise the amount of information would have been overwhelming.

The strangest thing about apartheid is how close to this day the things are. You normally associate history to be something that happened to people that have passed on at least a couple of generations ago. Here, those people work in the museums. Like for example Hector Petersons (Google: 16 June 1976) sister, who works at his brother’s memorial museum. Also we went by Winnie Mandela’s house, which she still inhabits in the township of Soweto.

Talking to the locals you get a strange feeling, because they are very willing to talk about the Apartheid era. Some say it was a really safe time, others talk about the oppression, but nobody seems bitter, only wanting to go further ahead at making things right.

The atmosphere in Soweto, at least at first glance, was warm. The people looked happy and the ones we talked to were laid back, easy to approach and polite. Those characters do by the way seem to fit almost everybody in S-A.

We even got an inside tour of one block of steel houses, walking along a dirt road, surrounded by kids and guided by a local player. Well, yes the older kids did ask for money, but only after chatting with us a bit and yes, the guide did make it clear our donations would be appreciated. Altogether it was quite surreal: nice people cashing in on their poverty.

After coming back we were exhausted from all we had seen and even our happy and talkative guide, Kagiso seemed a bit tired. After the drop off we decided to check out the grill at our local minimal. Stomachs full and heads even fuller, we had an exiting adventure walking 3 minutes back home in the dark night. No problems there, but we wont be pushing our lucks like that very often.

Finally a day off!

Sunday was our first day without any big plans. Pool, gym and food were the main pastimes. After breakfast we took off our shirts and took a dive in to the pool. We were jumping silly to the water and taking a lot of splash pictures. The weather was great and kwaito was beating on our laptops. We were also trying to dance to the kwaito videos, but the success wasn’t so good, which also was noticed by our janitor. Well at least we gave him a good laugh:)

These kind of activities are the way to start the day. The only thing hindering our recreation was that the delicious fresh O.J. had ran out and we had to settle for other fruit juices.

After digesting the breakfast in the pool we decided to go pump some iron. It was our first time at Hatfield and we weren’t so sure about the location. We tried to use our local taxi connections, but they were all unavailable. This is normal on Sundays. That’s how we ended up walking to the gym. It took an hour, but the weather was warm and we didn’t even get robbed so the walk was a success. We even got to do the local three move handshake a couple of times, while asking for directions from the locals.

The neighbourhoods of Pretoria are somewhat ambiguous. The beautiful old Jacaranda trees lining and arching over the long straight streets give the better areas a very homely feel. The electrified barbed wire around the lavish houses gives another vibe. It was said that some people put more money into the security than the house itself.

Buying a months membership at the gym wasn’t easy at all. Sure it was on the menu, but the formalities and going through them took so long that even the staff got fed up and let us train for free this time. Bureaucracy seems to be quite popular here.

After gym carbohydrates were enjoyed at Mimmos in Hatfield. The pasta tasted amazingly good after four days of meat. Food in the restaurants has been good and the prices at about a half of those in Finland.

Observing Hatfield from the McDonalds, we came to the conclusion that the South-African people are very kind and beautiful, even though the suburb was not one of the best.

A chill day without meetings and with fun relaxing activities gave us a lot of inspiration and energy.

Sharp, gents!

The Hectic Friday

Early Friday morning, we had to make our way to SAP-offices to make local contacts. So Thursday evening we went to ask to rent the all-mighty Corolla for the day from our Guest House. We had a small chat about the prices of the vehicles, and had few talks about our skills to drive on the left side, but in the end they handed us the keys and we were ready to roll!!

The morning came and Michael was the lucky one to fire up the engines first! Ari, the Co-driver on the left (!), was responsible about taking us to our destination in Johannesburg. The ride last about 1,5 hours (only 40 km!) and during that time we got really familiar with the local morning traffic. Also, here´s a good tip for all who want to find their way in South-Africa: don´t believe blindly in googlemaps ;).

After arriving to SAP-offices we were stunned by the looks of the facilities; everything was well maintained and stylish. We were warmly welcomed and soon we found ourselves in the first meeting. During the hectic day we were informed for example about the local business culture and human resource subjects which we found useful for our group dynamics.

The day turned to afternoon and we were happy to find ourselves at a business dinner in a restaurant called Meat Co. in Melrose Arch, J´burg. After a delicious t-bone and nice chit chats with our table company we were ready to head back to Pretoria. Ari and Michael switched seats and the traffic was a lot easier than it was in the morning. The evening and Corolla brought their own challenges; it was a bit more difficult to find back to the guest house in the dark, and it would have been much easier without some mysterious problems with Corolla´s lights…

Excitement raises and the first steps in SA

It’s only a few hours to takeoff and we're rearing to go. We’ve been storming and working with an increasing speed as the project has progressed. Everything is set for an efficient and exotic internship in South-Africa.

We met the others at the airport. Everything seemed fine until the last gate: one of our team-mates had gotten he’s passport broken at the security check and he was refused entry on the plane. What a shocker! Well, the team leader was already on the phone to the travel agency arranging for a new flight. It all turned out fine and we’ll be with a full crew on next Tuesday.

On our stopover in Istanbul we had an interesting

opportunity to make a local contact and check out the Turkish wibe. Sitting with us was a friendly lady coming from a business meeting with Nokia. She was happy to tell us about our possibilities for a short visit to the Istanbul nightlife during our stopover. She even ended up giving us a ride to a nice restaurant nearby. So that’s how we got a chance to make some comparisons with Stadin Kebabbi and Istanbul kebab. No contest, the meat was delicious, as were the sauces. After a filling and spicy meal we grabbed a cab back for the Atatürk airport. The prices at airports seem to be at the forefront of globalism, they were a lot like those at the cafes on Esplanadi in the Helsinki centre.

The longer flight was a gruelling task, as they tend to be, but we managed to keep our spirits high planning and discussing the weeks ahead.

Arriving to the O.R.Tambo airport was a pleasant surprise. Everything was clean, new and quite well organised. Also it was a lot less crowded than we would have expected, it being the busiest airport in S-A. The procedures went smoothly and we were out in a jiffy.

Our pickup was a bit late (2 hours:) which gave us a good chance to get some cash and hook up to the local Vodacom network. We already had experience with Asian prepaids, so we were calling for our car in no time. Eventually we were picked up in style and with a sample of the warm and happy greetings and superlatives often used here: howizzit, excellent, wonderful and amazing.

Since we were a bit late already, we called ahead to Tsakane Bok, our contact at the Finnish embassy. She told us to come when we come, but we didn’t want to waste any time. So we just dropped our gear at our new home and headed straight for business.

The meeting couldn’t have been much more fruitful. We met the Finnish ambassador Heikki Tuunainen and Mrs Bok at the embassy and had loads to talk about. After introducing ourselves and our project, we held a detailed presentation on LearnRoots. Mrs Bok was interested about the idea of making a wikidictionary of the less documented African languages. She had many people in mind that might want to hear about it. The ambassador was also interested on our project and wanted to help our quest, by giving us info and contacts on how to get around in Pretoria.

Unexpectedly we also had the pleasure to meet two young Finnish employees at the Finnish embassy, who were happy to share their experiences on the local scene. After we had finished our official business we headed for a local restaurant with two friendly cabbies that had driven Markus and Kaisa around earlier.

At Crawdaddys the discussion heated up and we got along great. Straight away we made arrangements for a Soweto trip together and some golf later on. The weather was warm and time flew by at the open air restaurant. When the T-bonesteaks and Springbok snails arrived we were already starving, since our last meal had been on the plane. The food was tasty, greasy and at about half the price of Finland. After eating we walked a bit to some nearby shops at the Brooklyn mall.

After a great start we were happy to get to our safe, luxurious and cosy guesthouse in Waterkloof to get some well earned rest after a long trip.