What I see

I spent most of the past week reflecting about and writing down more of my observations of life here in South Africa. I realize this is a very short term I have been here but I feel as though I am starting to get a better sense of people and while I still feel as an outsider, some things start to make more sense...





Crime - You would think that I would be tempted to say it is bad here, because of what happened a few weeks ago. But I can't, in fact I think at least here in Pretoria it is no worse than any other city in the world. Yes there is poverty and yes it happens but it is more about opportunistic theft than what I would say a criminal that gets his rocks off on actually doing the deed. In fact just the other day in my colleauges office which had two laptops and was locked someone somehow managed to get in and take them and the power cables that were in a bag and a hard drive that was under some papers. They took nothing else! My other friend that works for an airline company was working his shift on a plane (he does maintenance) with 15 other people in a restricted access area when he dropped his 5 dollar watch, it was gone and of course no one new anything about it. It is easier this way no one gets hurt and well after all its just a watch or just a computer which means however many Rand someone can get for hawking it.

Economy - There is 25% unemployment here in South Africa, according to the latest figures, it has actually gone down but obviously this is way too high! There is a lof of desire to get things done and get people employed but there is also a lot of resistance to change and making it a competetive market. They are thinking now of forcing companies to buy local at least 75% of their components. This is a great idea but you need to be able to find the right quality and should not force people into something that could breed complacency and or a lack of hard work since it is known their product or service must be utilized. It is a very complex problem here and my fear is that only incremental progess will be taken and that can result in serioud poltical unrest if this number does not come down significantly. I work in the area of Laser Enabled Manufacturing (providing high tech solutions - that are laser based) to ensure that SA Manufacturing industry can be competitive and create new opportunities. I came here because I saw a chance to make a difference and we will but it is not an easy process, you have to work past peoples fears of technology or sometimes just the fact that they may not be aware of it. I did not thinki it would be easy to do here so it is no surprise, I just hope I can meet the right people to ensure we achieve our goals!

Race - I do not want to give names or specifics but it is clear that there is still a lot of resentment and misunderstanding between white and black South Africans. Depending on the place and situation typically I will have whites telling me how bad crime is and how unfortunate it is. Most of the black people I have met around South Africa are typically very warm and friendly and I seem to relate to them a bit more. They certainly keep to themselves and again not that I have been everywhere but I rarely see equals (black and white) working together. Blacks tend to work with other blacks and vice versa. Again not that this is bad or anything it is merely an observation.

Education - I have not been to any schools, but I have ahd schools come visit us and we do have interns and some graduate students (most of which are really good) but I found out to pass what we would call our university exams here all you need to get is better than 30% heck I would have been an A student here. I do not know how the other levels are but it is clear there is a lot of work to be done here, how to train teachers so they can provide students with the right skill sets. Sounds familiar?

Well...I will come back to these some time later and see what if anything changes.

My Birthday!

It was a rough way to start out the birthday week after having my laptop and vonage modem stolen from me. I mean I know that stuff happens and I am not mad about it, I was more mad at myself because I knew better and had a suspicion something was not right but I trusted that things would be ok! Also I did not have my recent work backed up and that will be a killer to make up! Lesson learned! They way they got into my trunk was also a learning experience they have now these "Jammers" that as you are pressing the remote lock on your ket they jam it so you actually do not lock it! I was maybe 10 feet away and was suspicious when I did not hear it but since I did not know about this I figured it must have locked and that I just did not hear it!! When I went in they got in the trunk and took my bag with everything in it!



Anyway I did not want to sulk on my Birthday as it only happens once a year :) so I called up my adopted family here in SA and asked if they would join me at Stephnies for dinner! I am glad I did as I had a great time and it was nice to be with great people!! Also all the well wishes from Facebook and the calls made it even more special!!

This is Herman and Liesel Burger they both work at the National Laser Center, Herman works in our group LMP and Lisel is in Applied Mathematical Optics. They are great people and have made my stay here great, even in trips past they have gone out of there way to make me feel at home! They are my family here in South Africa!!

Here is Sasha and I out in front of the restaurant, he really liked the place and it was a great night for eating outside!

This is their daughter Lisa she loves Sasha :) and he is fond of her as well!

It was a great night!!!

Hood Dawgs!

So I have mentioned several times how much barking goes on when we walk down certain streets in the area. I figured you should see it and hear it for yourself...

Enjoy!

Here are some mean hounds.... :) Sasha howls back to try and convince he is a good guy! It never workds

This Lab is great to see everytime ... reminds me of dear ol Bluebird' (minus the barking) lots of energy!

The people on the other hand love seeing Sasha. If they are driving by they will stop and on some occasions even have driven back just to get a look at him...

The joys of Walking Sasha through Lynnwood Glen :)

A look back!

I got here over a month ago and it feels like it has been an eternity! Chicago is like a distant memory and I miss it and all my friends dearly!!

But this time has been fun, I am happy here despite being alone.

Work has been great! And while the people are friendly I certainly feel like an outsider, not in a bad way at all you just know that you are not from around. I am used to that feeling though so it is nothing new. It helped meeting the guys from the Madiera football club but for sure I feel alone. But it is not a bad thing because you begin to evaluate things and relationships and your own purpose.

More than ever I feel as if this was the right thing to come here and an invaluable experience for my life. I have already impacted so many lives in my short time here through work that it certainly makes it all worth it. There is so much potential here to do things and a people that are willing to do it! I can say the same for the US but there are more established channels and if you are not part of that group it is hard to get in. There is some of that here and perhaps being a manager has made it easier for me to tap into those streams but it still feels fresh and different and rewarding to be thought of as a valuable asset.

As most of you know I ran for office earlier in the year and looking back I wonder what went wrong? but I know there is a reason it happend that way, because I see what is going on with today's climate, all these people feeling restless and hopeless. I recall my friends and I talking about how things are getting tougher for us to survive (it is all relative for sure). So I have had that feeling for a while. I was tired of the same as usual, and perhaps my trip here is giving me some relief. For sure I will run into issues here as I already have but it is completely different, being in a foriegn country because it changes your attitude in the sense that you have no expectations. You may want it to be like home, but it aint't so you work with it and you improve yourself and your vision for what you want out of life.

I tell you that I feel liberated from my problems, I see what is going on back in the US and I wonder how many more would be better of just starting fresh somewhere else just for a bit! Everyone suffers, we all have problems but it is all relative. You have to ask yourself what is really bothering you is it someone else being unfair or simply you not having the vision to look past that and into your future and your goals regardless of the obstacles ahead of you! I see some that feel that wya here when in reality nothing is holding them back. I am blessed and I wanted to share this with you all.

More exciting news my wife will join me on Nov. 17th!!! I am counting down the days!

Happy Friday!!

Sasha got a bath!

He was long overdue so last weekend I took him! Then I got him back with a little ribbon in his head, how cute :)

This always happened in the states too, he would get very girly bandanas, they just can not resist I guess??