isiZulu

As I buy my last affordable bottle of wine for a while, the girl at the till tries to teach me a couple of words of isiZulu.

"unJani?" she asks. How are you?

I ask how I should reply. "Ngisaphila." I'm well.

A couple more words, bright smiles on either side.

I did not have the heart to tell her that I'm leaving.

Confession: I had to refer to wikipedia to get it right.

Uitpasseer

On my first day at work we all met in the boardroom. New employees, slightly nervous, excited, optimistic.

On the last day, we have tea and cake in the boardroom. They say how they will miss my contribution. I make a submissive two-sentence speech on how the people I worked with made it worthwhile. All carefully worded, no-one upsetting anyone else.

They give me a gift voucher.

Then we eat, mingle, chat. Say goodbye. I tell about my new adventure. Answer questions on where and how and what.

We disperse. The MD disappears without saying a word.