UK
Blogs from South Africans in the UK, United Kingdom
ERICH RETTERMEYER in London
Travelling from London to Cape Town on motorbikes was a childhood dream agreed upon over a bottle of whiskey and the urge to do something different. Joburg high school friends, Dean, who has lived in London for three years, and Erich, for nine, have been ...
ANDRIES SMIT in London
I was born in Bloem, but moved to Blue Bull country at a very young age. I completed my school years in Pretoors and met my high school sweetheart and wife-to-be. I then studied accounting at Tukkies and completed my training with PwC in Menlyn, before re ...
CELINE CASEY Married to a South African
Growing up with Irish music, the Catholic Church and wind and rain in Ireland, little did I know that I would be swept into a different culture by a South African man who embraces everything Irish, like enjoying a good pint of Guinness. He can also match ...
Close up look at Harare seven years on
Looking closer to the ground in Harare, the city has taken a beating from the economic collapse. But I can’t get over how much everything is pretty much the same.
The same grocery stores standing in the same places or the same food courts serving the sa ...
Back home after seven years
March 2003. A life changing month to my story. One day in late March I was in my hometown Harare and by the next morning, I was another fresh-faced arrival at London’s Heathrow not knowing that it would be nearly seven years before I would set foot on hom ...
Celebrating Burns night the Saffa way
Here’s to the whiskey, the women and the haggis!
You’d be forgiven for thinking that this was a toast between men in suits in a gentlemen’s club. In fact, the Scots have been toasting each other this way for over 200 years in honour of Robert Burns, Scot ...
Christmas cheer in UK
One thing that is done well in the UK, is Christmas… the lights, the shows, the pantomime! I've been fortunate enough to win some tickets to see Aladdin at the local theatre and I will be taking some South African friends. Since winning I have been trying ...
ROZ COLLINS in Scotland
When I first arrived here about 12 years ago, I was keen to distance myself as far as possible from my South African roots and immerse myself in another way of life. As I've got older and become British, I now find myself proud of my heritage. I find myse ...
PATRICIA LAPAGE in London
Well… I am originally from Zimbabwe, but have been living in South Africa for the past few years, which I now consider home. I have recently graduated from University and part of my life’s dream was to travel and see as much of the world as possible. So I ...
TAMZEN WAKER in Aberdeen
I relocated to Aberdeen with my boyfriend after living in London for four years. I was looking forward to the quieter, more laid back life and I wasn’t disappointed. That being said it doesn’t mean my social life has taken a backwards turn. There are a ho ...
HILTON MENDELSON in UK
I was born and raised in Bulawayo, a place I am intensely proud of and passionate about. My heritage is a strange mix, as with most coloured people from Southern Africa, of Zulu, Ndebele, German and Jewish. My culture is difficult to describe because of t ...
KRITTERS MARITZ in London
I have just returned from South Africa, and the first thing I noticed when I got on the Underground is how quiet it is! Londoners don’t really like to speak to each other!When I was in Sun City and drinking with my Kudu, it wasn’t long before a lady took ...
ROGER WILLIAMSON in Wimbledon
We are a great nation, we have a lot going for us and as a passionate South African living here and missing all the normal things like sunshine, warmth and chatting to strangers, is just a small part of the living experience.
I have decided that I need t ...
STEPHAN AND ADELE THERON in Wimbledon
Deciding to give up everything you have and own to move to another country with your kids, is a decision not to be taken lightly. It’s a decision my wife and I made last year November on a visit to the UK.
Here we are five months later and I am not the f ...
DAVE ORR in London
Well....where do we start with the whirlpool that is London?Let’s start at the beginning: You land. You freeze. You wonder. You reach your new home, and then you sleep.You wake a while later to find that after months of planning and networking, you’re fin ...
MANDY BEUKES in Guernsey
Guernsey lies in the bay of St Malo in the English Channel, about 30 miles from the north coast of France and 70 miles from the south coast of England. We are just a 45 minute flight away from Gatwick, but what a world of difference. Life in Guernsey is ...
BRIONY DE KLERK in Wimbledon
As my plane flew in over London I thought nothing else but “OMW! Turn this puppy around!” Coming from a relatively small town where everything and everyone has a common denominator and noting the comparatively immense expanse of ‘The Big Smoke’, I all of ...
ANECDOTES from the Alleyways of London
Six o’ clock on a Friday evening and London begins to unfold before you. Commuters whiz by in a flurry, desperate to get home and out of their work attire – only to morph into their true selves for the weekend.The sidewalks are dotted with faceless people ...
