The Journey Inward

Today was International Day at the Johannesburg campus. Our third grade classes wore clothes that represented their countries. Most of our students have parents with two different nationalities, so it was fun for them to choose!

The “buses” that bring the kids to school are white vans. Families pay for this transportation. Today, the buses drove us to Johannesburg. Depending on traffic, it can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. This morning it was about 35 minutes. I sat across from a teacher who arrived in country two weeks or so before me. I asked her to tell me her story and it was such a good one. She was teaching in Florida after her divorce 14 years ago. When she joined a dating app, she was matched with a man from Africa. (I asked her what kind of crazy radius she had put on her preferences!). Anyway, they became friends, but he would try to convince her it could work. She dated other men and had some bad experiences. They lost touch for a few years. Finally, in 2022 they connected again and the next year began dating, flying back and forth here and there. In 2024, he proposed to her. They decided to make their home in South Africa and she was able to find a middle school job at AISJ. They are now living together and will be getting married soon.

The Joburg campus is HUGE, way bigger than ours. It is about 80 acres of what was once farmland. They have over twice as many students as we do. We gathered on a huge field by nation. The US was the largest contingency, followed by South Africa. My principal was the keynote speaker and sang Lean on Me a capella to kick off his speech. Watching the nations march (families joined in), was so impactful as it made me all the more proud to work at a school that literally educates children from all over the world.

In terms of supervision, it is just so different here than in the US. We put wristbands on kids to let them know who was parent pick up at Joburg and who was coming back to Pretoria, but otherwise the kids got around on their own. At set checkins, we counted heads, but there is not the vigilance here that there is back home. Partly, that’s because of the gated school with security guards, but overall it’s just a chiller vibe.

Our kids got to play with the third graders from Joburg on their amazing playground. There were things we wouldn’t have in the US because of how litigious we are. The teachers are out to supervise, but the playground covers a lot of space and they can’t see everything. It was nice to see how much variety there was and how much freedom they have. I loved it so much I suggested we have our next TGIF night here after the kids have gone home! Those trampolines alone look like a blast!!

At our allotted time, we went to the food hall to sample delicacies from around the world. The parents outdid themselves in displays and offerings. They had enough for Pre-K through high school kids and new groups were brought in every 10 minutes. When they got their food, the kids would just go and sit, not altogether and not with teachers. The teachers sat together and it was so much fun to share our thoughts on the samples. I had already eaten my three pieces of sushi before I thought to take a picture. Sweet Teighler gave me the tupperware.

It really was a special day. On the way home, I was able to take in the scenery and see the contrast between the bigger city of Johannesburg and smaller Pretoria.

I stayed late after our early release to organize the classroom a bit more. I was really in my groove when I had to pop home for the electrician to work on my stove. The landlord brought him and we talked for awhile. It turns out she lived in this house until she lost her HR job due to USAID cuts. She and her daughter live in a small apartment and she is hoping the money from this rental through the school will help her. South African public schools are not great here and the private schools are costly, AISJ even more so. Her daughter is 10 and goes to a Chinese school. She was sad to be here at her former house, so I engaged her in conversation about school. She is learning Mandarin and already knows English, Zulu and some Spanish because her dad is Argentinian.

I then sat and used the time to put together my tv stand. She said I could mount if I wanted. I told her that was beyond my ability level. She said the electrician handy man could. We arranged for him to come tomorrow to hang the tv and I’m going to buy her old mount from her. While he was waiting for a part to get delivered by his friend, the electrician shooed me away and finished my tv cabinet. He was so funny and we pieced together conversation through our two languages. I was doing great with the building up til that point and was thinking how proud my youngest would be of me. She is an ace at this stuff, but I found the SA directions way easier than anything I built back home. In the end, he struggled a bit and had to undo and redo things, but we got it done. It took hours so I never got back to school or to happy hour, but it was pleasant passing time with new people.

Daylight still ends early here, around 6:30, and apparently that won’t change much, but at least it doesn’t just go pitch black anymore. I took a walk at twilight (my first night walk in my neighborhood) and I was delighted that as I walked down the road, frogs leapt out of my path! They were everywhere!!! It was so cute!!

Off to take a call with a new insurance agent about my homeowners insurance back in NJ, do a home workout, a bit of schoolwork and shower before hitting the hay.