Josh – I thought that the dude speaking what doing a good job of answering the questions that was asked and I felt like he tried to give us good detail in what he was saying. And I also thought that the lady had an interesting story on how and where she grew up and the situation with her husband and how they had to wait to get married. And I like all the similarities he pointed out to us.
Ian – I thought the discussion was very interesting. I never imagined how similar the USA and South Africa are. Our everyday stuff is very similar. It is very cool how mixed the culture is in South Africa. They get people from all over, like the lady who was from Swaziland. These cultures mix to form one.
Kyle – The hangout was pretty interesting. I thought it was very cool to have a chance to talk to people who have lived in both South Africa and the U.S., and know a lot about the culture of both places. The questions that people asked were all very good and opened up a lot of really good points for discussion. Since we were talking to Erik and Melanie through a Google Hangout, sometimes it was hard to understand what they were saying, and sometimes it was hard for them to understand us. But overall, I think I learned a lot from what they talked about with us. Although some people were not very engaging, including myself, it didn’t seem like there were any long awkward pauses were no one wanted to go up and ask a question. I’ve never really done something like this before, so overall it was a very interesting experience to have.
I found it really awesome how Erik was willing to share his experiences and knowledge on South Africa with us. Even though we are reading the book his website and talking with him makes it almost more real. While I did ask a question, I thought that with more time to come up with good questions we could’ve learned a lot more. I personally thought that Mathews question about the Western World was very interesting and made me think about South Africa in more of a global way. I think that Erik’s perspective and knowledge opened that question up and explored it in a way that we couldn’t have from just reading Welcome to Hillbrow and watching the two movies. Overall it was an experience that broadened my horizons.
Jaye – I am glad that we were able to video call Erik, who am guessing took the time out from his busy schedule to give students a firsthand view/ scenario of what South Africa is like. Especially when it came on the government and how the country has been operation for the past 25 years. I found it interesting that the African National Congress has still failed in receiving their people stance when it comes on to education, housing and jobs.
Nathan – I found that the experiences and knowledge that Erik shared with us were very interesting. I did not know how complex South Africa still is today. Erik cleared up a lot a questions that are class had and it really helped me to better understand the effects that the apartheid still leaves today. I also like how Erik helped us to connect his knowledge with what we are reading about Hillbrow. I think our class has a better understanding of our book and of South Africa as a whole thanks to Erik’s very interesting knowledge.
Taha – I think that the session was really interesting as it was with a person who has been in USA and is now in South Africa. This kind of made a situation where there weren’t any bias. It was really awesome to talk to a person and ask him some questions. I think this kind of activity should be done more often as it is a unique experience.
Maria – I found the talk very interesting. I don’t know much about post apartheid South Africa, so it was interesting to learn about the problems with unemployment and crime, which particularly affect black South Africans. I was also interesting to learn about the nature and culture. I was not surprised to learn that many Africans come to South Africa for a better life, because such themes are explored in Welcome to Hillbrow. Overall, it was cool to hear a perspective of someone who is in current day South Africa, because so much of what we learn is about the Apartheid with less focus on what came next. I am interested in learning more about the role race plays nowadays in their society.