If you don’t know the geography then don’t change the plan.

I noticed that I usually ended up at the Moorgate tube station when going home, whereas I came in through the Old street station in the morning. So today I decided that since the Moorgate station appeared closer to the training venue, I would get off the tube there instead (the station before the Old Street) So I got out of the station and headed in the direction I thought would take me to Tabernacle street. Well, it didn’t take long for me to realise I was completely lost. I went round and round or should I say square because at some point I asked for directions and was told to go round a big square with – I think – the Liverpool station in the middle. Anyway, on the other side I was directed again to the place I was coming from. I finally got on a bus after more than 30minutes roaming around in the cold. Paid the 2 pound fare to Old street (where I should have got off the tube originally) only to realise that I could have used my Oyster card. I asked the driver for a refund and he told me the machine had gobbled up the money – sorry mate!

So after almost an hour, I ended up at the training venue!

By the way, what’s with the Mayonnaise addiction? I was at Marks & Spensers and almost every edible thing in the place had been Mayonnaised – oh! here is chicken sandwich, that should be tasty – but then you see the mayonnaise on the label. Ok here is some ham sandwich, may not be good for my health long-term, but definitely good for my belly, Oh no! it’s got the stuff too! What happened to equality? Yes, it’s a battle between white and black, but not in the context you are thinking off you bloody racist (not of course my racially-agnostic readers :-). Why not black/red pepper or even Marmite sometime? Must it always be creamy mayonnaise? This is a democracy – must I remind all and sundry?

Will the real whites in London please stand up?

Heathrow’s lounge looked as it probably would if it were in an Asian country such as India or Pakistan (I guess 🙂 My Indian (loosely defined) friends were everywhere one looked, the seats, kiosks, walkways etc

And I wondered into one of those flash kiosks at the airport where of course Elvis (the bandit) graciously parted me with my 1 pound.

And T-Mobile ripped me off by selling me a 1-pound SIM card with no credit on it for 10 pound.

There is no true detribalized or deracialized person. It’s just degrees that differ. I have said it before, that the actual process of trying to see everyone as equal (no colour) already implies that the person’s “difference” is apparent to you in ways that differ from how a fellow of the same race would think. I noticed that African (loosely defined) taxi drivers automatically gravitated towards blacks they see, and taking the Yoruba’s saying literarily “Afoju jo rawa” – some even automatically guess your tribe and speak to you in Yoruba for example – I am sure this sometimes fail when they wrongfully identify a fellow sojourner from home. They appear very helpful too – the African is a warm, gregarious, sociable soul on the average anyway. Either from hoping they will get my custom or not, at least I was able to call my brother free on 2 separate persons mobile phones – the first actually offered his phone when he saw me trying to call from one of the commercial terminals. Yes, the calls were free to them, but it was still heartwarming. They seem to treat people of other races the same, but will the other people treat the blacks the same? Mixed in with the basic instinct of self-preservation, mistrust of outsiders and ensuring the survival of the group is probably our track record of being 419s etc. It’s like, if a black man brushes past you, your credit card is automatically overdrawn, your bank account emptied, your credit history a mess, and your phone hijacked all at once! What paranoia! 🙂

I asked one of the security staff hanging about in the walkways where I could get a SIM card and he subjected me to quite an interesting question and answer session – he was pleasant enough but I am sure at a subconscious level, he would have been happy to nab an illegal black alien if possible. If there were no racial undercurent, no matter how unintentional or uncounscious, how come my simple question led to a host of questions from him for which I had to supply answers, only after which he then directed me to where I could buy a SIM?
Where are you coming from – Nigeria
What do you do – IT/Telecomms
Did you pay cash for your (plane) ticket – yes
Was it your money or did you borrow it – mine, I work
What’s the purpose of your visit – holiday
How long will you be staying – 3 weeks
Will you be doing anything else while you are here – no
Where will you be staying – with my brother
Where does your brother live – SW London
I am sure if I was white, he wouldn’t ask me all these questions – afterall, I was already through immigration (very jovial old guy and asked very few questions, except to call me the VISA guy when he found various valid VISAs in my passport and couldn’t decide which one to use) and on my way out of the airport. I kept a slightly amused look on my face throughout which is more or less as a result of the incredulity of the situation. Here is a man who thinks I might have borrowed money to pay for my trip, yet I am sure I earn more than he does in real terms.

Arrived at about 6:10pm Nigerian time, left the airport about 3 hours later, and didn’t get home until 2am or thereabouts – went straight to a small get-together first. Nigerians, I ate rice and plantain even though there was pounded yam on offer.

Thank God for the New Year. Had a long leave over the Xmas break. Felt like I should stop working full-time. But like I told a colleague, the only problem with that is that company I work for will stop my salary, otherwise I see no obstacle to free-lancing full-time.

OK, nearly lost my right knee on an okada who ran into a car after miscalculating the speed at which the car was moving – that was about the first week in December.
Walked away but throughout the Xmas holiday, the knee felt really tight and uncomfortable. Still feeling something down there but much better. I guess I will have a full-body MRI or CT-scan sometime in the future.

Now I am hooked on Desperate Housewives. The drama is just engaging. I am going through Season 2 at the moment. Prison break is great too. I had promised myself that I wasn’t going to watch season 2. I felt a single season is enough based on the premise of the film and I wasn’t going to be held hostage by another 24 a.ka. Jack Bauer which I finally came to my senses and gave up watching mid-way into season 4. Heroes – season 1 was great, the TV/Network people as usual wants to ring as much cash from the cash-cow as possible by making as many seasons as possible until people get fed up with it and lose interest and the TV ratings fall. I am on episode 5 into Prison Break season 3 now. I will pick up Heroes later when there is enough episodes to watch at a stretch (which I prefer to the one episode per week approach)

New Year, new things, new resolutions – what? who? when?