Who 'studies' abroad?

My life feels much more fully dictated by school work these past couple of weeks, which I suppose should not come as an extreme shock given that I came here with the main purpose of studying at UCT. I must be honest that this post itself is as much a procrastination tool as an update. I am becoming more comfortable with the grading system. I never imagined that I would feel gratification from earning a 77 on a paper, but given that this is equivalent to an American 'A' I now have experienced this odd feeling. It is interesting to notice that the standard of doing well is often just passing (a 50%), which can pose a challenge in some courses.

School is not very interesting to write about, however, so I will focus on the fun activities I've squeezed in. Last Saturday my program did a wine tour at Groot Constantia. Oddly beginning around 11am, it was still quite nice and we even had a tour of the cellar.

Barrels of Wine

Some of the tour guide's statements struck me the wrong way- including his statement that South African winemakers are blessed to have such a cheap labor force, enabling hand-picking of grapes. And his clarification that they housed and provided education for these workers and their families (basic human rights in the South African constitution...) Nonetheless it was a fun experience and I may have snuck a taste of some of these:

Delicious

Saturday evening we saw the band Sixgun Gospel at a pub called Obviouzly Armchair in Observatory. They were quite fantastic and the venue was really intimate, making it especially fun.

Sixgun Gospel

James, Bri, Levi, Ryan, Emma, Tom & Kevin at Obviouzly Armchair

Sunday's big accomplishment was to finally get Kevin a chess set, which he has been longing for for quite some time. We found a neat carved one with each of the pieces a different member of the Big 5 animals, with the lion/lioness as king/queen of course. Can't wait to get in some games.

My parents officially arrived in Cape Town today. They are at a B & B just a minute from my house. We went to eat at 'Mama Africa' on Long Street for dinner. I suspect it is somewhat of a tourist destination, but the food was wonderful and there was a quite impressive band playing throughout our dinner. I am excited to spend more them with them and to show them around.

Slang Section:

-Varsity: You don't go to 'college' you go to 'university' or 'varsity'

-Write an exam: This sounds like something your professor does, but it is rather what I will be doing tomorrow when I 'take' my Clinical Psych test

-Maths and ecos: Math is plural. Ecos=Econ

-"Is it?": This quasi-question is appropriate after any statement someone says that does not necessitate a real response.

Ex. Me: "I just got out of maths"

South African: "Is it?"