If you’ve ever meet Hannah Williams, you would know that she’s an easy-going, considerate individual who’s had a varied school education. From boarding school to studying abroad, Hannah has experienced various lifestyle and cultural changes that have left a lasting impression on her and exposed her to many different environments.
(Photo by Hannah Williams)
Katherine Takats: You’ve studied/traveled abroad to South Africa before. How was your experience?
Hannah Williams: Flying to South Africa, where I lived and studied, was scary because I was fifteen and flying alone internationally. But I made it eventually, and it was fun. When I first started school and had a history class, the teacher was teaching that there were fifty-two states and I had to correct him on that. During this time I also went to Mozambique, but that was a little more difficult because I had to have a special visa. I also went scuba diving and it was one of my favorite things I did on the trip.
KT: Did anything weird happen while you were traveling through airports?
HW: I saw The Amazing Race on the way back to the U.S., which was cool.
(Photo by Hannah Williams)
KT: Did you have any safety concerns?
HW: Yeah I did, but my host family taught me how to stay safe. Just for insight, they had a ten foot wall around their house and many of their neighbors had the same things with added barbed wire. It’s necessary because random people roam the streets and try to mug you, even in cars. That’s called a “smash and grab”, which is when you have your phone or wallet out and someone breaks a window and steals your stuff. In Mozambique, there were more health concerns. Toilet paper was a used-to-be white wash cloth. It was in a restaurant that my host family really enjoyed that had a dirt floor with picnic tables; definitely not our health and safety standards.
KT: Does anything stand out when you think about the fun activities you did?
HW: I was able to pet cheetahs which would never happen in the U.S. I got to go in the adult cheetah enclosures which was pretty cool, and I even got to pet the baby ones, although one did bite me. I also got to see all sorts of other exotic cats and animals throughout my time there.
(Photo by Hannah Williams)
KT: Was it difficult adapting to a new culture?
HW: It was easier in a sense because I was thrown into a host family and immediately immersed into the culture. Zulu accents were a little difficult to understand though. That took some time getting used to. Mannerisms in South Africa are also different, and they are more open and less sensitive about privacy, from what I’ve seen. People there thought my accent was strange and they asked a lot of questions and wanted me to say certain things. Going to school also helped me adapt because I could ask my classmates questions and discuss concerns. If I had traveled in a school group it would’ve been very different, but because I was alone and couldn’t hide I really had to learn about South African culture. Something there that I had also never really seen before was “load shedding”, which is when there isn’t enough electricity in the country to be on all the time so certain areas have their power turned off for a short period at a time.
KT: Any weird sports there compared to the U.S.?
HW: Netball; it’s essentially like basketball but in grass. Also, they play handball. I got to play squash and actually played with guys from my brother school, a school close by to mine, which was cool to learn. Still a little unsure how to play it though. Cricket and rugby are also really popular.
KT: Did you learn anything particularly cool while you were in South Africa?
HW: One thing I did do was get my scuba diving license in a little less than three days. When I was in Mozambique, I tried scuba diving and loved it. So I thought that I might as well get my license, but the instructor said that would be really hard since it usually takes about a week and I had a limited time to learn. I first learned hand signals and how to actually dive. The next morning I practiced, got lunch, and practiced again. While scuba diving, I got to see all sorts of marine life like blue spotted stingrays, a two-foot-long bass, and a lot more. One nice thing about getting my license there was that it was a lot cheaper than in the U.S.
KT: Do you have any advice for new travelers going to new countries with different cultures?
HW: The biggest piece of advice I can give is to be open-minded and don’t stress too badly cause it’s not as hard as it seems. If you’re open-minded, you’ll get to experience the culture more than if you’re reserved.
(Photo by Hannah Williams)