Here are some old videos that i never posted about my trip on the garden route
Monday, April 14, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Bungee Jumping
Soccer at UCT
A couple weeks ago I started soccer for the
UCT women’s football team. Before trials I had heard from a study abroad friend
that the team was not very talented, so I went into trials with a very open
mind. On the first day around 50 girls showed up. For women’s football not
being a popular sport I was very surprised that this many girls came to trials.
However about 30% were wearing running shoes. I talked to some of these girls,
just to be friendly, and most of them said that this was their first time
playing soccer.
At the time I
didn’t think much of it, but later I reflected on why so many girls did not
play sports growing up especially because it is so common in the United States.
I was talking to one of the men’s players and he told me that he didn’t play
for a soccer team until he came to UCT. I was very shocked to find that a male
did not have the opportunity to be on a soccer team until college. He told me
the reason his high school did not allow them to have a soccer team is because
they want all the attention on rugby. His school district was afraid that if
there was a soccer league then many of the rugby players would play soccer. I
was so amazed that his school had the jurisdiction to ban soccer like that.
If there were no
men’s teams in high school then I cant imagine there be much opportunity for
women to play. In fact even here at UCT women’s football is still limited. One
day at practice we only had 3 balls. At first I was so baffled that a program
would have such little equipment but then I remembered that women’s football is
not a popular activity. It probably took a lot for them to even get these three
balls and the bibs.
After the first
team was created I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked playing with
this group of girls. Their level of play is slower than I am used to, but it is
still good enough that I enjoy it. The girls on the team of super nice and I
believe that I can get along with anyone who plays soccer because it is an
automatic bonder. Although this season has just stared I look forward to the
new adventures this experience will bring.
Insights on School
This was the first week of school so I noticed many
cultural and social differences between the UCT students and what I am used to.
One of the biggest things I noticed was how different the concept of time
is. When it comes to a social meeting
people do not have a strict schedule that they stick to. It has taken me some
patience and time to understand that people are more laid back when it comes to
social meetings. However, even though people don’t have a time-table for social
meeting, I have learned that being on time for lectures and school meetings in
very important. Initially I thought that a lot of people would come very late
to lectures, also because UCT is a much larger school than I am used to, but I
have noticed that only a few come late to class.
Through
students arriving to lectures on time and through my observations of class I
understand that people take schooling very seriously in South Africa. Even though
they may not stick to a specific schedule when it comes to social gathering,
when it comes to education I feel that these students really want to learn. I
can tell that these students really want to learn because just through listening
to conversations or comments in class it seems like these students know a lot
of information. However it is my understanding that students at UCT chose one
field to study and that is the only field that they will study while at
university.
At UCT the students chose one subject to study and
that is the only subject they study, and this is a little different than my
university in California. Although I do have a major that I follow, most
American universities require students to take many general education classes
so that students are all little more well rounded. Originally I was taking
physics with first years but I ended up dropping but hen I talked to some of
these students I asked them about their curriculum and they told me they only
take science courses. These students have chosen the course of science so they
have focused on science courses like physics before so they already knew many
of the answers making it too hard for me. Through my observations I think that
South African students want to become more focused on a single subject and work
only on that subject, while American students have a general field they want to
follow as well as learn some about other subjects.
Monday, March 10, 2014
School
University of Cape Town Classes
The third week of school has started and I'm just getting used to how the class system works. I am taking 3 classes; Human Biology, Health Psychology, and Intro to South Africa. My class sizes range from 60-250 students which is very different from Chapman. The lectures here are pretty standard where there professor uses power points. Except one of the harder parts is how fast they teach here and that there are mandatory tutorial. Also all the students seem very smart here. I think in high school they choose which field they want to study so they have been studying a subject intensely for a while. Also they don't really have homework. Most of our grade depends on the final test, like %50.
The third week of school has started and I'm just getting used to how the class system works. I am taking 3 classes; Human Biology, Health Psychology, and Intro to South Africa. My class sizes range from 60-250 students which is very different from Chapman. The lectures here are pretty standard where there professor uses power points. Except one of the harder parts is how fast they teach here and that there are mandatory tutorial. Also all the students seem very smart here. I think in high school they choose which field they want to study so they have been studying a subject intensely for a while. Also they don't really have homework. Most of our grade depends on the final test, like %50.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Garden Route
I just returned from a trip to the garden route. I had an amazing four days with the most incredible people. I took so many photos and video so I will try to make a movie soon but here is what I did.
Day 1
•Went to canto wildlife ranch where we saw many animals including lions tiger and cheetah
-I was even able to pet a cheetah!
•Went to an ostrich farm
-I rode and ostrich
-Then I ate ostrich meat for lunch…
•We went to the Cango caves and crawled through some very small caves
•We stayed in a fairy hostel and went to dinner
Day 2
•We went to a Rastafarian village where we learned about the rasta community and played with the children in school
•After we went to monkeyland where we saw 11 different types of monkeys
•Stayed in another beautiful hostel and had a great valentines dinner
Day 3
•Hiked to a waterfall in tsitsikamma national forest
•Then we went to faceadernalin to bungee jump and although I did not bungee jump I had a great time watching people jump from one of the tallest bungees in the world
•After we went to another hostel on the beach where we swam in the indian ocean and ate delicious food
Day 4
•We canoed and hiked to another waterfall where I jumped off a 10 meter boulder into the waterfall
•We also had a picnic at the waterfall
Day 1
•Went to canto wildlife ranch where we saw many animals including lions tiger and cheetah
-I was even able to pet a cheetah!
•Went to an ostrich farm
-I rode and ostrich
-Then I ate ostrich meat for lunch…
•We went to the Cango caves and crawled through some very small caves
•We stayed in a fairy hostel and went to dinner
Day 2
•We went to a Rastafarian village where we learned about the rasta community and played with the children in school
•After we went to monkeyland where we saw 11 different types of monkeys
•Stayed in another beautiful hostel and had a great valentines dinner
Day 3
•Hiked to a waterfall in tsitsikamma national forest
•Then we went to faceadernalin to bungee jump and although I did not bungee jump I had a great time watching people jump from one of the tallest bungees in the world
•After we went to another hostel on the beach where we swam in the indian ocean and ate delicious food
Day 4
•We canoed and hiked to another waterfall where I jumped off a 10 meter boulder into the waterfall
•We also had a picnic at the waterfall
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Robben Island
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Cliffton 4
The most beautiful beach I have ever been to. It doesn't get much better than white sandy beaches, clear waters, and a view of an amazing mountain.
Mailing Address
Here's my address if you want to send me mail!
Olivia Do
Postnet P O Box 69
Private Bag X18
Rondebosch
Cape Town
South Africa
7701
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Campus Run
Today I went on a run with Houston right above my campus. We didn't know where we were going but it was awesome just running and exploring. The views from the trail were amazing, and while we were running through a valley we saw zebras! We were not able to get too close but I was able to take a kind of blurry picture.
Monday, February 03, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Finally arrived in Cape Town
Finally made it to Cape Town after many delays and almost missing my connecting flight. I have only been here a couple of hours but Cape Town has to be one of the prettiest cities in the world. The view of Table mountain and the beaches right next to each other is incredible. I am overwhelmed in the best possible way! I am staying in house with 12 rooms and 20 girls. Theres a kitchen where we'll be making food and a common room. Also the program gave us phones and they're the most outdated thing ever but at least they work.
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