Report August 2023

How was the start of the new semester? Are there any changes at university, how are the new courses, how is the workload?

It is always interesting for me to start new things. I was excited to learn about new things, especially things that I have never heard about. There are no changes at the university except for the Varsity football team, the ladies team that won the Varsity cup tournament. Otherwise other things are still the same. The courses are a bit challenging and interesting at the same time. There is this module called Leadership, Culture and Diversity that I love and I enjoy it so much. This module taught me a lot of things that I know and others that I didn’t know and that I had to pay attention to.

How was the preparation phase for the new football season? Did you get new team members or did anything else change?

Here in South Africa we are still in the same season. Our season starts in the beginning of the year and ends in November so we are still in the same season. We have two players who are back on the team. The first one is Noxolo Cesane. She was playing for us last season, before she went to play in France and after that in Mexico. Now she is back to our team and she is also playing for the South African National team. The second one is Anthonia Maponya. She left the team, because she had to go to the training for her new work she got but now she’s also back.

Do you have any important games coming up?

We are on the second leg of the season now. So the second leg is a bit difficult, because every team wants to be on top of the league. My team is on the top of the league standing, we are number 1 in the league and we are one point ahead of the team behind us. We have to win all of our games for us to win the league and starting from next week we have tough games to play but I trust my team we are going to make it. All our upcoming games are important.

Is it hard to only be able to see your family during school breaks? Or do you get to see them in between somehow? How long do you have to travel to see them and how do you get there?

It is very hard for me to see my family, because my home is very far from Cape Town. Last year I was only with my family in January and December. This year I last saw some of my family members in January and others in July during school break. It is hard for me to go home more often, because I travel a very long distance when I go home. Most of the time I take a bus when I am going home and it takes 16 hours. Then when I take a flight, I take a flight from Cape Town to Durban or East London, because they are the nearest airports to my hometown, then when I land I take a 4 hours drive to get home. The reason I take a bus most of the time is that it is affordable.

If you had to name three things each the world has to know about South Africa and yourself, what would they be? 

1. South Africa is known for its rich cultural diversity and I am a cultural person. I love my culture, I respect it and I also respect other people’s culture.
2. South Africans are passionate about music, often using songs and dance to express social ideas. I also love music too much. I am even listening to it now while writing this report. I love dancing. When I am bored or have nothing to do, I take dance videos.
3. South Africa is a beautiful country. It has unsurpassed wildlife and mountains, whales and waterfalls, and it has the world’s most stunning spring.