Update on Jul's Job

[First of all, apologies that we haven't been able to do much updating recently. We can only access blogspot at a couple of locations (coffeeshops with free wireless), as neither of us can access blogspot from work.]

...Two months ago I was hired to fill a temporary teaching position at a nearby public high school, Pinelands High School. (Yikes!) We are now nearing the end of the school year and fast approaching the summer holidays, so actually I’m only on staff for 9 weeks of teaching and 3-4 weeks of exams (during which time I help do marking/grading, proctoring of exams, and organizing for next year). It’s been three years since being in the classroom, so I have felt rusty at times, and it’s been hard to jump into a spot that has seen four other teachers come through in this year alone. Tough on those students, too.

At the same time, I feel privileged to be an ‘insider’ at the school – getting to know their systems and school culture, learning about education in South Africa, and meeting a wide variety of students and staff. The learning curve has been steep (trying to keep up with the rules about the uniform code, for example, and learning the school’s language and procedures) and learning the names and faces of my 300 students in grades 8-11 has not been easy. But I do enjoy becoming part of a new place, trying to understand different accents, and even – dare I say – being faced with the challenges of my own weaknesses as a teacher and coming to realize how much room for growth I have. Last week Jim and I went to the school’s annual one act play festival, and I had a sense of pride in seeing those students that I teach up on stage in their scenes (as if I had anything to do with it). Guess that means I’m feeling like a part of the community!

The school year ends on Nov 30, so I have only a few more lessons to teach, and then three weeks of helping to proctor (or “invigilate” as they say here) exams, and summer break will be here! The students are all excited for the holidays but anxious about exams, so actually everyone is working pretty hard right now to end well.

So this year, in the southern hemisphere, we’re approaching Christmas and summer break at the same time. Looking forward to both!

Jim's classes at UCT

It is hard to believe that my classes are already coming to an end (and that we've been here for 4 months)! I have been enrolled in two courses this semester: Academic Literacies and Critical Discourses, and Globalization, Universities, and Academic Work. Both have exposed me to new areas of thought and definitely stretched me in new ways. Being the oddball American in class has been quite fun; I often find myself just sitting back and listening to the perspectives and experiences of my South African classmates, which are usually quite different from my own. In the first course we've discussed literacies and discourses (such as New Literacy Studies and critical discourse analysis, particularly Fairclough's framework), as well as ethnography. The second was split into two parts: part one covered the effects of globalization on higher education while part two examined a dense theory by Basil Bernstein, a Brit, on the differential distribution and acquisition of knowledge in the classroom. Yikes.

Every morning I walk down our road about 10 minutes (with a gorgeous early morning view of Table Mountain looming ahead of me) to the nearest university residence. There, I jump on a campus shuttle (the blue bus in the picture above), and and disembark 5 minutes later on Upper Campus, right on the slopes of the mountain.

These are the famous "Jammie steps", as they are known around campus. At the top is Jameson Hall, from which the steps derive their name. Throughout the day one finds scores of students scattered about the steps talking, eating, laughing, studying, smoking, or just gazing out onto the Cape flats and the Hottentot Holland Mountains in the distance. Sometimes I join them (but not in all of the above mentioned activities...).

South Africa: Rugby World Cup Champions

After a month of World Cup play, South Africa emerges the world victor!! Not only have we gained a proper education in rugby during this time, we – ignorant Americans – now actually enjoy the sport, along with the rest of the world. (What’s the world’s most popular sport: rugby or soccer? Close call.) The final was played in Paris on 20 October, between RSA and England (with Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown, Princes William and Harry, and Thabo Mbeki in attendance), and we watched the final at a nearby coffee-shop, along with 50 raucous fans. RSA also won the World Cup in 1995, when they were a newly unified country, so once again the country has united in cheering on the team. Celebrations and partying went on late into the night after the win. Awesome!

There are usually a half dozen men standing at the corners of busy streets in Cape Town, offering everything from hand-crafted beaded animals (a Cape Town specialty) to fresh strawberries to the daily newspaper. On the day of the game they dropped everything in order to sell RSA flags! Many vehicles had them flapping in the wind by game-time that evening.

Julianna and Blanche cheering for the Springboks!

The Ellis Webb trophy, won in 2003 by England, but in 2007 by South Africa!

Some very basics: 15 on the field at a time; two 40 minute halves with a running clock; and terminology such as fly half, prop, and lock (three different player positions), and ruck, maul, scrum (three different 'plays' on the field), forward pass, knock-on, shoeing (three penalties), and drop-goal, penalty, try (three ways to score). Oh, and if one commits a foul worthy of a yellow card, one must sit in the sin-bin for 10 minutes!

September Kitchen Scenes

What can we say, we both like food (especially breads) and we both like being in the kitchen!


Jim’s homemade pizza dough and pizza

Jul attempts to make chapatis without a proper rolling pin

Cinnamon bread (recipe from Jul’s new favorite cookbook)

Two friends for Friday night dinner, Vuyi and Tanya. Both work at the Student Y campus ministry at UCT (see previous entry).

Birthday Dinner Party

Two weeks ago Blanche hosted a “birthday dinner” for Jim, Fritz, and Mark, who all had birthdays in the past couple of months. Cathy, an old friend home for a few weeks from out of town, also joined. Blanche prepared a gorgeous and delicious meal, and we spent the evening around her long oak dining table eating, sipping wine, discussing, laughing, and arguing until late in the night. A welcome respite after a week of teaching and studying!