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Introducing Mystery Class #2 Johannesburg, South Africa 26.117 S, 28.017 E   You Found Us! Congratulations! You can stop your search, because you've struck gold with "The City of Gold". We're so excited to finally meet you! Let's get aquainted. Greetings from The American International School of Johanneburg Our School  My name is Jayne Couillard and I teach Grade 5 at The American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ). There are approximately 600 students in grades PK-12. We have a large gymnasium for basketball, volleyball and badminton and there is a swimming pool, tennis courts, kindergarten and elementary play grounds and soccer fields. The school used to be part of a large horse farm and our classrooms are still built in some of the stables. Can you see parts of the horse farm in the photo of our school building below? Our City The school campus sits on a windy hillside looking south to Johannesburg, which is also known as the "City of Gold". Johannesburg is said to be the largest and most densely populated in the province and in our country too. It it called the city of gold because gold mining led to the creation of our city. As you can see in this photo below, we are quite a modern city today. This is a great place to live and work because the weather is ideal. We have very short winters that do not get too cold and the summer is beautiful. The average temperature in mid summer which is January is between 15 - 29 Celsius / 60 - 86 Fahrenheit. Temperatures in Mid winter which is July are around 4 - 17 Celsius / 39 - 68 Fahrenheit. Last winter we actually got a whole day of snow which was the first time since 1981. Our Country The most famous person in South Africa has got to be Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality.     In our country, there are over 20 national parks and lots of other nature reserves and regional parks to explore. Many of these national parks have wildlife that include 'the big five'. Can you name them? African Lion, Leopard, Rhino (Black and White), African Elephant and African Buffalo often called the Cape Buffalo. If you ever make it to visit South Africa you will never be disappointed.   Would You Like to Write to Us? If you would like to keep in touch with us please write to: jcouillard@aisj-jhb.com