From Durban to London: What I didn’t Expect to find

Six years ago I immigrated from my home city of Durban, South Africa to Europe. It was my first time leaving the country and the beginning of a life long journey of travel and growth. I moved to the big city of London, England and went from sunny skies and sandy beaches to glass skyscrapers and non-stop rain. There, I found something I never would have expected…

My experience started straight off the plane as I touched down in Heathrow Airport.

I got on a taxi to my accommodation that was driven by a pakistani man,

My accommodation was in a building with polish and romanian neighbours,

My first job was with an equadorian woman and some brazillian chefs.

I had no idea how cellphone services worked and picked Vodafone because it reminded me of Vodacom from back home, and speaking to their call center connected me to an indian guy.

You can see where I’m going with this…

The cultural diversity I experienced was unlike anything I could have expected!

You see, growing up in South Africa meant generally we weren’t exposed to many other cultures. Sure ,our country has 12 national languages and is known as the ‘rainbow nation’ but I had never met a British person before, heard the Hungarian language or knew what the word kurwa meant.

Now here I was in the capital of London and it took me nearly a week to meet an English native londoner.

It wasn’t Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hardy, it was a bloke named Phil working in a Greggs who couldn’t understand my order because of my accent.

Finding Work in London

Now I didn’t exactly have a financial plan , I took a year off school and worked in South Africa to save up for my first month in London,

Enough time I thought to get a job and start earning money. I had money for my first month’s rent and a two week supply of baked beans on toast.

But before I could apply for jobs I had a few bureaucratic hoops to jump through first.

Getting Registered

To work in the United Kingdom you need something called a National Insurance number (NiN). A bit like the ID number South Africans all get when we are 16.

And to get a NiN meant a day waiting at a building called a job office, the home affairs of the UK, just with chairs for sitting on while you waited instead of standing. (South Africans know what I mean).

Now as this was pre-Covid and pre-Brexit everything went alot quicker and within a week I had a temporary NiN and could get to work … applying for my National Healthcare number.

The United Kingdom uses this pretty cool healthcare system called the National Healthcare Service(NHS). Basically, everyone in the UK pays taxes that goes towards a universal healthcare system.

With a NHS number I was able to access free healthcare like doctors, dentists and hospital visits all without hidden charges and fees, neat!

In South Africa we are used to government healthcare or private healthcare.

Going to a government provided hospital meant you could expect to wait up to 8 hours and possibly catch something worse than what you had when you walked in.

Going to a private hospital required you to have a pricey health insurance plan and if a month went by that you didn’t need any health services your money was as good as wasted.

Maybe that’s why we play so much rugby, it would a shame to not use your health insurance coverage for the month.

So what jobs could an unskilled ,but enthusiastic to learn , South African do in London?

Surprising, a lot.

And by using the gov.uk job site I was able to find my first job in the UK!

My first job was as a photographer for the Chessington World of Adventure, a massive theme park in Essex with different mechanical rides and attractions for kids. They put me working on the ‘African Safari Experience’ ride ,go figure.

You know that guy that stands behind a tri-pod with a camera, just before your ride and there’s a green screen backdrop? That was me! I got to tell kids ‘say cheese!’ all weekend long.

Now as fun as taking pictures of random people can be , I needed work during the week and preferrably something in food so I could skim from the kitchen and get off the baked beans on toast.

That led me to a cafe called Brew, owned by an Australian guy who moved to London years back and opened a small breakfast cafe that grew into a franchise throughout London.

And you know what a successful monopoly of businesses mean?

Minimum wage and loads of hours. Which was exactly what I was looking for and I got to travel all around London working at different locations with paid public transport. It was great!

The City and it’s People

There, I started to work as a barrista and waiter. I worked in Wimbledon to Clapham. Seven Sisters to Winchester. I got to see the city from the inside of a big red bus and work with new people everyday.

I got to work with a woman from Equador, I didn’t even know where that was on Earth.

After some conversation it turned out that Equador and South Africa had a few things in common, like load-shedding and bananas.

I met two brothers from Brazil who spoke Portuguese, which turns out is not the same as Spanish!

They moved to London and found work as chefs to pay for their younger siblings to go through school back in Brazil.

In another kitchen I met a crazy Italian chef who spent his life before London picking oranges in his uncle’s orchard in the countryside of Italy. He travelled to London with his girlfriend to become a chef and part-time DJ in illegal raves inside abandoned buildings.

I met endless amounts of interesting people with unique backgrounds and stories. And what we all shared in common was that we left home for a new life, one with better prospects and travel.

Truly all roads lead to London.

Before long I was earning British Pounds Sterling (£), and at the time one Pound Sterling was about twenty South African Rands (R).

With a minimum wage of £7,20 in London I was earning in one hour what I earned in seven hours working in South Africa!

I was richer than any of my friends and while they were studying for university I was learning how to make expressos with a Delonghi coffee machine in a London cafe.

Conclusion

So far I was succeeding in starting my new life abroad in Europe, earning good money, learning new skills and making friends from all walks of life.

I never expected to find such cultural diversity in London and make life long friends in the capital of England.

But London is not for everyone and I started to feel homesick , missing the beach and the smell of a braai so thats when I set my eyes to my next destination…

The Best Place to Live in England