YOUTH FOR UNDERSTANDING SOUTH AFRICA
’S CULTURE SCOPE 03 SEPTEMBER 2012 IN THIS ISSUE: PAGE 2 - HOST FAMILY INTERVIEW PAGE 3 - A BLAST FROM THE PAST PAGE 4 - NADIA IN BELGIUM / A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS PAGE 5 - PREVIOUS CROSSWORD ANSWER PAGE 6 - WHAT’S YFU’ING PAGE 7 - DEFINITION OF CULTURE PAGE 8 - FROM THE DESK OF THE CHAIR
ISSUE #02
Longer days, warmer weather, singing birds and bees everywhere. Ladies and gentlemen we have braved another winter and we are rewarded with SPRING and a new issue of the Culture Scope! Of course the beginning of August signalled the start of most probably the busiest time of the year in YFU. We welcomed back students who had departed on their various exchange trips, our very own South African students began their journey abroad and then we have the international inbounds who are now spending time in their new schools and with their wonderful host families.
Over the next year you will be able to follow the experiences of the students right here in our newsletter, and we encourage you to share it with family, friends, colleagues, enemies, pet shop owners and everyone and even anyone else who can read. Things are just always more fun when we share. This issue is packed with a variety of topics ranging from past experiences of students to students who are abroad and even some insights into the world of a YFU volunteer. So let’s dig in!
Host Family Interview -- A look into the world of those who make YFU tick --
Henri (far right) with the Buitendachs For the family Buitendach their YFU adventure started in 2007, through Rynette, the regional director from YFU South Africa Gauteng, they decided to host Jana from Germany in 2008. “We chose her (Jana) because she liked sports, like we do, although we do not participate, and because she liked animals! At the time we had 4 dogs, which at this stage has been doubled.“ “Jana was so easy to get along with, she wanted to be a part of the family and I’m not even saying this because she is my sister!” “We tried everything to make it able for her to do all the sports she wanted to. Ouma took off from work to bring Jana to school to play sports.” After Jana, the family Buitendach was addicted to the YFU way of living, but they decided not to host again. The whole saying goodbye thing was too sad for them. So Magda decided to become a contact person for the following group of exchange students. One of the students was unhappy and ended up with the family Buitendach, with the aim of finding another family sooner than later. Knowing the family it never happened and Cadine stayed with them for the remainder of the year.
days a week, but with Ouma at home the students doesn’t have to feel lonely at all! Next to that they volunteer for YFU and they are busy with a community project in the neighborhood. Although they’ve got so little time, Magda takes French classes to learn the language and attends music lessons once a week, where as Matthys likes to watch birds in the little spare time he has.
Why do you host, what do you gain from the experience? “First of all because YFU asked us, second of all because it is a great learning experience for our daughters. Now we are addicted to it, the emails we receive when the students are back home and the love we get when the students are part of our family. It is a great experience and we enjoy the whole process including all the difficult times! Next to that it feels like we get a new child every year, which is what we always wanted but we never could.” This past year they hosted Henri, a student from Finland. “The first part of the year was difficult with Henri, he was very reserved and we didn’t know how he felt. The first few weeks I was sitting in the car and looking at the traffic light to find something to talk about, because he never said anything!” After a while it got better and Henri and the family found their way together. “I’m so glad we held on with him, after a while things got so much better and he fitted into the family perfectly, although we had nothing in common!” “Now Henri left we are sad again, but we have something to look forward to: In August we are going to host Paula and we cannot wait! And to double the fun, Jana is coming to visit us in March!! Thank you YFU!”
Magda and Cadine
As a family they attend church regularly, they do the music ministry during church services and have two daughters. Patricia, a foster child and Barbara. They also live with Ouma. The two daughters both study, Barbara studies vocal arts and Patricia studies hospitality management. Magda and Matthys are both working five
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A BLAST FROM THE PAST Cadine Luger
Here we get to hear about how the exchange has affected and how Cadine Luger enjoyed her time as an exchange student, and she was of course one of the daughters of the Buitendach family. This is her story: “It's two years ago that I had to leave the beautiful country South Africa, my lovely host family and all my friends. It was the worst saying goodbye in my life I ever had and it still makes me cry to thinking about it. South Africa was one of my best years I ever had and I never regret the decision I made to go for an exchange year. My year was full of experience and adventures. Even though there were sometimes quite hard times I am very proud of myself that I made it and that my parents allowed me to go and experience a completely different culture. Getting to know so many people and being part of them at school or in the family is very special. Coming back home after my exchange year was very hard. I didn’t want to adapt again here in my home town. The only thing I wanted to do is GOING BACK TO SOUTH AFRICA. I never thought that this coming home would be so though. It took me almost half a year that I could say I finally arrived home. With the help from my host mum (in South Africa) and my mum (here in Austria) I could make it and I am happy to know that there is a family in South Africa waiting for me (their daughter/sister/friend) to come back home. Now my time back home has come back to normal, I finished school last year and was working until now. In October I will start studying. My dream to go back to South Africa is still here. My South African experience still shapes my life. I am now also working as a volunteer for YFU Austria. It’s a great opportunity to relive the exchange program. Sharing my experience with other students or visit host families for the Austrian inbounds. Getting to know people from so many countries in our world. It’s fun!!!“ Cadine Luger - inbound student 2008/2009
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Nadia in Belgium! The last leg of my flight, me proudly wearing SA colours. It had been a long day, with more than 14 hours of flying. Traveling alone was a new thing for me. I had a few moment of confusion, but otherwise it was all very exciting. My host family picked me up at Brussels Airport, in the capital city of Belgium. My host family speaks Limburg-Flemish, a dialect of Dutch. Thus I can understand them, if they speak slowly. Our different pronunciations caused a laughing session when we first met. They were extremely welcoming. Most of the first week I was on orientation in Herentals, a small town. There I met the other 26 exchange students in Flanders, Belgium. We had students from Japan, Thailand, Mexico, Ecuador, Wallonia (Belgium), Estonia, USA, Argentina, Germany and last but not least South-Africa! We had info-sessions, classes, competitions and played games. I learned how to count and greet in a 6 different languages! It was amazing to learn about their different cultures. At first glance we seem so different, but after getting to know each other, we really are the same. At the end of the first week we had a evening where we represented our own countries. The girls from Japan taught us how to make an origami flower, the Argentinians showed us an traditional dance and the Wallonian students brought waffles. I represented my country by braiding my hair,teaching them how to sokkie and playing the vuvuzela. During the week we went on an excursion to Mechelen, a picturesque small town near Brussels. There the exchange students were divided into groups and sent on a mission, discovering the town and solving a mystery given to us. We were rewarded with a delicious ice cream and then we climbed the tower of Mechelen. I climbed it twice‌ be cause I lost my group. Soon it was time to say goodbye to our exchange friends and join our host-families. I was looking forward to get to know everyone and to start living like a Belgium. Nadia Burke (Cape Town) - outbound student 2012 (Belgium)
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
ABUSIWE IN SWITZERLAND
AJ IN GERMANY
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PREVIOUS CROSSWORD ANSWER 1
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YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER ONE OF OUR CROSSWORDS IN THE NEXT ISSUE!
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I CAN FORGET MANY THINGS, BUT I WILL RARELY EVER FORGET TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER. YOU ARTICLES, PICTURES AND WORDS GO FURTHER THAN YOU THINK. YOU REALLY DO MAKE THIS NEWSLETTER. THANK YOU,
WHAT’S
ING?
Here is where you can find out what has happened, what is happening and what will happen in your respective regions. Make sure you do not miss out on anything and always make sure to get involved.
31 July - Inbounds arrived August - Outbounds left for their exchanges across the world
FACEBOOK UPDATES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR AN INTERESTING, NEW AND FRESH IDEA. WE WILL BE HAVING A CREATIVE MANNER IN WHICH WE CAN INTERACT WILL ALL OF YOU. THE NEXT ISSUE WILL HAVE OUR NEW………!!!
6 - 9 September - Post Arrival Orientation (PTA and PE) September - Family day in all regions (contact local region for more specific info) 4 - 7 October - Annual General Meeting
FOR UP TO DATE NEWS, PICTURES, ACTIVITIES AND GATHERINGS:
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER - @YFUSouthAfrica LIKE US ON FACEBOOK - YFU South Africa VISIT OUR WEBSITE - www.yfu.org.za
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WHAT SOME OF OUR STUDENTS DEFINE CULTURE AS:
IS THE SUM OF TRADITIONS, BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS, CLOTHING AND FASHION, ALSO SPORTS. WHICH IS HIGHLY INFLUENCED BY THE WEATHER, CLIMATE CHANGES AND ARCHITECTURE BASED ON THE LAND SCAPE OF THE COUNTRY OR COMMUNITY
CULTURE IS WHAT DEFINES A CERTAIN GROUP OF PEOPLE / COUNTRY. IT IS HOW THEY DO AND SEE THINGS.
A BY D E G, AR SH HIN S Y OT WA N CL D I AN LE GE PEOP D E WL P OF ART O D U N E K GRO IC AN H T E US RG LA D, M O FO
THE DIVERSITY IN THE WAY PEOPLE DO THINGS (TRADITION). IT IS THE BIGGER PART MADE UP OF SMALL ASPECTS. CULTURE DIRECTLY INFLUENCES THE SMALL ASPECTS AND IS SHARED AMONG A GROUP OF PEOPLE.
TH DR E M IN ESS ANY , SU REG EAT DIF F A C TR H A RD , RE ERE AD S T S T LISH NC ITI E O ON RAN CE AN S IN SP RT D C TH OR AI E E T A N A LEB W R S ND P E A AY CL CTS TE S PEO IM P O AT OF T ME LE E A HE TH ND IR ING LIV ES
THE V ALUE S, BEL ETHN IEFS A IC GR ND T O UP DO THIN HE W GS. C E AY AN S P A ULTU RTICU BROA RE IS L A DEST R TRAD SENS ITION E. IN IT S
IT IS NOT WHAT YOU ARE, BUT WHAT YOU REPRESENT. IT IS ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AND HOW YOU DO IT. CULTURE IS BEING SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD JUST IN A DIFFERENT WAY
NHI TE C I H RA B W E EL ED ING TH EAT, C IDER D S RTE ESS, CON S IN R SO E D E B ING TYL Y WE ULD TH S E O LIF E WA IT CO LE D SA I TH NTS. PEOP T I ES E D EV TAIN CLU AIN T CER CER WAY ACE. E PL TH IFIC C SPE
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FROM THE DESK OF THE CHAIR (NGOAKO MASHITISHO - JVC CHAIRPERSON)
This has to be one of my favourite parts of the newsletter, I wonder why? I get to just write my thoughts and share with everyone what ever I feel is relevant at the time and really just what feels good. With a large bunch of our outbounds having recently left our shores I felt it would be a good idea to just share a bit of how the exchange year formed the wonderful person that I am today :-).Having been a former exchange student, to Sweden in 2007 for a year, I have first-hand experience of a long term youth exchange and I couldn’t have picked anybody better for the “job”. I can happily say that even today the I learnt then still apply and the memories live long in my heart. It is so amazing to realize that people live their day to day lives very differently across the globe. Some people say that it is this difference in cultures that makes the world go round (and not the more popular saying where money is given this honour). Through a long term exchange one can experience a culture at a receptive age. Being immersed in an intercultural exchange of this kind has long lasting effects, as you are taken out of your comfort zone and everything is new to you. You begin to realize that your way is not the only way and once you come to that realization your lifelong learning has already began. For instance just because one group of people put their glasses facing upwards in the cupboard, and another does the opposite, this does not make one way more “right” than the other. This is a very simple example of how we should learn how to tolerate each other’s differences and this is most probably the greatest lesson learnt during an exchange year. This article would not be complete if I did not speak about the pleasure of learning a new language while integrating into a new society, after all a language is a big part of any culture. This is where you appreciate that being home was very comfortable, and during the early periods of the exchange you really just feel like giving up, but what does not kill you only makes you stronger (the same can be said about the food you eat while on an exchange). After managing to master the language a whole new door opens up, and it is like cracking open a nut and enjoying the fruit inside. People just connect better with people who understand them (in their language) and respond in their language, because they prefer to be comfortable (and now you can be comfortable in two languages). Lastly, after such an experience you have a greater knowledge and understanding of the world and how the people in it “work”. You have basically discovered the secret to world diplomacy (and next on your agenda, should be solving the politics of who washes the dishes), and it with this perspective that one develops a love for what was different, tolerance for what you did not understand and compromise for what you could not change. It is simple fact you cannot spend a long period of time (such as an exchange) and not keep the memories forever, and this is how grassroots ambassadors are “born”. We just have to remember it is not right, it is not wrong, it is just different.
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WOULD YOU LIKE TO BECOME A HOST FAMILY OR BECOME AN EXCHANGE STUDENT?
Well you have no reason to waste time. Please feel free to contact any one of our representatives in a region near you. Cape Town (Head Office): Tel - 012 423 1677 Email - info@yfu.org.za Pretoria (Rynette Scholtz): Cell - 082 464 3957 Email - scholtz1@telkomsa.net Port Elizabeth (Iris Goeda): Cell - 082 464 3950 Email - iGoeda@aspenpharma.com
WHAT YFU IS ALL ABOUT, FAMILY.