The Final Reflexion

While I'm writing this final post, I always take a look at some post cards I took with me and sticked on the wall above my desk. On my favorite one you can see all of Cape Town: Table Mountain, Lions Head, Camps Bay, the Waterfront, Sea Point, Muizenberg and also the Cape Flats. I can connect all this gorgeous places with wonderful memories and could tell you a story for every single one. For me it is incredible how many experiences you can gain within two months.

It was the right choice to spend my language stay in this beautiful city. Now, as I've been back in Switzerland for some weeks, I realize what I gained out of this trip. I learned a lot about different cultures in this cosmopolitan city. Furthermore, I really enjoyed that I split my language stay into two parts: school and volunteering work. It was good to have a language teacher who forced you to speak a clear English and corrected initial errors. The environment of an international language school had a positive effect on the motivation to learn Englisch. On the other hand, I got a deep insight in the struggles of South Africa.  I experienced the huge gap between rich and poor in my everyday life. If I hadn't done the volunteering work, I wouldn't have had the chance to see that.
Overall, my expectations were more than fulfilled. The food as well as the people were great. I only expected that I could play more soccer with the kids in the project, but it wasn't a bad experience to see the administrational work behind the organization, too.
When I have to mention two events, which surprised me most, then I would tell you about two main aspects of the country: The landscape and the hospitality. During the first month I had a lot of time to travel around Cape Town and see various sights. I'm impressed how fast the landscape change from mountains to flat areas, all surrounded by the sea. The most special and also surprising event for me was the last evening with the project. The family of Mario, the founder of GCU, prepared a "brai", what means barbecue in Africans, only to see me off. I could feel how lovely and kind they are, living the biblical principle of "Love your neighbor as you love yourself".
But I also experienced the other side of the country, because not everyone has this friendly thinking. As an example serves a situation I had to go through once when I went to some clubs with colleagues from the language school. We were followed by a man, how started talking to me and wanted to grab my wallet. Fortunately, we could shake him off.
One aspect which surprised me too, were the still visible impacts of Apartheid. I learned a lot about the history of the country thanks to my host-mum, how taught me a lot while we were having great discussions. As she runs her own business as a landscaper, she knows a lot about the mentality of the workers. The main point I got was that they are never as structured and reliable as Swiss people. Also my boss during the volunteering work admired how structured and precisely I am. But sometimes I had to stop sticking at my principles, otherwise our work would never have been compatible.
Finally, I want to give some advises to students who will still go to their language stays: First of all, enjoy every single minute there, because you will miss it for sure. I can also recommend to do some volunteering work, I made most of my life experiences during that time. You have also to be very open-minded, it is incredible what different kind of people you will meet. Summarizing all this statements in one sentence, enjoy your time and use every opportunity, then you will come back as a changed person!