Different Context

I am a Soutie. I have one foot in South Africa and one foot in the United Kingdom.  I am not the only one. There are plenty of South Africans all over the world now... the Scatterlings. This is also not uniquely South African. Young people from all over are far less inclined to stick to where they were planted.

South Africans abroad have an additional existential angst though. It can be assumed you have 'left'. That this leaving has reasons. Reasons for staying, and reasons for going, are daily conversations. Even for 'potential Souties' living in South Africa who may live somewhere else too one day. During the later stages of Apartheid, those thinking that the best form of activism they had against the Police State was to leave were derogatorily called PFPs (Packing for Perth). 'Those bloody Liberals'. Ironically now, some (not all) who leave for Australia are still against the State... but the state that replaced the Apartheid State. Rather than just being part of the 'wave of Globalisation', it can be assumed that you are part of that wave. I am not part of that wave. My heart is very much on both sides of the pond.

I regularly bump into people with South African accents. I live in a tiny market village that doubles in population when school is in session. Despite that, there is a South African working at the sweet shop, and another one who owns the pub. The other day I was having a coffee at the Sainsbury's in the neighbouring town of Witney (David Cameron's old constituency) and the couple next to me were having a lekker kuier in deep Afrikaans.

I always find it interesting how hearing one of the many Saffa accents perks up my spirits. Imagine being home and getting excited by someone who had an accent from your country? It is a great conversation starter out of context. In context - everyone blurs... people seem to miss each other and forget that we are individuals too. Or our individuality makes us strangers where out of context it would bring us together.

Our context also defines our triggers. Race is a big part of everyday conversation in South Africa. Because I am so active online, it is also part of my daily conversation. The subtleties of working to overcome Institutionalised Racism mean that being stretched across contexts sometimes makes the blurs meaningful. I hate it when people in the United Kingdom refer to "Africa" as if they are referring to one country. My neck prickles when I hear that song from Live Aid every Christmas. A 1985 Charity Concert raised money for the famine in Ethiopia, but now Africa is deeply associated with that famine. Context even blurs from the outside. 33 years later - "Africa" is a vast continent of change and energy. Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) is 5900 km from London (England). Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) is 5250km away from Cape Town (South Africa). A decent halfway stop. At their closest point, Africa and Europe are 14 km away across the easy to cross-straits of Gilbrator. All of the Mediterranean islands are located on the African continental plate. The Suez Canal is man-made so you can walk if you like. Europe's most fortified land border is in Africa - in Ceuta. Contexts blur where we choose them to blur.

We use emotional stories to sell ideas. Those ideas soak deep. We need to be vigilant in challenging our deep soaked ideas. Sometimes our context blurs and an outside perspective helps. Sometimes the outside perspective is blurred. There are no easy answers. In a connected world, it is more beautiful questions we should be after.

Not 1985, Not One Country