Every country has its quirks, but if you live there all the time you probably don’t realise what they are. All those slightly odd, definitely not run-of-the mill things just seem, well, normal to you. It’s only when you are new somewhere that you realise what the quirks of that country are – and I think you need to write them down quickly before they also become normal to you. So here is my list of some of the weird and wonderful, slightly odd, very strange and downright head-scratching things I have so far discovered in South Africa:
- The eggs are tiny
We have to buy JUMBO sized eggs to get the equivalent of a LARGE back home. What is this all about? Are the chickens here extra small? Do they have extra-tiny chicken bottoms (or wherever eggs come out of)? It’s a mystery to me.
2. Traffic lights are called ROBOTS
This is particularly confusing to me because in Jamaica Robots were the term used to describe the taxi-minibusses, the ones that would stop and pick up passengers waiting by the side of the road. Which brings me to number three odditiy which is….
3. The mad driving of the minibus taxis
I’ve been around some, I have lived, worked and travelled in quite a few countries and I have seen some driving. By that I mean I have seen plenty of dangerous, outrageous, too-fast, too-slow and macho driving. But here in South Africa what the mini-bus taxi drivers bring to the table is total randomness. You just never know what they are going to do – pull over to the right, to the left, stop in the middle of the road, overtake everyone waiting in a queue to turn and just turn in front of you all, cross a road when the lights (sorry, robots) are still in red….the other day, I stopped as one of these crazy drivers did a u-turn on a roundabout. I kid you not. I have decided the best way to deal with it is to realise they might literally do anything and treat them accordingly. I basically just stay as far away from them as possible most of the time…..Incidentally there are a LOT of traffic accidents in this country. I have no idea what percentage of them are caused by minibusses….
4. Shame and Just Now
Eveything here is a “shame”. I don’t think “shame” actually means “shame”. I think it is just a general word that gets used a lot, like “okay” or “really” or even “hmmmmm”. Similarily, Just Now doesn’t actually mean Just Now (eg right away) – I think it actually means “eventually” or “later” or at some point, but I am still not entirely sure. I have no idea when something will happen if someone says “now now”.
5. The whole paying by credit card thing and signing
When I pay by credit card sometimes I am asked to sign a piece of paper…..and sometimes I am not. And it seems totally random as to whether I will be asked to do so or not. I have been trying to work it out – is it just particular shops? Is it over a certain amount? Under a certain amount? Just for food? But so far I have drawn a blank. It just seems to be….random.
6. Languages
There appear to be dozens of languages here, all used simultaneously and all understood by everyone. Including the one that starts with a click (which really is a clever trick). My domestic helper seems to understand about 10 languages – and speak at least five of those pretty fluently. It is a total mystery to me as to how they know who speaks what and which language to address each other in. Being white, I get addressed in either English or Afrikaans and it is another mystery to me as to why sometimes I get one and sometimes the other. According to my English South African cousin, it is to do with how glam I look that day. The more make-up I am wearing, the more likely it is to be in Afrikaans. Which would explain why it is usually English…..
7. Chorizo
Now I can’t really complain about the availability of food in the shops here – compared to most other places I have lived it’s pretty good. Of course it’s different from home but not necessily worse. Some of the things you can buy here are amazing. Although of course there are quite a few things I miss so we are still going through that stage of trying to work out what to replace with what. But one thing that is puzzling me is the lack of chorizo. Well, you can buy it but it isn’t chorizo – it’s something closer to what we would call Polish Kielbasa, which is very nice but it isn’t chorizo. It’s an oddity because otherwise the availabilty of cold meats is pretty good here, and it’s a pain because a little bit of chorizo – with its beautiful strong flavours – can go a long way in a recipe. We use it in cooking quite a lot. I think I am going to have to get someone to smuggle some in for us.
8. Tipping
We all know about tipping in the States. Basically if you don’t tip you are instantly viewed as some sort of mix of Cruella de Ville, Freddy Kreuger and the Wicked Witch of the West. In other words, tip – or be damned. At home in the UK it’s a little murkier – we do tend to tip in restaurants, but not if the service is bad. Sometimes we tip elsewhere: hairdressers, taxi drivers. Here though it’s even more confusing. On the whole it is not a tipping – or “baksheesh” – culture, which is refreshing. You tip if you think someone deserves or particularly needs it but I get confused looks when I give money to the people packing my bags in the supermarket or delivering my furniture. However the one exception is waiters and waitresses. Apparently many of them don’t get paid a wage. At all. So they live off tips – completely. Not like in the States where they are just underpaid and therefore rely on tips to make a better salary. Here, I am told, in many restaurants tips are ALL they get. Not good – so tipping and tipping well is very important (and the service is generally excellent).
9. The whole “housewives” thing
I previously wrote a post about how, living here, I often feel like I have been transported back 65 years to the 1950’s. My husband gets dressed for work and sets off every morning, the children go to school. I stay behind and tidy up the breakfast things. It can suck but sadly it is one of the realities of expat life for many non-working partners (male or female) so suck it does but you still have to suck it up. However, it doesn’t help when you go out shopping and see things like this on the shelves:
Housewives cheese powder? Enough said!
Now I know traditionally there are ten points in a post like this but I am still pondering on number 10. I haven’t been here that long and have yet to get out of the area around Pretoria so there could be lots more quirkiness in other parts of the country. So for now I’m leaving it at nine. However, if you live or have lived or travelled in South Africa I would love to hear from you. What would you add to my list?
Photo credits: Joburg minibus: Undone; Made up woman Dave Goehring
Car guards! I would definitely add them….love the fact that my car gets ‘looked’ after for small change
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Oh yes they are great! Good one.
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The use of shame is VERY confusing. It totally threw me when I heard people commenting on other peoples babies with “Ag shame”. No, it thankfully turns out they weren’t saying “What a shame your baby is so ugly”, in this context it meant “Ah how cute”.
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I wonder how long you have to live here before you start using it? I reckon by the end of a year….
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The ‘shame’ and ‘just now’ thing is super interesting… I always love the initial reaction where you’re trying to figure out how on earth that phrase is used.
Here in Italy we use ‘I’m arriving’ (in italian), to mean ‘I’ve kind of just got up from my seat and i’ll probably be there in a few minutes, unless something distracts me’.
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I think these days with mobile phones time is treated a lot more fluidly. We used to try and be where we said we would be when we said we would be because no-one could call to find out where you were….
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Well Mini buses here sound just the same ..avoid at all costs and don’t get me started on the bikes left and right side of the road rules just don’t apply to them it’s crazy ..
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There’s probably an international mini-bus school somewhere…..
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Ha Ha ..mmmmm
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All my S. African expat friends say ‘shame’, that made me smile. What on Earth is cheese powder used for???
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I don’t know! I didn’t buy any, it doesn’t sound very nice…..
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Now Now means just now… moeg is another good word, it means weary, but it sounds so good saying it. You’re definitely not an Afrikaans poppie, be grateful for that! That’s reserved for the women of Sandton (the kugels) 😉
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I’m going to have to google Afrikaans poppie now………..
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Ha ha it’s like a ditzy woman then? I see a few of these, specifically at places like the nail salon!
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Now now means just now? Now THAT is really confusing. It’s best to assume that neither one is now in the usual sense of the word. All of them mean NOT now, actually, but later, when and if I feel like it.
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That explains why tasks assigned to Husband don’t get done 🙂
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I have often been puzzled at my South African friend’s use of “Shame, man.” Especially when I have just said something like, ‘aww that’s sweet’. And a shame? o.O As for tipping, that is one practice I think really needs to go away. It drives me nuts when I am in the US. Pay people a living wage!
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I agree, tipping in the US has got out of hand. I almost dread eating out there! And I am rubbish in bars as I always forget you’re meant to tip them too….
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I’m on vacation in Turkey right now and yesterday met a couple from South Africa. They were fascinated by our moving country to country and I told them one of the hardest things is to live in another language all the time. They said, now you know how we feel – they said there are 12 official languages there!
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It’s crazy! But fascinating too. And I don’t think you’ll meet anyone here who only speaks one language. Have you done your balloon ride yet??
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We did it yesterday! My husband put pictures on Facebook but I’m a few days behind in blogging since our last hotel had terrible Internet and I couldn’t upload the pictures. It was the most amazing experience ever! I wish I hadn’t waited so long to take one!!
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Yay I am really glad it worked out! Look forward to seeing the pics.
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Coming soon!
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My (British) brother lives in Cape Town and my 2yo nephew apparently says “shame” every other word! I’m not sure he’s picked up any Xhosa yet, though.
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Every time I hear people talking with clicks I just stop and listen!
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Google the clicking song, or something like that, it’s fascinating!
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My cousin was telling us about this the other evening!
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I love this post! I think number 10 should be Impala Poop Spitting:-)
By the way, where can I sign up for email notifications from our blog? Haven’t seen a link and would love to, whenever I stop by I’m fascinated by how many great new blog posts you’ve written that I failed to know about earlier!
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Impala poop spitting???? You should be able to get notifications by email on the site, let me have a look when I’m on my laptop and not my phone and I’ll let you know!
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I love that you had the mind to write them down before they became normal. I wish I had done that. It’s so crazy how quickly “weird” becomes “normal”.
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I keep thinking of more and them promptly forget them so must start writing those down too!
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This is great! I agree with Jessica – things become the norm all too quickly if you don’t keep track (which isn’t a bad thing, but it would be nice to look back on initial impressions and see how you’ve adapted/grown).
For chorizo (or chouriço), you just need to find a decent Portuguese butcher. I don’t think you’ll find the good stuff in any of the regular supermarkets like PnP or Woolie’s.
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Ah well funnily enough Woolworths have just started selling imported proper Spanish chorizo! Not cheap mind but the real stuff 🙂 We have bought three lots so far and will probably go back for more and stock up. I am also told an Italian place near us sells it, although I am sceptical it won’t be the real deal. They seem to sell a lot of stuff called chorizo here that isn’t….
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Hooray – that’s good to know! I have to admit, my husband’s family is Portuguese, so I’ve never needed to actively seek it out. If we happen to mention wanting chouriço in passing, it often just magically appears. 😉
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Magically appearing chorizo/chourico, now that would make me very happy 🙂
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Love this! Here are a couple more to add to your list… starting a sentence with ‘Rather…’ and using ‘hundred percent’ or just simply ‘hundreds’ when they mean OK!
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Thank you – I am hoping to do a follow up as I keep thinking of more so will add these 🙂
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And this is more of a pet peeve, but surely buying in bulk would mean paying a better price… not in SA it seems! Always worth doing the maths here before assuming economies of scale. 🙂
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Love these- some others I love –
Kids don’t wear shoes out and about
Internet banking / mobile banking – amazing !
Use of “sorry” when it’s not your fault
Hadeda birds
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Great post – for me it took a while to get used to always being asked ‘how are you?’ Everywhere – phone calls, security guards, car guards, shop assistants, ringing to book any appointment. Every conversation starts with a passing of time and a query about how everyone is! And then remembering to ask how they are back again. Many times I would say ‘fine thanks’ and then the shop assistant would say ‘fine thanks’ though I hadn’t said how are you. Maybe I was just rude before but I feel like I spend a lot of my time now saying ‘I am fine thanks AND HOW ARE YOU? really really quickly 😂
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It’s funny, I read your comment a few days ago and didn’t have the chance to reply – but now I notice this ALL THE TIME!!!
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Cheese powder? Mind boggling even without the reference to housewives….. thank you for joining up to #ExparLifeLinky – this post will be one of my monthly picks with a special shout out – I love the opening paragraph.
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Thank you 🙂 I am actually working on a part 2 as there are SO many quirky things here – maybe a result of being a mix of so many cultures and so far from everywhere that many of those people originated from….
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