Eish! London 14 - 17 April

Tuesday, 14 April

As Kay is a fitness instructor in her spare time (she is a supply teacher during the day to help pay the bills) she took me off to her gym in the morning and it became decidedly obvious that: she is phenomenally fitter than I am, I have incredibly weak muscles, and I have loads of work to do on strengthening my body. She suggested some exercises that she would give a client like myself and I said thank-you and reminded her that I hadn’t changed from university and probably wouldn’t even recall one exercise in a couple of weeks time. She laughed at me saying: “Maybe there’s hope yet, Shan.” and my most honest response: “Whatever!” (Knowing full well that if I did strengthen my muscles I probably wouldn’t have as many health hassles as I do). I’m still avoiding finding myself a chiropractor inLondon and I’m still delusionally hoping that I won’t have to… I’m also avoiding strengthening my muscles, but that’s been going on for years!

We headed to her place so I could shower and pick up my bags. She had the car and dropped me off at the Peterborough station so I could make my way back to London, in a manner far more relaxed than when I left!

Here’s the diary entry I wrote during my train ride:

“I’ve spent the last few days with Kay and her hubby. They seem very settled and have lots of plans and dreams in the pipeline, whilst at the same time they have lots they are worrying about too. Kay’s folks are still out in Zimbabwe and she hardly ever gets to speak to them, her sisters are in Cape Town, Sweden and New Zealand, it seems really difficult to have your family scattered all over the world. How do you get to see everyone and stay in touch when you have to pay the bills and live from day to day? It doesn’t seem fair. The weekend was great, though rushed, and they both seem very budget-focused as they are paying the fees for passports and their mortgage; but then in the same breath they wouldn’t let me pay for anything while I was there! Such is the African spirit of hospitality.

Fortunately while I was there I managed to calm down and I have come to the realisation that the challenge of UK is not only trying to fulfill my dreams, but also trying to stay positive and see the good in things whilst I’m here. Keeping my faith and my smile with me is going to have to be something that comes with a conscious effort.

Whilst Kay and I were having a drink at a village pub she had loads to talk about and so many ideas to bounce off me. It seems she doesn’t get too much girl talk way out in Deeping. It’s sad how often girlfriends are undervalued and taken for granted; especially as they are sometimes the only outlet that soothe the soul and make it feel like everything is going to be ok, because you aren’t so alone when a friend is near.. She is definitely done with enjoying supply and long-term teaching in this country. I’m not surprised after listening to some of the horrific experiences she has had to live through. Makes me rather nervous as to what may lie ahead for me! Better to be prepared and know, than to be taken off sides and end up feeling like she does though.

I had a call from a good South African friend, now based in London: Mitch. He’s a great guy, he’s an optimistic character with a funky sense of humour (and he said that if I mention him in my story, I have to say he’s the coolest guy ever! To keep my word: Mitch, you are the coolest guy ever . He called to say hello and see how I was doing. He says there are a few things happening, so he’ll keep me posted. It will be great to catch up with him and meet his girlfriend, Mel. My Mom also called and she is sick at the moment. Shame, I don’t want to hassle her with my issues, especially when she isn’t well, that wouldn’t be fair and all she would do is worry. Imagine if I tell her that the reporter on the radio this week said that North London Schools are now recruiting bouncers as cover supervisors and cover teachers! She would worry sick, well even sicker. No, I have to get on with what the term ahead holds and keep the faith!”

I arrived at King’s Cross and found my way back toHarrowwhere I checked my emails as soon as I was in the attic room:

From: Jonn
Subject: RE: Personal statement for your CV
To: Shannan
Date: Tuesday, 14 April, 2009, 12:28 PM

Morning!

Thanks for the email, I have attached your full bank address info and your supporting statement to your CV so that is now complete…well done! Thanks for my birthday wishes, for some reason or other my Mom sms’d me at 1:30am – what the hell? Hope you had a super Easter weekend up in the country – I was not far from you on Sunday actually, I was in a little village called Ransay, about 25 minutes from Peterborough!! How funny!

Jonn

From: Shannan
Sent: 14 April 2009 18:02
Subject: RE: Personal statement for your CV

Good Afternoon

Reckon your mom was probably excited that her baby is 29
Hopefully see you at the polls tomorrow?

Still trying to sort out that CRB… back to Capita Hammersmith tomorrow afternoon…then checking out potential residences thereafter… hold thumbs.

We were in Lincolnshire yesterday … so I would’ve missed you… but I’m keen to join if ever you have space on any of your countryside expeditions.

See you soon birthday boy

Shannan

Another email was in my inbox to remind me of the significance of tomorrow:

From: Carol
Subject: SA Special Voting Day: Wed 15th April (tomorrow!!)
Date: Tuesday, 14 April, 2009, 13:05 ….Hi All,

If you have applied for a Special Vote for the general elections, then please go and check that your application has been approved.

http://www.elections.org.za/SpecialVotes/SpecialVotes.aspx (print the approval out and bring with you as proof)

If you are based in London, voting will take place on Wednesday, 15 April 2009 commencing from 07:00 until 19:00 at South Africa House, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DP. http://www.southafricahouse.com/

You will need both your green ID book and your passport.

You will also need to fill out a VEC1 form (attached). There will be forms at the election office but probably best to fill one out and bring it with you to speed up the process.

I went to bed very excited for the elections and going to Trafalgar Square. I had my ID and my voting approval form with me. How awesome to be a part of history in the making! Another reason to be excited was that my last attempt to find a room for the evening had presented me with a £330.00 all inclusive room in Preston Road, near Harrowand Jane was keen to come with me to see that one. Cross fingers!
The Advert: Single room available in a South African house. The house has 3 toilets. bathroom and a shower, cooker, washing machine, dryer and wireless internet connection. There is also a nice big garden. You should also be a person who loves animals. We have a very friendly dog.
The house is based in Preston Road, 5 minute walk from Preston Road station and 15 min walk to Wembley park. The room is available as soon as possible. No deposit required.
Wednesday, 15 April – A Travelling South Africans’ day to Vote!

Diary entry: “Tears formed on the rim of my eyes as my chest swelled with pride when I walked out of the tube station and went to the back of the queue of South Africans in Trafalgar Square.”

Harrow to Trafalgar Square cost me £3.70 in travel! (Maybe that was also a reason for tears!)

I managed to get to Trafalgar Square at about 08h30. I came up from the underground to the picture of a very long, thick queue of South Africans lining the edge of the Square. My breath caught at the site of them all standing so eager and so proud. I gulped back tears of my own pride. How awesome that after all the political chaos, after the ending of apartheid, and after a South African’s long court battle for the rights of South Africans living abroad, here we all were in our numbers ready to put a cross on a piece of paper. Apparently the queue had started at 06h00 this morning and now stretched up past the embassy building and all along the perpendicular side of the Square to the National Gallery. With a huge grin I proudly went to stand in the queue too, with my green bar-coded ID, passport and all the paperwork I had gathered back home.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN – A free South African Newspaper distributed inLondon – was being given to people in the queue and it had this headline story:

“Opposing parties set to fight to the bitter end.

It took less than five minutes for the Durban High Court to withdraw 16 charges linked to multi-billion Rand government arms deal, including racketeering, money-laundering, two of corruption and 12 of fraud, against ANC President Jacob Zuma last week. After eight years of legal battles the National Prosecuting Authority said that the case was closed and no further charges would be brought against Zuma.”

Inside the paper the South African Youth Forum Abroad reported that, ‘according to the South African High Commission, almost 10 000 South Africans are expected to vote in London on the 15th of April in the South African National Elections.”

And I also spotted this article:

“Fly the Flag for Football campaign was launched in Johannesburg on Wednesday to build public excitement, awareness and support leading up to two historic soccer events in South Africa. Under the banner “Fly the Flag for Football”, thousands of South African flags, together with information leaflets, were distributed to travellers and holiday makers over the Easter weekend.”

I think the upcoming months are going to be a very exciting time for South Africa!
I sent an sms to my family members to mark the moment:

“I’m standing in a VERY LONG queue in TRAFALGAR SQUARE waiting to vote. AWESOME!!! Love you!!!”

It was lovely to receive this reply from my sister:

“How weird. I was just about to sms you to tell you what time touch rugby was tonight and ask if you were going to come! Missing you and hope voting went well. Lots of love.”

I felt sad that I wasn’t there to go and play, but it was a good feeling to know that she was thinking of me and remembered me…

In typical South African style I recognised people in the queue. It was great to experience familiarity so far away from home. Going into theEmbassyBuildingunder the golden Springbok was a monumental moment for me. The friendly, bustling atmosphere inside the building and standing in my little cubicle with my ballot paper, were experiences never to be forgotten.

After placing my cross in a box (excuse the pun!), it was back to doing admin; I had to go back to the agency I had paid £36.00 to. They wanted me to bring them a letter from the bank with my address on it. The problem with this request was that the new address I had managed to get a bank account with was not the address on my CRB application! Upon explaining this to them they made me fill in another CRB application, which meant the application tracking number changed too. So irritating! I am so over filling in forms! At least my CRB is now on its way to being processed.

The afternoon saw me stood up by the lady who I was supposed to see about a room. My second appointment was unsuccessful too; an estate agent called John met me and took me to 4 very unsuitable places. One was a house that smelt like curry and was lived in by a man, his wife and their baby, he had his own “chauffeur company” so his wife told me (the agent interpreted that as: the husband is a cab driver). Another was a house owned by a man whose VERY untidy male tenant was leaving; the landlord was very insistent that all would be cleaned, but the idea of living with a male landlord didn’t really appeal to me either. The third house had every room locked except the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen I would use, because the landlord only lived in the house sometimes. The final house was that of a little old lady and her cats, she liked to talk a lot and I was phenomenally grateful that I’m allergic to cats. Interestingly the agent hadn’t actually been into 3 of the 4 places before going there with me, and wasn’t even sure which building the one house was. I simply laughed as it seemed quite ludicrous that an agent would have premises on his books he’d never seen, I think he was embarrassed too. None of the rooms were suitable and we left it at that.

When Jane came back from work she drove me through to Preston Roadto the house with 5 Afrikaans speaking South Africans, and a dog called Spike. NT, a guy who works on construction sites, sheltered me from Spike at the door and showed me around the house. We left Spike in the kitchen with Ara, who is currently a bookkeeper. NT showed me the big open lounge, TV, Pool Table area on the first floor opposite a little bedroom that was Ara’s. We went upstairs passed the two bathrooms and 3 main bedrooms and ended up at my prospective room. It was tiny, but affordable, and there were no looming curry or old lady smells in the air. Amen, I’ll take it! (In retrospect the move was a good one and indeed a blessing, but 6 people and a dog in one house really is madness, and trouble waiting to happen. I also realised that it’s not a good idea to go and see lots of places in one go!). Upon leaving Ara offered to help me cart my stuff from Jane’s place to the house if I needed. “Yes please!” was my response, and I took her number.

To celebrate we went to a pub for dinner and the saw the movie 17 Again at the local Harrow Mall cinema. Lovely brain numbing stuff!

Thursday, 16 April

Jane left first thing in the morning to go to a wedding inWarwick. After seeing her off I went and checked my emails:

Email from: Jonn
Subject: RE: Personal statement for your CV
To: Shannan
Date: Wednesday, 15 April, 2009, 11:12

Your CRB will be posted to the address you put on the form. If you have the ref number from the agency, then you can track it on the CRB website. Because of the Easter break their offices would have shut so there will be a lag on processing times for CRBs, but they can take between 3-8 weeks to be processed. Once the CRB office has done the processing, they post one copy to the company that applied for it for you and another copy gets sent to your address. Please don’t tell me you are living in Hammersmith or south west London with all the other South Africans??

Jonn

No, I guess my email wasn’t very clear. I wasn’t moving into Hammersmith. I don’t want to stay in Southfields or Wimbledon either. I’ve moved to London to experience a new and different culture, not home away from home! Even though I have ended up with South Africans I have a feeling a house of Afrikaans people is going to be very different from a house of English Durbanites! (‘Durbanite’ is a nickname for a South African who comes from Durban city on the east coast)

Thankfully and restfully I spent the rest of the day at Jane’s place watching DVDs. It was fantastic to chill out for the day.

Friday, 17 April

Enough ‘chilling’, time to get back into action:

- I read up on the British School System from the notes the agencies had given me.

- I purchased a new mobile phone with some money my Mom gave me before I left. A cute little Nokia, this meant I could give Jane back her phone when I moved out.

- I was supposed to go to Holborn to collect my bank card, but couldn’t be bothered, so I organised for the card to be transferred to the Harrow branch.

- I ended the day with a DVD and some sleep.