Randolph Riedlinger becomes the 33rd International President in ...

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Issue Nr.5 2008:Layout 1 18.03.2008 13:55 Seite 24 24 THE YAP PAGE I first heard about YAP in the beginning of 2007. Judging by what I heard I thought that it should be a great opportunity to travel within such a group and see other Countries. 8 Months later I sat in an aeroplane to Johannesburg, South Africa, full of expectations and excitement. I arrived in Johannesburg on the 24.08.07, where I, after being nearly deported and finding out that my luggage did not arrive in Africa, met some of the other YAPs and Phillip Bragg who did everything and a little more to make our stay in Johannesburg as pleasant as possible. After meeting all the other Yaps at Phillips house we spend some great days in Johannesburg and the surrounding area. Most important of all our trips was maybe the only one that was no fun. We went to the Apartheid Museum, which was not pleasant but very impressive and it helped to understand the situation in South Africa better and I want to thank Phillip for bringing us there and everybody in South Africa who talked to us about this topic freely, as I didn’t expect it to be. Apart from that we had some fun days, seeing African Animals, seeing the places where humankind was born and meeting a lot of new people on our evenings with the 41ers. Usually when I come to other people’s houses or stay with a group of strangers it takes me a little while to overcome my anxiety, but here I felt so comfortable, that it didn’t even show . By the way, my luggage never arrived and is still lost, but Greg and Sophie, who hosted me and whoever else had clothes in my size, gave me clothes. I bought a few new clothes, but travelled mainly in borrowed ones. After these few days Cliff and Angelika from Durban picked us up in Johannesburg and drove to Kruger National Park with us. Us, that means 9 young people from Germany, Austria, Denmark and Belgium. A very long exhausting drive, of which we should have a few more, but even those were alright, as the routes they picked were very scenic and it was often interesting to look out the window. In Krueger we saw a lot of beautiful animals on our drives in the morning and the evening, relaxed during the days and spend great evenings in the camps together. I learned a lot listening to what Cliff and Angelika told us about the coun- AGM,. Gloucester GB 23rd - 26th April 2009 try. After our days in Kruger we went to Durban, but not without staying for a night with the Tablers in Dundee, where Waldo Thoele and his wife were my hosts. It was another evening that was great fun and. By the way if anyone from South Africa ever tells you to drink a Tequila, snort the salt up your nose and rub the lemon in your eye… it is not a joke and not very nice either. The next day we arrived in Durban and people told us that we could relax now.So far we’ve been getting up early every morning and had busy days, each and every one was very good, but exhausting. In Durban we met in the late morning hours, went to the beach, shopping, to the Aquarium, a traditional Zulu village and much more but never in a hurry. I want to thank Wayne Crouch (left on the picture, next to Christopfer Kiesel, Germany) for these days. This young man, the son of Durban 41ers, was our guide through Durban and made the days in Durban fantastic. We had even one afternoon without any Program, which I used to learn how to Mountain bike. We spent the evenings with the families of our hosts and had some great evenings with their Children, who were our age. Cliff and Angelika were still with us, they hosted me and Martin from Denmark, and when we left Durban
Issue Nr.5 2008:Layout 1 18.03.2008 13:56 Seite 25 they took us to Bloemfontein where we joined the AGM of OT South Africa. I must say, that the whole formal ‘Welcome- and ‘thank you’-speech part of the evening was a bit dry, but we also didn’t want to miss the opportunity to thank everybody for inviting us to their Country. During the actual AGM we went to Kimberly to see ‘The Big Hole’, the biggest manmade hole in the World, which was impressive but a 2 hour drive each way is very long for a daytrip. Here we had to say goodbye to Cliff and Angelika, who I want to thank so much for guiding us through South Africa, showing us the most beautiful places and the unpleasant, ugly bits as well, they didn’t hide anything, answered all the questions we had and are great people. After Bloemfontein we went to Welkom, where we visited a Goldmine. I think that this was my personal highlight of the trip. We went 2 km deep under the Surface and saw how to mine Gold. What a tough and dirty job. We went to Kroonstad for our farewell. We had two nights there. The first was an evening like we had a lot on this Trip. A Braai and lots of drinks. I liked it as I’m a fan of Barbecues, but it might have been a bit too much for everybody who is not a fan of meat like I am, to braai 16 times in 22 days. The second and last night we went to a traditional African restaurant, You know you are 40 when: * You shout “sit down at the front!” at a Phil Collins concert. * You think nothing of spending 45 Euros on a bottle of wine. * You would like to go to the demonstration, but it is supposed to rain. * Getting out of a chair causes you to make a small involuntary sound of protest. * You admit to thirty-five. * The mention of Viagra does not get such a big guffaw out of you any longer. * A kid you bump into on the pavement says, “excuse me, Sir” * Your graduating reports in the “Alumni” magazine have migrated backward toward the middle of the section. * If you dump your job and try to make it as a ski instructor, it also would not work out. * Your wife does not have a secret fortune she was waiting to tell you about when you had proven your loyalty. * You have finally finished paying off your own student loans-just in time for your kids to start public school Half-Yearly Meeting, Mauritius 12 - 14th September 2008 where we were served things that I didn’t know and couldn’t remember the name but it was something that I would recommend to everyone of you who ever goes to Kroonstad. And don’t be afraid, it is not too hot or anything, but the beer tastes funny. On the 12.09.07 we left South Africa. Sydney and Barry from Kroonstad drove us to the Airport where we met Phillip Bragg again and that was it. We said goodbye and left. Happy to have made such a wonderful experience, exhausted of having learned and seen so many new things, looking forward to our own beds, but mainly thankful for being welcomed by such open, friendly, loving, supportive and uncomplicated people. Thank you very much everybody who made this time unforgettable in such a positive way. Dag Freudenhammer 25
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Randolph Riedlinger becomes the 33rd International President in ...

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