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Last week, I came across a headline that made me question whether I have been eating my way around the wrong Johannesburg. Time Out had ranked Johannesburg as the eighth-best city in the world for street food, putting it ahead of cities like Bangkok, Singapore and New York. Eighth in the world. I have lived here for 7 months, and I have not eaten street food here once. Not because I don't want to, but because I haven't even seen it. This shouldn't really have come as a surpri

A few months ago I wrote about discovering Johannesburg after dark (read here). Before I moved here, I hadn't expected to find a city with such a lively nightlife, purely because Johannesburg is a city with a reputation that may scare you off leaving your home at night. But after living here for over 7 months now and not having the ability to say no to a party, I feel like I have now more than scratched the surface of the city's night time economy. This past weekend we attend

One of the things I've enjoyed most about living in Johannesburg is that its history isn't confined to museums. It's everywhere. It's in neighbourhoods, in conversations, in public holidays and, perhaps most powerfully, on stage. Last week we went to see Rise '76: The Story of June 16th at the Market Theatre, following a recommendation from a friend. The play marks the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising, telling the story through the eyes of students and teachers at a fi

Five months into life in South Africa, I've realised one challenge in adapting to a new country is learning an entirely different set of social rules. On paper, South Africans and Brits should understand each other perfectly. We speak the same language (albeit not everyone's first language), we watch many of the same shows, listen to much of the same music, and both cultures appear to regard alcohol as an essential social lubricant. And yet, in practice, I increasingly feel l