Gwangju International Center

Topic "South Africa: Alive with Possibility"

Speaker: Lynne Van Lelyveld (South African)

Date: September 15th, 2012

Review writter: Chanhyuck Jung

Edittor: Bradley Weiss

What do you know about South Africa? The topic of last week's GIC talk "South Africa: Alive with Posibility" by Lynne Van Lelyveld  was a survey of South Africa. We briefly learned about the country of South Africa, including its recent history, its ethnic and linguistic demographics, the food and entertainment its people enjoy, etc.

Since hosting the soccer World Cup in 2010, the level of awareness about South Africa has been increased around the world. However, there is still much confusion about the culture of this diverse country. What do South Africans look like? South Africa has more than one capital city? How many official languages exist? Speaker Lynne van Lelyveld addressed all of these questions in her presentation, as well as sharing many more details about her native land.

The speaker introduced aspects of South African culture to the audience in a more demonstrative, presentation style through sharing pictures, singing a traditional wedding song in the 'click language' native to southern Africa, and playing a couple of traditional music instruments.

Ms. van Lelyveld is a native of one of the capital cities, Cape Town, and she helped educate the audience about her hometown using pictures, many of which were her own, and describing her experiences growing up there.

The talk, of course, also included some discussion of former president Nelson Mandela and his role in the peaceful transfer of power from white minority rule to true democracy two decades ago. The speaker talked about her own experiences and feelings, having still been living in her native country during this tumultuous time.

Following this period, South Africa has emerged as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society, living in relative harmony. The speaker discussed many aspects of this mixed culture, including the significance of its flag to shared leisure-time activities.

Through her talk and relaxed, interactive presentation style, speaker Lynne van Lelyveld both educated and entertained the audience who walked away with a greater appreciation and understanding of her home 

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW5gki562iI&feature=player_embedded