I was in the USA for October and November last year for PhD work, in a small town called Urbana/Champaign. Well actually its two towns, Urbana and Champaign. Once they were separate but they are completely merged now. I was at the University of Illinois (UIUC) there. So half of the university is in Urbana and half is in Champaign. Not that they are different campusses, there is just a demarcation that this half is Urbana, the other half is Champaign.
But I digress, this post is about "What I learned in the USA"
1. International air travel is not as scary as I thought. Also, a 16 hour flight is not unlike a 16 hour bus trip.
2. I identify with African people way way more than US people. Every time I met an African person - from anywhere in Africa - I felt like I'd just met a homie.
3. Wow those American folks have amazing team spirit, some days every second or third person I saw on campus would be wearing UIUC team spirit clothing.
4. Its weird meeting South African people who have emigrated (not the Kemball's, in case you ever read this! Other people I met). There are just so many reasons people have left and I think people carry baggage from their time in SA and their leaving.
I met one South African couple who emigrated many years ago now and it was just too awkward, I think they actually didn't want to meet other South Africans.
5. You know what democracy looks like? It looks like televised *incredibly boring* city council meetings where everyone and their dog has time to have their say about the new rent laws or the inner city parking system or their plumbing issues. It also looks like plackards on people's front lawns that say "Impeach" or "Stop the war."
6. "Having an accent" is novel for about a week, when people comment on how cute your accent is... then it just becomes irritating. Then it just becomes burdensome. "Can I please have a glass of water?" "Water." "W-a-t-e-r." "WATER!" "WAADER" "oooh ok..."
7. The local church is the hope of the world.
8. American people are great. American's are taking alot of flack from the world at the moment, but I think people should just examine their attitudes for a moment. If someone spoke about black people / Indian people / Jewish people / etc. the way people often speak about American's, people would be horrified. American people are like people anywhere, some good some bad. I met some very friendly, funny, fun, humble people. And really not as insular or arrogant as people sometimes expect they are...
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
The flag
I've had this blog post sitting in my mind for weeks not, but I'm so nervous writing it. Because I want to get it right, I want to express it well. So here goes...
Does anyone remember the Song of the Flag? We used to sing it at school some times. I much preferred it to the old national anthem, it was alot more jivey. I googled for it and found it, but that is another blog post for another day. Today I want to write about the flag that song was about, the old South African flag.
I could tell you a bit about the history of the flag, but if you're reading this you all have google and wikipedia available to you, so I won't bother. What I think is most interesting for us now is what the old South African flag represents.
You still see the old flag flown every now and then. Sometimes at rugby matches, you might see a couple dotted around the crowd. In an article in the Daily Dispatch on December 27, Akona Ndungane, a springbok rugby player, called for them to be banned at matches. "We need to look at the future." he said "I definately think those flags should be banned. It would be a step forward."
I think many people would agree with that. Because that old flag is an offensive symbol really. Unless you are waving it in complete ignorance, which I doubt many are, it's making quite a blatant statement. A statement that you reject the new South Africa and that you are holding on to the old. That you look back to the days where (white) South African's could proudly wave that old flag, that things were better then.
Which is offensive. The vast vast majority of our country's citizens weren't even considered citizens under the regime represented by that flag. And that's what people are approving of, when they fly the old flag. That's very offensive.
But I was considering the flag a while back and it occurred to me that maybe our reaction to it needent be outrage or offense. It was an offense because it represented oppression, violence, taking away people's humanity. But when we look at it today, we see it representing a regime that lost. We see it powerless. For people who yearn for the old South Africa, they can fly flags and sing songs to their hearts content, but it will never return.
Ironically, a symbol that represented so much evil and so much destruction now represents a pitiful longing of a very tiny fraction of South African's to return to a past which perhaps they saw as glorious, although it wasn't. A pitiful useless longing for a past that never even existed. A symbol of power and brutality that is now a pitiful symbol of defeat.
Not to say the new South Africa is perfect, but its definitely not going back to the old. And to people who still wish for for the old, my heart if filled with sadness for them, and pity. Maybe some anger, from time to time, but mostly just pity. And the hope that their eyes will be opened to see the emptiness of the old, and the beauty of the new.
Does anyone remember the Song of the Flag? We used to sing it at school some times. I much preferred it to the old national anthem, it was alot more jivey. I googled for it and found it, but that is another blog post for another day. Today I want to write about the flag that song was about, the old South African flag.
I could tell you a bit about the history of the flag, but if you're reading this you all have google and wikipedia available to you, so I won't bother. What I think is most interesting for us now is what the old South African flag represents.
You still see the old flag flown every now and then. Sometimes at rugby matches, you might see a couple dotted around the crowd. In an article in the Daily Dispatch on December 27, Akona Ndungane, a springbok rugby player, called for them to be banned at matches. "We need to look at the future." he said "I definately think those flags should be banned. It would be a step forward."
I think many people would agree with that. Because that old flag is an offensive symbol really. Unless you are waving it in complete ignorance, which I doubt many are, it's making quite a blatant statement. A statement that you reject the new South Africa and that you are holding on to the old. That you look back to the days where (white) South African's could proudly wave that old flag, that things were better then.
Which is offensive. The vast vast majority of our country's citizens weren't even considered citizens under the regime represented by that flag. And that's what people are approving of, when they fly the old flag. That's very offensive.
But I was considering the flag a while back and it occurred to me that maybe our reaction to it needent be outrage or offense. It was an offense because it represented oppression, violence, taking away people's humanity. But when we look at it today, we see it representing a regime that lost. We see it powerless. For people who yearn for the old South Africa, they can fly flags and sing songs to their hearts content, but it will never return.
Ironically, a symbol that represented so much evil and so much destruction now represents a pitiful longing of a very tiny fraction of South African's to return to a past which perhaps they saw as glorious, although it wasn't. A pitiful useless longing for a past that never even existed. A symbol of power and brutality that is now a pitiful symbol of defeat.
Not to say the new South Africa is perfect, but its definitely not going back to the old. And to people who still wish for for the old, my heart if filled with sadness for them, and pity. Maybe some anger, from time to time, but mostly just pity. And the hope that their eyes will be opened to see the emptiness of the old, and the beauty of the new.
Eskom Survival Tips #1
Todays tip: Using your computer UPS to power other things
Look at the back of your UPS - there should be a few similar plugs, one is connected to your computer, maybe another is connected to your monitor. The plugs are kettle plugs - like the ones you plug into your kettle, if your kettle has a detachable plug. The UPS plugs are the female side. There may be one or two free plugs, in which case you are in business! One of the plugs might be a surge protector, in which case you could maybe move your monitor onto that if you are not actually intending to work on your computer during a power out.
Ok, so now what we want is to hook that extra UPS female kettle plug to a form you can actually attach things to. In my case, I want to run an external harddrive off it. But you could boil a kettle, I suppose, or a run a radio or whatever. I'm not sure how long the power will last, it will depend on how much there is loading your UPS. It will need some experimentation to find out. And it will depend on the specs of your UPS too, of course.
Ok, so we want that female kettle plug hooked up to give power to say a normal 2-prong or 3-prong multi-plug.
So what you do is:
Step 1: Go to a computer store and buy a male kettle plug to female kettle plug cable. I think they are usually used for monitors. The people at the store should know what you are talking about. Mine cost R20, pretty inexpensive.
Step 2: Take some sort of appropriate cutting instrument (pliers are first prize) and cut off the female plug. Cut close to the plug so you keep as much cable as possible. Just in case you don't know, the female side has 3 holes, the male side has the 3 metal connectors that fit into the three holes. Strip the end of the white insulating stuff off, and strip the ends of the 3 coloured wired inside. Just FYI, the blue wire is neutral, brown is live and green/yellow is earth. I don't know why, it wound have made more sense to me to make earth brown, but anyway.
Step 3: Buy an 3-prong plug: the female side, where we will ultimately plug our kettle, harddrive, multi-plug, whatever. I know you can get them with just the plug, but I couldn't find one at checkers, so I had to buy and extension cable. R50 ouch a bit more than I had hoped to pay, but alright. Oh and buy some insulating tape too, its only about R5.
Step 4: If you bought an extension cable like me, cut off the male plug end and strip is, just like you did to the kettle cable in Step 2.
Step 5: Connect the two cables - blue to blue, brown to brown, yellow/green to yellow/green. I connected them by twisting the copper ends together then covering it solidly with insulating tape. Cover well because we don't want the current carrying insides touching each other! If you'd managed to buy just the plug section in Step 3 you could attach stripped wires from the kettle plug cable directly to the 3-prong plug with a screwdriver. That would have been a neater option and more satisfying all round. But hey, you make do with what you have.
And you are done! Plug the male kettle plug end into your UPS and plug whatever you want into the other 3-prong end. I attached a multi-plug to the 3-prong and then attached my two external hard-drives to 2-prong inputs on the multi-plug.
Finally, turn off the power. Hey presto, your UPS is still keeping your external hard-drives (or whatever) running. Hurrah!
Look at the back of your UPS - there should be a few similar plugs, one is connected to your computer, maybe another is connected to your monitor. The plugs are kettle plugs - like the ones you plug into your kettle, if your kettle has a detachable plug. The UPS plugs are the female side. There may be one or two free plugs, in which case you are in business! One of the plugs might be a surge protector, in which case you could maybe move your monitor onto that if you are not actually intending to work on your computer during a power out.
Ok, so now what we want is to hook that extra UPS female kettle plug to a form you can actually attach things to. In my case, I want to run an external harddrive off it. But you could boil a kettle, I suppose, or a run a radio or whatever. I'm not sure how long the power will last, it will depend on how much there is loading your UPS. It will need some experimentation to find out. And it will depend on the specs of your UPS too, of course.
Ok, so we want that female kettle plug hooked up to give power to say a normal 2-prong or 3-prong multi-plug.
So what you do is:
Step 1: Go to a computer store and buy a male kettle plug to female kettle plug cable. I think they are usually used for monitors. The people at the store should know what you are talking about. Mine cost R20, pretty inexpensive.
Step 2: Take some sort of appropriate cutting instrument (pliers are first prize) and cut off the female plug. Cut close to the plug so you keep as much cable as possible. Just in case you don't know, the female side has 3 holes, the male side has the 3 metal connectors that fit into the three holes. Strip the end of the white insulating stuff off, and strip the ends of the 3 coloured wired inside. Just FYI, the blue wire is neutral, brown is live and green/yellow is earth. I don't know why, it wound have made more sense to me to make earth brown, but anyway.
Step 3: Buy an 3-prong plug: the female side, where we will ultimately plug our kettle, harddrive, multi-plug, whatever. I know you can get them with just the plug, but I couldn't find one at checkers, so I had to buy and extension cable. R50 ouch a bit more than I had hoped to pay, but alright. Oh and buy some insulating tape too, its only about R5.
Step 4: If you bought an extension cable like me, cut off the male plug end and strip is, just like you did to the kettle cable in Step 2.
Step 5: Connect the two cables - blue to blue, brown to brown, yellow/green to yellow/green. I connected them by twisting the copper ends together then covering it solidly with insulating tape. Cover well because we don't want the current carrying insides touching each other! If you'd managed to buy just the plug section in Step 3 you could attach stripped wires from the kettle plug cable directly to the 3-prong plug with a screwdriver. That would have been a neater option and more satisfying all round. But hey, you make do with what you have.
And you are done! Plug the male kettle plug end into your UPS and plug whatever you want into the other 3-prong end. I attached a multi-plug to the 3-prong and then attached my two external hard-drives to 2-prong inputs on the multi-plug.
Finally, turn off the power. Hey presto, your UPS is still keeping your external hard-drives (or whatever) running. Hurrah!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God
Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God
John Donne
Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
but is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor even chaste, except you ravish me.
John Donne
Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labor to admit you, but O, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
but is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy.
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again;
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor even chaste, except you ravish me.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Bravo
The South African Minister of Defence, Mosiuoa Lekota, was arrested for speeding a couple of days ago. He was going at the whopping speed of about 180 km/hr. That doesn't happen by accident.
Oh woe is us, another tale of the sad state of South African leadership? Actually, I see something entirely different here, something very encouraging actually.
Speeding is bad, 180 km/hr is just entirely unacceptable. And by a Minister of our government, who should be setting an example, who should be beyond reproach, thats even worse. But I think the outcome of the whole incident is just a breath of fresh air.
He complied with the police when he was arrested, he went to court, admitted his guilt, and was sentenced. And it looks like he was really ashamed of himself, honestly remorseful. I suppose that could have just been the angle he was taking to get off lightly, but it seems legitimate from his comments.
Wow, what a breath of fresh air. No bravado, claims of innocence, egging on supporters, no shadiness, no arrogance or attitude of being above the law. What a pleasure. We can't just overlook his offense. But honesty, remorse, humility, these are qualities I can admire. And I think thats a hopeful thing to see in a South African leader.
Oh woe is us, another tale of the sad state of South African leadership? Actually, I see something entirely different here, something very encouraging actually.
Speeding is bad, 180 km/hr is just entirely unacceptable. And by a Minister of our government, who should be setting an example, who should be beyond reproach, thats even worse. But I think the outcome of the whole incident is just a breath of fresh air.
He complied with the police when he was arrested, he went to court, admitted his guilt, and was sentenced. And it looks like he was really ashamed of himself, honestly remorseful. I suppose that could have just been the angle he was taking to get off lightly, but it seems legitimate from his comments.
Wow, what a breath of fresh air. No bravado, claims of innocence, egging on supporters, no shadiness, no arrogance or attitude of being above the law. What a pleasure. We can't just overlook his offense. But honesty, remorse, humility, these are qualities I can admire. And I think thats a hopeful thing to see in a South African leader.
On the other hand
While I was having dinner with some people yesterday I was digging around in my bag to look for something, when a friend noticed the book I'm reading - Fred Khumalo's "Touch my blood." I went to look for his latest novel at the library, but they didn't have it. The librarian so enthusiastically offered me his biography as compensation that I felt I had to enthusiastically receive it. I'm enjoying it, by the way, I recommend it. The only thing that I haven't enjoyed is the sexual details. Not great at all. It was the same with Ndumiso Ngcobo's book. Eish, the marmite chapter. Perhaps just skip that chapter, if you are considering reading the book.
Anyway, I digress badly. The point is, my friend saw the Khumalo book and immediately said she had read his "Yo Niggaz" column, someone had given her a printed copy. And she objected *most* strongly to his opinion on the whole ebonics issue. Its an identity thing... Why is it that people identify themselves with this use of language, she asks... these sorts of things need proper research, she says. And more, with bigger words. She is a English Masters student so I have to bow to her knowledge of such things.
So I suppose like so many like race, class, culture issues, there is more to it than the appearance of things.
Anyway, I digress badly. The point is, my friend saw the Khumalo book and immediately said she had read his "Yo Niggaz" column, someone had given her a printed copy. And she objected *most* strongly to his opinion on the whole ebonics issue. Its an identity thing... Why is it that people identify themselves with this use of language, she asks... these sorts of things need proper research, she says. And more, with bigger words. She is a English Masters student so I have to bow to her knowledge of such things.
So I suppose like so many like race, class, culture issues, there is more to it than the appearance of things.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Eish its bebbing
Reading Fred Khumalo's blog post Yo, niggaz, whaz happenin’ to da English? reminded me of an incident from when I was in the USA a month or so back. I was waiting at the bus stop on the University of Illinois campus one evening, on my way home. There was another guy waiting at the bus stop, a youngish black guy, probably a student. I was standing quite close to the bench he was sitting on and he greeted me. Or maybe I greeted him, I don't remember. I always feel its good to greet people.
Anyway, he then said something completely unintelligible to me, a couple of sentences. I tried to muddle them out in my mind but eventually gave up. "Pardon me?" Another, longer, string of phrases I couldn't make head or tail of. Asking people to repeat themselves too many times is embarrassing, but I really didn't understand anything he said. "Sorry I didn't understand you..." Another few mystifying sentences. I think I may have recognised the word "mother." Maybe, maybe, the word "red." But he was wearing a red track suit top, and I was pulling at straws, so maybe there was no red.
I smiled and gave up. There was clearly no hope.
I don't know. Part of me wants to sigh and say: "What is happening to young people nowadays?" Another part of me knows that that would probably be hypocritical. I'm really not averse to slang at all. I'm sure hanging out with my friends would be a mystifying experience for many other people. Bebbing and duuring and "Sisi, sisi I just want to tell you that you are very selfish," "We go" Indian slang from Minz, the classic Zimbabwean "item item" and so forth.
And I know that languages change all the time. In one epic argument with a flatmate of mine, I claimed that "conscientize" was not a word. I was quite wrong of course. It wasn't in the dictionary though. Who cares? Words are in the dictionary because people use them, people don't use them because they are in the dictionary. And who gets to choose the way language changes? Surely the people who use it?
But on the other hand, there is a place where we actually just need to ability to communicate with people, to express ourselves in a way other people understand and to express ourselves in a polite, respectful and professional way. "Yo 'sup dawg?" may be perfectly fine when addressing your mate, but not so much when you're addressing your mother. Or your boss. Or the lady behind the till at the post office.
Someone commented on Fred Khumalo's blog that this kind of poor English is a sad symptom of kids not reading. Its a revealing comment, I think, because it points to the fact that more often than not poor English isn't just the choice to buy into popular slang. Its a result of people just not being exposed to English spoken well. And even as I write that part of me thinks "Well isn't that unfair? Who is to say that the way I was brought up speaking English is good English?"
But objectively I think that a wide range of vocab and the ability to express yourself in language appropriate to many different social situations is important. Its a skill, like any other, that can be developed. And I'm very grateful that I grew up being sent to the dictionary to look up words for myself, and even for those awful Standard 5 vocab lists we had to learn.
It was there I learned that plump was really just a synonym for fat. I called my mom on that one - I was quite a *ahem* plump kid, and she always used to say I wasn't fat, I was plump. Yup, my 12 year old self empowered by vocabulary.
Anyway, he then said something completely unintelligible to me, a couple of sentences. I tried to muddle them out in my mind but eventually gave up. "Pardon me?" Another, longer, string of phrases I couldn't make head or tail of. Asking people to repeat themselves too many times is embarrassing, but I really didn't understand anything he said. "Sorry I didn't understand you..." Another few mystifying sentences. I think I may have recognised the word "mother." Maybe, maybe, the word "red." But he was wearing a red track suit top, and I was pulling at straws, so maybe there was no red.
I smiled and gave up. There was clearly no hope.
I don't know. Part of me wants to sigh and say: "What is happening to young people nowadays?" Another part of me knows that that would probably be hypocritical. I'm really not averse to slang at all. I'm sure hanging out with my friends would be a mystifying experience for many other people. Bebbing and duuring and "Sisi, sisi I just want to tell you that you are very selfish," "We go" Indian slang from Minz, the classic Zimbabwean "item item" and so forth.
And I know that languages change all the time. In one epic argument with a flatmate of mine, I claimed that "conscientize" was not a word. I was quite wrong of course. It wasn't in the dictionary though. Who cares? Words are in the dictionary because people use them, people don't use them because they are in the dictionary. And who gets to choose the way language changes? Surely the people who use it?
But on the other hand, there is a place where we actually just need to ability to communicate with people, to express ourselves in a way other people understand and to express ourselves in a polite, respectful and professional way. "Yo 'sup dawg?" may be perfectly fine when addressing your mate, but not so much when you're addressing your mother. Or your boss. Or the lady behind the till at the post office.
Someone commented on Fred Khumalo's blog that this kind of poor English is a sad symptom of kids not reading. Its a revealing comment, I think, because it points to the fact that more often than not poor English isn't just the choice to buy into popular slang. Its a result of people just not being exposed to English spoken well. And even as I write that part of me thinks "Well isn't that unfair? Who is to say that the way I was brought up speaking English is good English?"
But objectively I think that a wide range of vocab and the ability to express yourself in language appropriate to many different social situations is important. Its a skill, like any other, that can be developed. And I'm very grateful that I grew up being sent to the dictionary to look up words for myself, and even for those awful Standard 5 vocab lists we had to learn.
It was there I learned that plump was really just a synonym for fat. I called my mom on that one - I was quite a *ahem* plump kid, and she always used to say I wasn't fat, I was plump. Yup, my 12 year old self empowered by vocabulary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
