17 April 2009

Johannesburg

West Hollywood, LA

Music is definitely one of the best things about LA. I can go out and see incredible bands play every night of the week. I get to work with amazing musicians and perform in venues I had only ever read about in envy back in South Africa. In general the people here are super friendly – insincere for the most part – but friendly. Everyone has an agenda and you get the feeling pretty quickly that their only interest in you and your only value to them is what you have to offer them in terms of advancing their own careers. I find that a little hard to deal with at times but have managed to step up my networking and small talking ability to at least make it through the first ten minutes of a conversation before resigning myself to the nearest corner with a drink in hand updating twitter with quirky people watching commentaries.

Cultural differences were a huge problem for me when I first arrived in the States 6 years ago. I have since learned to embrace these differences and enjoy learning and experiencing something new. I think if I had gotten caught up in constantly comparing the States to South Africa and longing for them to be the same I would have made my time here a truly miserable experience. Instead I am grateful everyday for the incredible upbringing and opportunities I had in South Africa and that I am also able to experience living and experiencing life somewhere else. Food on the other hand hasn’t been that easy. I still miss the tastes of Africa. On the plus side I have become quite the chef having to make all my favourite SA meals myself. Curry is one of my specialties and I can make a pretty vicious peri-peri chicken. The ginger beer brewery I had going in the bathroom didn’t quite work out so I take the 2 hour drive to the OC once a month to get my fix of SA goodies!