Leave the great indoorsnotes on the journey

In defense of vuvuzelas

The ultimate blog post to defend the use of vuvuzelas at World Cup matches has already been written, but based on the constant Twitter and Facebook onslaught I am getting about this, I really have to say a couple of things about it too.

First, consider the lead-up to this tournament.  Think about the endless mockery of FIFA’s choice, the stream of articles on how South Africa does not have the ability or infrastructure to host an event of this scale.  And most recently, the ridiculous reports in the British press of machete wars and who knows what else.  We just sucked it up, and quietly went about our preparations.

And now, here we are, in some of the most beautiful stadiums the world has ever seen, at a tournament that is running smoothly.  Reporters on the ground are talking about the “sustained display of pure joy” by South Africans in hosting and enjoying this event.  There are the constant great reviews of our hospitality and friendliness.  So instead of fighting about inefficiency or bad logistics at matches, we’re fighting about vuvuzelas?

Ok, we’re fighting about vuvuzelas.  So come, let us reason together.

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Posted in South Africa | Posted by Rian 3 Comments

Amazing coffee and the power of ritual

This weekend I had the best coffee I’ve ever had.  My good friend Wil has a large bag of unroasted, green coffee beans from Kenya, and I watched as he prepared a cup for me.  The whole process took about 30 minutes — from roasting the beans in a popcorn maker, to grinding them as fine as possible, and then finally brewing the coffee in a stove top espresso maker.  It was so much more than just another coffee.

I told this story to a friend at work today, and he sent me this quote in response (my emphasis added):

Another important element of addiction is ritual. Something as simple as eliminating the rituals that accompany the addiction can be enough to cause the addiction to lose appeal. Powerful aspects of the addiction are obtained from the ritual itself, such that without it, the behavior or substance no longer is accompanied by euphoria. Heroin is a good example. The ritual of injecting heroin and the lifestyle involved in the pursuit and use of the drug is a part of the addiction. Taking away these components, as is done in methadone clinics, often reforms addicts on these bases alone.

If I arrived too late to be there for the preparation of the coffee, would it have tasted differently?  Would vinyl LP’s sound as good as they do if there wasn’t so much work involved in maintaining and playing them?  Are we really this predictable, this easy to manipulate, that the lead-up to an event can have such a big impact on the enjoyment of it?

Yes, yes we are.

Posted in Anything goes | Posted by Rian 4 Comments

Homecoming Thoughts: On Moving Back to South Africa After 8 Years Abroad

Posted in Featured, South Africa | Posted by Rian 52 Comments

The art of moving

A friend recently posted this Paulo Coelho quote on Facebook:

Trust and start walking. We are not alone in the dark, our path will unfold as we move. R.L.Stevenson once said: “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” If you can’t move in the physical world, move in your imagination, but MOVE.

A lovely sentiment, but as someone who is preparing to move countries in less than two weeks, the reality is quite different.  A recent New York Times article entitled The Psychology of Moving summed it up pretty well:

Whether one moves frequently or almost never, moving is an intensely emotional experience. The underlying psychological issues involved in real estate decisions are of great interest to therapists and psychologists, because housing and moving are filled with symbolism, the hope for new beginnings, crushing disappointments, loss, anxiety and fear.

“Panic can really set in around your home and your apartment,” said Ronnie Greenberg, a Manhattan psychoanalyst. “It’s a matrix of safety, so moving is incredibly stressful and people don’t realize it — they mainly talk about the packing and the external part of moving.”

That’s certainly not as sexy as the first statement, but it is most certainly closer to the truth (except for the part about not realizing how stressful it is.  I have pretty good grasp of how stressed I am right now!).

To go a little further (and definitely more eloquently) into the realities of moving, I want to go back to a great book everyone should read, The Art of Travel.  Alain De Botton says the following: Keep Reading →

Posted in South Africa, Travel | Posted by Rian 5 Comments

Have you read the Preamble to South Africa’s Constitution?

I am not sure how this happened, but I had never read the preamble to South Africa’s Constitution.  Until my friend Annie posted it on her blog earlier this week.  I felt even more ashamed after reading it there because she is not even South African – she is an American who emigrated to South Africa!  So, yeah, she wins.

But I finally read it, and it gave me goosebumps.  So for anyone out there who have also not read it, here it is…

We, the people of South Africa,
Recognise the injustices of our past;
Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;
Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and
Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to:

• Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
• Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
• Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
• Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.

May God protect our people.
Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso.
God seën Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa.
Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.

I’m proud to be from a country where we can openly and honestly acknowledge the mistakes of our past, so that we don’t repeat them in the future.

Posted in South Africa | Posted by Rian 1 Comment

Thanks for the advice, but I think we’ll move back to South Africa anyway.

I just read a blog post about South Africa that I don’t think had quite the effect on me that the author intended.  It’s a post written by a South African who returned home after 9 years in the UK, had a horrible experience, lost all hope, and 9 months later decided to go back to the UK and never return.

Since our family is moving back to Cape Town in March after 6 years in America, I read the article with great interest.  And as far as rants go, this is a pretty good one.  This guy isn’t holding anything back.  You can read the post here if you’re so inclined.

Now, towards the end of the post, he wrote this piece of advice to people like us who are planning to come back:

If you are overseas, and Africa is in your bones, and you’re feeling duped by SA’s advertising that it’s all getting better (yes, Homecoming Revolution, I am talking about YOU) then don’t believe the hype. If you are white, you are unemployable, no matter how many skills or how much experience you have. Unless you are coming to participate in greed culture, and are willing to risk everything you have saved overseas (yes, overseas we have disposable income – we CAN save), then don’t be tempted by summers and blue skies. Get a UV light to combat the winter depression, but think very carefully before putting South Africa back on your radar.

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Posted in South Africa | Posted by Rian 4 Comments

American Idol, and how there are 4 types of people in this world.

The 9th season of American Idol just started.  Before each season I vow to boycott it, and I go on a snobbish tirade about how I don’t understand why people watch that show.  And then the first episode rolls around, and I know why people watch that show.  This week, after an episode that may or may not, but definitely did have me in tears, I started thinking about this.  And sitting on the floor, listening to Coldplay and thinking about the world and everyone in it, I started to develop a theory.

I think we love American Idol because it is such a complete window into the full spectrum of human nature. In the confines of an hour on TV we see an exaggerated version of every type of person we might ever encounter in our daily lives.  We see the ones we hate, the ones we love, the ones we feel sorry for, and the ones we want to be.  In essence, we see people in various combinations of different levels of ability and arrogance.  And that’s why I think there are four types of people in this world.

Let me first say that I am just as appalled as you are that I fell for the old “there are X types of people…” trick.  I’m reminded of the old joke: There are two types of people in this world – those who believe there are two types of people in this world, and those who don’t.  I’m squarely in the don’t column on that one.  But hang with me for a bit please – I’m reasonably certain that this will make sense to you in the end.

So here we go.  4 types of people, based on their ability level (low or high) and their level of arrogance about their abilities (low or high):

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Posted in Anything goes, Featured | Posted by Rian Add your comment

A few ways to help in Haiti

I don’t need to write anything about the nature of the devastation and loss of human life in Haiti after the earthquake.  We’ve all seen the images.  There are so many ways to help there right now, you just need to pick one that works for you and do something.

Here are a few options to help with the Haiti relief efforts:

• If you’re in the US, one of the easiest ways to donate is through text messaging.  Just text “HAITI” to “90999″ to donate $10 to the Red Cross. The amount will be added to your cell phone bill, and it goes straight to the Red Cross — your cell phone company doesn’t get any of that.  You can also donate on their website.
• Donate to Doctors Without Borders to provide much needed medical supplies and relief.
• Donate to Partners in Health – another option to provide medical supplies and relief.
• Another good option is Global Giving – they have tons of ways to donate on their Haiti Relief page.

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Posted in Social Justice | Posted by Rian Add your comment

Deconstructing the classics, Part 1: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Earlier this week I started the bed-time routine of reading to our 3-month old daughter.  It is an important occasion for a father, so I wanted to select a book that reflected that gravitas of the moment.  After proper research, I decided to go with a book hailed as “one of the best children’s books ever written.”  And having sold 30 million copies worldwide since its release in 1969, I figured that The Very Hungry Caterpillar was a worthy place to start my daughter’s reading journey.

Now, I had never read this book, so I was as enthralled as she was right from the start.  I mean, this is solid story-telling.  Clocking in at only 225 words, the book manages to introduce its main character, help you identify with him, take him through an enormous crisis, and resolve it beautifully into a happy ending.  I don’t want to spoil the ending, but let’s just say our hero has quite the journey in the space of one week.

I think my daughter liked the pictures and forget about it as soon as we were done, but the story stuck with me for a long time.  As I was lying awake thinking about it, several questions started to materialize in my mind, and I might go crazy unless I get them out.  So here goes — Part 1 of what will hopefully be an ongoing series about children’s books.  First, let’s look at the storyline.

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Posted in Family | Posted by Rian 8 Comments

A long December, and reason to believe

This is the time of year when the Internet goes crazy with “Best of 2009″ lists.  And I have to admit, I love it.  From the most-watched YouTube videos of 2009, to Mashable’s insightful “What Twitter and Facebook’s 2009 Trends Tell Us About Ourselves,” to the Wall Street Journal’s best photos of 2009, we just love reflection and fresh starts at the end of each year.  Today is also the day when, every year, I find it completely impossible to get the Counting Crows song A Long December out of my head:

It’s been a long December / And there’s reason to believe / That maybe this year will be better than the last

What is it about the turn of the year that fills us with so much hope, and drives us to make all sorts of resolutions about how much better we’ll be in the coming year?  The history of New Year’s Resolutions is quite interesting and goes all the way back to 153 B.C. when Janus, a mythical roman god, was placed at the head of the calendar:
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Posted in Anything goes | Posted by Rian 1 Comment