Welcome to Jo'burg

Hi there!

Hello from my apartment in Sandton (northern suburbs of Jo'burg). It's pretty nice, though a bit dull for now. Mainly because I have no friends! like you guys! to play with! Well, I suppose it'll happen eventually. Don't feel sorry for me yet, though, as it was 30C and sunny all week. Probably just like in England, eh? .... Ah, I hear your bitter sobs....

Right at the moment we are still faffing about with work permits, visas, etc. It's ridiculous! What a lot of time-wasting crap. lung x-rays, medical records, criminal background checks in the UK and USA ... boy! (My criminal record is a mile long... all that shoplifting in the make-up department at Boots, but maybe it won't show up! .... (kidding, guys! have you seen me wearing eyeliner.. ever???... (and don't answer that question if you have seen it, buster!!!)))  But hopefully it will get sorted out fairly soon... then we can have a bank account, car, house, etc. What fun! Like real grown-up people!

Meanwhile, the air shipment (the "quick" one) hasn't gotten out of customs yet... it's been over a month since it was sent off from England. Oh well. I have been living out of a suitcase since early August... yuk. (And will do until early Nov, when we move in to our "permanent" home). I brought only one or two of anything, because we were traveling all around the States and we had to lug all our "packing up the house" stuff with us -- cameras, computer, important papers, tax returns, and other stuff too "crucial" to ship.

So I packed for all weather, all climates... and so what do I have to wear now? ... two skirts, two pairs of dress shoes, 2 pairs of trainers, 2 tennis outfits, two sweaters, two jeans, 85 prs of underwear and 40 bras (okay, mistake, but you never know...) blah blah blah. Good thing I like to wear a lot of black. I look the same every day, but the clothes ARE clean! In fact, you don't need as many clothes here because the maids do the laundry several times a week, and your knickers come back ironed, even. I've never ironed a pair of blue jeans in my life; how I'm well pressed (hope that doesn't mean something in Brit slang that I'm unaware of!)

I think we've found a house to rent. It's really lovely, with good security (lasers in the garden, high voltage electrical wire around tops of walls around the property, video camera to see guests at gates...) About like Fort Knox. Well! You could feel either more secure with all that, or a lot more worried about what it is you're keeping out...! And it's not lions and leopards, apparently.....