Scott Schmidley, a student visitor from the University of Minnesota in the United States, will be working at the Zoutnet Group (Zoutpansberger, Limpopo Mirror and Makoya 7-11 radio station) from May 30 to August 3 this year to study South African journalism. He´s staying with a family in Louis Trichardt and is already shocked and amazed at what South African culture has to offer. "I´ve heard many things about South Africa," Schmidley said. "But I´m constantly surprised at the cultural differences here." He decided to make the 22-hour flight to Johannesburg after members of the Zoutnet staff visited his university as part of a research project. They taught his class about South African journalism and the value of print news in the Limpopo community. He was intrigued and excited to learn more about the region. Thus far, he has been amazed at the South African way of life. Knowing only English has been a struggle, but he said the people have been very understanding with him. "With 11 official languages, I´m really glad most people speak mine," he said. Last weekend, the Louis Trichardt hockey team allowed him to play during a game with them in Tzaneen. He had never before seen the curl of a field hockey stick. "It´s a really fast game, and tough too. The players make it look so easy," Schmidley said. The team beat Limpopo University 3-1. Back in the United States, Schmidley is a student of journalism and economics in his fourth year at the university. He works at the university paper, but he said it´s "very, very different from Zoutnet." At Zoutnet he will be working for the radio station and as a reporter for the papers. Initially his mother was a little nervous about his journey, Schmidley recalls. But he´s been keeping up contact with his family through Skype, an internet communication application, and by telephone. Before he left for South Africa, he laughed, his family was very concerned about things like large game safety. In Minnesota, he sees nothing like what he sees here. "The countryside is beautiful in South Africa. I can´t believe the vegetation and animal life you guys live with. I recognise nothing." And after a trip through the Soutpansberg, whose existence he doubted until the clouds from an overcast weekend passed, he decided that his trip was already worthwhile. Everything here is astonishingly different from the United States, according to Schmidley. "I saw a monkey in the street today. Apparently it was real," he said.