joburg

Seriously Planning December (Durban and Joburg)

Favourite Cakes (Joburg, 2015) Photo Credit: KP of Dunya.ca

Favourite Cakes (Joburg, 2015) Photo Credit: KP of Dunya.ca

It’s time to meet. Seriously Planning is doing three events this December (including one in Durban!) and in a city where it can sometimes feel hard to make new friends, book gatherings are the perfect way to do exactly that. The Literary Love event we are doing in Durban and Joburg is an event I did in Toronto last year (it was called an Idea Steep) and despite the freezing temperatures, the event was one of the loveliest things I’ve ever attended in Toronto. In a small circle of friends, we talked about books and had incredible chocolate, gelato and Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate at Soma Chocolatemaker. I’d love to say goodbye to 2015 in the same way. As always, please do email so I know you’re coming.

1) Seriously Planning Bookclub – December 8th 2015, Cafe Europa, Rosebank, Joburg, 6 – 8pm

Do you love books, cities and vibrant conversation? Join the Seriously Planning Bookclub. The bookclub meets monthly, and it is an amazing way to read more and build community at the same time.

This month’s selection is “Istanbul: Memories and the City” by Orhan Pamuk.

To participate:
1) Sign up by emailing seriously.planning@gmail.com
2) Read the book in advance of the date
3) Attend!

2) Find Literary Love in 2016 – Dec 17th 2015, Love Coffee, Durban,  3:30 pm – 5 pm

Share stories over brunch about your favourite reads of 2015. What books did you fall in love with this year? What did you enjoy? How did what you read in 2015 change you? Share your stories, listen to the experiences of others and come away with book titles you’d like to try out in the new year. And if you’re willing to lend out a book of yours to a participant, bring your books along with!

To participate:
1) Sign up by emailing seriously.planning@gmail.com

3) Find Literary Love in 2016 – Dec 23rd 2015, Tortellino D’Oro, Joburg, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

This event is a chance to share stories over gelato about your favourite reads of 2015. What books did you fall in love with this year? What did you enjoy? How did what you read in 2015 change you? Share your stories, listen to the experiences of others and come away with book titles you’d like to try out in the new year. And if you’re willing to lend out a book of yours bring your books along with you.

 

On the Dangers of Being an Expat

When you move to South Africa, it is easy to constantly compare South Africa with your old home, and to moan about being separated from North American (insert: where you used to live) comforts. Your conversations with yourself and others can easily revolve around the challenges of slow internet, your fears about crime, the stark inequality in the country, the lack of walkable neighbourhoods, the car dependency, the painful bureaucracy. If your attitude is one of continual comparing and contrasting, there is no lack of negative topics that can and will occupy your thoughts.

The danger in such a lens however, is that instead of observing and learning from the place in which you now live, you allow your comforts and discomforts to become the focus of your reflections. Instead of thinking about ways to contribute, you seek to replicate or better your life in your old home and to find spaces that make you comfortable. As a result, the beauty, character, soul, heartbreaks, and stories of your new home remain invisible to you. Your inward focus makes you a poor traveler because the history of the place and the context of the gaps and differences you notice are not as important to you than the differences you mourn.

The danger in having such singular vision is that if your time in a new place is a temporary experience, you may leave your expat experience unchanged by your travels. If your move is a more permanent one, you may never full settle into the curves of your new life.

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