A Night Out in Randburg

Last night I was fortunate enough to be invited to go out with some friends of my German friend at the international house. They have a car and took us up to a big outdoor shopping center (for NoVa people, think Reston Town Center) with all kinds of shops and restaurants. Andrea, my German friend, and her friends Cristina and Lloyd took us to meet up with 10 of their friends for dinner and bowling. They are all South Africa natives. Dinner was great only because all of the poeple were very entertaining. I talked with a guy named Teddy for a long time because he was wearing a Postal Service t-shirt. He's into folk and was really into the American music scene. He's pretty handy with MySpace pages and finding new artists. Everyone else has what I can only relate as Australian charm. When I was traveling in Europe, every Australian I met was very easy with people, very entertaining and funny. It seems to be the same with South Africans I am finding. I first met Mike, and then all the people at the International Office, and then the large group last night. What is it in their culture that just naturally blesses people with excellent social skills and gregarious personalities?

In case you were wondering, bowling in South Africa is exactly the same as it is here. but they don't have entire buildings devoted to it like we do. It's more a few lanes as part of an arcade. Also, the restaurant we went to, Spur, is hilarious. Their food is all burgers and steaks and surf and turf combos. And it has this REALLY over the top Native American theme. Cowhide and bows and arrows and cartoon indians line the walls. The food was not that good. I got a plate of nachos, mostly because the picture showed a huge dollop of guacamole on the top. The chips were real soggy and it got cold pretty fast. But Spur is a wildly successful South African chain. They have them everywhere and its very popular. Maybe I should have gotten a burger.

I wanted to take Andrea to get ice cream because it was her last night in town, and the place we wanted to go to was closed. So we went back to Spur to get dessert to take away back to the bowling alley. I got ice cream and brownies. Neither was very good and I was severely disappointed. I should never try to get stuff I love in American in Africa. Stick with local and regional stuff. I definitely know this by now, but it's a lesson I have to keep learning over and over. Especially when the temptation of ice cream and brownies presents itself. It's like I have to try because I know how good they can be. Oh well. Maybe I'll remember that next time I try and get dessert.

Comments

KT said…
this is hilarious :) haha!
9:56 PM
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