VUVU-what?

If you are a football fan and you don't know what a vuvuzela is, then you will definitely know after the FIFA World Cup. If you are coming to watch any games, make sure you come prepared. Not only with your vuvuzela, but with earplugs as well. Recent research has shown that the little "trumpet" South Africans love to blow during soccer matches, makes more noise than is legally permitted in South African industries. According to safety regulations, workers are not allowed to work in environments with noise levels above 85 decibels, unless they wear hearing protection of course. Apart from sitting for more than 80 minutes in the most irritable noise imaginable, the fact of hearing damage because of decibels that can go up to 144 might make you reconsider watching the match on television. But hey, that is what makes South Africa different from other football loving countries, and that is why people come here for that experience.

Vuvuzelas are not only bad I guess. I walked into a shop that is selling vuvuzelas. At first I didn't pay much attention to the music that was playing in the store, although the quality sounded a but below standard, but when I got to the till, my eye caught the source of the music (which btw was loud enough to hear from outside the shop). A mobile phone with a vuvuzela nicely placed on top of the speaker. Well done to the lady that created this "invention". South Africans are not only unique in many ways, we have lots of ingenuity as well.