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- Thread starter spatium
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I don't know if there's any collaboration between the American Planning Association and the SA planning organizations, but you might want to check out http://www.planning.org/Jobs&Careers/Overview.htm , and send off an e-mail message to someone at the APA.
Jobswap International (http://www.jobswapinternational.com/) is an organization that promotes urban planning job exchanges in Commonwealth countries; a planner in Canada could swap jobs with a planner in Australia for a few months, for instance. Unfortunately, American planners can't take advantage of Jobswap, although some have arranged a job swap on their own. You might be able to get into Canada, where the planning system isn't that much different than what you might encounter in the United States. Consider, though, that many Canadian planning agencies are facing cutbacks due to municipal consolidation and loss of provincial funding; Canadian planners are streaming south of the border. (Part of the a plot to take over the United States, I say, just like their export of comedians and beer.
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If you go the job swap route, realize that the majority of Americans are unilingual. When they do speak a second language, it's probably going to be French, German, Spanish, or their native tongue if they're immigrants. The number of Afrikaans-speaking U.S. natives is negligible, so an American might be hesitant to swap jobs with a planner in an area where Afrikaans dominates over English -- forget the dorps, Orange Free State, suburban Pretoria or Bloemfontein. There might be some interest in Cape Town, Durban, Jo'burg's northern or eastern suburbs, or the Wine Route regions, though. Safety will be an issue; Americans don't take their rapidly dropping crime rate for granted, and ZA's reputation for crime is well known here.
Jobswap International (http://www.jobswapinternational.com/) is an organization that promotes urban planning job exchanges in Commonwealth countries; a planner in Canada could swap jobs with a planner in Australia for a few months, for instance. Unfortunately, American planners can't take advantage of Jobswap, although some have arranged a job swap on their own. You might be able to get into Canada, where the planning system isn't that much different than what you might encounter in the United States. Consider, though, that many Canadian planning agencies are facing cutbacks due to municipal consolidation and loss of provincial funding; Canadian planners are streaming south of the border. (Part of the a plot to take over the United States, I say, just like their export of comedians and beer.
)If you go the job swap route, realize that the majority of Americans are unilingual. When they do speak a second language, it's probably going to be French, German, Spanish, or their native tongue if they're immigrants. The number of Afrikaans-speaking U.S. natives is negligible, so an American might be hesitant to swap jobs with a planner in an area where Afrikaans dominates over English -- forget the dorps, Orange Free State, suburban Pretoria or Bloemfontein. There might be some interest in Cape Town, Durban, Jo'burg's northern or eastern suburbs, or the Wine Route regions, though. Safety will be an issue; Americans don't take their rapidly dropping crime rate for granted, and ZA's reputation for crime is well known here.
Thanks for the reply Dan
I'm impressed! You actually know of our cities - and the language spoken. The first American I know of that knows we speak Afrikaans.
I will check out the URL link you sent - maybe I'll come right, who knows.
It's a pitty that South Africa's reputation for crime is spreading. I can assure you it's not that bad, and the media isn't exactly helping by blowing it out of proportion. As you know most large metropolitan inner cities these days suffer from some degree of crime. In our case, a large influx of black people from over the border like Zimbabwe, Botswana and even as far as Kenya and Nigeria are trying to upset the stability in cities like Johannesburg. Hillbrow is notorious for it.
At some stage I would like to tell you more about my home town and the planning activities we are involved in. (It's called Rustenburg and is the biggest producer of Platinum and palladium in the world). But more later...
I'm impressed! You actually know of our cities - and the language spoken. The first American I know of that knows we speak Afrikaans.
I will check out the URL link you sent - maybe I'll come right, who knows.
It's a pitty that South Africa's reputation for crime is spreading. I can assure you it's not that bad, and the media isn't exactly helping by blowing it out of proportion. As you know most large metropolitan inner cities these days suffer from some degree of crime. In our case, a large influx of black people from over the border like Zimbabwe, Botswana and even as far as Kenya and Nigeria are trying to upset the stability in cities like Johannesburg. Hillbrow is notorious for it.
At some stage I would like to tell you more about my home town and the planning activities we are involved in. (It's called Rustenburg and is the biggest producer of Platinum and palladium in the world). But more later...