Der folgende Text stammt von Omar Mottaweh (9d):

South Africa experience with Mr. Schnaubelt

Our English teacher organized a zoom meeting with a real South African a few weeks ago. We asked him a lot of questions about the history, the nature, the social gap and the apartheid in South Africa. His name is Mr. Schnaubelt. He is a South African with Dutch roots, he lives in the east of Johannesburg. He knows a lot about his country, I believe his parents told him a lot about apartheid, since they lived at the time of apartheid. They even live in a gated community today. I was in the history group, so my article will mostly contain information about the history part of our conversation with Mr. Schnaubelt.
We met Mr. Schnaubelt and asked him questions, one group at a time. Many people said it was hard to understand Mr. Schnaubelt, because of his South African accent.
I had to ask him my question, I was a little nervous, since I had just met Mr. Schnaubelt. But all in all I can say that it went pretty well.
He had an answer for every single question we asked, I really appreciated that.

A very interesting question my friend asked him was „How was prison for Nelson Mandela? “

Mr. Schnaubelt answered „It was a dark atmosphere. It was really hard and the prisoners had to break stones, just so they had something to do.“

In the movie „Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom“ which we watched in class, you can clearly see what Mr. Schnaubelt was talking about.
The next question was asked by a girl of my group, this question was really interesting too and it goes back to the Colonial past of South Africa.

The question was „Why did the Dutch sign contracts with the British, even though they were enemies? “

Mr. Schnaubelt answered: „They pretty much forced them. They had concentration camps, where they kept Dutch women and children. “
My question was „What happened to the gold and diamonds, the Dutch found in their territory in 1867 and 1886? “

Mr. Schnaubelt’s answer to that question was „Many rich companies took the gold and diamonds and sold it as jewellery. Only the rich made profit out of it. It also was the main money source for exports. “
The last two questions weren’t about the history of South Africa, because our task was to ask a maximum of 3 question about our topic and 1-2 general questions about South Africa.

The penultimate question was „How is the weather in South Africa? “

The answer was „The weather in South Africa is really nice. We have many dry and sunny months and short wet periods. “

That sounds quite nice, definitely a reason to visit South Africa!
The last question about the wildlife of South Africa was „Are there dangerous animals in South Africa? “

Mr. Schnaubelt answered „Yes. There are rhinos, lions, crocodiles, cheetahs and many other dangerous animals. “

I really would like to see those animals in the majestic National Parks of South Africa when I get a chance.
It really surprised me how much Mr. Schnaubelt knew about his country. It was definitely a cool idea and experience to talk to a South African. After that experience and the questions asked, I really think that South Africa is a wonderful country with a very dark past.

(Omar Mottaweh, 9d)