Life in Switzerland: IMD University Trip to South Africa

After summer break was over there was still a lot to look forward to. As part of our coursework at IMD, the school paid for the entire class to go on a trip to South Africa to work on 2 week consulting projects for small start-up companies in Johannesburg.

When we met together at the school to take the bus to the Geneva airport, I was quite surprised by how different everyone looked after not seeing them for 3 weeks. The best way I can describe it is that people looked happy, relaxed, and even radiant after the summer holidays, which was our first major break from the stressful 6 months of the MBA program. We were talking nonstop, catching up on each other's summer adventures, and laughing more than we had all year long.

We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday morning of July 19, and after the 11 hr flight my classmates all looked normal again because we were exhausted from the trip. I didn't sleep at all on the flight because of a bad stomachache I'd gotten before we left, so I was not in the best of moods.

When we got off the plane in Johannesburg, I was startled by how the racial divide between blacks and whites was still clearly evident. Perhaps I was cued to be looking for it, but I did notice that the menial workers, such as the construction workers, cleaning staff and cashiers, were mostly black, while the managers were mostly white. On the drive from the airport I saw lots of black Africans just standing around, hanging around, or even sleeping on the side of the highway.

The places we passed had names like Mandela Square and Gandhi Mall, and street names such as Jan Smuts Ave. It was as if the country was proud of and also embarrased by its history. I had been warned about how the wealthy Africans who remain in the country live in gated apartment communities with thick metal sliding gates and guards, but I somehow didn't believe it was really like that until we got there and I saw it for myself. Every single property had a fence around it, most more than 8ft high with barbed wire or electrical currents running across the top. When cars pulled up to a complex of condos they had to be approved by the guard and buzzed in, and the thick solid metal gate would slide open long enough for the car to pull in and then close again with a bang.

The hotel where we were staying, just across the street from Mandela Square, was very nice, clean, and in a very safe area of town. It was fresh and modern, and the hotel rooms looked the same as anywhere else in the world. In Mandela Square were 2 huge shopping malls with many expensive stores and lots of fancy restaurants.

After we arrived and checked in we had several hours to kill, so some people went for lunch in Mandela Square, while I took a much needed three hour nap. That evening we went to our welcome dinner to meet the entrepreneurs we would be working with during the following two weeks. My group was assigned to two companies - Badiramogo, started by Ken Zerf, which manufactured clothing, and Mashabela Personnel, started by Candace Mashabela and Tebogo Gabashane, which was an IT recruiting firm. Within my group we had to decide how to split the five of us among the two companies.

As I looked around at my surroundings I couldn't believe that I was actually in Africa for the first time in my life.

To get to the airport we had two buses, including a double decker, AND a cargo trailer for the luggage.

We hadn't seen each other in 3 weeks so there was lots to catch up on.

It was barely organized chaos getting us unloaded and checked in at the airport.

Boarding together for the flight from Geneva to Zurich. The airline was smart to put us together at the back.

We took up nearly half the plane. It was the loudest plane I've ever been on as everyone caught up on each other's summer adventures.

We watched ourselves take off from a live camera feed. It was weird.

Sunset from the plane.

Flight path into Johannesburg!

Arriving at Johannesburg airport!

The World Cup has just ended a few days before we got there.

First view of the city.

Seeing downtown from a distance.

There were people loitering everywhere.

Even sitting, lying, and sleeping on the side of the roads.

The walls guarding the buildings were tall and imposing, with spikes on top.

Cars had to be approved by the guard and buzzed in to their complexes. It's hard to see but there's electrical wire running along the top of this fence.