Saturday, September 03, 2005
And who named us "CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK"?
Click languages: I love 'em! Can't pronounce 'em for squat, but oh, the times I have trying. Funny thing here: although pretty much everyone speaks English, most don't speak it all the time. So whenever you are out in public, you are constantly hearing a barrage of Afrikaans, isiZulu, Sesotho, and many others (there are eleven official languages, many of them locally restricted, although you get a mix in the big cities.) Continuing the "Afrikaner linguistic fun" of the other day, you know what the Afrikaans word for school is? Skool. B.C. and Invader Zim vindicated! And although I never did find out what the word for computer was, I found a word that is almost as good as that made-up example. Afrikaans for world literature is 'wêreldliteratuur.' Love it.
Carping on signage: in the trendy dining and club strip of Old Melville where I was staying, there is a restaurant called Quench which subtitles itself "Cuisine and Eatery." As opposed to the cuisine that you just go and look at? Come now, people. It reminds me of an equally ridiculous sign that was prominent in the U.S. when I left: the restaurant chain Togo's Great Sandwiches had just started a big ad campaign with banners proclaiming, "Now Serving Sandwiches!" Because what with the name of the restaurant being Togo's Great Sandwiches I wasn't entirely clear on the product. Thought they were a sushi bar or something.
It's Election Day. Voter turnout here is around 95%. As the vast majority of the population was not allowed to vote for so many years, people take utilizing their still-fresh right to vote very seriously. Back in the U.S., universal suffrage is so old hat, and it goes without saying that voting is for losers. And losers are users. So don't do drugs, dooon't do drugs!
Finally, I just saw my first real African (quasi-)wildlife! Ostriches! Sure, there were only three of them, they looked pretty scraggly, and they were fenced in under a freeway overpass, but still!
Click languages: I love 'em! Can't pronounce 'em for squat, but oh, the times I have trying. Funny thing here: although pretty much everyone speaks English, most don't speak it all the time. So whenever you are out in public, you are constantly hearing a barrage of Afrikaans, isiZulu, Sesotho, and many others (there are eleven official languages, many of them locally restricted, although you get a mix in the big cities.) Continuing the "Afrikaner linguistic fun" of the other day, you know what the Afrikaans word for school is? Skool. B.C. and Invader Zim vindicated! And although I never did find out what the word for computer was, I found a word that is almost as good as that made-up example. Afrikaans for world literature is 'wêreldliteratuur.' Love it.
Carping on signage: in the trendy dining and club strip of Old Melville where I was staying, there is a restaurant called Quench which subtitles itself "Cuisine and Eatery." As opposed to the cuisine that you just go and look at? Come now, people. It reminds me of an equally ridiculous sign that was prominent in the U.S. when I left: the restaurant chain Togo's Great Sandwiches had just started a big ad campaign with banners proclaiming, "Now Serving Sandwiches!" Because what with the name of the restaurant being Togo's Great Sandwiches I wasn't entirely clear on the product. Thought they were a sushi bar or something.
It's Election Day. Voter turnout here is around 95%. As the vast majority of the population was not allowed to vote for so many years, people take utilizing their still-fresh right to vote very seriously. Back in the U.S., universal suffrage is so old hat, and it goes without saying that voting is for losers. And losers are users. So don't do drugs, dooon't do drugs!
Finally, I just saw my first real African (quasi-)wildlife! Ostriches! Sure, there were only three of them, they looked pretty scraggly, and they were fenced in under a freeway overpass, but still!
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