PROGRESS OBERIKO BLOG

As you arrive to study in the UK this September, here are a few clues to keep in mind: 1. Have your jackets with you even though it’s summer! It is better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it. Because you can find summer, winter, and autumn, in one day; There’s nothing as unpredictable as a BRITISH WEATHER! Escalators in some London train stations        2. Just immediately after you alight the plane you’ll be met with long-ass escalators which looks like they’re taking you to heaven. Some of you may already be familiar with them, some may not, and just like me, you may develop a phobia for escalators and feel like you’re gonna fall down when you place your first foot on it, but don’t worry, it’ll soon become your friend.  Stratford Coach Station, London.      3. You’ll begin to hear phrases like "get a coach"!  Don’t look clueless! It’s just another way of saying “get a bus”. Speaking about buses, don’t forget to pres...

  The first time someone used this phrase with me, I wasn’t sure what she meant. In Nigeria, people say “it’s a shame” when they imply that someone has done something shameful or disgraceful.  But in England, it’s not exactly so.  So one day I was unable to make an appointment because I wasn’t feeling well enough, and when I called to inform my British colleague of this disappointment, she replied “Oh dear, it’s a shame”, and I’m like “Shame? Shame on who”? I wasn’t exactly sure how to react, but it absolutely didn’t go down well with me because of my preexisting understanding of the phrase. On more than one occasion, I was on a chat with someone and I expressed my disappointment about the rain which has disrupted my plans for the day, and the response from this person was “It’s a shame”. This got me a bit confused. Why am I being “shamed” for all of these? 🤷‍♀️  I was too embarrassed to ask anyone what they meant by the phrase. So I had to ask google, and I found t...

Often times when you see people overseas carrying ‘ dada ’ (dreadlocks), it’s not swag o; it’s often because of the cost of making their hair every now and then. If you consider the cost of making your hair in the UK, you’d rather cut it or grow dreadlocks. In this country, people don’t change hairstyles randomly, especially African ladies, because we’re high maintenance. That’s why you see many ladies have different versions of WigCaps. I see a lot of Africans, including school children, carry their braids even though it is due for a change or has developed so much undergrowth (which often tells you how long the hair has stayed for). 😂 In fact, the first time I made my hair here, I undid it after 3weeks (cos I felt it was due for a change) and went back to have it remade,  but I was surprised by the lady’s reaction when she realized I had undone the hair she made ‘just’ three weeks ago. Hahaha... She made me feel like I was being wasteful.😂 Here, nobody is your friend when it co...

  Location: Brighton      I recall one of my first times boarding a commercial bus in London. Usually, if you intend to alight at a certain bus stop, you’re expected to press the bell before the driver approaches the bus stop. So on this occasion, I got to where I was gonna alight, and of course, I wasn’t used to "pressing the bell" before hand, so as the driver approached my street I tried to alert him by   saying “I’m stopping here o”, but he didn’t listen.       Before I said jack, he had zoomed passed my street, then I started screaming “ Oga stop me here o ”... (Pidgin English). Location: London      For where! The driver didn’t even turn towards my direction even though I was standing right beside him in the bus. Everyone in the bus was giving me the ‘what’s-wrong-with-this-one’ look. 🙄      Then I remembered that I was in the UK. But before I would press the bell, driver had driven like five bus stops pas...