Arrival

I finally arrived 17 hours later in Johannesburg through a connection in London. I was instantly greeted with warm weather which was a nice change from the sleet rain in Finland.

I met with my host and employer Sydney and abandoned my traveling companions,  Anni and Jenna who are going to work at a different place.  After a relatively long and dangerous drive (South Africans drive almost in the same way as Italians) we arrived at Lenasia which to a Finnish middle class looks like slums, and I can't be much wrong since there is a shack town.

After getting coffee with Sydney and his wife we went to see the youth centre Sydney runs, Joshua's Haven. We talked about what usually goes on there and what Sydney would like for me to bring to the place. After a short while a 9 year old girl shows up to do her homework and I am greeted by the fact that not everyone has English as their first language.

Hot day changes to hot and humid when it starts raining. Sydney says it's a good thing since there's been a drought but on the flipside it means less kids coming to the centre,  and only 2 more have shown up at the time of writing this. Which I'm doing in absence of anything else to do.

Welcome to my blog, where I try my best to describe my life and events for the next 10 weeks when I'll be in Johannesburg, South Africa. The reason why I'm going there are my current studies. I'm studying to become a youth and leisure instructor in Haapavesi Folk High School in Finland. My education is heavily influenced by practical lessons and learning by doing so we have lots of work practices to complete if we ever want to graduate.

I knew from the start that I want to do a work placement period abroad, but wasn't really set on where until last November and at the time of writing this I have around 20 hours till my flight leaves Helsinki. So I guess it's too late to back off or change my mind now.

It's hard for me to describe how I feel at the moment, I rarely get nervous and even right now I don't feel that anxious, just happy and excited. I've never been outside Europe though so we'll see if I freak out at the airport tomorrow so keep an eye on the news for live coverage of me doing stupid stuff.