While traveling abroad it’s easy to get caught up in noting differences and similarities between foreign and familiar cultures. Urban South Africa has proven to be quite the study in such behaviour. Aside from minor examples like everyone being a smoker, the populace’s generally poor pedestrian/driver ability and near non-existent internet connectivity; the difference in security measures stand as the strongest example of contrast.

It’s not uncommon to have assistants help you park your car at a shopping mall, wearing a Kevlar vest amongst other supplies and smile politely all the way. Wire-barbed electrified-fortified walls line almost every city block and they are simply unavoidable from view. Oddly, we’ve become accustomed to our ever present fortification. We patiently wait to enter facilities by passing a drop-arm bar and/or guard tower like docile farm animals being herded about. At the end of the day, if the safety of our family is increased by such measures we are proponents of this notable difference, albeit reluctant Canadian ones.

– Jimmy

The day after our arrival my boss came to visit us along with his wife. We were fairly well-rested and eager to have them drive us around. Hopefully we’d wear off some jet lag further, discover some preschool option locations and view possible housing spots too.

When they first arrived they asked us how we were doing. I answered the typical way someone would ‘pretty good – thanks’. They looked at me and said ‘no, really, how are you doing?’. The concern they had for us was very nice and very welcomed. I couldn’t pull a fast one on them and pretend everything was okay. Rob, my boss, is the project director for our company and he plays a very big role in things. It was really comforting to have him look about our temporary accommodation and say he was not impressed (like us, in truth) and that we must sort out our permanent housing asap. Jimmy also had a chance to voice his concerns and the difficulties we faced getting to know Joburg.

We all decided to get into their van (the installation of the kids car seats into their van was a breeze by comparison!) and have them drive us around several suburbs and past many preschools I had researched on the internet back in Canada.

We talked along the way and started to get a really good feel for the city. Claire & Rhys dozed comfortably in the van as we drove. Later in the day we decided it was time to stop for some lunch. Rob and his wife, Sharon, chose a very large casino called The Montecasino (http://www.montecasino.co.za) which had a large bird sanctuary and gardens. It was a great choice where the kids could run around and look at some pretty neat birds. They bought Claire & Rhys some duck pellets to feed the ducks. Needless to say they were two very excited little kids. It was so nice to be outside wearing shorts and t-shirts. My luggage was held up in London so I had the glory of wearing well-worn travel clothes for the third day in a row :/ in the warm sun.

We walked around the grounds of the bird casino and saw ducks, flamingos, bats, lemurs, snakes, storks and so many other birds. It was a really neat place to visit. The outdoor eatery had a children’s play area (we are finding that most family restaurants have playgrounds as there are very few public places to take your kids to run around and burn off steam -in stark contrast to North Vancouver/Canada). We ate a nice lunch, the kids played and we talked a lot about life in this special city. It was a good and hopeful second day which certainly helped our morale and confidence in getting around the city by ourselves, and doing so more safely than we initially perceived.

Claire asking the bird if it would like to walk down the stairs with her:

Big news……we very recently moved our family to Johannesburg, South Africa. In early February I was approached with an enticing job opportunity by the company that bought out my pre-existing employer. They wanted me to relocate to SA and work on a rotation schedule into Botswana to work at our project site so I could assist with geological modeling, drill managing and training of local geologists for a 6 month term.

Although I had heard hints and whispers of this offer since Christmas, Jimmy & I did not have very long to make our final decision. Once we decided to go for it we only had two weeks to get organized, get immunized, pack up our life, etc. Did I mention that we decided to sell our condo too? It truly was a whirlwind of activity and stress in our household! The big factor in us making this journey was the adventure opportunity of living in Africa. Claire & Rhys love animals so they were sold on the safari side of things. We somehow managed to get it all done even with me having food poisoning the day before we were to depart. Thank goodness my Mom was visiting so while I recovered she was able to pack and help with the kids -not to mention Jimmy being at our storage locker till 2am on many days.

We left on March 29, 2013 at 9:30pm. We had a long journey ahead of us as the flights totaled 22 hours with an additional 6 hour lay-over in London. We were well prepared for the kids comfort with portable dvd’s, snacks, stuffies, new toys, new headphones and their comfy blankies. I have to say that Claire & Rhys are some pretty adaptable kids and they did amazing on the journey. We flew mostly during the night so they slept most of the way (a credit to our travel agent). No tears, no tantrums and just a lot of fun and great memories.

Heathrow Airport:

Flying over Africa:

When we arrived in Johannesburg on (March 31, 2013) we were so tired and just wanted to get to our hotel accommodations to rest. A lady from my company met us at the airport and assisted us in getting a rental vehicle. It took forever and we have learned very quickly that customer service is not a priority in this country and the work pace is extremely slower than in North America. This is just something we will get used to.

Landing at OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, SA:

By far the most difficult thing of our entire journey here was installation of our two car seats that we brought with us. We drive a mini-van in Canada and the company rented us a small (micro) white Hyundai accent. It was so difficult to put them into the car. Jimmy placated Claire & Rhys in the front seats with a video while we set to the task at hand. I have to say that I have never cursed as much as I did that moment. It took us almost 45 minutes to get them in. Jimmy gouged his scalp on the inside of the trunk too. Then, while finally victorious, just as we were to strap the kids in, Rhys decided to have a nature moment. I had to lay him down on a blanket next to the car to change him. Just then, a car was backed into the stall behind us so I freaked out then Rhys freaked out and jumped up. There was poo everywhere and a very scared kid. Ugh…we were just ready to go!

I opted to drive and it was my first time doing so on the other side of the road – pretty weird feeling. Our temporary hotel housing is not what we expected to have to live in, but it’ll do until we sorted out preschool for the kids and permanent housing.

Phew! We made it and while the kids played and investigated the house Jimmy & I shared some ‘Oh no! What did we do? Did we make a mistake?’ mini panic attacks. The enormity of the situation and the reality of the scary statistics we read about can really affect ones sense of optimism. This said, we are now pleased to say that we are getting our confidence back and learning the rhythm of this country. It is a huge learning curve and so incredibly different than life in Canada. If it was just Jimmy & I it would be a lot easier and more flexible. As many of you know, having two active children really changes things and it enhances the necessary need of caution, extra care and planning -especially with one parent away so often.

Definitely more to come……