Sukkot continued

After a long, long weekend without electricity (and internet) another week arrived. We've had guests over for dinner or lunch every single day since Saturday night. It has been quite hectic - I made 'Hachee' (the traditional Dutch stew) yesterday, and every day I set the table for 16-20 people (in our Sukkah, which is actually a tiny bit too small for this amount of diners).

Sunday night was probably the best night - we were allowed to use electricity (and play musical instruments) on that day, so I decided to take out my ocarina and play some songs. My favourite ever 'older' person came over for dinner, too. I think I can safely say that Jenny (or Jean, actually) is my friend, she's almost 3 times my age, but she's a friend nonetheless. We chatted and people commented on my 'talented' performance (I've only been playing the ocarina since March 2010, so I wouldn't say I'm that good... But it helps that people generally don't really know what an ocarina is!). I also chatted to Neil (Jenny's son) - it was very nice to be able to chat to someone around my age. I even forgot to have ice-cream and fruit salad, so there.

Today I had my first real test at Japari. Teaching the grade 4's a lesson of 'social science' last week was fun, but teaching the grade 7's is more like the real thing. It was nice to see how different classes can change the atmosphere, there are 2 grade seven classes at Japari (one a bit slower - and louder - than the other). I did the same lesson with both of them (and I'm continuing the activity tomorrow). They are preparing for their benchmarks (a kind of exams), so I went through (part) of an old benchmark with them. A long text (3 pages) about Mma Ramotswe (a story about a woman in Botswana) with 6 full pages of questions. Andrea (their usual teacher) left it to me to decide on how to teach this lesson.

I decided it would be best to read the text to the group first (because if I let them take turns they would worry too much about 'Am I reading next???' to listen to the actual story). I asked questions about difficult words, figures of speech and other important things - hinting at the questions. After that I asked some of the learners to read a paragraph out loud and gave them some time to answer the first few questions. Go on to the next paragraph, next set of questions, rinse and repeat.

We didn't finish the whole thing because the school had to practice for the assembly on Thursday (they are officially opening the school hall - it's a pity I can't be there because (you guessed it) Jewish holidays) but I'm continuing with the benchmark tomorrow.

Afterwards I felt more than a little exhilarated - it feels so good to finally be doing what I had wanted to do for so long. I simply love teaching. And I love working with special needs learners/learners at a remedial school. It can be draining, but it's also so rewarding and worthwhile once they do get something you're trying to explain.

Let's end with some more Sukkah pictures!





Comments of the week:

Teacher at Japari (after I said I was at home affairs to apply for an extension for my visa): "I didn't even realise you weren't from here!"
Cousin of my cousins: "Shouldn't you have an accent, if you're from Holland?!" (I even asked him "You think I don't have one?" Haha)

Word of the week:
Lapa (which apparently isn't even an English word, but they use it here all the time - it's one of these.

Yom Kippur and another week gone by

12 weeks left, time is starting to move faster for me now!

Saturday was Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and praying for forgiveness for the Jewish people. As I'm not Jewish myself I fasted for only part of the day (Friday night until around 11 on Saturday) but I did stay away from coffee and I didn't eat as much as I normally would during the day. My aunt and uncle went to the synagogue, I decided to have a little reading marathon myself. Books I've finished since last updating my booklist:

- The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
- The Way of Shadows (Brent Weeks)
- Specials (Scott Westerfeld)
And a compilation of 3 short 'war stories for girls' (didn't have anything to read and my cousin had this book).

The Book Thief was amazing, and I can certainly recommend this to anyone. In fact, I'm hoping they'll make a movie out of it, because I'd love to see it.

I'm now reading the second book in the Night Angel trilogy (Brent Weeks) and "The Lightning Thief" (I have to confess I have this exciting affair with young adult novels - easy to read, lots of adventure... I love it!).

On Saturday night we visited my uncle's parents to break the fast. We had a wonderful meal of fried fish, different salads (pasta, rice, cabbage) and cakes, kichel (sweet crackers they usually eat with fish - I like them plain) and lemon meringue etc. etc. Very nice!

Oh and have some pictures of our Sukkah! The festival of Sukkot (plural of Sukkah) is coming up, it's a time when the Jewish people remember the time they spent in the desert before being allowed to enter the lands of Israel. You eat in the Sukkah (a hut with palm leafs - you have to be able to see the stars through the roof, but it also has to provide shade) and invite people over for meals... It lasts a week!

My aunt painted the scene

Completed:


On Thursday I had the best experience I've had so far. I went with my aunt to collect some money at a client and we chatted to this lady for about 5 minutes. After a short while my aunt decided to introduce me, saying "Oh, this is my niece from Holland!" and you know what the lady said?
"Oh really? Your English is amazing! I didn't hear any accent!" (I know that 'no accent' doesn't exist, but still!). I've heard all sorts of things "You're German aren't you?" (At Japari) and even "Are you Scottish?" (well... no!) but this is the first time that I've heard the 'no accent' comment so I'm insanely happy with that!

That said... I think that while I'm finally starting to get the hang of this bat/bet problem and my th's are starting to feel more natural to me... I still have a long way to go. The 'oo' in 'book' is still hard to get right...
When we're on language related things, could you explain "He had his daughter kidnapped." in two ways? I said this, meaning that 'He' had it happen to him (someone else kidnapped his daughter) my aunt keeps telling me I can't say it like that, because it would mean (and could ONLY mean) that he arranged to have his daughter kidnapped, himself. In my opinion this sentence isn't different from "He had his car stolen" (i.e. it happened to him) but... well, just double checking. I'd say in the kidnapping one it's pretty ambiguous who arranged what, if anything.

Back to South African life...

Summer is still a while away, but the weather has been improving. Yesterday I took a dive and did 21 lengths in our pool. The water is still a bit chilly, but once you're in it it's wonderful! I just need to swim more often, because after 21 lengths I had some trouble lifting myself out of the water at the deep end! Haha... Well, at least it's something that's nicer here than in the Netherlands. Maybe I'll swim again today, I think I should. The South African lifestyle is kind of lazy, because you have to drive everywhere... I need the swimming!

And finally... We managed to get our internet connection sorted out! I'm online using my own laptop (Sephiroth) at the moment and it's such a wonderful feeling to know that whenever I need it, or just want it, the internet is there for me. Even at a max of 376 kb/s. (But hey, we have a pool in our garden! Bet you you can't say that! Even with your super fast internet!) So while I'm waiting for my downloads to finish (at about 10-20 kb/s) I'll just have a cup of rooibos and take a swim.

Rosh Hashana -> The Jewish new year.

Wednesday night until Friday night was Rosh Hashana – the Jewish new year. After that we went into shabbos immediately, which meant we couldn't use electricity, write and other things that are 'creating' in some way or the other for three days straight. I've come to like shabbos, after a busy week a day of doing 'nothing' (of not having to do anything/not being able to do anything such as watching television, using the computer etc.) is actually very welcome. Three days though? A bit much.

On the first day we went to shul (the synagogue) in the morning and evening, after the evening service we went to Jocelyn (my uncle's sister) for dinner. We had a good time there, the whole family was complete and the boys played soccer, we had some nice chats and wonderful food. Earlier during the day Sarit (a girl that does the children's service at shul – she's about my age) invited me for lunch at their place on Friday. I accepted, even though the idea made me more than a little bit nervous. (I am getting used to all the parties and having dinner pretty much anywhere, but this was the first time I was invited somewhere by myself!)

Lunch on Friday was wonderful, besides Sarit and her two sisters and mother, four more girls were invited. One from Canada (Sarah), one from Durban and two others from Jo'burg. We had the usual lunch – chicken, rice, salads, vegetables and very yummy non-dairy ice-cream after. (You can't combine meat with milk in Jewish cooking, so if you have meat in a meal you can't have milchik ice-cream or pudding... It's kind of complicated but I just accept it the way it is.) It was a good experience to be around people my age for a change.

Saturday was a different story, I ate breakfast as usual but when we got to shul I felt sick and had a stomach ache. At the Brocha (the meal after their services – we didn't have a brocha on Thursday and Friday, so I was looking forward to the nice food) I felt too sick to eat anything other than a few bites of pineapple. Another ten minutes passed, and I asked my uncle to take me home because I was scared I was actually going to be sick. And I was. The rest of the day was spent either in bed or in the bathroom, luckily today I'm feeling much better (and I even had a slice of toast and some tea, without any problems so far... I'm still not hungry, though). Tonight we have yet another party... The Bar mitzvah function of the son of a friend of the family, and I'm invited, too. I'm not sure yet about going... There will be wonderful food, but if I'm feeling even a little bit sick or weak I'm staying home – I have to work tomorrow and don't want to have to phone in sick because of partying while I'm still not feeling 100 %.

Wordlist so far

iridescent clouds iridescent: displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.
irate - I was irate irate: angry, enraged
crinkle (v) to wrinkle, ripple.
to make slight, sharp sounds; rustle.
litigation (a matter that is still in litigation) /ˌlɪtɪˈgeɪʃən/ the act or process of litigating (to make the subject of a lawsuit)
trifecta a system of betting in which the bettor must pick the first three winners in the correct sequence
upend (upended a popular legend) overthrow, destroy, invalidate
ledger (n) a slab of stone laid flat over a grave
filch (to filch ashtrays from fancy restaurants) to steal (esp. something of small value)
histology the branch of biology dealing with the study of tissues
curb (High interest rates put a curb on spending) something that checks/restrains
non-mimetic - To open up and re-define the literary canon to include the non-mimetic side of our literature. non-mimetic adj.
mimetic -> characterized by, exhibiting, or of the nature of imitation or mimicry: mimetic gestures.
trope /troʊp/ - genre trope Trope (n):
A figure of speech using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor.
make one's bones (exp) v. to kill a person as requirement for membership in a criminal gang, especially if it is one’s first murder; to become a made man; (hence) to earn a reputation.
heady (adj) exciting; exhilarating. ("Heady days")
preternatural powers (adj) out of the ordinary course of nature; exceptional or abnormal:
gouge - to gouge holes (v) to scoop out or turn with or as if with a gouge: to gouge a channel;
Shale A fissile rock composed of layers of claylike, fine-grained sediments.
Buttresses - Huge stone buttresses, surrounded by ramps and scaffolding. Buttress:
A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement.

Something resembling a buttress, as:
1. The flared base of certain tree trunks.
monomaniac - Sturman was his usual monomaniac self. an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.
coracle - He dug out a coracle (...) A small rounded boat made of waterproof material stretched over a wicker or wooden frame.
paroxysm - He went into a truly alarming paroxysm. any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion: paroxysms of rage.
Doilies - To lift the doilies any small, ornamental mat, as of embroidery or lace.
chartreuse - chartreuse colour a clear, light green with a yellowish tinge.
adenoidal - adenoidal voice being characteristically pinched and nasal in tone quality: a high-pitched, adenoidal voice.
frazzled - frazzled mothers worn-out; fatigued: a party that left us frazzled.
Gossamer - faint as gossamer /ˈgɒsəmər/ gossamer - a fine, filmy cobweb seen on grass or bushes or floating in the air in calm weather, esp. in autumn


any thin, light fabric
impervious - she babbled on impervious incapable of being influenced or affected
valet - your valet has unpacked for you a male servant who attends to the personal needs of his employer
penchant - he had a penchant for me a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something: a penchant for outdoor sports.
jocular questions given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting; waggish; facetious: jocular remarks about opera stars.
contingency - He was prepared for every contingency. a contingent event; a chance, accident, or possibility conditional on something uncertain:
gauderies - paid the penalty of gauderie finery, gaudy or showy things
boorish - I've become boorish of or like a boor; unmannered; crude; insensitive.
inviolate - something inviolate free from violation, injury, desecration, or outrage.

2.undisturbed; untouched.
despondency - state of being despondent; depression of spirits from loss of courage or hope; dejection.
subterfuge - talk of Monaco was a subterfuge to win a lift an artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.
frock - a gown or dress worn by a girl or woman.
succour (n) 1.help; relief; aid; assistance.

2.a person or thing that gives help, relief, aid, etc.
ineffectual - my little ineffectual smile unavailing; futile: His efforts to sell the house were ineffectual.
pallid - like pallid snowdrops pale; faint or deficient in color; wan: a pallid countenance.
blowzy - something rather blowzy about roses having a coarse, ruddy complexion.

2. disheveled in appearance; unkempt.
raucous - raucous laughter. harsh; strident; grating: raucous voices;
shingle - the white shingle of the beach 1.small, waterworn stones or pebbles such as lie in loose sheets or beds on a beach.

2.a beach, riverbank, or other area covered with such small pebbles or stones.
froth - superficial froth something unsubstantial, trivial, or evanescent: The play was a charming bit of froth.
robot (SAE) (n) traffic light
temerity - She was appaled at their temerity. very confident or bold behaviour likely to be considered rude or disrespectful by others.
desultory - Jasper's lessons had been desultory at best. desultory - lacking purpose or enthusiam, randomly going from one subject to another
absconded - 102 people had absconded with them. leave quickly or secretly.
Carapace - K stood up on the carapace of their pede. the hard upper shell of a turtle/lobster or related animal.
rankled - and that rankled cause continuing annoyance or resentment
guffaw - one of them yelled, between his guffaws. a loud deep laugh
whingeing - and stop whingeing complain persistently and irritably
ratify - ratify him in the position give formal consent to
panniers - the panniers on the pedes bag or box carried by donkey or mule
corralled - they were corralled together gather in a group together (as animals in a pen)
amorphous - blurred the (...) into an amorphous mass without a definite shape or form
keening - she fell to her knees, keening. wail in grief for a dead person
anorak - a shiny anorak waterproof jacket with a hood
Jersey (SAE) "Get your jersey" Jumper (B)
Grenadilla (SAE) - Grenadilla icecream Passion fruit (B)
stopstreet - She just ran the stopstreet! Intersection where you have to stop (with a stopsign)
Junglebunnies - Look at that junglebunny! Silly black person - e.g. someone who crosses the street without checking for cars. (slang)
Brinjal (SAE) - Let's buy brinjal, too. Aubergine
Baby marrow - Do you like baby marrow? Small courgettes or other squash
Juice/syrup - We need juice/syrup this week. Cordial
obtuse angle angle between 90 and 180 degrees
revolution (maths) - angle of 360 degree
syllabication - division into syllables
denominator (maths) - bottom number of a fraction
rhombus (shapes) - Draw a rhombus NL - Ruit
trapezoid (shapes) (NL) trapezium
guy - (technology) ground anchor (that pulls something down) - e.g. wire attached to a tent

Picture post!

According to my aunt it's a cotton tree! I'm not sure cotton actually grows on trees, but hey the fluffs look cool, for sure.


Ariella went on an outing with her school, and because we ... lost the car keys (we found them again, don't worry) we had to walk to school (we usually walk Ariella to school – but not with this much stuff.). It looks like we're all going on a trip!




Waiting for the bus to depart, being very typical Jewish mums (and cousins) – We didn't want to leave our kids! (Me, Jean and Sandra).

Ariella took my camera with her, and they went to this park where you could hold a baby lion – cute!


And... well, my aunt has lots of bunnies, she got them spayed and... they still had babies! So we had to sell them to pet stores – it took ages to catch them...


Doron (14)


Joshua (7)


Don't have to tell you who this crazy girl with a Hello Kitty shirt is.


Ariella (12)



'Old' people don't want you to know their age! (Sandra)


Tali (good friend of Ariella) had her Bati (Bat Mitzvah) party on Saturday night. She looked gorgeous! We had mini springrolls, Chillers (a milkshake, basically) and pizza and hot chips and ice cream and... lots of good food :)


Hiking in Magaliesberg (near Mountain Sanctuary) – it was a 2 hour-ish drive to get there, pff. We had to get up at 6 – after a late night (only got to bed around 12.30). EARLY. Josh is charming as ever. (Johannesburg Hiking Club)


First things first


























The hike was gorgeous (lamest joke I've ever made: Gorge-ous). I still have a slight muscle ache left over to remind me.

Rosh hashanah is coming up this Thursday and Friday. It's the Jewish new year. I won't be online until next week, because this means we're not allowed to drive etc. etc. (Just like on a Saturday because it's Shabbos). I'm sure it won't be boring though, more food, more visitors etc. etc.
Next entry might just be a 'review' of my experiences with Jewish holidays! Until then!

August 28th, Saturday

Another week gone and I'm really starting to feel like I belong here. Even saw our queen! (Would insert a picture but Ariella is using my camera at her grade six trip this week... For now it will have to suffice that there was this huge poster of some random football player with queen Beatrix's head photoshopped onto it.)

Shabbos this week was kind of special. On a Friday night it's usually only the guys who go to Shul (the synagogue) but this week we all went (including a friend of Doron from school – which is a separate story). There was a wonderful service with a lot of singing (they even did the world cup song – Hebrew prayer set to the melody that is) and after that there was a street meal. It's a meal after a service, and we always have one on Saturdays (which is amazing – there's so much food, anything and everything from fried fish, sweet and sour vegetables to the best cakes and soft drinks. Everything cold – because you can't prepare food on Shabbos – but wonderful nonetheless. This Friday though, as I said, we had it in the street, for everyone. The theme was 'Single Malt & Salmon' – Whiskey for the adults and salmon for everyone. Drinks and popcorn and chips for the kids. Lovely experience.

Doron had a friend sleep over, as I said, a boy from his school. This was a rather strange experience, because he's one of the boys I teach. A blend of two worlds; teacher-Cha and at-home-Cha. I felt like a teacher all the time, even when the guy kept me awake by complaining about Doron's hamster and nagging us about the mattrass – one was too soft and the other too hard. To be honest, I'm glad he went home at ten in the morning! What a night.

Today we're having guests over to watch rugby and play 'the Buzz game' (for playstation). I also started to learn Hebrew. Learning to read Hebrew is fun but it also makes me feel like a four or five year old all over again. Stumbling over – to my untrained eye – way too similar letters and taking ages to sound out a word is actually very exciting! Reading the first short sentences I actually understand is even better. And yes, I'll watch that this doesn't interfere with my progress in English. I just need to have my own little project while I'm here, too.

More special events are coming up over the next few weeks, Ariella's Bat Mitzvah function, Tali's battie, a wedding and I'm sure many more. Oh, and I managed to get myself invited to the movies with some girls (and maybe guys?) my age. I'm already a bit nervous about that, but I'm sure it'll be a good experience.

Until the next update!

Random things:
Vase -> /va:s/ not /veis/ (insert pro phonetics stuff I can't do on this computer)

Joshua: (talking about a map) Why did Hashem (G-d) make the countries so small but the inside so big? (Why are the countries so small but when you're IN them so big?) :D

August 18 work-related

This week I worked at Japari school on Monday and Wednesday.

Monday wasn't very busy, miss Bozzoli only had 3 lessons (English – covering direct and indirect speech with the grade sevens). After those lessons (I just observed) I did some photo copying and typed up some answer sheets for the excercises.

Wednesday was more exciting, we had the year sevens and sixes again. For the (in)direct speech assignments I helped out by checking the learners' work when they finished four sentences. I explained a few things here and there and helped them along. The next lessons was even better; miss Bozzoli needed to make some photocopies so I was to get the year sixes to come in, sit down and colour a bit in their social sciences workbooks. They didn't feel like colouring, at all. So I decided to allow them to ask me some questions – I'm the interesting foreigner here, after all. We chatted a bit about what's different about the Netherlands compared to South Africa, and when one learner asked me whether Holland was a rich country I had my link to our topic -> sustainable development. So I went on to ask them 'What did you talk about last lesson?' and 'Can anyone tell me what sustainable development means?'. After a few more questions miss Bozzoli returned. She liked the discussion that was happening so she let me go on for about another 15 minutes, in which the learners asked questions about how the Netherlands work, how we came to be a rich country etc. We even talked about global warming and the fact that part of the country is below sea level. :) It was a fun lesson and I actually got to do some teaching, so that was exciting.

It's interesting to see that it truly is so much easier to teach here than it is at home. The teachers here are complaining there's not enough respect.... But compared to teaching a random group in the Netherlands? Japari is a remedial school (primary, I should say that, I suppose. But the grade six and sevens are 12~14 years old so that's the same as the first few years in secondary school at home.) but the learners are so well behaved and respectful compared to what I've seen of the learners at home, so far! It really makes me doubt teaching in the Netherlands. To pass my TP and get my degree? Sure, but I don't think I'll actually want to get a job there!

This is the last week of term 3, we'll have two weeks off now and after that we'll start term 4. I'll be helping out/teaching at Japari for the whole term. (They already asked me to take over some lessons – if I feel comfortable doing so – when a teacher is absent. I'm convinced I'll be able to do that, when I get to know the school and the learners a bit more. Their lessons are 30 minutes each and the groups are small. But being remedial, there are a few learners with impaired hearing, autism and AD(H)D. Still – they're much easier to work with than your average group back home.

As for the next two weeks, we might go camping at Shiba mountain (sp?). I'm working on a website for my uncle's company, too.

This Monday evening I went to a shiur together with my aunt – it's sort of like a bible study/talk but in a Jewish setting. This one was about marriage and why people don't believe in getting married anymore. It was quite interesting, and the rabbi who gave the talk has a wonderful sense of humor. Next week we'll probably go again; no matter what it is, I just need to get out of the house a few times a week (other than working) because my life is rather boring otherwise. I'm mostly around older (30+) adults and children, so I don't have much of a social life (yet).

Note to self: About time to make a voice recording, need to keep track of how (if at all) my accent is changing.

Until the next update!