Some Lessons in Culture
Today as I called a few businesses around town and as I further my interactions with South Africans and other nationalities, I learned a few things. For instance, the guy who is studying abroad from W&M is a bagpipe player. He is friends with the German people who live in the international house and in German, bagpipes are called "dudelsacks". which is pretty much the best translation I have ever come across. When you say it in German, it sounds like this : doodlezahk. What a word!
I learned another fantastic word today: ulelating (YOU-leh-late-ing). This is the sound that Xena warrior princess makes when she is attacking people. AYIYIYIYIYI!! It is also the traditional African cry of celebration or happiness. I heard this quite a bit at the graduation ceremony last night and NOW I can say that I know the proper term for it. Ulelating.
Also, when you call people in South Africa at a business and they put you on hold it plays the most annoying hold music ever. It's like ice cream truck music that would drive children far far away. It does remind me of my first car though, my '91 VW Golf, that would play music when the doors opened if the engine was on. Oh how I miss that automobile.
Also, in Afrikaans, I think that people call you "mom" or "pap" if you are an adult and they are in a convesation with you. I've been speaking to people and they'll say "no mom". And I hear people on the phone with men referring to them as "pap". Which I have to think is sort of like ma'am or sir. There is also the replacement of the American "really?" which we upspeak, to the South African "is it?" which is downspoken. It sounds sort of pitying in any context. Example: "I just saw a white rhino!" "Is it?"
I don't think I will get very far with Afrikaans here, but I am enjoying the parallels between Martinique and South Africa. I am realizing the interesting mix of European and African cultures just as much here as I did there. The loose interpretations of time, the languages and how they are spoken. I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of Afrikaans and Creole and see what kind of cognates and similarities show up. I am finding Johannesburg to be the melting pot that everyone says it is and I'm also really loving being at this university. I feel that I am a part of an office that really takes care of its students and that endeavors to make connections and build up the students and the university both. Reading some of the papers that will be presented at this conference I'm working on makes me regret not being here for it. It's all about higher education in Africa, its contributions to development, and how internationalization in the AHEA can make a difference with Africa's growth and stability. But I am proud to be a Witsie, albeit temporarily.
I learned another fantastic word today: ulelating (YOU-leh-late-ing). This is the sound that Xena warrior princess makes when she is attacking people. AYIYIYIYIYI!! It is also the traditional African cry of celebration or happiness. I heard this quite a bit at the graduation ceremony last night and NOW I can say that I know the proper term for it. Ulelating.
Also, when you call people in South Africa at a business and they put you on hold it plays the most annoying hold music ever. It's like ice cream truck music that would drive children far far away. It does remind me of my first car though, my '91 VW Golf, that would play music when the doors opened if the engine was on. Oh how I miss that automobile.
Also, in Afrikaans, I think that people call you "mom" or "pap" if you are an adult and they are in a convesation with you. I've been speaking to people and they'll say "no mom". And I hear people on the phone with men referring to them as "pap". Which I have to think is sort of like ma'am or sir. There is also the replacement of the American "really?" which we upspeak, to the South African "is it?" which is downspoken. It sounds sort of pitying in any context. Example: "I just saw a white rhino!" "Is it?"
I don't think I will get very far with Afrikaans here, but I am enjoying the parallels between Martinique and South Africa. I am realizing the interesting mix of European and African cultures just as much here as I did there. The loose interpretations of time, the languages and how they are spoken. I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of Afrikaans and Creole and see what kind of cognates and similarities show up. I am finding Johannesburg to be the melting pot that everyone says it is and I'm also really loving being at this university. I feel that I am a part of an office that really takes care of its students and that endeavors to make connections and build up the students and the university both. Reading some of the papers that will be presented at this conference I'm working on makes me regret not being here for it. It's all about higher education in Africa, its contributions to development, and how internationalization in the AHEA can make a difference with Africa's growth and stability. But I am proud to be a Witsie, albeit temporarily.
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