Teambuilding is my favorite activity here and I am always looking for new teambuilding opportunities. We keep trying to get free tickets from Howard at the DeBeer’s office to go see the Big Hole for a teambuilding opportunity. When I say we keep trying, I really mean that we tried once and need to keep trying. This past week, luckily, we had the opportunity to get in some quality office teambuilding. Phew, we need all the building of the team that we can get! Last Thursday Mandla, Thembi, Thuso, Albert, and I went to the Gariep Festival in Kimberley and spent the night eating and going on rides, two things that you might not want to put together if you have a weak stomach. Oh, we also did some dancing. The festival was sort of similar to the Barnstable County Fair (but less trashy) or the South Florida Fair (but probably less trashy too). We spent 15 minutes in the car trying to decide whether or not to go since we had already rented movies, but upon hearing Mandla’s sadness that we might not want to go, I made the executive decision that we would go because I knew that we could fit in the carnival and the movie. Boy am I glad we decided to go, I love when I just get to be a child again. That would be the 5-year-old in me. I wanted to go on all the rides, but unfortunately we only went on four. Mandla and Thuso were fraidy cats and wouldn’t go with us on the cool rides, so they just waited while Albert, Thembi, and I (the children) went on the Round Up and Break Dancer. Round Up was the ride that is cylinder, kind of like a flying saucer, and it spins so fast you stick to the wall. The difference here was that it was open on the top and then it turned on an angle so you could see out while you were spinning; much cooler than the ones at home. Break Dancer was like the Scrambler at home, you sit in a little car-like seat and the car spins, and then the four cars on the one leg spin, and then the whole ride spins. It was great. The people in the car across from us kept their eyes closed and concentrated on not getting sick; I didn’t think it was that bad. I can’t believe there was a point in time in my life that I was afraid of roller coasters and similar rides.
After all of that fun, we talked Thuso and Mandla into doing Bumper Cars with us. Since it sort of hit me close to home, I just rode with Albert instead of crashing into people. Just kidding, I really just wanted to get some funny pictures (success) so I decided not to drive and instead catch some shots of Thembi, Thuso, and Mandla in action trying to kill Albert and I. It was hilarious; I spent most of the time laughing instead of taking pictures. I think they were really out to get us. Thuso said that I wouldn’t be able to get a picture of him (he doesn’t take pictures, sound familiar), but I did, yes, I did. Since I didn’t drive, I didn’t have to pay so we had four tickets left and lastly Albert and I went on the flying swings. These flying swings were pretty ghetto and probably not the safest, but I still had a good time at least when I wasn’t imagining my swing unhooking itself and shooting me across the fairgrounds. The clip that held my safety bar in place didn’t exactly work and when I looked up, while we were flying nonetheless, I noticed that we were just held onto the machine by a large size paperclip. Real safe, hey TIA (This IS Africa). Well, kind of. I wouldn’t compare it to a lot of other African countries, but I guess technically speaking it is considered part of Africa. All and all it was a wonderful way to spend the night; I don’t know if our team got closer, but its alright because there is definitely more teambuilding to come. I.E. tonight we are hitting up Movie Mania Monday with 10 of the coaches, our office staff, and Jerome (HR manager visiting from Cape Town). We already took 16 newspapers to the mall to get the tickets; comical to say the least. It should be a spectacle and a rowdy, good time. If anything interesting or out of the ordinary happens, I will be reporting back. Also last week we found out that Mandla is very, very afraid of snakes, so we had to make sure to start introducing snakes around the office. We just hung up a panoramic postcard with 5 different snakes all over it on Mandla’s door. Just wait for the plastic ones. I can’t wait for him to come out. Moral of the story thus far, don’t tell me things you are very afraid of, don’t tell me things I shouldn’t do or you do not want me to do, and do not, I repeat do not challenge me. All of the above will lead me to do these things. We are obviously hard at work here in Kimberley; blame it on the strike. Over and out.
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