December In South Africa

December in S.A. is unlike any other month in the year - it’s major holiday time. It’s the end of the school year and the longest holiday for the schools – they are closed from about the first week in the month till about the second week in January. Most of the factories and many businesses also close for about three weeks over this time.

Although it’s holiday time, December is an extra-busy month somehow! Of course, Christmas and New Year also fall during this period so it’s really a festive month and the shops are packed with people buying Christmas and end-of-the-year gifts. Just don’t expect much service over this time because even though some businesses don’t close except over the public holidays, everyone is in this “relaxed mood” and not much work gets done, or else it gets done very slowly! The shops are usually short-staffed as well and long queues are just something you have to put up.

Fairs pop up all over and it’s a season for parties, parties and more parties all together with excessive eating and drinking. It’s also a time for loads of baking, mainly for Christmas but also for all the extra visitors – it’s a major visiting time!
Lots people go away on holiday, especially to the coast and every place is jam-packed! Unfortunately the bad crime in the country gets even worse over this month.

December is also mid-Summer here so it’s usually very hot. Many people still celebrate Christmas the European way and in the heat, all the preperations for the traditional meal, all the hours spent over hot stoves and the heavy food makes it quite a trial for the cooks! :P

Our family, well at least, my parents, Rachel and I and our one uncle and aunt and their children don’t celebrate Christmas. The busy-ness and chaos makes December our least favourite month but there are some things we enjoy over this time. Dad usually gets to take some leave and it’s lovely having him home with us. Our church usually has a convention over the Christmas week as then most people are able to attend the special service. The meetings are always a blessing and we also have wonderful fellowship! Another nice thing is that we get to visit with family and friends a lot more than usual. :)

Greetings from The Rainbow Nation

Culture in South Africa is about as diverse as it comes and S.A. is one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world - no wonder it is often called "The Rainbow Nation"!
To begin to try and describe these cultures is almost impossible! Most of the cultures are also interwoven with each other - in a little or a large way. There are many more cultures and languages here besides the main cultural groups and 11 official languages that I mentioned in my post on language and population. Also over the last ten years or so, S.A. has been flooded with immigrants and refugees - legal and illegal- from many other African countries. We read on the net the other day that the illegal immigrants now make up almost a 3rd of the total population in S.A.! A lot of the central and north African countries have French as a main language so we are hearing more and more of it here in the country.

We were looking up S.A. customs and etiquette on the net and came across some interesting (sometimes very amusing) sites for foreign tourists. :D We even wondered if some of the advise was true! As I said, it's impossible to describe all the cultures, but I suppose (I think!) there is some sort of standard for greetings and etiquette in South Africa when you are having to deal with people across different cultures. Anyway, if you are ever visiting South Africa, here is what some of the tourism agents suggest: :)

"It is extremely difficult to generalise at all on South African etiquette and culture due to the diversity. There are many different races and these races behave quite differently in how they greet each other. However the standard form of greeting is a handshake." (this can be a normal handshake or one where there's a whole lot of 'up and down, this way-that way'!)

 . "When dealing with foreigners, most South Africans shake hands while maintaining eye contact and smiling.
. Some women do not shake hands and merely nod their head, so it is best to wait for a woman to extend her hand.
. Women may sometimes kiss each other on the cheek. (or both cheeks if they are like our Lebanese/Greek grandmother)  :)
. Greetings are leisurely and include time for social discussion and exchanging pleasantries."
 
Besides the usual English greetings used all over the world, here are a few of the common greetings you will hear in S.A...

Haai-daar - (Hi-dar) - Hi there!  
Hello/Hallo - used by everyone.
Yello (pronounced: 'yeah-lo') - Hello
Howzit -  A traditional South African greeting that translates roughly as "How are you?", "How are things?" or simply "Hello".Goeie Dag - (G-oi-er Du-g) Afrikaans for "Good Day"
Sawubona - (sour-born-na) "Hello" in Zulu.
Unjani? (Oon-j-are-knee)-Zulu for "How are you?" 
Cheers - Goodbye/So long.                                                   .
Totsiens (totseens) - "Goodbye/Till we meet again" in Afrikaans.
Hamba Kahle (Hum-bah kashle) "Goodbye-go well" - Zulu greeting.
Sala Kahle (Sah-lah kashle)- "Goodbye-stay well" - Zulu greeting.
Mooi Bly - (Moi Blay) in Afrikaans it is a farewell greeting like "keep well".

Of course besides the culture differences there are also the religious differences which will also be a part of how people greet each other. Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the post and for now we will say, "Totsiens and Hamba Kahle"! :-h