Coming to America…from South Africa

by Ingrid Ansell

I consider it a huge privilege to be an immigrant here, and find joy in the fact that I have lived in, and been a part of two different cultures.  I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently, as we just passed a big milestone.  I was born and raised in South Africa, and moved here a week before my 30^th birthday, and we’ve now lived here in the US for 30 years.  We are citizens of both countries.  I know I’m not “African American”, but I sort of am African-American, and embrace both places as home.

I told my mother when I was 21 years old that I’d never marry a doctor, nor leave my home country.  (Longer stories for another time!). Well, never say never, right?  Steve and I met and married, and after 4 years of marriage, Kerryn was born.  Around this time, Steve’s work had become so interesting to him, and he felt called into cancer treatment and research (via unusual circumstances he found himself in while doing his compulsory 2 years of military training).  He asked me whether I’d consider living in the US for 2 years so he could gain some experience as the US was a leader in cancer research.  He had just landed a residency position after a telephone interview.  One thing led to another, and we felt the Lord opened many doors and enabled us to go on this ‘two-year adventure’.  We were excited, and I’m still amazed at how supportive our families were, despite the fact that we were moving so far away with their first grandchild.  One thing led to another for Steve, and when he finished training after 6 years, was offered a job at Mayo Clinic.  We went back to S.A. to consider jobs there, but after many doors opened and closed, we really felt like the Lord continued to pave the way for us to stay in Rochester.  

Due to Steve and my visas, I was unable to work for about 15 of those first years, so I kept busy raising our two kids, and volunteering in many things my kids were involved in.  (Kerryn was 6 months old when we left S.A., and Brad was born in Rochester.)  My most fulfilling roles were always those related to women and Bible studies, and the Lord provided a remarkable group of friends through what was then known as “Residents’ Wives Bible Study”, now Side By Side, who became “my people”.  It was an unexpected gift that most people I met initially were all from other states or countries – I was certainly not the only one with no family around, and we supported each other as family.   A South African friend who had lived in Rochester a few years prior to us arriving, recommended we attend Calvary – which we did from the first Sunday after we arrived.  (They also gave us the names and contact information for Mary and Larry Goedhart and said we could call them if we needed help of any kind!)

I was grateful to have moved to another English-speaking country, but it became obvious very soon, that we in South Africa had grown up with a different kind of English – the British kind, where our ancestors hailed from!  A visit to Apache Mall became challenging on my first visits.  I was in search of a duvet (comforter), night frill (bed skirt), and scatter cushion/continental pillow (pillow sham?) for a single (twin) bed.  Our kids were in need of a pram (stroller), cot (crib), dummy (pacifier), and nappy (diaper), and we loaded said items into the boot (trunk) of our car, sitting on the left side of the car and driving on the right side of the road, ensuring we stopped at all the red robots (traffic lights), and avoided pedestrians on the zebra crossing (crosswalk)!  Boy … I thought I knew the language!?  Occasionally, we went out as a treat, and that was similarly confusing.  No milk for my tea (what is orange pekoe tea anyway?), no coffee shops (in the 90’s), restaurants that closed at 8pm, and I still don’t know all the meanings of the terms used to serve eggs!

One of my friends (who is dear to me to this day) stopped over to drop something off in the early days.  I invited her to come in for a cup of tea, and she replied, “no thanks, I’m not really thirsty”.  I closed the door and almost cried.  It wasn’t about quenching thirst, rather the opportunity to have a quick chat … our relationship survived that hurdle!  

On the way to church one bitterly cold Sunday of our first winter, I was completely caught off-guard by the cold.  Steve was working, and I hadn’t mastered pumping gas at all stations – there are subtle differences.   I tried to look like I knew how to do this simple task, but we had enjoyed pump attendants in S.A., so I was still learning.   I was in my (inadequate) court shoes, stockings and skirt, and I hadn’t brought my gloves.  After taking way longer than I should have to pump gas in the freezing cold, I walked in to pay for it.  My hands were so cold, I had to wait a few minutes for them to thaw out sufficiently to get my payment out of my purse.  Lesson learned!

Although there are many things I miss about South Africa, like often perfect weather, outdoor lifestyle, easy access to mountains and the ocean, warm friendliness and relaxed way of life, I’ve come to love many things about American culture and society too.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite celebrations, the cabin up north/family gathering culture, the rule-following and mostly law-abiding society, punctuality, real snow at Christmas time, amazing music opportunities for our kids in their formative years, four dramatically different seasons, and garage sales!  I also enjoy the ability to befriend neighbors more easily, without the barrier of high security walls around houses due to higher crime rates in S.A..  God has blessed us with wonderful friends in Rochester and beyond, fulfilling work for Steve, and 30 years of great memories and a relatively stress-free city to live in.

The older I get, the more I cherish the bond we have as sisters in Christ, despite our ages, backgrounds or places of birth.  The fact that we are all “citizens of heaven” completely erases our cultural differences.  I know for certain that the hope we have in Christ will be realized in a fantastic way.  Sometimes, as we worship together, I get a faint glimpse of this wonderful future reality that we will enjoy together, as John describes in his vision of heaven from Revelation: 

“After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar,

‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne 

and from the Lamb!’

And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.”
~Revelation 7:9-11

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Ingrid Ansell was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved here with her husband, Steve 27 years ago. They have two adult kids – Kerryn, who is married to Scott and they live in Madison, Wisconsin, and Bradley who lives here in Rochester.  These things brighten her day – playing guitar or piano, working with the women’s ministry team, pickleball, cross-country skiing, hiking, trying new ideas for church community engagement, coffee with a friend, travel with Steve, reading, cooking and visiting family in S.A.!