Though I think the day my boxes get collected will be the weirdest of them all... Nine years of stuff sorted into two piles - to be chucked, and to be shipped. What will be will be, to be sure, to be sure!
While shopping in the Wimbledon Tesco earlier this afternoon, I was looking around, with hope, for a can of South Africa's best Caramel Treat - you know that yummy stuff you put into peppermint crisp tart!? Except we've always called it 'Transkei Mud' - a far more exciting and fun name for kids is what my mom must have been thinking. Anyways, it stuck - and to this day, I still call it that even though everyone detests, 'But isn't this peppermint crisp pudding?'
So, shopping in Tesco. In Wimbledon. Aka Saffaville. And I spot it - my delightful caramel treat - and all for the tidy sum of £1.29! Fabulous!
It was a week ago that I entered a South African shop at Victoria station - great for pre-train biltong snacks no arguing that, but at £4.29 for a can of the caramel stuff, I just felt a little bit ripped off! I knew I'd seen it at a Tesco in Hammersmith once, and hence I'd tried my luck in the Wimbledon one today!
But what surprised me the most was that not only was it caramel they had, but in fact an entire shelf dedicated to South African stuff!!! How had I missed this all this time? Was it new? Or had I just been living too far from central Saffaville to realise?
This UK supermarket's shelves stocked the ultimate SA favourites - Ouma rusks, chutneys in a few flavours, TEMPOS (yum yum!), NikNaks (both cheese and chutney flavours), Creme Soda and a variety of spices and sauces!
So while I sit here with an e-ticket in my hand, my return home now imminent after all these years, I am laughing at just how entrenched South African culture has become in this country! But one thing they can never import, is 300 days of sunshine.
So, what I am left with thinking is two things after 9 years in the UK, and over 3 of this gig blog:
1) Why are SA CDs not yet as readily available as Tempo bars and cans of caramel treat. Yes, the UK has endless types of chocolate and sweet treats of their own - and musicians by the dozen of course - but there is still a definite market here for some of our sweet sweet SA music!
And...
2) What am I going to do with the name - and intent - of this blog when I head back to South Africa? Do I keep on at providing a centralised listing of all SA gigs in London as no one else has ever sustained at doing it for longer than a few months... or do I change the name to something more exotic, more global, more 'out there'? I will of course keep on doing exactly what it says on the label though - and that is spreading the word about South African music beyond our borders, bringing you the insight and interesting stories behind the music so that you too may go off and discover some of these fabulous artists!
1) Why are SA CDs not yet as readily available as Tempo bars and cans of caramel treat. Yes, the UK has endless types of chocolate and sweet treats of their own - and musicians by the dozen of course - but there is still a definite market here for some of our sweet sweet SA music!
And...
2) What am I going to do with the name - and intent - of this blog when I head back to South Africa? Do I keep on at providing a centralised listing of all SA gigs in London as no one else has ever sustained at doing it for longer than a few months... or do I change the name to something more exotic, more global, more 'out there'? I will of course keep on doing exactly what it says on the label though - and that is spreading the word about South African music beyond our borders, bringing you the insight and interesting stories behind the music so that you too may go off and discover some of these fabulous artists!
So in my departure, my final wish is for the influx of loads more SA music into the UK! And maybe in years to come, I will one day delightfully discover an album of Josie Field or Mccree or Jax Panik on sale in Tesco!
Rock on caramel treat, and things-a-changing...,
x
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