Letter from Kenrick Mark (41st Edition)

Letter from Kenrick Mark

Dear Esteemed Readers,

I woke up early Tuesday morning. I had a good night sleep! I felt awesome! I relaxed in bed for nearly an hour. I opened my window and fresh air zoomed in! This felt great. I don’t like to be locked up in a room, without an open door/window. I felt as if I would suffocate. Many times I laid down on my bed, and considered my life, my struggles, and my achievements. I thought of living in London, and how amazing, mystifying, upstanding yet concentrating it can be. I remember going to Big Falls RC School and thinking of life in Great Britain. In 1999, our comrade Mike from Tennessee, donated a set of encyclopedias to our family. We were all excited! I was super jovial! I think each member of my family took one of the books and began reading, or browsing or looking at photos (smiling). I remember days and weeks I would sit down and enjoy immersing in new knowledge! I learnt so much including about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the British Royal Family. We also had some British Volunteers at our school in 2002. I asked them many questions about culture, food, planes, flights, life, everything British (smiling). I relaxed in bed and reflected about this.

I also thought about how patience I was waiting for my childhood dream to come true. I guess I ‘played my cards right’, building my resume respectively to impress the Chevening Secretariat, and also applying at the right time. I was lucky. All of us were lucky — the entire 2015–2016 Chevening Cohort from Belize, and the scholarship recipients worldwide. I saw a few of the Chevening Scholars on social media too. I did spoke to a few.

I got out of bed, showered, and went to purchase water at Sainsbury. I decided to wait until 11am to go and read in the library. Along the way, I saw many people waiting at the bus stop, near our library. I was delighted to see many Africans living in the UK. I guess they were born in the UK or perhaps immigrated for school or work or both. In our library, I did met a few cheerful African women. They were sitting at the rear end of the ground floor section. We were all doing research on the computers. They bought tangerines from Sainsbury and shared with me. They told me they had challenges with some of their papers too. We talked about a few social norms, and social life in London. I never met them again, during my tenure in London.

When I arrived at Sainsbury, it was very busy. I always saw a few people in the store from our surroundings — a few elders. I did a grand tour of the store. I started from the entrance, went down the first row, and then made my journey between the isles. The breads were captivating! I loved breads, but was scared to buy different kinds. I wasn’t sure if I would have loved it. I got a pack of soft white bread too. I tried the regular white bread, and the whole wheat option, but it wasn’t my ‘taste’. I also saw the semi-prepared and prepared meals on sale, and of course, at far cheaper prices than going to Nandos or a local restaurant. Again, I wasn’t interested in those. One night after classes, I went into M & S. I went to purchase white chocolate chip cookies. While walking around the isles in the store, I found some prepared Rice & Peas and Rice & Beans dishes. They were about 3 sterling pounds. The instructions was just to microwave for 1 minute. Those were really good! I bought 3 of those. When I went back at a later date, they didn’t have any. I was sad. So, I got my 4 bottles of water, bread, and a Cadbury milk chocolate. I did self check out (finally learnt and loved it). It was very easy.

While walking back home, I saw a post office. I remember promising to mail a package to another Belizean Scholar studying in Sussex. He was a friend of my family in Toledo, and when he completed high school, he received the Pestalozzi scholarship to pursue A Levels at Sussex Coast College. He actually left in August, 2015, while I flew out in September, 2015. We skyped a few times while we were in the UK. He told me that he didn’t like the food they provided, so I was going to send him some food stuffs. I never managed to send the package to him. We are still good friends though.

I also looked into the Green Cafe, and it was always filled with guests having Breakfast. The streets in Greenwich were always growing, and flowing with cars and people. I saw many airplanes flying in the sky. They seemed quite low to me. I loved the morning skies in London. I still couldn’t believe (and this happened many times while I was living in London) that I was actually walking in London. How amazing! There were a few trees in our court yard. We had benches too around the trees. I never really sat in the courtyard, but saw a few girls and guys enjoying a morning smoke or drink and talking.

I toasted bread and butter, and had water. I also had a granola bar. After washing up, I went to library to begin my reading for Social Media & Media Relations class. I went to the PR books section on the first floor. I reviewed many chapters and read required papers. I also took mini-breaks enjoying snacks. I always took a small bag of snacks mostly chocolates, crisps, cookies, water, fruits, powder buns and crackers. Occasionally, I would purchase a chicken sandwich from Sainsbury or Marks & Spencer and take along. Those were really good!

I went to class later in the afternoon. Professor Mark headed the class. He discussed various topics including Edelman PR model and Social Media Guidelines by the CIPR. We also reviewed relevant points in some academic papers. We also did a class activity/presentation after the first half of the session. There were some times I fell asleep for like a minute (smiling).

After class, I walked home. It was very cold. I was still using my summer jacket. I guess the temperature was dropping. I bought 2 chicken sandwiches, 2 portion of fries and 1 milk shake from McDonalds.

I went home, watched cooking shows, and enjoyed my meal.

I fell asleep after.

I’m quite exhausted for tonight. I will continue my journey in a next edition of Letter from Kenrick Mark.

Sincerely yours,

Kenrick Mark