Yesterday morning I received a worried call from Horst, my landlord. A friend of his had just read on page 10 of The Star, a South African daily newspaper, that Horst’s house had been attacked by maggots.
Yep, you read correctly. The maggots in the Lucky 5 Star (now long gone, thankfully) made national news in an article by Ufriedo Ho titled, “Joburg is where I belong.”
Unfortunately the article doesn’t appear online so I can’t attach a link.
The maggots were just mentioned in passing and not the focus of the article. The article is actually about two expats, me and Karen Lim from the Story of Bing (Karen is a Singaporean, by the way, not a New Zealander), who write blogs about life in Johannesburg.
This article is really cool for several reasons. First and foremost, seeing my photo in the newspaper is cool. (It also happens to be the last photo that Jon ever took of me.) Reading the headline of the article – Joburg is where I belong – and realizing that I actually said those words, is cool.
I think it’s really cool that an article like this was written. I love the fact that South Africans enjoy my blog, so much so that a South African journalist wanted to write a story about it.
I started 2Summers nearly two years ago with a desire to record my journey from America to South Africa, and with a vague inkling that some people might find my story interesting. I figured my friends and family would read 2Summers, and maybe a few other Americans looking for resources on things to do in Joburg. But I had no idea that so many South Africans, particularly Joburgers, would read it. It turns out that South Africans love reading about a foreigner’s impressions of this city, especially foreigners whose impressions of Joburg are largely positive.
Wordpress.com has a new stat-tracking feature that shows Wordpress bloggers which countries their readers are from. Thanks to this feature, I now know that 50% to 60% of my readers are South African, compared to 25% to 35% who are American. I think this is pretty cool.
Thanks, South Africans. Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for making me feel like I belong here. And thanks especially to the people from Jozi who are reading this. I think you’re all pretty lekker.
South African and American flags in Melville, Johannesburg, June 2010. (Photo: Jon Hrusa)
PS: 2Summers has 196 fans on Facebook. Join us now (www.facebook.com/2Summers2010) and you may become the lucky 200th fan!
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
In 2020, I published a blog post with tips for Americans living in South Africa who wanted to vote in the U.S. presidential election. I thought about simply resharing that post this year. But then I realized: 1) I want to write a U.S. election post that will be fun and informative for everyone, not just other Americans; and 2) Believe it or not, the U.S. presidential election stakes are even higher in 2024 than they were in 2020. So I’m introducing you to some really cool Americans in Joburg – one who I’ve known forever and two who I just met – and tell you a bit about who they are, why they live here, and why they vote.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.