Tag: England

The Impractical Immigrant Guide to Life in the UK: Brits and Christmas

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Brits love Christmas celebrations and it has little to do with the reason for the season but a lot to do with the fanfare created around it. Christmas, in its essence, is a celebration of the birth of the saviour of the world. It’s also a time to celebrate the ending of another year and people go all out.

Christmas in Edinburgh

Christmas in the UK is steeped in glitz, baubles, presents, shopping and parties. By October, sometimes as early as September, stores start stocking numerous Christmas decorations and cards. By November, decorations start going up on streets, homes and public spaces. Lights, a lot of them, are central to Christmas decorations which means street lamps are often bedecked in them. Oxford Street in London often has brilliant light displays hanging across the length of the Street. Covent Garden hosts a huge Christmas Tree.

Everywhere you go, you’ll hear Christmas music playing with Michael Buble and Mariah Carey rendering country-wide favourites. Cheer is all around and the gloom that descends on many as the cold months begin is lifted.

Office Christmas parties are common as are Secret Santas. Depending on where you are migrating from, secret santas may be foreign. It’s basically a gift giving exercise where you are randomly assigned a person whom you buy a gift for. It’s usually anonymous, meaning you aren’t told who gifted you. It’s a great way for everyone in a group to receive a present without each person having to buy a present for everyone in a group. So it’s cost effective.

Enjoying your first UK Christmas

There are a number of activities happening at Christmas in most UK cities to keep you out and about despite the chilly conditions, a few are listed below. Also, some merry tips have been thrown in too!

1-Bonfire Night

Bonfire night, also known as Guy Fawkes night, is basically a time to gather outdoors in a large field and watch a large mound of flammable substances, such as hay and wood, burn. It holds every year on the 5th of November and commemorates a failed gunpowder plot in 1605. I am less concerned about the history here and more about the social gathering it now is. People congregate around the blazing warmth of the fire, sipping warm drinks that are usually served, chatting the cold night away.

2-Hot Chocolate and Movies

This is such a cosy tradition for many. Stocking up on different festive hot chocolates, such as orange flavoured ones, and making over-indulgent mugs of the steaming brew topped with a swirl of whipped cream and a sprinkle of marshmallows. You can stop at just the steamy mug of hot chocolate but Christmas is a good time to go a little OTT with your hot chocolate concoctions. Brits also love their mugs and at Christmas time, all sorts of mug designs begin to spring up in the stores, from minimalist ones to flamboyant Santa head mugs.

Cool Santa mug

Once your hot chocolate is enfolded in its characterful mug, you want to wear some equally OTT cosy socks, and watch a lovely Christmas movie. My favourites are; Klaus, Jingle Jangle, the Home Alone series, Elf, Chronicles of Narnia trilogy and the Polar Express. The Polar Express was also the first movie I ever watched in a cinema, so it holds a special place in my heart! These Christmas movies all make me feel warm and fuzzy inside at this extra special time of the year!

3- Attire

If like me, you migrated from Nigeria, it is possible you are not accustomed to the tradition of wearing Christmas jumpers. It’s a big deal in the UK. Like avant-garde mugs and over the top cosy socks, Christmas jumpers are another frippery that make Christmas in the UK a vibe. The more ridiculous the jumper is, the more social points you’ll score. It doesn’t end there, there are also Christmas hats (not just Santa hats, I’ve seen roast Turkey hats for instance), Christmas earrings are a thing too and so on! Get your Christmas wardrobe sorted and plunge into the festive incredulity!

A minimalist Christmas head gear

4- Markets

By the end of November, Christmas markets start popping up all over the country. Bath, York and Manchester have famous ones. These markets host chalets often with vendors selling cute crafts and gifts; from scented candles to wooden decorations to mulled wine. Wrap up warm and wear comfy shoes so you can comfortably wander round the chalets.

5- Carols

Many churches host carols at Christmas. Especially beautiful are the ones with orchestras and/or abbey choirs. Westminster Abbey in London hosts carols yearly as will most other cathedrals, abbeys and churches across the country.

Reindeer ears at a Carol service

5- Gifts

Giving gifts during Christmas is a huge deal in the UK. From my experience in Nigeria, only children really receive Christmas presents and they are usually not super expensive. In the UK, people spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds gifting each other. It’s rare to go through Christmas here without gifting someone or being gifted. From work Secret Santa events to family get-togethers, buying gifts for people can get expensive. So either start buying early to save money or think of gifting experiences, which I’ve found to be cheaper in some cases. For instance, I no longer buy presents for my nieces and nephews. One year, we went to ComicCon; another year, we went to a jump park instead.

Your first Christmas in the UK will be memorable, make it extra memorable with the above tips.

The Impractical Immigrant Guide to Life in the UK: The Sin of Spontaneous Visits

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There is a spontaneity and unannounced nature to the social sphere in Nigeria which is anathema to Brits and British residents. I make a distinction between Brits and British residents here on purpose because I believe this hatred for a type of spontaneous socialisation is often quickly imbibed by new immigrants (i.e. British residents), interestingly/suspiciously.

Contemplating in Bath Spa

So what am I talking about? Those who’ve grown up in Nigeria will likely understand the phenomenon where one can casually visit a friend completely unannounced and be welcomed with an open door and open arms, and maybe even a plate of food. There’s a constant, relegated, expectation in every host’s mind that a visitor may arrive at any moment. Of course, these visits are timed when a host is likely to be home such as after work or on the weekend. Also, the visits are usually made by visitors who live reasonably nearby, which means disappointment of perhaps not finding a host at home is not taken too badly. The visitor can easily retrace their steps back home with little harm to energy, fuel or finances. In other words, there is sense in the spontaneity; it’s not harebrained. Another thing that makes these surprise visits fairly common is the ‘outside’ nature of life in Lagos I believe. It’s warm, and verandas, patios etc are common. People can easily see your presence whilst walking down the street and decide to ‘branch’ by for a visit.

Magnolias in Oxford

One thing to confess is that I am, to be honest, depicting my life as a kid in the 2000s. With the over abundance of mobile phones and the magneticism of social media, it is very possible people are now more inclined to insular, non-wandering lives and would rather binge watch some K-drama than gallivant the streets, conducting surprise visits!

That said, in the UK, visiting even a family member unannounced is probably as bad as snatching a wig off someone’s head. You don’t do it. You just don’t. You need to give notice that you will be presenting yourself before launching into someone’s home and life. Spontaneous visits are an insult and will be greeted with a cold reception or an obviously fake welcome. No one arrives unannounced at anyone’s home twice as the first time will forever scar the untrained visitor. A relative based here in the UK once told me of a time he spontaneously visited a friend he’d gone to high school with in Nigeria unannounced. He’d only just moved to the UK and was unaware of these little subtleties. Well, suffice it to say that the friendship dwindled from that day on.

Coronation vibes in Wiltshire

To be fair, I will say I have witnessed unannounced visits, usually by young people, in villages or small towns in the UK. The kinds of places you can let your children wander off with no fear. The norm though is to give notice before casting your shadow on anyone’s door.

I mentioned how it’s interesting that new migrants imbibe this British disgust for unannounced visits so quickly, myself included, as I would be genuinely upset if anyone just popped up at my door for a visit without prior warning. I wonder if this suspiciously quick acceptance of this very British proclivity is because immigrants from uber welcoming cultures probably low-key resented the pressure of unannounced visits. On the other hand, I can’t imagine this is the case in the average Nigerian home, as if there’s one thing a Nigerian will do, it is to tell you the truth, in the most unembellished, direct way possible.

Bath – A Day in Georgian England

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I have lived in South Oxfordshire for quite a few years now and it was only recently I got to know of the beautiful town Bath and its proximity to where I lived. From Didcot train station it is about 45 mins to Bath, and in an interesting way it feels like you’ve traveled back in time.

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Bath Cathedral

 

My Mum and I made a day trip there a while ago for the first time, and ever since, I have returned once more for the Bath Christmas market, which will be talked about in another post about Christmas markets.

When you realize Jane Austen lived in this town for a number of years you immediately understand why it feels so quintessentially English and proper! I had a long list of spots I  wanted us to visit whilst in Bath and ironically the top site, and where we spent all our time, was actually the famous Roman Baths.

The Roman Baths in Bath is one of the best preserved in the world and it is really something to behold. At the Roman Baths, you get an audio guide which is brilliant as it really takes you through what life was like for users of the public baths. My mum thoroughly enjoyed it and so do the 1 million visitors that come to see the Baths each year. We spent most of our time in Bath at the Roman Baths as we did not want to rush the experience!

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Inside the Roman Baths, 2 women dressed to suit the times.

After a long day walking in the footsteps of ancient Romans in what was equivalent to their social scene like a club/pub is today, we went to another of Bath’s famous offerings – Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House! The building is so English and wonky it is amazing. It is apparently one of the oldest houses in Bath. Within the eating house is also a musuem showing Sally Lunn’s original kitchen – it looks very well used, with soot and open stone.

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When I feel like really experiencing England, the way I naively grew up believing all of England is…I go to Bath. Asides the two places we visited, Bath has other places that I believe many tourists also visit such as the Pump Room Restaurant for high tea, The Circus (which I saw a glimpse of and is truly an architectural beauty) and the Jane Austen Center.

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Sally’s kitchen