I have actually taken it upon myself to start two blogs. One for general thoughts on the world and all things in it (philosophyisfashionable.blogspot.com) and this one, which is about all things South Africa. Hopefully they won't deport me for my opinions.
I have been asked by many questions to the effect of 'why oh why did you decide to study in South Africa, especially since your costs are coming out of pocket?' So here it is:
From what I know, there are two ways to live (legally) in a foreign country (i.e. one that you do not have any citizenship or residence ties to): study visa or work visa (this is, of course, not counting refugees, etc). I'm too young and too obstinate to work, so studying gives me that opportunity. Why South Africa? Well, I don't have a second language (I have a bit of Portuguese and Spanish, and figure my year here will give me the opportunity to learn Afrikaans and/or one of the many Bantu languages that abound locally and from the many foreigners who live here, so I'm working on it) so I have to choose somewhere where the education is in English. In South Africa, I get a good exchange on the dollar (so everything is relatively cheap), but more importantly, South Africa is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating socio-political scapes in the world. Ever since I read Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth', I wanted to see the situation in Africa for myself.
And here in South Africa, it is especially interesting because from an objective point of view, they are in the midst of decolonization and the problems that come with it predicted nearly 50 years ago by Fanon (see the chapter 'Pitfalls of National Consciousness'). I will elaborate in due time, but let's just say that the next year should provide its fair share of interest just in terms of day-to-day life.
I have been asked by many questions to the effect of 'why oh why did you decide to study in South Africa, especially since your costs are coming out of pocket?' So here it is:
From what I know, there are two ways to live (legally) in a foreign country (i.e. one that you do not have any citizenship or residence ties to): study visa or work visa (this is, of course, not counting refugees, etc). I'm too young and too obstinate to work, so studying gives me that opportunity. Why South Africa? Well, I don't have a second language (I have a bit of Portuguese and Spanish, and figure my year here will give me the opportunity to learn Afrikaans and/or one of the many Bantu languages that abound locally and from the many foreigners who live here, so I'm working on it) so I have to choose somewhere where the education is in English. In South Africa, I get a good exchange on the dollar (so everything is relatively cheap), but more importantly, South Africa is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating socio-political scapes in the world. Ever since I read Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth', I wanted to see the situation in Africa for myself.
And here in South Africa, it is especially interesting because from an objective point of view, they are in the midst of decolonization and the problems that come with it predicted nearly 50 years ago by Fanon (see the chapter 'Pitfalls of National Consciousness'). I will elaborate in due time, but let's just say that the next year should provide its fair share of interest just in terms of day-to-day life.
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