Chasing the Horizon Tour: Merry Christmas

Saturday 26 December 2015

Merry Christmas

We all would like to wish you a happy Christmas and a crazy New Year.

source: www.google.co.za

We have a few treats for our readers for this occasion.

Firstly, do you remember that in the beginning of December Adrian and Zuza were interviewed in local television WTK? Well, here you can watch it!

- the Polish version on the official WTK's website

http://wtkplay.pl/video-id-22435-studenci_jada_do_rpa

- with English subtitles

We do recommend watching it! Adrian and Zuza did their best and on the basis of this particular performance they were officially appointed our Media Representation for the tour.

Secondly, we also celebrated Christmas as a group. There were South African carols, Polish carols and then, somehow, South African popular music and Polish popular music. We ate dishes prepared, or at least bought by ourselves. We spoke Afrikaans and talked about how each one of us would be celebrating Christmas. We talked about the tour and reminisced about our three years spent together. We had a great time and some of us got very emotional after the realization that it was our last Christmas together.

Thirdly, we found a really interesting, yet comprehensible article about Christmas in Cape Town observed by an foreigner.

http://www.sapeople.com/2015/12/18/christmas-in-cape-town-is-weird-when-youre-not-from-south-africa/

Merry Christmas one more time!

South African Christmas stamps from 2006

source: http://my-philately.blogspot.com/

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ABOUT US

We are third year students from English and South African Studies in the Faculty of English at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. In January we went for a study tour to South Africa, making our dreams come true. It was called 'Chasing the Horizon Tour'.

We were generously supported by a variety of organizations as well as private individuals. We travelled 8500 km of South Africa for almost four weeks, visiting Johannesburg, Pretoria, Grahamstown, Cape Town, Venda, Kruger Park and many others. We saw many wonders, visited schools and universities and participated in Afrikaans project in Soweto.

It was a trip of a lifetime and we want to share our experiences as well as everything South African in our lives with our hosts, sponsors, fellow students and anyone who is interested.

We are also involved in many South African projects in Poznań such as South African Movie Nights (you are all invited!) or upcoming film festival Afrykamera.

Get to know our group a little better and enjoy!

PROFESSOR STEPHANUS OLIVIER

Professor of Afrikaans and South African Studies at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. A South African currently living and teaching in Poznań. He is the 'glansgans' of our group. He is one of a kind. There is a Wikipedia page just about him (click on his picture and see for yourself!). He is a poet, a translator, a teacher and a lawyer, an editor and a reviewer. He likes to hike, read and travel. In his free time he creates new Afrikaans words and wins awards for them. ‘Glansgans’ is one of them and it means 'celebrity'. As a great poet he has the ability to convert the most cynical prose enthusiasts into poetry lovers. Currently, he works with his students on translating polish poems into Afrikaans and then wants it published in South Africa. His favourite sayings are: 'Life is difficult when you deal with poetry' and 'There is this wonderful Afrikaans phrase/saying...'

ILONA

She's the artistic soul of our group. She draws, paints and designs. She was the one, who created our beautiful tour poster as well as the poster for our South African Movie Nights. We are all impressed by her skills. She likes to laugh and have fun. Ilona is also ‘the scientific’ one, she used to learn a lot of math and physics in high school. She has a soft spot for London and fashion. She is probably the only human on this planet who is interested in syntax. Ilona is very ambitious, so you can probably encounter her, while she is reading some notes.

AGATA

She is interested in so many things, that keeping up with her hobbies is quite a challenge. She loves reading and with her literature she travels around the world. She has been to Chinua Achebe’s and Chimamanda Adichie’s Nigeria, Murakami’s Japan, Alice Munro’s Canada, Zadie Smith’s and Jane Austen’s England as well as Gabriel Márquez’s Columbia and many many other. South African literature, however, is the closest to her heart. Regular traveling is her next passion. Anyone who knows Agata remembers that she is an expert in TV shows. Just give her a random title and surely she has already watched it. She is also interested in feminist movement, so don't hesitate to discuss it with her. In her free time she likes to hang out with South African Springboks on the Brighton Pier.

MICHAŁ

He doesn't speak much, but don't think that he is not a friendly guy! He is simply a man of few words for the vast majority of people, but he always has something interesting to say when with his friends. He knows our Faculty of English like the back of his hand. He is from Lubin- the city which we always mistake with Lublin. With not much effort he has a very good British accent. He adores cats and everything what is connected to this topic. If you're bored or sad, Michał will always cheer you up with some hilarious Youtube clips. If Zuza has the master degree from dry jokes he is now studying for one. He is also a foodie, he likes food, he knows food and he cooks food so he is super excited about going to South Africa and trying its cuisine.

ADRIAN

We can proudly call him “our poet”. He writes his own poems which surely will one day be published. If you forget an important historical date- ask Adrian. His head is like a history book filled with tons of facts and dates. Actually, he is not only The Poet but also The Brains of our group, a Walking Wikipedia. If he doesn’t know something, he will still guess it right. His is extremely easy-going and he has stolen many lecturers’ hearts with his positive attitude and confidence. He is this kind of student who writes a funny poem for a lecturer to convince him or her no to make a test. True story, I think our professor still has the original somewhere.

ZUZA

You may not notice her, but surely you will hear her laugh! She loves to make people happy and make everyone laugh. If it was possible, she would get a master degree from dry jokes. She loves being a volunteer anywhere and at any time. That’s why every week she dresses up as a clown to cheer up kids in a hospital. This year she discovered her new passion, which is sanding and drilling. So if you are redecorating your flat, just give her a call! She is not embarrassed to admit that she spends her free time on searching funny and cute pictures on Pinterest. She loves meeting new people and stealing their hearts, she is definitely The Glue and The Star of our group.