Dear Commons Community,

After a fifteen hour plane ride, I have arrived in South Africa and have met colleagues from North-West University.  Seugnet Blignaut and Verona Leendertz were gracious hosts on my first day.  They gave me a tour of North-West’ s Vaal Triangle Campus, which is quite attractive and very large.

Located on the banks of the Vaal River in a proclaimed nature reserve, the Vaal Triangle Campus is an inspiring setting for study.  The campus has a number of buildings spread nicely so there is always a feeling of openness.  Mostly brick construction provides a uniformity and style to the campus. The student residences are most attractive two-story townhouse style facilities.   The campus is connected to a small game preserve and you can see springbok (kind of like a small gazelle) grazing in the distance.

At night, Seugnet invited me to dinner at her home where we had a South African dish, bobotie (minced meat) with rice.

A most pleasant evening.

Tony