Originally Posted by Twinco

Hi Bizong

Our winters are not too severe, lows of -2 deg c & highs of about 17 deg c.

There are some areas where we do have snow, but we have not had snow in Johannesburg for 30 odd years. In winter because I have young teenage kids, we play 10 pin bowls, conventional bowls, golf, paintballing. We also often take our caravan out for weekend trops away into the bush. You can find good places within 50 miles. I own & fly aircraft for business & pleasure so my interests are wider than most. I can also fly quickly to places in the bush that have runways etc. We have a large dam within 60 miles & in summer enjoy waterskiing, jetskiing, yachting etc. We also fly model aircraft & helicopters. I have a home at the coast in a small village where I keep a 4x4 & a boat there & we fish & ski & go on 4x4 trails etc. Down there it is fun to have a barbeque on the beach in one of the coves there.

Food is much the same as the rest of the world, any cuisine is available, but particular to SA are maize meal with stew & gravy, Bobotie, which is curried mince with egg poured over it & baked in the oven, we call a barbeque a braai & we braai at least twice to 3 times per week. A typical braai would consist of t bone steak, lamb chops, boerewors which is flavoured sausage, mealies (corn) boiled & then crisped on the fire, green salad etc. A normal evening meal would be grilled fish & veggies, soups in winter, prawns or lobster at least once per month, fresh oysters, mussels, crabs, squid etc. We eat plenty of meat, tongue, kidneys, liver etc. One meal I consider a delicacy but most people would not touch it is cow stomach, cleaned & bleached, then cut into strips, onions sauteed & the tripe added with herbs to flavour & slow cooked for a few hours. Served with mashed potatoes & veggies, it is a very tasty meal.

May SA people eat very conservatively, as must be the case in the States too. I will eat practically anything, I consider crocidile tail to be a delicacy.

What are typical meals in the States?

Originally Posted by Twinco

Hi Kitchkinet

You are correct, I am white.

It is difficult to even begin because we & our forefathers did deplorable things to the black person. Our government declared apartheid which basically labelled their actions & brought attention to our own bad judgement, yet rascism exists all over the world, but this is not an excuse.

The demographics of the country is that we have approximately 50 million citizens & the ratio between black & white is approximately 20 to 1.

SA is still divided along racial lines to a certain extent because mostly of large cultural differences, but I have a few black friends, but they are friends because of common ground, not to make my conscience feel better with window dressing.

As a child, my exposure to black folk was indifferrnce. I have never had political affiliations & did not have any as a child. At the age of 17, I was conscripted into our military forces for a compulsary tour of duty for 2 years. At the time our government was fighting Cuban sponsored soldiers in South West Africa, a war we should never have had. I lost many friends too during this time. I was very highly trained & ended up in that war for over 5 years of my life. I was called up annually for 15 years thereafter to fight in the military. At the end of my military days (which I hated) I ended up patrolling the black townships during the time when the ANC was challenging the government & eventually won the battle & took control of the government.

It was during this time that I got to know the herb. We were usually mostly stoned when we were fighting, it was a way to keep ones sanity during a terrible time. I am not proud that I killed many people in the name of the military on orders. I was also wounded twice during this time during skirmishes. Suffice to say, I would probably have been killed now that I am more aware f the situation if I was born black. I would have been an activist & would have been right next to Mr Mandela if this were the case. I was simply ignorant. Apartheid was a disgusting setup & damaged the country badly because there is a lost generation of black people because they were so poorly educated in order to ensure that black people did not go out & accomplish anything meaningfull in their lives. Fortunately this has changed & I feel positive about the future. My children attend the same school as their black counterparts & have made some very good friends who are black, one in particular is a lovely child who hails from the States near Oshkosh. I have become good friends with her father & we correspond regularly & spend time together when he is in SA.

My sister is married to a good man who happens to be coloured, we believe in building the future because we cannot change the terrible past. Luckily, the majority of black people just want to provide for their families & are willing to be part of the reparation process.

Crime, huge problem because it is usually violent involving AK47's. The criminals have no regard for human life, quite scary. If there is interest, I can describe typical scenarios. I have been the victim of crime many times, but you become very aware of your surroundings as part of second nature. If anyboby is interested, I would be quite happy to relate my own experiences. I would also enjoy some insight about life generally in the States.

Cheers T

Originally Posted by hijabihippie

Hi Twinco, and welcome!

Any chance I could talk you into posting recipes for the dishes you talk about?