Newbie

So this time i did not just read this website I decided to get off the fence and actually join and now look at me. I am actually talking to you. Within 3 minutes of me joining this site I was hit with 13 private messages all pretty damn generic “Hi what you do who are you can we talk what you do for fun” boring boring boring. I am not actually doing anything or anyone for that matter it has been months since i have made the beast with two backs! Mooooonth! And guess what I actually am alive. So here is my shit. The whole shit and nothing but my shit. I work in a company owned by a maverick Zulu guy. He is young and sometimes makes me jas with his lack of respect for his employees but anyway. Die wiel draai soos hulle se. I am now a resident of Jozie and being here is both alienating and exhillirating at the same time. I have yet to find a decent restaurant and have not yet attempted the fish.

I drive like a Jozie girl now, basically, dont give a fuck about anyone else on the raod and have my bribe money tucked into my satin bra in case I get stopped by the cops but that has not happened yet. Murphy’s law predicts i get pulled over end of the month when money is too tight to mention! Dont you miss Mick Hucknall. I cant admit that to your face, Simply Red is really a big girls band and Mick looks like a dead ringer for Ronald Mac Donald but for your babies kicks ass no matter what you say. Gingers are scary though.

So this morning i was given my first Zulu lesson by a white lady and 2 young Zulu Bhuti’s. Very cool language actually but i cant help but wonder what of the other languages and now I am not even mentioning the unofficial ones. She gave us the option to learn Tsotsi taal (slang) and compared to real isiZulu it really pales. I opted to learn to speak proper isiZulu. Want dit klink net mooi en klaar. I realised that one cannot learn a language without learning a culture and it hit me. How many people have I offended in this country just with my ignorance. Calling an elder bhuti or using someones first name willy nilly. How many times have people cringed in my company. Even from my own community. Saying DJY instead of a softer JY or even better U when adressing a grown up has become passe. Many of us opt for first names as if the name precludes the need for title. I like bell hooks. She refuses to use capitals when writing her name. I expect I will feel kak for a little while and really think before I speak next. Especially people who’s language i dont know and then also to people whose language I know too well.