Holiday Blues 2

 Hey peeps,

So. we’ve successfully spent our second Christmas here in the UK and to be honest, there’s a lot to highlight about how there's nothing much to write home about…does that even make any sense?

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that contrary to popular belief, Christmas can also be a very lonely period depending on your circumstance or point of view. Speaking as immigrants still trying to find their feet, it can be a really trying period. Apart from all the stress of trying to get your papers sorted (with the huge fees required to do so), there's also the loneliness that hits you every time. Now we are a bit more fortunate than most seeing as we have family members here who you can relate with from time to time.. However, these interactions are very limited; for most of the holiday, you are left to your own devices. London is a lonely place and its so easy to fall into some sort of holiday depression just off the fact that you’re on your own so much of the time and no one seems to care too much about it…. Despite the myriad of things to do, there are so many factors that make this impossible: the weather, money, dampened wills, strangers everywhere and just a general sense of torpor.

To counteract this, Chioma and I made plans not to get too caught up in the holiday blues…we planned a trip to Birmingham to see our family friends and that was a huge success (apart from the fact that I seemed to have caught serious flu from this trip) and we had our annual Christmas get together at Aunty Ngozi’s place which also went down very successfully. Nevertheless, after all this, we’ve been alone at home for a few days now and I believe I’m going stir crazy. The unfortunate part of this is that unlike in Nigeria where you can just decide to jump out of the house and go somewhere, it's not the same here…the weather has been brutally cold and financial restrictions really limit you from doing anything you’d want to. Even though ive accepted it as part of the sacrifices in this phase of my life, it’s still very “somehow”.

It gets laughable after a while because you know many people who’d trade circumstances with you in a heartbeat. Sigh..

 Maybe it’s just the ability to come on here and rant away, or just the fact that I really hate being bored but at some point, I know it's definitely going to get better… and this is what really keeps me going.

After all, it's supposed to be the season to be jolly no?

 

 

Merry Christmas folks!!

 It’s been a blessed year for us and honestly, I’m just grateful for what we’ve achieved and where we are right now in life. Again, so many things to be thankful for. I’ve successfully bagged my Masters degree with a fantastic grade, Chioma’s work is progressing in leaps, Remote (Chioma’s workplace) being the awesome people they are have offered us the elusive CoS (more on this later), I’ve gotten a job offer which is looking very positive, we’ve been in good health thus far…so as I said… much to be thankful for.

No rubbish matching pyjama pictures for us this year even though I strongly suspect that Chioma is going to make me do it one of these coming years.

Anyway, Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours!!

All you can eat

Hi guys..

So we were getting bored of the forced indoor confinement necessitated by the suddenly crazy winter weather and decided to do something outdoors.

One good thing going for London is the abundance of places of interest and tons of scheduled events (especially during the festive period). We decided to explore central London and set off towards Leicester square which I heard they had converted into a sort of Christmas/winter sale village.

Got all the clothing layers on and set off via the Bakerloo. It was actually a beautiful place but of course, from the exorbitant prices of the goods there, it was obvious that the major target audience were the abundant tourists who apparently had trooped into London for the yuletide. We went round the place, did a little sightseeing and then decided to set off once we got tired. Now, at this point, we were a bit hungry and seeing as the Chinatown complex was just next door, we decided to grab a bite from one of their numerous stores.

Boy….Chinese people really know how to set themselves up everywhere they are. The place was so unapologetically Chinese. We had actually been here before but it seemed to have somehow gotten bigger. I recall with fondness the dilapidated China town complex at Ketu in Lagos and I laugh in amusement…here’s the real deal.

Last time we were here, Chioma had gotten some quick takeaway from one of the shops but this time around, We ended up deciding to eat in at one of the shops advertising an “all you can eat” buffet and o boy!! It was an inspired decision.

Like an authentic amala joint, the service was that kind of abrupt, straight-to-the-point, get-on-with-it type that makes you instinctively understand that the yumminess of the food would make up for it. The place was packed. We got in though… sat at a table for two, paid the obligatory entry/table fees, got handed two plates with cutlery set and were instructed to help ourselves.

I’m not a novice at buffets and i’m sure the concept of an all you can eat one is not novel but omo, the amount and variety of food choices here were staggering.

 Chioma and I went to town!!

I started off with starters, piled my plate high and dug in. Same with Chioma… Anyway, there’s no shame here o…funny enough, some of the white folks that were eating all around us seemed determined to bankrupt the restaurant proprietors with the way they were piling their plates with food…and going for round after round…na wa o.

Long story short, it was an extremely enjoyable meal which ended up after two rounds for Chioma and round three for me. Wow. The Asians really know their stuff when it comes to their cuisine.

Ended up getting some desert and two bowls of takeaway where my darling wife distinguished herself with her impressive, plate-packing skills. Chioma stuffed that takeaway bowl till it was begging for its life. Lol..

Staggered out and headed back home feeling deliciously full and well sated.

 

God bless the Chinese.

Lolo at 70

Hi All,

Today's post will be celebrating an amazing human being, my loving, caring, devoted, wonderful mom, Lolo Nneoma Eugenia Akunnaya Ibemere.

Guys…you see the person I am today, that’s partly because of the influence of this woman in my life. It goes without saying that this woman sacrificed so much to make sure we were all well brought up, trained, loved and successful at life. Thanks to my parents, we had SOLID values drilled into us from an early age and I believe this has stuck with us so far.

We love you so much mom.

So earlier this year around July, Ugo came up with a plan for us to celebrate her as this year was supposed to mark her 70^th birthday. Of course, the idea caught on with all of us, and plans spun into full gear. After bringing Lolo herself into the picture, we started all the planning, and between Mom and Ugo, most of the preparation, buying, strategizing and whatnot were mostly taken care of in time.

Its just one of the cons of this japa life…everything from our own end was done from far away but Chioma and I tried to be involved in all aspects sha.

From all accounts…It was a MASSIVE success.

So , after some stressful journeys by road, my peeps all traveled back home and together with the great folks back home, we successfully put some befitting events together to celebrate Lolo.

There was a church thanksgiving celebration

capped with the inevitable chop chop party for the villagers and everyone who dropped by and finally, a visit to the motherless babies home later the following week.

Mama, we will never tire of telling you how much you mean to all of us. Your love, compassion, care and discipline are the foundation for everything we know. Our prayer is for God to keep you alive and in good health to enjoy the reward of all your sacrifices and labour.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for my beautiful mom, Lolo Nneoma Eugenia Akunna Ibemere. 

Giving back in small ways.

 Hey people

So, some update on events.

Some time ago during one of our library visits, Chioma and i came across an advert requesting volunteers to assist a home library service for the Brent council.

It looked like such a great thing to do and considering that I really enjoy being in the library and its services, we were like, why the hell not? So we went ahead and applied.

Weeks later, I got the mail that I’d been successful (unfortunately Chioma wasn’t) and the whole onboarding process to be a volunteer started.

Bruh…these people are thorough with their stuff.

After one informal but grueling interview with some lovely ladies, I’ve had to get a DBS check done. This is a kind of comprehensive background check with all the authorities to verify your status. Apparently, since I would be getting to meet a lot of people in their homes, with most of them being elderly and vulnerable, they need to ensure that I’m not some sort of closet serial killer.

Suffice to say, I passed the DBS check in flying, spotless colours (being the angelic soul that I am 😇👼) and I’ve since resumed as a volunteer for the Brent Council Home Library service.

Small wins. Yay.

I’m grateful for it because it gives me a chance (no matter how little) to give back to the wonderful Brent Library service where I spent so much time during my school year. Besides, it’s just for a couple of hours weekly and I hopefully get to meet some interesting people.

We are to collect book requests from people who aren’t mobile enough to come to the library and assist with dropping off at their respective houses. My first drop-off was to this lovely elderly Indian couple. They were clearly expecting another of my colleagues, (the usual babe who comes to their place) and were a bit wary at first but they quickly warmed up and even though it ended up being brief, it was a good start.

Well…here’s to serving the community.

 

The absolute Ghetto of Job hunting

 

Hola amigos.

Its been a while…phew… I’ve been busy trying to get post-school life going and mehn..its not been easy at all.

Let nobody tell you any different…getting a full-time job here as an immigrant is most certainly not the easiest of tasks. At one point, I’ve had to create a separate folder in my mailbox to house all the rejection emails from all the companies ive applied to and to be honest, it’s the most frustrating thing ever. As I sit back and watch the mails pile up in that accursed folder, I always make a conscious effort to remind myself that its nothing to do with me and it’s just a by-product of the system here and how it operates.

Bruh. It’s tiring.

If the numerous job search sites in this country are to be believed, it’s not as if there are no available roles o….they are there. Its just that even after all the applications, tests and what not, they always send that stupid rejection email, always starting with some bullshit “thanking you so much for taking the time to consider joining us but unfortunately, we have decided not to progress with your application” speech.

It’s so bad that I’ve been applying to roles much below my skill and competency level. Omo. I just tire.

Funny enough, there is one job offer I have that is still on the table and that is the aftermath of the Birmingham trip I mentioned here but I’m still trying to sort some issues with that one out but the point I wanted to highlight is that this job offer only came about from a personal referral from one of Chioma’s friends who works there. So apparently, unless you get referred, it’s an insane endeavor trying to get a regular job.

Of course, you would hear of all the success stories from people who claim to have gotten it but at some point, you have to start wondering if its real at all. I’ve also noticed that my data looks to have been farmed out to different agents without my consent (probably from all the numerous sites I’ve put up my CV). You’ll wake up and see one email from a strange person talmbout “I saw your cv on xyz site and I think you’ll be a fit for this role I have open…bla bla bla”…omo na scam o. I’ve responded to a lot of these clowns and the funny thing is that ive never heard back from even one of them. I think its time to take steps to remove my data from wherever they’re getting it from.

Sigh.

Biko, you people should help me pray for something good to come up quick cos the frustration is mounting. Small consolation is the fact that I’m still doing the stuff at the restaurant and trying to squeeze in more hours, now that I’m out of term time in school. However, working for minimum wage at this stage of my life just doesn’t cut it with me.

Anyhow sha, this is me putting it out in the universe that I will come back to this post very soon and laugh at all the frustrations with an update of a very good job offer!! And the church says whaaat????

 

AMEN!!

Autumn

 

Hey guys..

The seasons are changing guard once again…. Ladies and gentlemen…say hello to AUTUMN.

It was a good summer, hot, but not as punishing as people predicted it to be..at least here in London.

Elsewhere, it was a different story altogether. We were hearing stories of it being the hottest month on record. WOW. It was so hot that people died from heatwaves, sunstrokes and other heat related ailments… Na wa o.

Here in London, the summer was hot, with temperatures reaching lower 40’s. However, I’ve seen worse and I’m not trying to be insensitive to my lighter skinned brethren, but I would describe my first summer experience as “mildly uncomfortable”.

Anyway, the change of guard has arrived, the leaves have yellowed off and are gradually falling off, duvets have reappeared in homes, wool lined, and heavy-duty jackets have started making appearances on the streets again and that ominous chill in the air is very evident now.

It’s a testament to Nature’s wonder and God’s wonderful design.

You all know I’m not a big fan of the winter season … so preparations have started in earnest, here at the Ibemere household. Chioma has brought out all the jackets and we’ve laundered them, thermal underwear has made a reappearance, the wall heaters in the rooms have been test run for functionality, our boiler is confirmed in good condition, ginger and lemon solutions were recently bought and aboniki will be sourced out very soon. LMAO.

We thank God for everything, for life, for provision and for availability.

 

Bring on the cold weather.