Chichester

The first time I left South Africa was when I was 18. My standard holiday was to Johannesburg, either towards or welcoming my Vaalie cousins. After school, I spent 18 months working as an assistant teacher at a preparatory school in Chichester (on a 2 year working travel visa). Being on the south coast of the United Kingdom, it was the 'warmer' part of the country but I was still greeted by (very) light April snow. A novelty for a Durban boy. It did warm up, and the 9 week summer holidays were spectacular. It was a very different experience from my trip a decade later. Emails were letters on shared computers, and there were no cell phones. Just 50p a minute phone calls back to South Africa from the headmasters office. I stayed in a room next to dorms of boarders making sure they didn't get up to too much mischief. I assisted with Sports, Maths, Reading, English and Art lessons and helped paint the scenery for two school plays. Then I head back to Cape Town to study. A place that seemed as distant from Durban as England.

Village Cricket

Boarders

Extra Summer job as a waiter/porter