A month in Manchester

Time flies when you're having fun. And these past four weeks have absolutely flown by as I arrived and settled in Manchester, my new home.

I left Eswatini on Sunday, 25 September and headed to South Africa. From there, I took an almost 10-hour flight to Frankfurt before connecting for the last time to Manchester Airport, arriving in the early hours of Monday.

Finding support

This was my first international flight but it proved to be seamless. As has been the case of my journey so far, there were people playing different roles to ensure I travelled safely. My friend and Chevening Alumni, Nkosinathi Mavimbela, was checking up on me at every stage of my flight. He began checking in on the Sunday when I was due to leave home. For all my other stops, he would check to see if I had found the right gate at the airports, for example. And, I did find the right gates, luckily.

Towards the end of that last leg from Frankfurt to Manchester, I found myself striking up a conversation with a lady seated next to me. As it turned out, she was a Senior Lecturer in one of the UK Universities and was originally from Zimbabwe. She connected me to another family originally from Zimbabwe and now based in Salford and within a week of my arrival in Manchester, they had invited me for lunch at their home.

This family has now become one of my greatest support structures here. I join them for Church on Sundays. As I worked through finding accommodation in those first few weeks, they rallied support from family friends and acquaintances in the real estate industry to help me find a place. They also urged me to run any contracts, particularly from private landlords, past them before I signed. This was all made possible through what looked, at first, like a small-talk airplane conversation.

Accommodation struggles

When I initially arrived at Manchester Airport, I took a taxi that my University had organised for me, free of charge. It took me to an Airbnb I had booked for the first few days of my arrival. Finding permanent accommodation proved to be difficult and tricky, in particular, due to a housing shortage in Manchester.

At one point, I dodged a scam where I was being asked to deposit £1400 for an 'imaginary house' whose keys would be shipped to me once I had sent the money.

Luckily, my University stepped in at the right time and offered me temporary accommodation in a nice ApartHotel in central Manchester, free of charge. This was meant to help me settle while finding a more permanent place. And it helped, because, in two weeks, I had found my permanent accommodation.

Transport

Those first few days as I navigated the new transport system here were a bit tricky. It is funny when I look back now. After all, unlike back home, here there isn't exactly a bus conductor to refer to or double check your route with. On the Tuesday after my arrival, I had to go to my University to complete registration. I took the wrong tram and basically ended further backwards to where I needed to go. But, I eventually found my way back.

At one point, I became confused so much that I went to the University's AskUS Service for assistance in finding my way back to my Airbnb. The lady there was incredibly helpful; and wrote down detailed instructions on a piece of paper, including which buses to take and from which bus stops. I chuckle when I think about it now because it has become routine.

Settling into academic life

As soon as I had arrived, I had to quickly find my feet with schoolwork as I had already missed a week of lessons. There were already assignments due on the horizon.

But luckily, there is an incredible array of support available here to guide you through the academic journey. I signed up to a few academic workshops organised by my University's Library and these were so helpful in helping me get started in approaching my assignments.

On top of the workshops, there are various opportunities to engage and get feedback and guidance from your tutors as well as tons of information on the University website and even paid for access to relevant, industry-focused materials, like LinkedIn Learning.

Some two weeks back, my University took my class on a tour of the BBC offices in Manchester. It was such an exciting and insightful tour into how one of the world's leading broadcasters tries to stay relevant in today's ever evolving media space.

Seeing The Theatre of Dreams

On my birthday on 30 September, I treated myself to a tour of Old Trafford, home to my club, Manchester United. I took a bus to the stadium and up to today, I still can't describe the feeling as the bus slowly made its way to Sir Matt Busby Way and Old Trafford came into view. It's an unexplainable feeling. I felt the flooding rush of all the childhood memories watching all those famous United Old Trafford moments from Sihhoye.

At the end of the tour, I video called a few special people from the front of the Stadium, including my father, a passionate United supporter. One day, I hope to take my old man on that very same tour.

Old habits die hard

Every once in a while, I find myself saying something like, "ncesi" (SiSwati word for sorry) whenever I bump into someone at a shop or in a hallway. Sometimes, it will be throwing in a word like "nje" (SiSwati word for just) mid-conversation.

I found comfort when my fellow Chevener from Venezuela, David, told me he also found himself regularly saying Spanish words and phrases within English conversations.

Orientation, SMA & London

Over the past weekend, I was in London for the Chevening Orientation- an event which brings together new scholars for a whole day of networking. On this day, I was also revealed as a Chevening Social Media Ambassador for 2022/23, the first scholar from Eswatini to be selected for this role- a huge honour.

I spent the latter part of the weekend seeing a bit of London, including world-known landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey & the London Eye. It was a truly glorious feeling.

As we walked down the London streets on Sunday evening, David, my fellow Chevener from Venezuela, turned to me and said, "Sibo, a year ago, did you imagine that in October 2022 you would be walking in the streets of London with a Venezuelan guy next to you?" Crazy. Dreams really do come true.

This journey is testament to that. As I have said before, dreams do come true even if you are from little known villages like Sihhoye. My story is that of an ordinary village boy on an extraordinary journey.

Overall, the transition to this new life has been good.

I look forward to the next month with great excitement!

By: Sibongiseni Zondi

NB: Sibongiseni Zondi writes this blog in his personal capacity. The views expressed here do not represent the views of the Chevening Scholarship Secretariat, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Chevening partners.

Zondi is a 2022/22 Chevening Scholarship recipient & Chevening Social Media Ambassador pursuing a Master's Degree in Public Relations and Digital Communications at the University of Salford, in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Chevening is the UK Government’s international scholarships and fellowships programme. Chevening Scholarships are awarded by the UK Government to develop international leaders.