How The
Rainbow
Nation Was
Represented
In
China
I
nmy l
ife tim e Ih ave b e e n privil
e ge d to trave lto
s om e ofth e m os tb e autifulpl
ace s in A frica. Ih ave
s e e n th e rich fire ofs uns e tove r th e Tab l
e M ountain
and th e b ril
l
iance of th e Zam b e z i Rive r fl
ow ing
ove r th e Victoria Fal
l
s gorge .A l
lth e s e are natural
b e autie s and Iam h ardl
y im pre s s e d by artificial
b e auty, b utCh ina w as a diffe re nte xpos ition.From
our vis it to Nanjing and th e n Be ijing, b oth citie s
w e re incre dib l
y ve rs atil
e and b ub b l
ing w ith
activity.Th e Ch ine s e pe opl
e w e re frie ndl
y and th e
de l
icacy w as gre at.But one q ue s tion th at k e pt on
l
inge ring in m y m ind w as th e k ind of im pre s s ion
w e w e re giving. Iw onde re d w h e th e r w e m anage d
to painta picture ofSouth A frica.
South A frica is w e l
lk now n for its l
ove for m us ic and
dancing. A t one s ite th at w e vis ite d, th e b e autiful
tour guide s ang and dance d to W ak aW ak a for us as
s oon as s h e h e ard w e w e re from South A frica. I
s h oul
d adm it, h e r dancing w as s o good w h ich al
so
de b unk e d th e s te re oty pe th at onl
y A fricans are
good at dancing. Sh e h ad a good s e ns e of b ody
rh y th m and s h e did itw ith s o m uch confide nce th at
it gave m y room m ate a l
ot of fantas ie s . H ow e ve r,
th is l
ove for m us ic and dance al
m os t got us in
troub l
e w ith our b us drive r w h il
s tin Be ijing.A tone
point w h il
s t s tuck in traffic, w e b orrow e d our tour
guide ’
s m e gaph one s o th atw e coul
d pl
ay m us ic on
it.W e de cide d to do a m ini party b us , and w e h ad to
tak
a e turns to dance .O ne ofth e ge ntl
e m e n dance d
s o b adl
y th atth e drive r s torm e d outofth e b us and
l
e ftus in th e m iddl
e ofth e h igh w ay.Th e tour guide
h ad to ne gotiate w ith h im to com e b ack . I
t w as a
s cary m om e ntand Iw oul
dl
ik e to apol
ogis e on h is
b e h al
ffor th e s ub s tandard dancing th ats h e d South
A frica in a b ad l
igh t.
U J ZIM SOC | ISSU E 2
/ 16
W e al
so l
ove s h aring jok e s and th e occas ional
l
augh te r, s om e tim e s th is l
augh te r can b e too l
oud.
W e did notdis appointin th is as pe cte ith e r.A tone
pointin Nanjing, an e l
de rl
y w om an h ad to s tand up
and s h outatus in th e b us .W e forgotth atw h il
s tw e
w e re on h ol
iday th e ordinary pe rs on w as going on
ab outth e ir e ve ry day l
ife and th e s tre s s th atcom e s
w ith it.Th e w om an w as s o angry th atw h e n w e got
offth e b us s h e h ad to s tand by th e door and m ak e
s ure al
lofus w e re out.
O ne th ing th at cannot b e de nie d is our pe nch ant
for good food.W e e njoye d Zh ōngguócaì(Ch ine s e
de l
icacy ), pe rs onal
l
y Ie njoye d th e w ide varie ty of
ve ge tab l
e s .I
tis com m on in South A frica to h ave a
gl
as s of icy s oft drink during or afte r a m e al
.I
coul
d not h e l
p b ut notice th at m os t atte ndants in
th e re s taurant w e re s urpris e d by th is .Cons um ing
s oftdrink s is notth e norm in Ch ina.W h il
e w e ofte n
re ce ive a gl
as s of col
d s oft drink s al
ongs ide our
m e al
s ata re s taurant, in Ch ina you w oul
d ge ta cup
ofs te am ing h ot te a or h ot w ate r ins te ad.I
n fact, a
Ch ine s e counte rpartw as te l
l
ing m e h ow difficul
tit
w as for h im w h e n h e vis ite d a re s taurantin th e USA
th atdidn’
ts e rve h otw ate r.
South A frica is al
s o k now n for its e th nic and
cul
turaldive rs ity. O ur com pos ition w as e xactl
y
l
ik e th is , as itw as a de l
igh tfulm ixture ofs k in tone s ,
re l
igious b e l
ie fs and m oth e r tongue s . D ue to
m igration th e re is a cons ide rab l
e partofth e South
A frican popul
ation th at is Zim b ab w e an. I
n fact,
th e re is a jok e th at m ay b e th e y s h oul
d add th e
“Zim b ab w e an l
anguage ” as a 12th official
l
anguage . O ur group cons is te d ofZim b ab w e ans , I
m ys e l
fb e ing Zim b ab w e an as w e l
l
.I
n fact, th e com pos ition w as s o pe rfe ct th at it e ve n m irrore d th e
Zim b ab w e an e th nic de m ograph ics .
Th e re are s o m any s torie s to te l
lon h ow w e re pre s e nte d South A frica, good one s and e m b arras s ing
one s . A t th e e nd, it w as e nl
igh te ning to ob s e rve
th atth e th ings th atw e tak e for grante d are actual
l
y
th e th ings th atunite us .
M y pe n is cappe d.
*