insufferingly saffa

Wow.

Rather indulgent weekend, if not a little beserk.

Was somehow roped into going to Joe Cool's - this is not a joke - after a few beers down the pub with my Saffa friends.
'Have you ever been to a Walkabout?' one asked me, and I vehemently said 'No, not my thing, I'm not in London to live the antipodean lifestyle. No ways. Not me. Count me out.'

This is what happens to everyone, doesn't it.

And so the general slide towards a Durban beachfront hot spot, that has now, incidentally opened a franchise in Putney. Got my Brit and his mates to come too, trying to sidestep the fact that they'd be surrounded by South Africans en masse at this place.

They were serving cane and cream soda. What. The. Fuck. And as a result, ended up having a smashing time, I'm cringe to admit. The Brit boys seemed to like it too, even though they couldn't understand the more...Afrikaans accents going down in this place.

Brit was showing me his best moves - Mopping The Floor, The Reversing Tractor and Screwing In A Lightbulb, while all of us were bouncing around off our faces until the blaring lights came on at 2pm.

It was mayhem. It was jolly sound fun though, and have to admit, seeing others Saffricans around isn't the worst thing in the world. Just don't want to make a habit of it. Slipping into a life where I only hang out with my fellow countrymen.

However, in this instance, I don't live here yet. And as a tourist, I'm allowed.

We were on the stairs, all drunkenly filing out, where this happened:

Brit:(to guy in front of us holding up the queue) Chip on then.
Dude: Huh?
Brit: Chip ahead.
Dude: I dun'understand what you saying bru, I'm from SA.
Brit: Wha?
Dude: I'm from East London, what is 'chip on?'
Brit: Wha?? East London mate, you're not from the east of London.
Peas: No no, East London is a city in South Africa sweetie, and dude, 'chip on' means move on.
Both: Oh.

It's quite funny, for as much as I'm learning about British life, British lingo, and everything else Pom from the Brit, he's learning about South Africa through my association too. Was a lovely day yesterday, and so we spent the afternoon walking through the park, along the river and stopping for food and coffee along the way, while I was trying to explain the concept of Cape Coloureds to the Brit.

He was in hysterics, needless to say. Couldn't believe that the gardener who worked at our digs tried to live in our outhouse toilet thinking we wouldn't notice.

So I think I learnt a bit this weekend, despite the intoxicating tomfoolery that was had at various 'boozer's dotted about southwest London. That is, even though I want to move here for the change of scenery, and for everything else, home is still very much going to be an intricate part of my life. No matter how far away from it I'll be.

Teaching the Brit and Brit friends about our culture, as much as they're teaching me about theirs. And on the odd occasion, letting go and celebrating the fact that there's a lot of Saffa stuff in this place, whether I like it or not. And that it's OK to do the 'Saffa thing' once in a while.

Judge me all you like; I was on the sauce, and it was fun.

It's a public holiday back at home, so am working from home today, but am meeting my gorgeous friend Zuzula at a gastropub in Hammersmith for a cheeky lunch and some vino. Haven't been able to catch up with the lovely English Rose for ages, at least not the last 4 trips I've had here, so tis indeed time.