Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

It's time for the Rugby World Cup again, which is about the only time I feel any nostalgia for South Africa, and readily admit to being one. Although we'll probably lose again...Those Kiwis look pretty tough to me. Anyway. There are a lot of Afrikaans to be heard in Canberra these days...but we have learned not to introduce ourselves when stumbling upon an Afrikaans-speaking mother out shopping with her (English-speaking) brats. We tried that when we just arrived here, introducing ourselves and exchanging phone numbers (old expats are a wealth of information, we learned in Canada, like where the best biltong is to be found), only never to hear from them again, our phone messages unanswered, etc. So we got with the programme, and now duck behind the shelves of the local supermarket whenever we hear the Taal being spoken. It's certainly not the same as hearing Afrikaans being spoken in Canada, where other cultures are encouraged to embrace their own, whereas here it's all "integrate or leave", so I guess ex-South Africans just want to get on with being new Australians, and don't want to be reminded of where they came from. Or something. It's sad, really.

Posted by HannesB at 9:56 PM Comments