tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post3688067683292599426..comments2024-02-20T08:24:41.908+00:00Comments on PEAS ON TOAST: straddling two nations as a hybridPeas on Toasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03349482085062035903noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-28608468495215179302012-08-22T11:52:51.389+01:002012-08-22T11:52:51.389+01:00I have recently come head on with this "limbo...I have recently come head on with this "limbo" feeling. Having moved to London 2 and a half years ago I often still have days when I'm not entirely settled and I think about moving back to SA. But having not been home in over 1 and a half years, I also feel a bit detached.<br /><br />As much as I love where I come from and am proudly South African - to put it into perspective, I am 24 and I would be the only one of my friends who is single if I were to move home to SA. It feels like we are in different spaces in life.<br /><br />I just love London and all it has to offer - the quick trips to Europe, events on every night of the week, and all sorts of other lovely things to keep you entertained in any way, form or mean. Don't get me wrong, SA has a diverse lifestyle as well, but I just can't help but feel you're judged a little more for your actions than you are here.<br /><br />So for right now, here is good. Best I check back in after my 3 week holiday home!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-21514114381307353622012-08-21T20:45:06.600+01:002012-08-21T20:45:06.600+01:00Peas, what an interesting and well written post......Peas, what an interesting and well written post... I am a saffa in the biltong belt (wim to putney) and I often wonder where my life would be better. Holidays back home show the best of the country but meeting another Saffa who has had a gun to his head a week ago and completely cleaned out then the same thing a few days later makes me appreciate not being stressed over such barbaric behaviour. <br /><br />Reading about the mines incident is scary and thinking of just blending into the london surrounds depressing. <br /><br />That said both places are amazing in many ways, so enjoy the good times because the bad times here will make you want to face anything else head on!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-10190991182444128812012-08-17T14:18:36.890+01:002012-08-17T14:18:36.890+01:00Thanks everyone for your awesome and very relevant...Thanks everyone for your awesome and very relevant feedback to this post. <br />Much appreciated, and as always, thanks for reading about my funny old emotional and physical journeys on this page.<br />I have no doubt there are plenty more to come.<br />Your comments and thoughts are always welcome.<br /><br />xxPeas on Toasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03349482085062035903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-22394565667861079322012-08-17T08:16:31.413+01:002012-08-17T08:16:31.413+01:00I have to disagree with one thing that you said......I have to disagree with one thing that you said...in JHB most of my friends have waited until well after 30 to have their first child. In London most of them had them at around the same time, so it's not different in JHB than London.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-74542181903203347622012-08-16T19:58:22.397+01:002012-08-16T19:58:22.397+01:00Peas,
Lovely post. I think that to truly immigrat...Peas,<br /><br />Lovely post. I think that to truly immigrate you need to let go of a large portion of your past life and country in order to really embrace your new one - otherwise it's a recipe for disaster and flights home every 6 months. That said, I have been living in Italy for the past 6 months, and the experience has completely changed my perception of 'life in Europe'. I came on a contractual post so never intended to stay long, which undoubtedly means I have a very different attitude to living here. However, living in Europe has always been on my bucket list so I'm glad I've done it and got it out of my system, but truth be told I can't wait to go home. This experience has made me appreciate many aspects of life in SA that I took for granted - foremost, the people, and secondly, lifestyle. I live in CT though - the best city in the world (IMHO), and very different to Jozi. Ps with regards to your pill saga, if you have a moment check out a blog a friend of mine writes (the last few posts have been about her experience with endometriosis) - thefunnyyummymummy.blogspot.com. Buona Serra!Chickennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-38006975459544788122012-08-16T15:47:14.123+01:002012-08-16T15:47:14.123+01:00Aaahh..finally someone who understands what it'...Aaahh..finally someone who understands what it's like.<br /><br />I still have emotional roots in Jhb though and as times goes by, I see more and more of good and bad in both. <br /><br />But what I've realised now, is that the ethos at the heart of a nation is key to our compatibility. It took many years for me to be able to peel away the stoic/PC/posturing layers of British culture and what I have discovered inside the onion wasn't completely comforting. <br /><br />SA on the other hand is still recovering from a very dark past and has plenty of years to go before it can be compared like for like to a first world nation, but the beauty of the country itself and the hidden selfless humanity that I've never experienced in any other country is what makes me feel that great things are still to come for South Africa.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-76203274079954219452012-08-16T15:35:21.691+01:002012-08-16T15:35:21.691+01:00Wow you have said everything i have thought for th...Wow you have said everything i have thought for the last 5 years and not been able to put in words, especially when friends back home ask "when are you coming home?" and i can't tell them I actually love the UK and the people in it. It has opened my eyes to so much more than i could ever experience in SA but saying that, SA has taught me a lot too but in a different way. Here I seem to have learnt to be more open minded and develop as a person or understand others more where as in SA, its all about judging people (cars/ clothes/ houses etc). I like that no one judges here. Well done, you really have hit the nail on the head. I will be forearding on this link :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-72226876792506497822012-08-16T09:09:29.561+01:002012-08-16T09:09:29.561+01:00You are probably right in a generalisation kindof ...You are probably right in a generalisation kindof way about life in SA. London is a great place to live, but the one thing I felt when I lived there was that my life didn't really matter that much and I had no real capacity to make a difference. I was just another person on the train, much the same as every other person next to me - the anonyminity is both the best part and the worst part. Back home you do count and you can contribute in more ways. Maybe all this is also a generalisation of sorts, but I do think it might be easier for women to assimilate into a UK life than men. At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong, just personal choices that make you happy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10009339.post-50441438342972224512012-08-16T09:04:43.886+01:002012-08-16T09:04:43.886+01:00Methinks it's the access that we have to wide ...Methinks it's the access that we have to wide open spaces here, and the amount of sunlight and the potential-for-greatness, which makes ZA so attractive. It's people have exposure to most modern trappings (aside from functioning and effective education justice systems sadly), whilst still having firm attachments to times-gone-by, often to our detriment.<br /><br />We could have Utopia, if selfishness just took a permanent backseat.Flarkithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01363849451683927721noreply@blogger.com