It’s difficult to believe that we have been here in the UK
for a year already. It seems like only yesterday that we arrived, tired, off an
Emirates flight from a sunny Durban. It seems so recent that we moved into what
has become our home and again it feels like only a heartbeat ago that we
started trading from our new business.
I am asked often enough a year down the line if it is still
a good idea, was it the right decision to leave SA and come here. And after
some thought the answer is an emphatic yes! Yes of course we miss the wide
beaches, of course we miss the sea and the sunshine, the easy lifestyle, the
braais, and for me at least the Klippies and Hansa too. At least here, even
now, we appreciate that most of the time the service we get is significantly
better, we appreciate that life is generally more affordable and there are fewer
stealth taxes, you know like medical aid, school fees, armed response, local
vigilante fees, ammunition and so on.
We appreciate that the chances of being robbed, raped or hijacked
have been reduced – I’m not saying it wouldn’t happen because I’m sure that
somewhere in the UK it does, we appreciate that, on our high street at least,
the biggest danger is farmers tractors and not taxis, we appreciate that in our
line of business in our small town the biggest threat is …..is….I can’t think
of one actually. People generally behave differently here and it seems are way
more law abiding, less aggressive, less on edge and more conscious of acceptable
social behaviour. There are obviously exceptions.
Is it perfect? No. The weather is shit and the Brits do go
on a bit about it. Every conversation is peppered with references to the bloody
weather but since we haven’t come here for a sun tan it doesn’t make too much
difference to us. There are other imperfections
too; one of them is picking the wrong road at the wrong time…. you could die of
old age waiting to get to your destination. People also have a tendency to moan
a bit more… like they have the biggest problems in the world. And I don’t think
there is any understanding about just how good they have it here. Just how wide
their choice is. Just how accessible they are to the rest of world. But like I’ve
said before, you have to go away to realise just how good or bad it was where
you came from. And if I compare this to the southern most country in Africa it
is a better, safer place to live, as I am sure Austrailia and NZ are too.
Do I regret my time in SA? Definitely not…although many now
well documented mistakes were made, I have come out the other side of it for
the better. I have been able to form a mature relationship with my parents,
something that wouldn’t have happened had I stayed in the UK back then, I have
formed close bonds with the most unexpected people, some of whom have been
people who live for their brotherhood of bikers, I have witnessed the very
worst in human behaviour, most of the time fuelled by alcohol, I have ridden
the cycle of wealth (albeit coming out the other side poor) and most importantly
my experiences in SA have taught me well about loyalty, honour, commitment,
fickleness, the moral compass and the vagaries of friendship and family. Things
I wouldn’t necessarily have learnt had I stayed a corporate employee for all
those years.
This is my last post on this blog. I have put to bed my
demons over the days that I have been writing this. I think I have been kinder
to some idiots and former enemies than what I could have been when I think back,
but that is my nature I suppose. Overall I have found writing this to be
incredibly useful; it has exercised my brain, it has opened new channels of
thought. Thank you for reading or maybe
snoring your way through it, I have appreciated it. God speed.
