Your first week in college is an integral step in your process of getting acclimated
to campus life as a new student. That being said, after my first week and a half
in South Africa, it’s clear that Stellenbosch University fully understands this
and makes sure that all first years and international students recognize the same.
My residence hall is named Metanoia and houses over 300 South African
students of all different years along with seven other Americans in my CIEE
program. Living in a residence hall in South Africa is closer to living in a
fraternity/sorority than it is to living in a typical freshman dormitory in the States.
Your first allegiance at Stellenbosh, more so than your major, your class year, your
extracurricular clubs (or societies), is your residence hall. Therefore, when you’re
welcomed into a residence hall as a first year or an international student, you’re
expected by everyone around you to act as a family unit.
We all remember the excitement, confusion, and awkwardness of NSO: the process
of getting to know your roommate/floormates, finding your way around campus, and
sitting through long lectures on what to do when someone’s passed out drunk etc.
Well, Stellenbosch does NSO slightly differently. Imagine NSO,homecoming
weekend, and Georgetown day all put into one and multiply all of the above said
emotions by about five and you get RAG/Jool week. RAG/Jool week is a series of
campus wide celebratory activities that focus on residence hall social bonding in
combination with promoting charitable causes. That being said, every single first
year student (excluding us international students unfortunately), no matter where
you live, must participate in these activities in order to be initiated into your
residence hall.
As an onlooker, the activities seemed exhausting, but fun at the same time.
Activities included parades, dance and theatre performances and my favorite, the
trolley races. Trolley races are when each residence hall decorates a shopping cart
in a given theme and then races them down the main street of campus through
odd obstacles while their residences cheer them on. After having a blast at the event
last week, I can say that the sense of spirit and pride Stellenbosch students hold for
their residence hall easily rivals any kind of school spirit I’ve experienced in either
high school or college. When it comes to your representing your res, it’s a matter of
your dignity.
Living in a traditional South African dorm so far has been about as challenging and
as stimulating as I could ask it to be. I can truly say that the guys living in my floor
section are awesome and we’ve all begun to bond now that we actually have time to
get to know one another since RAG/Jool week is over. Conversely, though, living in
a place knowing that you’ll only be there for five and a half months makes getting to
know people on a deeper level somewhat difficult. It’s easy to question the
practicality of trying to make life long connections with people living around since
you know you’ll be gone before you or they know it. I quickly came to the realization,
though, that the relationships I gain with South Africans is a once in a lifetime
experience and evaluating the importance of investing in these relationships is
counter productive to my efforts of immersing myself fully in the culture. Therefore,
any questioning like that is done with and I’m just letting the good times roll with
my fellow Metanoians.
Next time, I’ll fill you in on crime, classes, and my escapades in Cape Town
Until next time, I hope all is well to everyone wherever you are.
Cheers,
Nick
