Yesterday it happened again. We had similar experience a couple of weeks ago but didn’t post it. So, what’s this all about?
Well, Chicago, like any other big city, and its surroundings are inhabited by different ethnic groups. Not always are those groups very well mingled among each other. So, you’ll get your Hispanic or your Afro-American areas (especially in the Southside).

Well, anyway, we drove through the southside yesterday, and there you get a couple of things, which make you just feel like you’re in Joburg:

- Streetvendors
- Lots of dodgy cars
- No caucasian people
- Standard Bank (same name, different logo)

While driving there, we were listening to a CD of the “Soweto Gospel Choir” and actually we should have braai’ed a woers later. We didn’t but still felt like being back in SA for a moment.

Torsten

As usual, I might be somewhat behind the masses here, but last night I eventually managed to watch Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”. Very honestly, I never really gave a rat’s ass about global warming. Kind of “By the time the consequences will hit us, me and my children will be long gone”.

Well, let me tell you this: This is not true. Firstly, consequences are already happening today and in the next decades (while I will hopefully still be around) it will only get worse.

This won’t be a lecture on the topic. Just wanted to say, that I really started thinking about it. Do yourself a favor, visit www.climatecrisis.net, check Wikipedia and watch the movie and find your own opinion on the topic.

Cheers.
Torsten

Hallo & mal wieder auf Deutsch.

Heute ist ein guter Tag!

(1) Die Sonne scheint
(2) Der frisch verlegte Rasen scheint anzuwachsen

und

(3) Die Lieferung von Africanhut ist heute angekommen!

Africanhut ist ein Online-Shop, der suedafrikanische Lebensmittel und anderen Kram in den USA verkauft. Da bin ich letzte Woche durch Zufall draufgestossen. Nachdem letzten Freitag bereits ein erster Teil (10 Pfund Boerewors) angekommen war, kamen heute die beiden restlichen Pakete. Und da waren ein paar sehr feine Dinge dabei.

U.a. 4 Flaschen Mrs. HS Balls Chutney, die ich gerne schon am Sonntag gehabt haette, da wir da naemlich die ersten 2.5 lb wors auf den ‘braai’ geworfen haben.

Des Weiteren waren 3 Pakete Droewors, 2 Pakete Billtong, 2 Pakete Rusks, 1 Six Pack Savannah Dry, 1 Six Pack Castle Lager, 1 Six Pack Windhoek Lager und 1 Six Pack Windhoek Light. Nicht zu vergessen: Eine Flasche Landskroon Portwein.

Ausserdem erwarten wir noch ein weiteres Paket, mit getrockneten Mangos, Guave, Chicken & Mushroom Pies und Worsrolls.

Was die ganze Aufregung soll? Nun ja, dazu muss man wahrscheinlich 2 Dinge im Leben getan / erlebt haben.

1. In Suedafrika gewesen sein / gelebt haben, um all die oben erwaehntnen Dinge probiert zu haben
2. In den USA wohnen, wo das Essen extrem schlecht und einfaeltig ist (im krassen Gegensatz zu Suedafrika)

Wie gesagt: Heute ist ein guter Tag!

Torsten

So, the final day has come. And nobody will actually believe what the bloody weather is like in Jo’burg. It snowed this morning. And - I kid you not. The first time in eight years that Johannesburg has seen snow. It’s around 0 degrees centigrade and the wind makes it impossible to have a smoke. Not, that anybody wanted to smoke anyway in that weather.

Well, other than that, the last couple of nights were very enjoyable. Dinners, friends, lots of booze. What else could you wish for? :) Two hours or so and I’m off to the airport, saying a final farewell to the southern tip of Africa. Let the new chapter begin.

Cheers,
Torsten

All over this blog, there are way over 1000 pictures we are sharing with you.

I want to dedicate this specific article to the 3 fabulous years we’ve spent in the beautiful country of South Africa. I’m calling it “The Best of South Africa”. However, this probably isn’t fair, since almost all of the 5000 pictures we’ve taken, represent unique memories. I had to make a selection, so here are 100 pictures, taken between September 2003 and August 2006.

It was truly a time I will never forget!

Take care.
Torsten

Hey guys & gals.

It’s gonna be another two weeks until I’ll turn my back to South Africa. August 1st or 2nd is the most likely date of departure. With all those requirements for visas and other stuff, timing is everything :) In any way, I can’t wait to start this exciting new chapter. And additionally it’s time to stop this flippin’ “out-of-the-suitcase” living.

Remember my post called “Reflections” ? Well, more on that a bit later. A bit of patience, please!

Cheers,
Torsten

P.S.: Check this picture :) As seen on Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL

The city of Wrigley’s Spearmint, the White Sox, Cubs, Chicago Bulls, the birthplace of carbon paper, the home of Pepsi Cola. And our new home town :) I just returned from a very exciting week in the windy city and the bottom line is: This place rocks! I had a great time, meeting my new boss, checking out downtown, and places to live and enjoying the great summer weather.

Additionally, it was Independence Day, when I was there; so naturally I saw around 5 million american flags :)

Bye.
Torsten

Well, according to “sid” (Sportinformationsdienst; german sports news agency) there are serious talks behind the scenes at FIFA to take the World Cup away from South Africa. Allegedly no progress whatsoever has been made in

1. modernising stadiums and building 3 new stadiums from scratch
2. improving transport infrastructure (according to the Gautrain website, construction will take 4.5 years from NOW. This somehow brings the date of completion to 6 months AFTER the event. Ups)
3. increasing the number of hotels or other ways of accomodation

since the World Cup was granted to South Africa in April 2004.
Two years have passed and FIFA is concerned that this might end up in a desaster. Apparently the USA is the candidate with the best chances to host it in 2010 in case those concerns prove to be true. Well! Not really surprising. I’m just thinking, that if Mexico (a really fucked up place) got it right in 1986 and the Greeks were able to get the Olympics right then SA surely should be able to get 2010 right. Personally I hope that I’ll be right, although I won’t bet on it. One half of me has really fallen in love with SA, the other half is convinced that too much stuff is fundamentally wrong here - with little to none perspective of improvement.

Funny enough, have a look at this predicted report on the opening game in 2010. (Unfortunately there’s a lot of possibility that some of that will actually happen:

Bafana Bafana got off to a winning start at the 2010 World Cup last night, Jomo Sono’s side beating England 8-3 to cap a controversial build-up to the South African tournament. Sono was brought in just a month ago to replace former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who had replaced former Italy coach Marcello Lippi, who had replaced former Ajax Cape Town coach Gordon Igesund, who had replaced former Australia and Russia coach Guus Hiddink, who had replaced Sono, who had replaced former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Perreira, who had joined the national squad after the 2006 World Cup, as the South African Football Association sought continuity and stability in moulding a winning team for the tournament on home soil. Sono’s 23-man squad for the tournament includes 19 players from Jomo Cosmos, a controversial move, with 53-year-old striker Shaun Bartlett one of the few non-Cosmos players in the squad. Somo also sparked seating trouble in the dug-out, his technical team of 91 having to be accommodated in temporary seating. Adding to the problem was an overbooking of the opening match, with Botswana-based firm Bhamjee Ticketing having accidentally sold 230 000 tickets to the opening game in Cape Town. After a three hour delay, the match finally got underway, with the first half played at Green Point’s new stadium, due for completion in 2015, and the second half played at the Athlone Stadium, the result of a compromise settled on after a local government dispute. England took an early lead through 14-year-old Theo Walcott, and followed quickly with a second from Wayne Rooney, before the game was briefly disrupted by striking Togolese players who stormed the field. Bafana clawed one back, before England got a third just before half-time, Bartlett penalised for throwing his dentures at Frank Lampard. 3-1 at the break, at which point players were taken through to the Athlone Stadium in the official 2010 World Cup minibus taxis. While the South African players looked comfortable on arrival, the English appeared pale and shaken on arriving at the ground, the standard 25-minute journey having been made in just eight minutes through oncoming traffic to ensure a speedy resumption of the game, and with the full England squad of 23 plus management squeezed into one vehicle for added efficiency. The second half was slightly delayed as guest of honour Ronaldo, the former Brazilian star, got wedged in the players’ tunnel on the way out onto the field to receive an honorary plaque. Ronaldo was freed just before full time by the local fire brigade, by which time England, strangely distracted after the half-time break, had fallen 7-3 behind. An eighth goal by Sono, who brought himself on for the last ten minutes, sealed a famous victory for South Africa in the opening match of the tournament. “The taxi ride was a nightmare,” veteran England captain David Beckham said after the game. “And in the second half the security staff and marshals on duty inside the stadium kept pestering our players for autographs, cigarettes and small change every time we had a corner or throw-in.” Sono declared himself “absolutely delighted” with the result, and is now looking forward to the second match of the tournament against Nigeria, who are hoping to have six key players out on bail in time for the game, after a small incident involving credit cards at the V&A Waterfront earlier in the week.

Sorry for this really long post. But hot topics deserve lots of attention :)

Bye now.
Torsten

Hey. It’s all about the World Cup and so I spend most of my time in pubs at the moment. Well, everybody who follows the tournament will agree that there was the one or the other rather boring game. And eventually you end up in philosophical discussions over a couple of beers.

Hence, this article. It kind of came to a stage where living in South Africa became the topic (again). This ventured from general things, to crime, to work (especially BEE = Black Economic Empowerment), to corruption, the useless soccer team and to the final, big question: “How have you changed after three years in South Africa?” Without much thinking, my immediate answer was:

“I was a happier person, when I got here in 2003. Now, I tend to be pretty grumpy.”

Ups, silence. And then we got to the stage of the ‘Why?’. The answer is not straight forward. At least I came to that conclusion after seriously thinking about it. There are a couple of starting points, though.

1. I’ve traveled the world quite a bit and stayed in all sorts of places on different continents for a while (either for work or pleasure). I’ve never come across a more materialistic crowd of people than here in Jo’burg. Here, everything is about status. You only win, if your Mercedes is a AMG conversion, or an “M” in case of a BMW. I’ve seen more Ferraris and Lamborghinis in Jo’burg than I’ve seen in Monaco. There’s not a single day on which I don’t see one of those or a GT3, Bentley Continental or similar. This goes so far as that people live in tiny apartments ’cause there’s no money left for a decent house.

2. People love buying stuff on credit (or they probably have to). And the retail industry helps them in making this very convenient. There’s nothing you cannot buy on credit. Even in the supermarket you can buy your groceries on “budget” (which is a Credit Card facility allowing you to pay off a purchase over a couple of months). Hello? Groceries on credit? That’s not funny anymore. The continues into all areas of Retail. Furniture, Electronics etc. The individual indebtedness in South Africa is just crazy. And what for? See point 1.

3. There’s the so called “rat race” in which everybody forgets about what is really important in life, i.e. family, friends, quality time etc. But no, working until 20.00 every day, preferably weekends as well is just normal. And Top Management even expects it from you. Often there’s not much of a choice. Work-Life balance? Ha, does not exist in lot of the companies. However, even if it is kind of expected, there’s still some personal choice possible to some extend. But people don’t take advantage of that opportunity, ’cause the other guy might get a C55 AMG soon, which makes the guy in the stock-standard SLK320 look stupid. Not even mentioning those who drive a normal 3 series.

4. People don’t have focus on enjoying their lives. They work so hard to reach a certain status that they don’t have time left to enjoy what they have accomplished. It goes on and on and never stops. Higher, further, faster, more.

Obviously, I’m generalizing here. I’ve met quite a couple of people who do see things differently. But I believe that the above is true for the vast majority of especially Jo’burgers. Now, is this what made me grumpy over time? Maybe to a certain extent. Over time you get into the same rhythm of things and you start adopting the values and goals. Stupid that one let’s it happen, but it happens nevertheless. Working like an idiot (obviously for good money) but no time anymore to enjoy a weekend away, cause that Proposal or that contract has to be ready by Monday morning first thing. And maybe I need another car as well. And what about a bigger house? And the pram for my baby is not made by Peg Perego? Holy shit. Let’s go and change that so that we can show everybody how much money we have. This is so fucking pathetic that the fun was lost somewhere on the way.

Maybe I’m grumpier as well, because of the very bad experiences wrt the personal security. I don’t know. Difficult to say. As I said this came up over a boring game of soccer and I thought that I must get rid of it. And what better place than raak.info could there be? :)

Cheers,
Torsten

P.S.: World Cup Final: Germany - Holland (4:0)

What a trial. It went on for six months and finally came to an end yesterday. The former deputy president of South Africa was acquitted of charges of raping a 31 year old family friend in November last year.

Before this trial he was brought in connection with a corruption case agains Shabir Shaik (his long time financial advisor). Additionally he will face charges again in the middle of the year around corruption at the Durban High Court. Well, and there are still people who believe or hope that this man will be the next president of South Africa? Hmmm… I can only hope (for the sake of this country) that his political career has once and for all come to an end.

Apart from the damages the two trials have done and the upcoming one will do, there are his totally unaccpetable statements during his testominy in the rape trial:

“You cannot leave a woman if she is already at that stage (of sexual arousal).” - Former deputy president Jacob Zuma, giving evidence in the Johannesburg High Court during his rape trial.

“Under normal circumstances, if a woman is dressed in a skirt, she will sit properly with her legs together. But she would cross her legs and wouldn’t even mind if the skirt was raised very much.” - Zuma.

“I had no problem having sexual intercourse with her, bearing in mind that she had needs.” - Zuma.

“She consented. She actually took the initiative. When she got into that bed she encouraged me.” - Zuma.

“Negative”. - Zuma, on his HIV/Aids status.

“It would minimise the risk of catching the disease.” - Zuma, explaining to the Johannesburg High Court why he took a shower after having sex with an HIV-positive woman.

Can you imagine a person with attitudes and moral values like this to lead a counry? No wonder that the HIV/Aids rates are like this when even political leaders believe in such bullshit… Hey Jacob, you could have added that it is a fact that “when HIV positive, sleeping with a virgin will cure you”. Isn’t that part of your beliefs as well? What a fuckup.

T.