Everyone loves winning. Everyone loves to watch their team win. But what we all love most is seeing our team having FUN while competing – win or lose. And no one is better at having fun than South Africans! By Sine Thieme.  With life returned to (almost) normal this October of 2022, the Friends of […]

Almost exactly eight years ago, I found myself stalled on the steep slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro for our group’s final ascent to the highest point on the African continent, writes Sine Thieme. It was the darkest of nights, my hands and feet were frozen solid, and I could hardly breathe. I was sure I couldn’t […]

There are many things a foreign expat – such as myself – misses about South Africa after returning home. But one of the laments you will hear most often is how sad an affair grocery shopping is without “Woolies”. The fact that South Africans have given such an endearing nickname to the grocery store chain Woolworths only goes to […]

If we could be sure of one thing during our time as expats in Johannesburg, it was that no matter the time of year, there would always be at least one houseguest lodging with us. South Africa seemed to exert an inexorable pull all the way over the Atlantic and across the equator, luring everyone even remotely […]

I know what you’re now thinking after reading this blog post title. Smash-n-grab, carjacking, hacked off limbs… The list of scary things you’re led to believe will happen to you in South Africa is long and grisly. But I’m here – as a German American who lived in South Africa for a few (wonderful) years […]

It’s no secret that many South Africans have left their native land over the last few decades to build a new future elsewhere, particularly seeking out Western countries with stable political environments such as Australia or England. What surprises many, however, is that there has been a fairly large flow of human capital in the opposite direction […]

Few countries feature such great geographical and cultural diversity as South Africa: a beautiful coastline along two oceans, craggy peaks and deep canyons, deserts and wetlands, a kingdom within its borders, and a population speaking 11 official languages. There is no doubt it should be near the top of every traveler’s must-see list. But most visitors are confounded by […]

Before we made the decision to move from the United States to South Africa in late 2009, we had our doubts. From what we read in one expat forum after another, South Africa – and the city of Johannesburg in particular – was a cesspit of crime. If we were so foolish as to move […]

Even though the news from South Africa these past months has been alarming – the Rand having fallen to record lows, unemployment as high as ever, and the worst drought in years gripping the land – there is a silver lining: 2016 will possibly be the best year ever to travel to the country if […]

I feel lucky that I stumbled upon Alexandra Baseball by mere happenstance almost exactly five years ago. We were on the verge of moving from the United States to South Africa, and our boys, then 13 and 11, were wondering whether there was baseball in South Africa. Ever so gently my husband and I prepared […]

I recently came across an article on Jozi Kids called “100 Benefits of Load-Shedding.” One hundred? Okay Jozi Kids, I think you might have gone just a tad overboard. There are not even one hundred benefits of Nutella. Or central heating. Or indoor plumbing. But I do get their idea. Rather than stressing out about something […]

When the six of us – my husband, myself, and our four children – first arrived in South Africa in 2010, it seemed like an alien and exotic land to us. There was much to learn navigating everyday life, even though, coming from the United States, we thought we shared a common language. I published the […]

As of May 2014, South Africa’s visa regulations changed, and many non-South Africans are still unclear how these changes affect people entering South Africa and applying for work permits. The matter of families travelling with children has particularly gotten some media attention (and due to some controversy, this part of the new regulations didn’t go into […]

Some of it is obvious, like the view from Table Mountain, and some of it is not, like street vendors and school uniforms. I grew up in Germany and now live in the USA. Here are the 30 things I remember most fondly from our expat life in South Africa: [vc_button title=”1″ color=”default”] Hadedas Hadedas […]

‘Joburg Expat’ Eva Melusine Thieme, author of this article, grew up in Germany and has lived in Singapore, the United States and Africa. Four continents and counting. As frustrating as it can be to move households across continents or to navigate the incomprehensible currents of the Department of Home Affairs to obtain your visa, or to find […]