I would like to point out the one cultural difference that has bothered me the most. The concept of the word NOW. To South Africans now means in a little bit or latter. They often use the term "Just Now." When we first heard this phrase we were very baffled and began to do the thing immediately which is not what they wanted us to do. Their concept of now can be broadened to even say that they have a completely different view of time. They may say, "O the bus will be here in 20 minutes." What this really means is an hour and a half later the bus will arrive. Another example would be when they say,"you can sleep in till 9:00," and then wake us up at 8:00 and tell us the bus is here but really only one bus is here and we rush and pack all our stuff for the weekend ahead and end up sitting on the sidwalk for 20 minutes. Why? we are waiting on another bus.....
these are actuall occurances
Sincerly,
-the very punctual Tall One
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