May God punish all things poverty related! (AMEEEN!)
You know, it's one thing HEARING how things work in other parts of the world and actually SEEING these things directly.
As i said in one of my previous posts, i don't want to always come off sounding like one backwoods bumpkin, but it's always a startling, pleasant shock to witness an organized, functioning system in action. I actually think culture shock has never applied to me personally (I'm a bit too urbane and well-read for that 😉😉)... It's always the realization that this is what and how things should have applied back home, that gets me down in the dumps.
It wants to make you weep for Nigeria.
How do i even begin to describe London? Maybe i'll do it from my personal perspective. (What else??🙄🙄).
People first. I'm not sure why, but almost everyone i've met are all from outside the United Kingdom!! London is such a mixed pot of everyone and it always seems like you're hearing every language in the world apart from actual English. Even when you do, it's either heavily laced with native accents or coming from folks who have obviously lived here all their lives.
Of course, I'm aware that there are lots of British people born to immigrant parents and all, yet the sheer number of foreigners in London is pretty impressive. It's funny because a lot of folks here have started adopting British mannerisms...(both good and awful).... the polite indifference, mind-your-business attitude, always-in-a-rush movement patterns and weird addiction to pets. Despite it, you can actually tell that once you make the first move, people here are genuinely good and very very pleasant. Matter of fact, people here insist on being friendly and charming once you initiate conversation. Coming from my gidigbo Lasgidi background, it's actually a fantastic change in mindset. Opening doors for others, giving up seats for people in need, the politeness, actually obeying driving rules (i know right!!)....it's all ingrained in folks here and thats so good to see.
I haven't decided whether maybe its because we're in London and mayhaps they're some badly behaved people in other parts (yeah..racists, i'm referring to you pricks) but personal experience has been good so far.
The economy is great too. Very funny seeing as there are so many complaints from people here about it being very bad now, what with Brexit and all but looking at it from OUR perspective, LMAO.... again LEEMAO!! It's actually pretty decent and you can very easily make a living doing anything. Food here is so cheap. I remember the first time Chioma and i went to Asda (our current favorite supermarket) alone, we had to restrain ourselves from getting everything we needed and a whole lot we didn't need. Some things we would have to budget-buy in Lagos were just regular off-the-shelf stuff. Crazy. (p.s Chioma is a shopaholic (don't tell her i mentioned it. She's not aware)). Overall, its not difficult at all to live easily here.
I think one of the best parts for me is the public transport system here. Never have i been more comfortable not having a car than i have here, because everything is so organized and well run. Trains are great and run on time, buses are generally on time as well. You just have to make sure you time yourself properly and you should be fine.
This paragraph is officially dedicated to giving a major middle finger to NEPA aka PHCN aka Terrorists aka bane of my previous existence aka darkness demons aka economic stiflers...and the list goes on and on.... After four decades of my existence, i'm finally experiencing and adjusting to what 24 hrs power entails. Oh yeah!!..there are actually adjustments to be made. Stuff like not having to warm your food twice a day, power banks, rushing to iron clothes, charging devices ish, generator noise, inverter wahala etc are all things of the past. GLORY HALLELUYA!!. E dey shame me to even pen this down but i still have PTSD whenever i hear a sudden siren sound. If you know, you know.
School is a whole new world as well. I'm studying Human Resource Management at the University of East London and make no mistake, its been a bit tough, seeing as my last academic engagement was almost a decade ago but all in all i've settled and doing quite nicely. You see we Nigerians? we can make noise about japa but compared to Indians?? we are learners. My class is full of Indian students. Fortunately for me, i have a lot of experience dealing with them (from Freshdesk and Nairabet) so its been okay. They actually like me a lot (who wouldn't 😎)so we get on very well.
The housing here is one of the major downsides sha. Like how do these people live in such small rooms and houses?? I jokingly compared the room sizes here to our boxroom in boarding school and i'm not even wrong. Coupled with the fact that almost 60 - 70% of income here goes to paying rent in London!!!. It's just absurd. Sometimes just for the fun of it, i wonder how much our apartment in Silverpoint estate would cost here. lol. Anyway, everything cannot be always great yeah?
Even though we are now residents, Chioma and i officially did the mandatory tourist rounds and really, London is beautiful. So much history in the streets, buildings and locations...can't describe it all but the following pics capture just a bit of what is a beautiful city and our new home.
