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Expat in South Africa: "The World Cup is like Christmas every day."
Expat Kay Johnstone has never been a football fan, but says that South Africa’s enthusiasm for World Cup 2010 is infectious.
 
Published: 10:09AM BST 21 Jun 2010
Expat Kay Johnstone gets into the World Cup mood with a vuvuzela, bought from a local vendor selling World Cup memorabilia.
Well, it’s here at last. The World Cup, of course – what else?　I’ll be honest -I am not a great fan of sport in general, and in particular have little time for football or soccer, whichever you prefer to call it. Yet, somehow, this time it’s different.
Ever since South Africa’s name was pulled out of the hat as the next host of the World Cup, with all the euphoria that greeted that decision, it’s almost all we have heard about. For several years, we have been kept up to date on the new project, the Gautrain, a sleek, high-speed train designed to revolutionise travel in the Johannesburg and Pretoria areas, and completed just in time to serve our overseas visitors (public transport is almost non-existent in this country; if you don’t have a car, you walk or take a taxi). The creation of Gautrain line hasn’t been all good, however. It has seen the demolition of some beautiful buildings in its path, and there were incidents a couple of years ago when huge potholes appeared in major roads under which excavation was taking place.
Then there are all the roadworks we have been enduring since the announcement. We have been told that the “improvement and upgrading” of the roads system is for our benefit, and has little to do with the World Cup, but we don’t really believe that, and it has made road travel over major routes a nightmare for the past two or three years, with four and five-lane highways being funnelled into one lane for kilometres on end. “Window dressing,” we mutter, as we sit in endless traffic jams. Thank goodness this construction has been suspended during the festivities.
All this World cup preparation became a little too much for someone like me. I don’t like being force-fed anything, and it felt like being on a cruise ship or at a holiday camp, where the social staff chivvy everyone into being jolly and joining in the activities whether they want to or not. Employees have been encouraged to wear football jerseys to work every Friday - known as Football Fridays. And we’ve even been subjected to a daily "countdown” on the radio. Enough already!
And then suddenly, last week, it was here. I don’t live in Johannesburg, but when I was there a few days ago I was impressed to see cars sporting South African flags, as did buildings – many displaying not only the South Africa flag but also that of other countries. The highways are adorned with flags and welcome banners, and roadside gardens have been planted in the shape of the flag. I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face at the infectious good spirits of everyone.
Then there are the ubiquitous vuvuzelas, which have provoked some unfriendly comments from visiting foreigners. These are long, plastic horns which are traditionally blown at soccer matches in South Africa. They make a horrible noise – rather like a cow in heavy labour – but they are part and parcel of the football scene here, and to ban them, as was called for by the Japanese, would be unthinkable. As the start of the event approached last week, even in my small town I could hear people blowing their vuvuzelas out of taxi windows as they made their way to work, and again I smiled.
A few weeks ago, the local team took a tour through Sandton, an area just north of Johannesburg, in an open-topped bus, so that people could show their support, in a parade named United We Stand. Well, they turned out in their thousands – 200,000 was the estimate – decked out in the colours of the national team and of the flag. Entire office blocks suspended business for a couple of hours to allow their staff members to take part. It was glorious.
On the Friday of the opening match between South Africa and Mexico, I happened to be in one of our local supermarkets just before kick-off at 4pm. The public address system came on, and it was announced that the staff would sing the national anthem as a gesture of support to the team. As their voices soared out of the loudspeakers and from the tillpoints, many of the customers stopped their shopping and joined in – and it was beautiful. At the end, there was much noisy cheering and clapping and the blowing of vuvuzelas. Brilliant stuff. I have to admit, I had a tear or two in my eye.
So somehow this non-believer has been caught up in the spirit of it. It is impossible not to be! It is like Christmas every day, with everyone more friendly, more polite, more happy. There is a national pride that is almost tangible. We have been ridiculed by other countries, who said we would never be able to stage something like this, and that a “third-world” country like ours had too much crime, etc., etc. There was even a report at one stage that FIFA was having talks with Australia with a view to asking them to take over the project if South Africa stalled and couldn’t pull it off. (That didn’t go down well!) OK, maybe it won’t be perfect – time will tell. We do things differently, and at a more leisurely pace, known as "Africa time" here. It’s probably going to be a lot more hit-or-miss than it was in Germany, for instance. But I defy any country to put on an event with more colour, more enthusiasm, more joy and more noise that this one is doing! Embrace it. It is truly a wonder to behold.
Over here, rugby is traditionally a game played and supported by white people, while black people tend to play and support soccer/football. But there is no such division at the moment. Everyone is solidly and passionately behind our team and this event, and anxious to show our visitors who we are and what we can do – not to mention the myriad sights and experiences this country has to offer. The American team was held up, while they were on their way to a training session the other day, by an elephant – which was ambling along the middle of the road in its own sweet time. You can bet that wouldn’t happen in any of the other more traditional host countries of the World Cup.
As for me, I even caught myself watching the opening game between our Bafana Bafana (the name means “boys”) and Mexico – even though I didn’t have a clue what was going on – and feeling a pang of regret that our boys didn’t pull off a win. They have come in for a lot of stinging criticism over the past years for their dismal performances under a succession of coaches, and this was their very first World Cup match – but they didn’t do too badly at all.
Though I am British, I have lived in this country for a number of years, meaning my loyalties are rather mixed. But somehow, I do hope that, unlikely though it may be, the South African team does manage to progress to the next stages of this event. I think they – and this country – deserve it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/7835331/Expat-in-South-Africa-The-World-Cup-is-like-Christmas-every-day..html