100 up!

This is quite a celebration…

I have noticed that in fact this is my 100th post to “Living in Jozi” and I thought I would just take a short moment to celebrate that fact.

It has been quite a journey, these last 100 posts, from when I started on the 12th June this year – contemplating my boxes in my room in London, (eventually even giving them names!)

Then blogging from Heathrow at some ungodly hour of the morning, waiting for my plane to Amsterdam and then Johannesburg.

My arrival and the adventures and misadventures – getting myself a drivers licence, a new car, settling into a new job and finding myself a girlfriend – now my fiancé.

Along the way I have contemplated the Cost of living comparison using a blog that Paul Chambers had posted on Homecoming Revolution as a template (thanks Paul!)

I have met new friends who have left comments – and that is so rewarding. You know, all these posts would just be meaningless ramblings (OK – most are meaningless ramblings!) but without people leaving comments and participating, this would be no fun at all, and I may as well just take up graffiti painting!

And so, on to the next 100 posts then – and beyond. But thank you for reading these first 100 – I do hope they have brought you some level of enjoyment!

Summer is here – because it is raining

It had finally happened – the Summer rains have arrived and on each of the two previous evenings we have enjoyed the spectacle of Highveld thunder storms, complete with magnificent lightning shows and rolling thunder that shakes you right down into your belly. And beautiful rain, lovely rain, quenching a very thirsty earth that has been crying out for some kind of moisture since I arrived back in South Africa in June.

Ulricha and I were sitting by the pool on Saturday morning just enjoying the sun, the water that is slowly becoming warmer, and more friendly for swimming, and the aftermath of the previous evenings storm. Somehow everything seemed cleaner, brighter, more alive. A small weaver bird was starting to build a nest in a palm tree, clearly eager to impress some young weaver female with his handiwork.

Actually, speaking of Weavers – I have found a very similar blog to my own – detailing the return to South Africa of an ex pat after a period in living in the UK – The Weavers Nest . In fact, our return is so close in terms of time, we may have been on the same plane! I am enjoying Kirsty’s honest and open writing as she tells how she and her family are getting back into South African life. If you have a chance, do go have a look and a read.

As for us – well we are having a quiet weekend, trying to still recover from our holiday last week. It’s ironic really how you can go on holiday and sometimes return more exhausted than when you left.

Wherever I lay my hat - London versus Johannesburg

An article on News24 was brought to my attention, comparing living in London with living in South Africa. The author of the article, Georgina Guedes, tells of her latest two week experience in London, and of some of the comments made by South Africans over there with regards the trade off between the weather there and the crime in South Africa.

Her article has in fact evoked such a response that the comment facility on her page was closed within a few hours of it appearing... Pity that, now I will have to comment here - and hope she sees it.

Having lived in London for more than 4 years, Bristol for just shy of 2 years, Cape Town for more than 25 years, and Johannesburg for around 3 years, I think I am well placed to comment with regard the comparison of living in London, or the UK and South Africa.

Firstly, let it be known that while Georgina complaints of "the fine drizzle perpetually soaking" everything, it is a true fact that Johannesburg's average annual rain fall is HIGHER than the average annual rainfall in London! If you don't believe me, either refer to the following:
Johannesburg statistics versus
London Statistics, or look this up yourself – you will find that Johannesburg receives nearly 40% more rain per year than London.

So now that we have that misperception cleared up, what is true to say is that it is generally grey in London and fairly often grey. But let's be honest - who in the world is not aware of that these days? To go to London and complain about the weather is to move to Johannesburg and complain that you miss the beach!

People do not move to London for the weather. Therefore the change in lifestyle that the weather brings about is part of what you accept when you move to London. If you are a sun bunny - you will hate London, so don't even get on the plane.

People move to London for the experience, the opportunity, the new doors that living in a cosmopolitan city can open up for you. A change of lifestyle is probably part of the plan if you are contemplating moving to London.

Georgina says that London Life is hard – and it is expensive.
I am not sure what she means by “life is hard” – I currently work a 40 hour week, whereas my UK contract only required a 37.5 hour work week. South Africans are in fact valued for their work ethic and the hard work they put in. It is part of being a South African. And expensive? Well, perhaps it was specific to me, I may be speaking out of turn, but I never found it expensive. Once you are earning Pounds, spending Pounds becomes more comfortable. And you can shop at Marks and Spencers – or at Lidl. Life is as expensive as you choose to make it – like shopping at Woolworths or Checkers. And Georgina may want to take a peek at my Cost of Living blog, where there appeared to be an interesting outcome.

For my own part, I loved London. I enjoyed it more than any other city I have ever lived in, I loved the public transport, I loved the fact that things generally worked, though the wrong kind of leaves on the track could bring the public transport system to a grinding halt. I loved the fact that there were so many parks to go out to, to walk in, to see families walking in - and yes, they WERE donned in their rain Macs Georgina, but that is part of the joy of being outdoors for me. Walking through Richmond Park - amongst the deer, or across Wimbledon Common to the Windmill, or along the lake in Wimbledon Park.

Like everything in life, London is what you make it. But if you want to see the sun, don't go!

Despite all that, I am now living in Johannesburg. I returned to be close to members of my family whom I needed to be close to. I have myself a lovely life, a great job, a beautiful girlfriend. I have a lot of things I didn't have in London. I get to feed geese 3 times a week, I get to lie by the pool pretty much any day of the week, I can walk with rolled up shirt sleeves at 6:30 in the morning.

And yet - for all that, YES, I miss London.

Every person will love or hate London. It is a Marmite city - there are no half measures.

But every person should at least decide their opinion for themselves.

Fair enough, Georgina hates it... But that's not to say you must.

How to get a South African drivers licence - ex pats

If you have read previous entries to this blog, you might have read how I battled for several weeks to get a South African drivers licence sorted out for myself. A seemingly easy process, which was so mired and fraught with red tape, that at one point I considered that returning to the UK would be easier.

However, after a struggle, I managed to find the correct methodology for this process, and am now awaiting delivery of my new South African credit card style drivers licence. That being the case, I wanted to share the methodology with others who might find themselves in a similar, unfortunate position. Perhaps you will have less trouble than I did.

First things first – the credit card style licence became compulsory on 30th April 2003. If, like me, you left South Africa PRIOR to this date, but had not converted your ID book licence, then you are in the same position I was in, and this is for you.

Before you can even APPLY for your credit card licence in South Africa, you need the Department of Public Works in Johannesburg to change your licence details on the computer system. This will allow the Traffic Department to make the appropriate application.

In order for the computer system to be changed, the following items must be submitted to the Department of Public Works:
* Certified copy of your ID book
* Certified copy of your drivers licence in your ID book
* Certified copy of your passport, clearly showing the departure stamp when you originally left South Africa
* Certified copy of a letter from your overseas employer stating that you were employed by them on the 30th April 2003.
* Supporting letter from yourself, motivating why you are now applying for the credit card licence.

Once the computer system is changed, THEN you can go to the Traffic Department in your area and apply for your new licence.

Just take a pair of scissors to slice through the red tape!

A shift in marketing to returning ex-pats

You may recall that a few days ago I made a big hoo-hah about being a published author, and that I had a testimonial printed in the September issue of SA Promo Magazine… Well if you looked at it, and looked closely at page 78 of the magazine, you will notice a very interesting advertisement. It appears that St Andrews School for Girls, a private school in Senderwood, Johannesburg, is going to be exhibiting at the forthcoming HCR Woza Ekhaya event in London .

And not only St Andrews, but other schools are going to be present too. St Peters (Sunninghill) and St Johns College (Houghton) are also confirmed exhibitors. Admittedly, this does start to look like the guest list to the Last Supper - but it was always going to be private schools that would go down this route with regard marketing their brand.

There definitely is a twofold reason for their involvement. Firstly, a recruitment drive to attract back to South Africa the ex-patriot teacher population.
But secondly, and to my mind more interestingly, this represents an opportunity to market to ex-pat parents in London and the UK, who are concerned at schooling for their children when they return.

To me this marks a very interesting shift in the marketing and focus of attracting South Africans back to South Africa.
Not only will companies continue to market to the young professionals who have been over in the UK for only a few years – but the scope is being broadened seemingly, focusing on those who have been overseas for several years, who have perhaps begun families, and are now at a point of considering returning with their families.

It will be interesting to know what responses these schools get from parents at the HCR event.

Is there a gap in the recruitment market?

I was very interested to find my Homecoming Revolution Testimonial posted on the HCR blog this morning, but read with more interest some of the comments that had been posted - a whopping 12 comments, which on an article I have written, I find awesome.

But many people express the same view - when talking to recruitment agencies in South Africa from overseas, most people seem more willing to show you the door. "Come see us when you arrive" is the general comment back.

It is interesting that when I moved over to the UK in 2002 I used a service called "First Contact" (or 1st Contact) and they set me up with some really cheap hostel accommodation, a briefing session at their offices about the UK and London, and most significantly, assisted in me opening a bank account. Without their help I would have had severe difficulty getting that bank account, and everything that follows.

In the same way, when returning I would have had problems opening a bank account for myself. Fortunately I still had accounts open from when I lived here.

But with an increasing number of senior staff and experience and skills disappearing overseas, it seems significant that there are no agencies set up to assist getting these people back.

There were SEVERAL time during my drivers licence saga that I could happily have returned to the UK - where things just seem to work.

There must be a gap in the market here that someone is overlooking.

I am a published author!

I was approached a couple of weeks ago to submit a short testimonial for inclusion in the SA Promo magazine - a magazine distributed in London and online at http://magazine.sapromo.com/. The piece I wrote spoke about my return to South Africa, and was to be included in an article dealing with the same issue.

As I write this, I am a bit frustrated, as the SA Promo magazine website has seemingly gone down. However I did, just as it was falling over, manage to find my testimonial listed, deep in the magazine (around page 78 - I couldn't catch the number as the website kicked me out)

But there you go - I am a published author, not just a blogger!