Working Holiday 1996-1997 Samuel Murray

Die "prehistory"-bladsy vertel wat die god met my aangevang het tot tyd en wyl ek tot die mirakelbesef gekom het dat ek oorsee wil.

Prehistory / Vooraf gebeur

It all started when the mission ship Doulos came to Cape Town harbour. The ship would stay in dry dock for three months to refit the AC ship with DC. Naturally these missionaries went to the local churches to do "mime" and "dances" and sing "songs" proclaiming the Gospel to those may have missed the message. At one such meeting a group of me and my friends met an Ozzie, a Kaaskop, a German and a Yank. We duly invited them to perform their act at our local church and duly had some tea and cake with them afterwards. Our lives were never the same.

Die drie maande het toe later nege geword, en die vier (later net drie, en later net twee) uitlanders het gereeld elke week saam met ons BKJA ietsie gedoen of so. Daar het dus oor nege maande 'n hegte band ontstaan. Die twee oorblewenes was Dale van Amerika en Bernd van Duitsland. Toe hulle waai, na nege maande, het elkeen in die BKJA hom en haar voorgeneem om vir hulle op 'n stadium te gaan kuier in hul tuislande.

My one friend, Karen, was the first to go. She came up with various projects to fund her trip and eventually went to the USA for a couple of weeks. My belangstelling was tickled and I knew I wanted to go abroad myself.

I did some research about working in other countries, but 1995 wasn't exactly the right time for an apartheid kid to apply for any kind of job anywhere else in the world. My plans to travel to New Zealand, Canada, etc came to none because of one small factor: I have South African grandparents on both sides of the tree. My only option was a working holiday in the UK. I remember the first agency I spoke to replied to my question "what kind of work will I do in the UK" with "Leeks" (and the guy showed me the relative size of the veggie I would be picking in Britain) - about 1 metre tall.

So, my mind set on going to the UK, I began my preparations. I tried to find out everything I could about this country I was about to visit, and I must say about half of it was useful. The other half was intended for diplomat kids and tycoon children.

I investigated the several agencies who did the working holiday thing. My choice fell with OVC (Overseas Visitors Club) which at that stage had just opened a new office near where I lived. The air fare and all the visa stuff would be R4 000, and I would need R3 000 in my bank account to prove that I can live there. In those days there was R6 to a pound.

Om te illustreer hoe absoluut groen en dom ek was, wel, op 'n stadium vra ek die agent of die R3 000 wat ek nodig het om vir 'n visum te kwalifiseer, ingesluit is in die R4 000 wat ek reeds kon wys. Nouja, stupid vraag. Ek het glad nie 'n benul gehad van hoeveel dit kos om te oorleef of so nie. Ek was nog nooit uit my element of uit my stad op my eie nie. Ek sou wragtag in Londen aangekom het met niks en verwag het om te oorleef en als. My ma het aangedring dat ek drie dae in die jeughostel boek (teen 'n ongelooflike £10 per nag), en ek is vandag nog dankbaar oor dié stuk wysheid. Ek sou wragtag sonder hotelbespreking ook nog daar aangeland het.

As ek reg onthou, het ek 'n visum moes kry, twee internasionale rybewyse (een vir Duitsland en een vir die res van die wêreld), 'n verskeidenheid jeugkaarte wat afslag op dit en dat beloof het, 'n rugsak wat die OVC op daai stadium vir R350 verkoop het en wat eintlik nie so sleg was vir die prys nie, en dies meer. O, wel, dan moes ek nog klere koop, en dies meer. Ja, en dan ook nog 'n jeughostelkaart.

Ek was regtig baie onvoorbereid. Ek het die verkeerde klere gekoop, die verkeerde goed saamgeneem, ens. Ek het 'n stelletjie potte en panne en 'n gasstofie gekoop en saamgeneem, min wetend dat 'n jeughostel al dié dinge self bevat. Ek het klere gekoop wat in Suid-Afrika spiekeries gelyk het, maar in London het ek sleg uitgestaan.

O, ek het ook soveel moontlik adresse van mense probeer kry wat ek in die VK kon gaan hjellosê het. The thought of actually staying over with them didn't really cross my mind, but in the end I was glad that I went through the trouble of getting some "contacts"... mainly for moral support. I also contacted the local Mensa office (I was a member then) because they have a travellers assistance programme whereby I could sleep over with some other Mensans elsewhere in the world, should I need to. The only time I could've made use of this offer, I forgot to phone ahead and missed the opportunity (that was in Calanish, Lewis, Scotland).

Basic plans / Basiese planne

I investigated various options for jobs which would enable me to travel outside South Africa. For the most part het ek maar gekyk watter gee vir my die beste geld. So byvoorbeeld het ek nie veel ooghare vir 'n kibboets gehad nie, want jy kry net sakgeld van sowat R110 per maand. 'n Preigepluk in die VK, aan die ander kant, was £60 per week werd (maal met R6, is-gelyk-aan R360 per week).

Canada: The only options for working in Canada was if I already had an employer in Canada who could vouch for me and organise a lot of things, or if I was awarded one of several student exchange programmes.

SASTS: One option was to go on a student vacation with SASTS (the South African Students' Travel Service). The generally offered between three and six months student jobs in various countries. You could do summer camps in the USA, work and travel in Canada, work and travel in Britain. Most of these options were out of my reach since 1995 was my last year of college. In South Africa the university terms run from January to December, and you generally can't get an international student card between December and January because there's no proof that you are a student.

ITT: Another option was ITT (Israeli Tailoured Tours) for kibbutzim and moshav work. In a kibbutz you work for a community, but in a moshav you work for a family. The pay at moshavs are generally better, but you may be expected to work harder because you are likely to be the only foreigner there. The ITT route would set me back (in addition to the air fare) a placement fee of R300, a minimum of $450 to live off, and approximately R300 upon arrival in Israel, plus bus fare (unspecified). Payment is about R150 per month (about NIS120). I decided that I could not possibly make any profit from this arrangement.

South Africans Abroad CC: This agency was a front for a farm work scheme in the UK. Basically you'd work for a company in Sussex. You'd have to stay at least 30 days, and pay £40 per week for half-board and lodging (which was administered by a seperate company). Food may set you back (so I've heard during my investigations) about £10 a week extra. You have to keep paying for the lodging even if there is no work. Work is leek picking, flower picking, etc. Tis backbreaking work and in the beginning you won't see a profit because you work to slow. But after a while you work faster and you can earn more -- up to £100 a week. Naturally if you earn less than £50 a week you run a loss. The only other costs involved is getting there on your own cost (about R3 000 for the air fare) and such expenses. This was one of the options I seriously considered, and in retrospect it may have been a good thing if I did.

Jobs and Journeys: I don't know why I didn't go for this option, but I found their leaflet amongh my other travel things. Basically this agency offered the student holidays in the USA as well as the working holiday in the UK option. Perhaps I didn't go with their option because they quoted their prices in pounds, and it seems an awful lot at the time. In the end is prolly wasn't much more than OVC's, although I have my suspicions about the amount of support.

OVC: The Overseas Visitors Club was the one I eventually chose. In those days the OVC had a good name and it was a popular choice. Only in the second year of my working holiday did I begin to hear reports that the OVC was getting saturated and sloppy. The OVC wouldn't arrange any work for me. They'd get me there, and let me loose on London. This ia a good option if you already know where to go from there, but I didn't and in retrospect I wish I either knew more about jumping into the deep end like that, or chosen a more safe option such as South Africans Abroad.

The rundown of costs for the OVC thingy was as follows: Air fare, R2 880 plus airport taxes of R55 and R60. OVC membership (the agency fee), R100, and for this I needed two passport photos. Then, to get the visa, I needed two more passport photos, R3 000 in the bank (a letter from the bank stating the funds were available would suffice) and a valid passport. The visa cost me R135 since I was under 25 at the time. One week's accommodation in London would be R380 (how I wish I took it!). International drivers licence (which I did myself at the local Automobile Association for not much less), R32 (required two more photos). Youth hostel card, R45. Go-25 discount card, R35 (a waste of money, unless you plan to visit many museums). Medical insurance R150. And if I chose to go to Israel instead, add another R290 to that. O, and the OVC backpack of 65 l was R290.

The nice thing about the OVC is that they applied on behalf of me for a visa. I had no trouble getting it, although the customs officer at Heathrow could for a few seconds not quite understand how it's possible that I've never been to the British embassy. The OVC also had magazines and newspapers from the UK in their office, and I was able to browse some of these (again I shudder when I think how innocent and totally unprepared I was, now that I think back to myself sitting in their office leafing through the TNT). My visa was for a "single entry" and until a few months ago I had no idea what that meant. It means the visa is valid for one person. It does not mean, as I feared at the time, that I could only enter and leave the UK once and never return.

The OVC would've teamed me up with other South Africans leaving on the same day, but in the end they didn't and I met them by chance on the air port. Not a bad thing either, because we kept contact with each other for no more than a few minutes after arriving at London Heathrow before I was literally on my own.

Once in London I was to make my way to Earl's Court tube, and from there to their office in Longridge Road. When I arrived I was given a nice speech and introduction to London. The second time I went there there was no such aid to arriving members. I followed some of the advice given, to my peril.

Brief wish-I-knew / Kort wens-'k't-geweet

Daar is darem baie dinge waarvoor ek kan wens ek het geweet voor ek gegaan het. Wel, dalk sou selfs dié kennis my nie gehelp het nie. Ek het nie enige massiewe foute begaan nie (maar, ek was soos 'n hoogtouakrobaat wat nie besef sy tou is al in die lug nie).

Ek wens ek het geweet hoeveel dinge werklik kos. When you've never been out of your parents home you seldom realise what things really cost. I had no idea how much it would cost to live, to stay and to eat.

I wish I knew what a dump London really is if you don't have a professional qualification. Dan sou ek so gou ek kon uit Londen padgegee het en op die platteland gaan werk nie. Maar nee, ek het gewag vir die big break. Toe kom die big broke.

Ek wens ek het geweet hoe om werk te kry in Brittanje. Ja, ek het so-so geweet, but when I got there I realised how ill prepared I was for the job-hunting scene in this strange new different country.

I wish I went with a partner. I was often told by others that I was incredibly brave to go alone. In a sense the solitude was nice, but I would've enjoyed a companion for at least a month or so before splitting up.

Ek wens ek het geweet wat ek alles nodig had. I took, as mentioned, pots and pans with me which was utterly useless and unnecessary. I marked my clothes with my passport number instead of with my name. I bought V-neck undershirts instead of ringneck. I got Y-front long underwear instead of lonjons (too expensive, I thought, but you never learn, do you?). I wish I took a recipe book with me, and an FAK sangbundel om uit te sing. I wish I knew what clothes the Brits really, really wore (Burberry is not so common as in the picture books). Etc.

Finally, I'm thankful that the god gave me such a wonderful wife, and if it wasn't for her, my last wish would be -- I with I'd gone to Britain with the intend to stay there and get married there and look for love there and grow old there, because it sure as hell is a better life than in South Africa. I initially had much patriotism, but I realised that this was misplaced and utterly stupid once I returned to South Africa after two years and saw what had become of my beloved vaderland.

(c) Samuel Murray-Smit, 2002 (meant to be 1998). http://users.demented.org/~leuce/prehistory.html. afrikaans@websurfer.co.za.