Pilot

My very first post. Wow. Pressure much?

Let me start by explaining the blog. Without going into a long, soppy story about my childhood and terrible teenage years, I realised years ago that I view the world in a somewhat different way than most. I've always had the greatest love for books of all sorts and this only added to my strangely formed imagination. Long story short, I am working on a book that I hope to publish in the very near future. Until I am writing full time, though, I decided to start this blog. Here I will share my most random thoughts, my nonsensical ideas, and my rants and raves on stupidity. This will (hopefully) help the creative juices flow and who knows - maybe you'll find yourself agreeing with some of my thoughts (small chance, but I can hope).

The idea is to post my thoughts on three things that have crossed my mind that day. Thoughts tend to gallop through my head at astonishing speeds, so without further ado, off we go:

Kitchen Teas - I hate them. Absolutely cannot stand them. For those of you who are not from South Africa, or from the Afrikaans culture, a "Kitchen Tea" is the right of passage of any young bride. It includes your mom and all your girlfriends, aunts, bridesmaids, grandmothers etc. coming together to wish you a happy marriage and send you off into matrimony armed with blenders, dishcloths and an apron you will never wear. In general, I don't really enjoy most girly get-togethers, but Kitchen Teas make me want to run and hide. You are expected to wear a pretty little dress, bring along your favourite recipe and play stupid games that no-one finds funny (but everyone is expected to laugh at). And they are all EXACTLY THE SAME. The women all sit around looking like they are having the time of their lives, while daintily nibbling at a mini sausage roll and giggling at stories of horrible husbands. Spare me.

Xbox - My husband and I recently invested in one. I did not think that I could be so easily conned into losing hours of my life staring at a racetrack while gnashing my teeth. Apparently, I can. Is this thing fun or what? We have the Kinect version that allows you to use your body as the control. Very good exercise and great entertainment for the neighbour who does not know what you are doing. I fought so hard against this streetfighter that I took my back out. Good times.

Foreigners - We travel quite a bit. So much so that it has crossed the line from being a hobbie, into being a lifestyle. Through this I have had the privilege to meet and befriend some of the most amazing and enchanting people. A few weeks ago I had to say goodbye to a group of Germans and Austrians who stole my heart. We travelled through Southern Africa together and did everything from hiking in the Delta to getting lost and ending up in a different country than intended (don't ask). Currently, we have a new friend from the UK staying with us for a few days. I am dreading the goodbye. Funny how trust can come so easily when there are no pretenses and agendas - only fun and a language barrier. Ramkat, Heidi, Mr. Match and Badman: here's to seeing you soon.

So that was my first post. Whew! And just for the record, MY Kitchen Tea was on the back of a Unimog in the middle of  the bushveld with a bewildered giraffe looking on. No aprons in sight. Thanks Mom.