Globe Trotting

Going to America

I’m reminded of that horrible movie with Eddie Murphy where the royal 'African' goes to America to find a ‘wife’!

As always I was in a rush before flying out i.e. receiving the visa 8 hrs before, going to the office briefly to download emails, changing money at my bank 5hrs before, picking up my bag at home 3hrs before and finally hoping on the Gautrain (first African speed train) 1,5 hrs before, only to meet with Morena who happened to be going for a joy ride with colleagues – doesn’t &%* just have money to waist, you need to spill some in order make some…neh! :)

Let me say South Africa, I was impressed by the way you project managed the world cup, the English media was certainly not impressed that you could pull that one off…they just need some sunshine in their lives. As I hoped on the Gautrain I could have shed a tear of joy imagining if the world cup critics were pissed off to exit the country on a 15min Gautrain ride in European style…instead I opened my bottle of Bonaqua water to drink only to have it splash all over me and my seat. I was warned by some attendant that I need to clean that up or I’ll get a 600 ZAR fine…luckily a lady gave me her tissues to clean up my mess – I must say it was actually embarrassing because the wall behind me had all the rules…one of which is do not drink inside!

Lors de mon voyage vers les Etats-Unis avec Air France…you can imagine my ‘excitement’ of having to go through the ‘lovely-people skilled’ Paris Ch.De Gaulle (CDG) airport, after stripping a couple of times for anything metal and heading to the gate - my hand luggage was stopped because I had Amarula Cream, so I naively asked why do you stop me cause I bought it at duty free…with her arrogant look & broken English she said; ‘ where did you buy it’ and I replied; ‘ Johannesburg’ …then she said; ‘ ahh, well you didn’t buy it here, Johannesburg is not in Europe’ . Stunned with eyes wide open, I asked; ‘so if I bought it in Europe, it would have gone through’? trying to collect her words together to make a sensible English word/sentence I told her to keep it and enjoy!

Sorry William that was your present as my host for the first days!

After 25hrs of flight and gaining time…I prefer to call it ‘going backwards in time’, I arrived. Ohh yes it looks exactly like in the movies, some preconceived ideas were confirmed - I had heard about food coming in huge packs/bulks and so it did (I was full on the 3rd bite of a burger at a barbecue), but the space needle seemed smaller from the balcony window. Saw a 1,5litre mouth wash & a 500g roll-on deodorant for just one guy, the beer bottle was 1litre with 8% alcohol content (drunkards:)).

I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of people straight from the airport (beats the Paris airport twice as much), I found Seattle very chilled (I thought It’d be mad rushing town) and learned that Starbucks Headquarters is here also (told….they have a huge market in Istanbul). Life seemed easy i.e there is plenty of choice for consumables, transportation, entertainment, life-style, etc. Everything is sooo explicitly-simply written e.g. in the bus, they tell you where the escape route is, how to escape & graphics drawn on how to scape…thought that was hilarious.
I was was asked for an ID everywhere I went to consume alcohol, the drinking age is 21, I mean I have a body of 16y.o. but certainly not the face..lol! Since it’s uncommon for me to be asked for such I hardly carried my passport around – had to bride a bouncer $10 at one club…now that I think about it he was expensive!!

Microsoft headquarters aka Microsoft campus is in Redmond, about 20min bus ride away – a beautiful bus ride over the lake. The Ms campus is a ‘real’ campus with about 120-something buildings, the good thing is that you can take a shuttle all over the place. Spent 10 days with colleagues – real pleasant people and appreciated the time they took out of their family schedule to hang-out after work hours.

I loved my time in Seattle…i gave US a break,next destination for US is NY!!!

Istanbul

Was excited to be back and knowing my way around the airport to get to customs – felt like a slap in the face when the freaking guy made me wait 15-20min while he helped other people then decided to finally stamp my passport, when I asked what the problem was, he said: ‘ no problem’. I got really upset…asked some girl sitting at a desk if she understood English and she said yes, I explained my ‘customs experience’ and asked who should I talk to – to understand procedure because I’ve just been stopped for 20min for no reason. She looked at me and said ‘do u have a problem’…my eyes went wide open with shock and I told her to forget it!

Slept in Bebek (beautiful view when i woke up - pic attached), spent day-time in Levent, and nights of drinks + dinners in Taksim…slept roughly 4hrs each day. The heat was too much though – 30 degrees & 90% humidity – sleeping with a fan but still waking up sweating and walking around with handkerchief was a little overboard…either way I had missed Istanbul’s beauty and I loved the 5 days I spent reconnecting with friends.

When I connected in Paris, I boarded Airbus A380 – this plane is huge i.e. it’s a double story with 5 engines on just one wing…I need to understand the physics of how this big steel bird stays in the air.

Since Istanbul was so hot, I landed in Joburg with shirts and a light shirt - it was freezing cold & I looked odd in the train to Sandton.

After 17 days, 58 hrs of flight in 3 countries & cities - where i experienced winter + summer, wish the guy on this link would have been on all my flights to make them bearable...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=93370772375&ref=mf

Re-intergration

I packed in about 30min (…selfish me – thanks Rosa for the help). One year of living in Istanbul equaled 3 suitcases and one backpack (this excluded the clothes I left behind), weighing approximately 56Kg i.e. 46kg for 2 checked-in suitcases and 10kg for the hand luggage suitcases + backpack. You can imagine that dragging these monsters aint easy – thank you Burak for helping me all the way to the airport.

Apparently I had spent 1 extra day than I shouldn’t have on my visa, to me the visa said I have 31 days but I was supposed to have spent and left on the 30th day,I think a visa should coming with a manual, anyway I payed about $105 for the one day…I think they forgot that in that one day I contributed to the economy – wine aint cheap and not so great either…so after payment I proceeded to the ‘ penalized’ people’s gate #16 meant only for diplomats & NATO status individuals , and I’m like… WOW it only takes $105 of penalty fee to have a diplomatic route for 5minutes?

Landed at OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg) and got lost, I had to ask the patrolling police where the post office & toilet were, that was embarrassing! I am glad though that the airport is looking good. My brother was shocked by my luggage needless to say the guy who came to pick me up in his petite ford fiesta which was clearly not suited to carry my luggage so we sat with them on the seats.

The summer heat can give you a tan within 15min, fresh mango smell in downtown Johannesburg is divine and on my way home to my mother’s house i.e. Free State province - the sundown gave the open savannah and the harvested corn field lands a golden reflection which reminded me on how beautiful South Africa (Mzansi) really is…

I made a resolution to travel within the country and see the beauty we are blessed with before/during Easter, thanks to here for showing me what I have been missing.

I must admit that I miss Istanbul’s transport system as compared to here, there were many options i.e. taxi (cab), dolmus (10 or 14 seater - Toyota kinda taxis), metro bus, undergrounds metro train and boats across the Asian and European side. These options made travelling a bit easier to counter the traffic at peak hours, Johannesburg traffic is just as bad…actually worse now, so you either own a car (which I would advise) or you take the taxi – with drivers that are rude and don’t obey rules or you take a cab which will cost you a minimum of $10 just to move 100 meters. I need to finalize my license and get a car period! This victim state I am in is frustrating.

South Africans a nicer I must say…its standard to greet when you get into a taxi (in any of the official languages) and you will get a response, you can rely on getting assistance when asking for directions and you will definitely get service with a smile – even if its bad service…it will come with a smile and you will pay 10% tip on the bill :)

I had forgotten though how sensitive we are about security and how much we prioritize it, this is visible by the high gated walls with electric fences that are nicely part of the house decoration, the dogs that guard the yard and the armed response signs put everywhere in residential areas …it’s understandable though – even all my senses became alert upon landing.
…can a South African tell me why there are so many people standing at the door when a plane opens its doors – is this JZ’s employment alternative . . . they are blocking the freaking way!

I still yet have to get accustomed to how expensive life has gotten lately. A cheap meal in the northern suburbs starts at approximately $7, fuel at about $1.50 for a liter and accommodation for a 2 bedroom apartment starts at $700 whereby a bachelor studio is $450.

The other day after work I went to catch a taxi, I could not help but stare at the ‘rush hour’ traffic that was stagnant or should I say moving at a ‘bumper-to-bumper ‘pace. Then I remember Nancy (a German girl we used to live with in the Auckland park house) when she said she has never seen so many German cars i.e. BMWs and Mercedes in just one city as in Johannesburg. Staring for a duration of about 10min within 50 meters I could see only fancy cars i.e. BMWs 1 series, Audi A6 & A8, Mini Coopers, VW’s EOS and Mercedes. South Africans are materialistic and I had forgotten that it’s about what you drive!

I am settling in slowly and surely and will update about my 2010 projections in the next round.

Laters.