Birmingham beckoned

 Hi fam,

 

Okay, let me get you all up to speed on some life updates.

It’s been a whirlwind couple of months for us. 2024 has been THAT year for us.

I resumed at my new customer service job with Travelperk and it’s been such a great time. Admittedly. I initially felt like I was overqualified for it because I’ve been in CS all my life however, the truth of it is that this is an entirely new industry (Business travel) and I’m a newbie here. It’s strange to be back in that call center setting, handling calls, emails and chats again…but what can I say? This is an entirely different kettle of fish! In hindsight, I realize that my CS days in Nigeria was a poor shadow of what CS should actually be. There’s so much to learn and the people over here have been absolutely amazing. I’ve been blessed to have a great team with a fantastic manager who makes me want to do and be better. It’s great that CS is one of my strong points so it’s mostly been all about getting updated on the product knowledge part and getting used to working from a different perspective when it comes to working with white people. Trust me, I’ve had to do a quick reset when it comes to work cos these lot ain’t fucking around. Fortunately, I’m a quick study and education and exposure have helped me blend in quite nicely (if I say so myself). Plus, the job is helping me finally contribute much more to our financials, so yes, all in all , quite the blessing.

Birmingham beckoned and we had to answer the call.. We’re now officially Brummies and I can tell you it’s a whole lot different from our darling London. First off, it’s much cheaper than living in London!! (The Government didn’t create a separate living wage for Londoners for nothing yunno..) Bham is a relatively big town on its own though and even though life is a bit less fast-paced, it’s still a “happening” place. The weather however, is just downright awful. This is April yet, we still have to use the heaters and duvets most of the time. Cold rain is always one minute away and the winds here can make it pretty uncomfortable.

We got a two-bed apartment in a lovely part of town called Harborne but maybe because we were in such a hurry to get settled back then in January, we didn’t take the time to really scout through houses. This one has some issues which riles both of us whenever we think of it. For such a lovely part of town, this house just reduces the brownie points. There’s a back yard which is supposed to be like your nice outdoor garden, however, our landlady (irony of ironies, she’s Nigerian) has neglected to take care of it and it’s developed into such a messy area that I’ve been forced to complain several times to her (nothing’s changes at time of press), the house EPC rating makes it quite a hassle to warm up and from the little part of the winter weather we experienced here, it can get pretty cold!. Additionally, the wifi setup of the house was such that the living room has the worst reception, which means Chioma had to work mostly from the bedroom and watching live TV was so frustrating. (I sorted it out later sha,). Long and short of it is that we might be moving to another house before the year is up. Will keep you updated.

Side note to thank the Agomos for being such outstanding people. They really helped us settle in and have been such a blessing. God bless you guys.