Public Holidays.

We are lucky enough to have 12 Public Holidays in South Africa. Now I am retired, every day is a holiday, but when I was teaching I used to circle them in red and mutter if they fell on a Saturday! Thursday was the very best day to have one, as Friday was often given as an extra school holiday and that meant that the parents who were going to keep their children out of school anyway, could do so with a clear concience!!

We have just celebrated Reconciliation Day on 16 December. This used to be called The Day of the Vow, but was changed in 1994. I learnt an interesting fact about this particular day when I was listening to the radio. Apparently, here in the Cape, the 16 December is traditionally the day when people wash the walls of their houses in readiness for the summer! A few women phoned in to say that they had started, and that the curtains were on the line! I found that fascinating, but, let me stress, not fascinating enough for me to join in! Apart from that, it is also the de-facto start of the summer holiday period. I remember when we were building our house, the builders all downed bricks and cement on the 15 December, so we bought everybody fish and chips for lunch and sent them on their way until 12 January.

The day also marks the beginning of the headache season for the traffic police as thousands of people trek to holiday destinations or go home for the holidays. Johannesburg empties as Durban and Cape Town fill! Even our little village is beginning to bulge with 'uitlanders' and we end up longing for them to go home so we can have our peace and quiet back!

This year, we have been granted an extra public holiday as Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. Normally, if that happens we get Monday to compensate! But, Monday, instead of being given for Sunday, is Boxing Day (Family Day here!) and Tuesday should have been back to work! So, Tuesday is now a holiday for Monday being used for Sunday, and everyone goes back to work on Wednesday. Unless you are on holiday anyway like a builder, then it doesn't make much difference anyway! Are you still with me?? Never mind!

January 1 is a holiday everywhere! But here in the Cape, we have the 2 January as well, it is known as 'tweede nuwe jaar' or second new year! It allows everyone to recover from the celebrations of New Years Day, or to carry on for another day!

For us, it means that the holidays are nearly over and we watch the road out of the village carefully, ticking off every car and trailer and bicycle carrier that leaves!

Roll on 2012!