Adventures of an Expat in South Africa
There are many people who perpetuate the myth that South Africa is a cesspool of crime and corruption. They want to tell you that you're better off living somewhere in Europe where you're always safe and where governments are beyond reproach. But while South Africa does have challenges regarding corruption, poverty, and violence, it is also a great place to live.
The beauty of expat life is that you get to see an alternate universe. You get to see how life might have panned out at home, if only people weren't so bound to tradition. Sure, in some cases the alternative might be worse. It might send you running right back home where everything is "better," but more often than not we like what we see abroad and wonder why it's not done this way at home.
As frustrating as it can be to move households across continents, to navigate the incomprehensible currents of the Department of Home Affairs to obtain your visa, or to find out that "just now" means "perhaps in three weeks" at best, there are also many happy sides to expat life, if you only choose to open your eyes to them.
I’m not sure of the official tally, but from our experience the sun shines about 359 days a year in Johannesburg. It’s definitely one of my greatest joys as an expat here. Even – and especially – in winter, when I’m shivering through the nights, the sun can always be ...
One thing I absolutely love about South Africa is that they seem to have some legal common sense here. At least when you come from America, the differences are striking. I hate to dredge up the much cited cat-in-the-microwave or too-hot-McDonald’s-coffee cases, but these are precisely examples ...
Shopping doesn’t typically come to mind as a particular joy, if you ask the average expat. On the contrary, having to find your new go-to places, hunting for certain foods your host country doesn’t seem to manufacture, and in general spending way too much time on errands you had down ...
This is the fourth post in an 8-part series where we explore the good parts about being an expat - in general, and in South Africa particularly. From receiving a head massage every time you get your hair cut to stocking your house with beautiful artwork, worshipping the sun, eating the best mango of your life, or letting someone else put the gas in your car, expat life can have many upsides.
This is the third post in an 8-part series where we explore the good parts about being an expat - in general, and in South Africa particularly. From receiving a head massage every time you get your hair cut to stocking your house with beautiful artwork, worshipping the sun, eating the best mango of your life, or letting someone else put the gas in your car, expat life can have many upsides.
This is the second post in an 8-part series where we explore the good parts about being an expat - in general, and in South Africa particularly. From receiving a head massage every time you get your hair cut to stocking your house with beautiful artwork, worshipping the sun, eating the best mango of your life, or letting someone else put the gas in your car, expat life can have many upsides.
This is the first post in an 8-part series where we explore the good parts about being an expat - in general, and in South Africa particularly. From receiving a head massage every time you get your hair cut to stocking your house with beautiful artwork, worshipping the sun, eating the best mango of your life, or letting someone else put the gas in your car, expat life can have many upsides.