Since I’ve been here, people have randomly fist bumped/high fived me in the streets…smiled at me (genuinely) + the complimentss😌
Yeah it’s definitely a city that’ll be easy to make friends/ find community in.
Slightly tangential but I believe a fair amount of incidents where black people think they’ve been the victims of racism are them entering spaces where there are specific rules which they do not understand and therefore unknowingly break.
Spectators are expected to be quiet at tennis matches. Someone who hasn’t grown up attending or watching such events wouldn’t know this. I’ve definitely broken unspoken rules before when entering new spaces. It’s a huge part of class dynamics in Britain.
But black people, and to some extent other minority groups, are taught to perceive criticisms of their behaviour as racism. The reality is that different spaces have different expectations of behaviour and you can’t act the same way everywhere. No group appreciates it when you enter their space and don’t conform to their norms.
Meanwhile my hot take about this is that you must do everything possible within your power to ensure your own happiness. Any other thing from any other person is jara.
Since I clocked this, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been sad on my birthday.
These hosts are not nosy enough or getting to the crux of things 😭 Like, do Joseph & Fran have their own place now? How are Ciara & Ajay managing finances? Did she buy her own flight to Australia or did he? I need DETAILS.
#LoveIsBlindUK