justwise:

Regarding the ban by the antspambot ..please next time you get banned report it straightway it will be removed.

Soknown:
I was woken up by a soft knock on the door, my house mate was set for the trip, said the other colleagues will be with us in 45 minutes. I rushed into the shower, took me no time to get set. I had a little more time to prepare tea for me and my colleague. We got to the train station at 0845hr, the tarin to Brighton through Horsham was in 15 minutes. It was a 12 coach Southern train, we boarded the 5th coach. I slept off immediately we sat down with the instruction to not disturb me unless there is fire or we have reached our destination. My housemate poked me and i woke up with anger, he pointed out to the station's platform at Horsham, obviously the train has stopped. There were two ladies hitting themselves by the platform and the train dispatch official were trying to seperate them, it was a shock to me, and my colleagues. First time that i would see people fighting in the UK, of course i have seen video of adults fighting on the street in the US, never thought it could happen in the UK also.
We got to Brighton at 1030hr, i was surprised to see red colored buses like London buses, we boarded a bus that will take us to the nearest bus stop to the beach. We trekked a little distance from the bus stop and there it was, the Brighton beach and her famous pier house. It was a rude shock to found that the water is very dirty and this is the very beach i have visited that is made of stones instead of sand. The beach is made up of stone pebbles. There were a lot of sea gulls pestering the fun-seekers. One of my colleagues suggested that we should visit the Piers first before we settled on the beach. The Pier is the main fun house containing so many games and activities, you have to pay at each point. I settled with the table tennis court and played with another visitor that i met there. Some of my colleaques played with gokart, some with the bouncing castle.
We went back to the sea side, and prepared a space for ourselves, many wanted to reach the water line but i told them i am not interested, the water is really dirty. i sat down and enjoyed the sun, sipping my cold coke. We later played volley ball using doubled large balloons, we were eight in number so there were four on each side, the wind was blowing the hither thither but that was the only inflatable thing we had with us.
Close to the beach was a sea aquarium, we decided to spent the remaining time at the aqaurium, best decision of the day. We had more fun a the aqaurium than we did on the beach. We saw so many species of fish and turtles and even an anaconda. We walked under the aquarium, felt like diving with the sharks.
Our return train was scheduled for 1428hr but we were at the station at 1420hr. We boarded Gatwick express, which goes straight from Brighton to Gatwick, non stop. We changed at Gatwick to a train going to Reigate. Getting to Redhill, three colleagues decided to spent the evening with us in the apartment. So we picked up Pizza and some drinks to enjoy while we watch netflix.
I have had two trips in two days so i was half awake while watching the movies, i did know when the colleagues left, one of them covered my face with pizza box, took a picture and sent it to our WhatsApp chat group. I had one day off left.
I did my laundery and prepared for the next wave of shifts.

uptimum123:



All this and no pictures?

Soknown:

I will post pictures, when i can get down to it.

Soknown:

I will post pictures, when i can get down to it.

Mindlog:


Started from the first page and I must commend you for being a good writer. I presently work in a psychiatric hospital as a counseling psychologist and intend moving to the UK come September to do my Masters in Developmental and therapeutic play (to be a Play therapist, working with children) and stay back to work after graduation next year as it is also under shortage occupation list. Your journaling is inspiring.

Focusmind:
Good write up. I remember my stay in UK between 2009 to 2010 when I went to do my masters courtesy of PTDF scholarship.

I started in September 2009 and by 2010, I had submitted my thesis.

I got a job in St. Andrews Community hospital, Scotland as an office assistant.

The matron asked me to be assisting the nurses in some of the duties with an increased pay.

Mind you, I wasn't trained as a nurse. My masters was on finance.

But I enjoyed my work so much and my scottish colleagues liked me without any bias. No racism at all, and they were very free with me as I worked so hard to win their trust and respect.

The lady nurses were so fond of me that they were always seeking for my attention and companionship.

The Matron noticed it and smiled why we were having a private informal discussion and said jokingly that I was now a darling of the nurses. She said, " please make your choice quickly among the nurses so that others will know where they stand".

I was just laughing and she said she meant her statement.

There is no such segregation in the health care sector over there in the North.

ChuksObiora:
i enjoy every bit of your journal and it makes nursing sound so interesting although i am dental student in nigeria and just hope i would have chances to come to the UK

boldx:
Soknown, thank you for all your write up. You got me transfixed. More grace

Olalekank:
Solid enjoyment at your family's
I quite like the way you save money

Reading your housemates experience makes me see staying with housemates a burden. How's it generally?

ChuksObiora:
is it possible to get reported by a neighbor for cooking with our thick smell foodstuff

Soknown:
When i resumed to work on Tuesday, most of the patients i knew have been discharged, replaced with new set of patients. There was never a dull moment on my ward. each time i resumed to work there is new thing to learn. I have new thing to learn about the clinical practice and the administration that goes with it. I interfaced with a lot of other professionals, the Doctors ( each ward has its own doctors led by a Consultants or two, SHO, FY2 and FY1) the Physiotherapists, the Occupational therapists and the Pharmacists at the ward level. the speech and language therapists, the dieticians, infection control specialists, tissue viability nurses, stoma care nurses and palliative team to name a few.
One aspect of care that found so strange that i had to sit down with the palliative team was the end of live care pathway. i was thinking, how could you just allow people to die. But after my discussion with the team i have better understanding of the goal and process. I also struggled to understand why every deteriorating patients can not be taken to the ITU for invasive interventions. In Nigeria, every worsening conditions would be taken to the ICU or the theater, where available. As times goes on i began to understand the full details of the policies and mode of practise, care pathways, referral and escalation pathways.
We were already in December and i have three weeks to move out of the accommodation that was provided by the trust. Mid Novemeber, I registered with letting agencies on the high street, connels,Leaders, woodland, Purple bricks, Andrews etc. I also registered with intolondon.com, rightmove.com, spareroom.com, zoopla, Gumtree, primelocations etc. I never knew what i was against, no one has informed me that getting a house will be a herculean task. There were so many houses, but the issues are i am an immigrant with no rent history, and the houses are too expensive. Accommodation here are either Flats/Apartment or Houses. House could be fully detached or Semi-detached. Because of its proximity to London, Rent is very expensive in Redhill, a two bedroom house start at £1250/cm, while 2 bedroom flats starts at £1000/cm.
I decided to view a paricular house with two of my female colleagues, it was a 3 bedroom flat close to the town center, it was offered at £1450/cm, i told them if we could rent it together, we would be paying just £600/cm each, i figured the bills should not be more than £350/cm.
I love the building but unfortunately it did not meet the taste of my friends, one said there was no carpet rug on the staircase. So i missed that particular opportunity. I inspected a couple of houses which i did not like.
To inpect a house, you have to book a date with the agent, the agent will in turn comfirm the date with the occupant of the house, some dates will be canceled if the occupant changed his/her schedule. Woodland lettings called me that there was a change of circumstances with the flat that i viewed earlier very close to the town center, a company has acquired it and wants to rent it out in pieces/rooms. I got the company's agents contact and scheduled a viewing again. To my surprise, the house is now being let as a four bedroom instead of three bedroom that it was before.
The living room is now a bedroom on its own. The lay out of the flat is there is kitchen to your right as you enter, straight ahead is the living room, to your left is the staircase that lead to the three bedroom upstairs, two double rooms and a single room and the bathroom. the living room is let out at £545 while the bigger of the double room upstairs was £535, the second double room was £525 and the single room was £500. The company will be responsible for the bills. Usual bills are Council tax, Energy and water Bills. After the inspection, i decided to rent the living room, because it is the biggest, it has a big sofa already and it is close to the kitchen.
I had to pay the withholding fee which is the equivalent of a week's rent, and it will be deducted from the total rent to be before moving in date.
The next working day, the forms were sent to me to fill, and then i started chasing my *referees*. It took about a week for me to complete the forms, chase referencing and credit checks. After all the checks were done, and i paid the first rent and the security deposit of £650, we signed the tenancy agreement, I got the key to the flat and a fob to open the main door that let one into the biulding. I had the option of hiring a professional cleaner to clean the room for me but i can not afford £30/hr for something i could do formyself, So i bought, parker and brush, cleaning foam and dettol solution. After much sweats and 3 hours, the room was cleaned to my satisfaction.
When it was a week to my move out date, my present land lord sent a mail as reminder, so i informed him of my intention to move out before the set date. I started moving my things little by little as i did not want to hire a van. Van and man could cost me about £40/hr, hence a lot of DIY to save money.
It was Mid December, the whole scenery has changed, the council, Reigate and Banstead borough has placed decorative lights on the high street topped by the big Christmas tree. My first winter was a very biting experience. Temperature could not soar more than 2*c. I can not say if it was the stress of moving house or the cold that caused it, i caught flu just before christmas. It was very bad, all my lips were cracked, i got 3 days sick leave to recover, It was at this moment that i discovered that i have not registered with a GP, shame.
There were two GP in my neighborhood. Hawthorne surgery on Oxford Street and Greystone surgey on Station road, I went to Greystone surgery first but the attitude of the front desk officers put me off, so went Hawthorne Surgery that has a more relaxed atmosphere and more welcoming.
The fornt desk officer checked my post code to determine if i was in the catchment area before giving me the forms to fill, i sat down to fill the forms immediately, i have no time to be going back and forth, she made copies of my id and that was it. She said i will be notified once my registration is complete.
Apart from the sick leave, my manager decided to give me part of my vacation days, so i was off work till 30th of December. Since i was fully recovered from the flu i decided to use it to do something different and make extra money. I have registered with an agency that supply nurses and hca or carers to nursing homes. So i called the agent and gave him my availability. December the 28th, he came to pick me up at Redhill and drove me to a nursing home in East Grinstead. It was baptism of fire as i was in charge of close to 20 residents, it was difficult but i got the job done at the end of the day, and that was my introduction into working with agencies. I worked in many homes in Surrey, West Sussex and some borough in Greater London.

Soknown:
,
Never, otherwise all my indian friends would have been deported.

Soknown:
,
Never, otherwise all my indian friends would have been deported.

Soknown:

Thank you for the good comment. I never knew i could write and people would commend it. Hope you will start to write yours soon, we need to improve the body of knowledge on Nairaland in our little ways. I wish you well in your plan, just focus on it and it will materialise.

Mindlog:


Surely, I intend starting writing mine towards my departure and I tell you, journaling is therapeutic.

molbic:
interesting i really enjoyed every bit of your story,it was as if I was reading one of my favorite novels please keep the story coming.

Adayoung:

Good day,I'll be coming to the Uk hopefully after this lockdown. Please I want to know what u mean about getting a referee before renting a place and how do you get one.

Soknown:

It is in two parts but the purpose of referencing or getting referees is to make sure you are who you say you are, and to make sure you are able to meet up with the financial obligation- Rent.
1st part, If after checking your credit rating/level, it was dicovered that your salary is within the range specified by the landlord/agents, then you might just need your employer as the referee.
2nd part, if your salary falls below the range specified, then you need a guarantor that his/her salary is within the specified range, you can use two guarantors. e.g For a flat of £1000 and above, the agent might say, you need to earn above £32000/year to be able to let. If you don't earn up to that you will need guarantor(s).