I do admit it came as a HUGE shock to us just how long it took to get from Miami to Key West when my sis was living there though. Not sure why we were surprised, we weren't thinking about it so well I guess.
... it was January/February/March ( somewhere in there ) and I'd be glad to be away from a N.E. winter.
....I was stoned.
so it never seemed so bad.
will totally be worth it.
Lived in Johannesburg in South Africa for a couple of years. Experienced quite a few mix ups and strange questions...When rebellion just somewhere, say Somalia, happened in Africa I was often asked: "Don't you feel scared living so close to it all?" My most used answer: "Not really, as far as I can see you in Denmark are actually situated much closer"
Most of the questions were more related to how we were actually coping...From the media we all seemed to live out in the bush, dealing with the dust, heat and mosquitos, eating the pooh of the Ostrichs or the cattle - if we weren't to use that for the bonfire to keep the wild life away
People back in DK turned silent when I told them I could see the towers of Sandton City from our entrance, one of the biggest mall south of Equator and way bigger than any malls in DK...
In 'Africa' in the evening we would be sitting bare footed making our own beads out of clay and of course be singing happily all together around the bonfire just as the tribes on the TV - no matter how many different languages or cultures you'll find in just South Africa alone
..
My mother used more money on sending a load of old, used and smelly clothes than their true values in the belief that our maid would appreciate it. I had to tell her next time simply donate some money if she wanted to support our maid. I never told my maid about the used clothes, found it too embarrasing.
I feel that many people have a wrong perspective of donating help. Many times much of the donated isn't what is truly needed, but it may give you a good feeling of doing good at the same time as you get rid of your trash.
Well, back to the vague "thinking of Africa", I've experienced...There seems to be hardly any seasons and no climate varieties despite Africa's enormous size, leaving the poor people living no matter where in Africa struggling, smelling and sweating all day long under the on going burning sun
...
South Africa is a big country and Johannesburg has a population of 6 million inhabitants give or take. Questions like: "Oh, so maybe you know X?" seemed quite silly coming from a Dane as there are not even 6 million inhabitants in Denmark all together...
Even met Danes back in DK wondering if I maybe knew their relatives in Egypt...Not likely
Apparently Switzerland is not as exotic a country as South Africa from a Danish point of view (or so it seems to me) since we haven't had that many people, we hardly knew, asking for a free stay at our place as we did back in South Africa. But I still remember those who even thought I could easily pick them up in Cape Town, Kruger Park or somewhere else....in the "Joburg surrounding neighbourhood", I guess
Great thread!
Hope, I haven't offended others, in particular other Danes/Scandinavians. Above is just my experiences
Cheers,
It was back there socially almost expected that if you could afford it, you hired domestic workers i.e. your home or in your garden. We paid her well, treated her with trust and respect and gave her good working conditions.
We helped her to get married by paying her wedding 'fee' to the family of her boyfriend (otherwise they weren't allowed to get married and live together, which had been the case for years). It is a cultural thing, we didn't quite agree or felt familiar with, but it meant a world to her and her happiness meant a lot to us.
We even found a new and better job for her boyfriend in order for them to do better in the future and now after leaving South Africa we each year before Christmas send down money to pay next year school fees for their children (school year ends at Christmas) to continue their education.
I understand that it may seem wrong to others or give a bad impression when hearing of "maids/domestic workers", but it does not have to be something humiliating or underpressuring to the other person. We still have contact with her and for those year she was like a part of our family.
She had/has her own dignity, took pride in her looks and since clothes can be bought at a very small price in South Africa, I never would have placed her in a situation where she would have feelt perhaps obligated to receive something she certainly wouldn't wear.
As to my mother, she never visited us in SA, so despite from what I told in emails, she must have gotten the impression somewhere else that the maid would be grateful to any kind of donations no matter the conditions of it.
It is another world in South Africa compared to i.e CH. I am not saying it is better or worse, but it is different in so many aspects. I don't expect you to fully understand, but I hope you'll get a more varied picture and trust that we treated our domestic workers (yes, we had gardeners too) well and made sure they were being taking care of when we left
I am sorry, if I made this thread go into another direction, that wasn't my intention.
Thanks ever so much.
"born in the back seat of a Rambler..."
add that to the misheard lyrics I guess
Not only is the tune stuck in my head, I've now caught myself singing the d*mn thing out loud.
Ah, the '70s...
damn.... Greyhound Bus !
next up on the play list... "Melissa"... a song which will always have special memories
followed by "whipping post".... no, nevermind you kids don't need to hear about that one
Nope! and never assume Never entered my mind
A: Oh you live in Switzerland, that must be so cool !
me: yes, I like it here
A: You speak Swidish right? How cool is that
Cheers,
Nick