Our emigration: life in London

Photo: Facebook Valery Danchenko

Ukrainian Valeria Danchenko moved to London at the age of 24. Now she works in the capital of Great Britain as a guide.

About her life in London, she told the publication Gloss.ua.

I am originally from Kyiv, graduated from the Institute of Journalism of the KNU named after. Taras Shevchenko. I moved to London a year ago on a work visa, which took a year of preparation. I decided to move due to personal circumstances. In Kyiv, before that I worked as a PR manager for a British company, and on weekends as a tour guide. After working for some time as a personal assistant in London, I decided to come up with a job that brings pleasure and a good income. That’s how I became a tour guide, so I’ll start with the point about work.

Employment

London is an international city and there are a lot of job offers. For this, it is not necessary to have English education. The main thing is to get an interview and use personal charm. If you like the interviewer, they'll take you. It is much more important to be an adequate person, not to be lazy and be ready to learn. In order to get me a job, I needed to send a video of my excursions and show how I spend them in practice. Sense of humor was the deciding factor, because people do not come to the lecture, but to the educational entertainment.

Now I work in two firms in parallel: in one I conduct group excursions, in the other - individual ones. The first question that our people usually ask me when they find out that I am a tour guide: “You probably spend a lot of excursions for Russian speakers?”. I answer: no, I haven't done it yet. While there were Europeans, Asians, Americans, Canadians.

Photos from the personal archive of Valeria Danchenko

London residents have all the rules - a myth

It always seemed to me that in England everything is always by the rules. But, as it turned out, the human factor is present in any country. When I filed my application, resume and cover letter (cover letter) to the courses of guides, I waited a long time for an answer. In the end, if I hadn't called myself, I would have missed my interview. When asked what I need to prepare, I was told that the story about myself should be enough. The next day I, along with four candidates, came in for an interview. This was my second week in London. The candidates were native Londoners, so I was terribly worried.

We all told about ourselves, and then the course curator, Caroline, said: well, now we want to listen to what you have prepared for today. I do not understand what is at stake. The girl on the right, who later became my friend, gets up and presents the column of Nelson. My brain pulses, my heart jumps out of my chest. From fear, I can not hear anything, in my head: "What kind of column? What else is Nelson? And what should I say? ” It was my turn.

I get up and report: "Unfortunately, I did not receive an email that I need to prepare something." The emotions on the faces of the interviewers give way to surprise, they do not know how to react.

“... Therefore, I will tell you about Kiev!”, I add. Then followed three minutes impromptu.

Two days later I received a letter of enrollment for the course. The neighbors below, I think, well heard my mad jumps of joy. Moral: impromptu in England also works.

Photos from the personal archive of Valeria Danchenko

People

Ponto is not here. The British often downplay their virtues, but love to share interesting plans for the future. Here you can not worry about the appearance and expensive accessories. The main thing is to make it fun and easy with you. People are free from prejudice and nobody cares what model you have a phone and whether there is a high-class car. A car in London is actually not needed, it only makes sense if you leave the city.

The British plan everything in advance, and “in advance” means a year in advance. Now I also need to adapt and plan everything. On October 17th I have a reception for guides at Westminster Abbey, and on the 25th I am going to an exhibition of works by Tove Jansson. Friends from Kyiv laughed when back in December I said that in May I was going to a conference on the Tudor dynasty in Canterbury. If you want to get to something important, you need to plan six months in advance.

In October last year, on a practical lesson of the guides, the classmate shared with us the news that he was soon flying to New Zealand. Everyone says: “Cool, when are you going?”. Answer: "In May."

In Kiev, it would be strange to plan a trip for the year when you do not know what will happen tomorrow. But there are exceptions to the rule. A friend of mine, the ex-mayor of Westminster (the administrative district of London), said: “Once I got into a fuss and flew to Washington for a weekend. I bought a ticket on Friday and went to the airport right after work. I had a great weekend, so on Monday I was, of course, lousy. But the expression of the faces of my colleagues was invaluable when I asked the question where I was on Sunday, that I flew to the States. ”

Photos from the personal archive of Valeria Danchenko

British and politeness

The British are very polite. This is probably the only nation that says the word “sorry” a hundred times a day. They apologize even if their own foot has been stepped on. Even in London, people always smile: when meeting, making acquaintances, in a store, on the subway. If you address a person or are addressed to you, you need to smile: these are the rules of etiquette.

Also, personal boundaries are not violated here; when applying for a job, no one asks if you are married, if you have children, if you have a boyfriend, if you are planning to have children, and similar questions that might be asked in Kyiv. New acquaintances also do not violate boundaries, do not talk about their problems and do not get into your soul. The word "partner" can be used for the person you live with: it could be a husband, a boyfriend, a partner of the same gender. A good alternative when you don’t want to go into the details of your sex life.

The British are not only polite, but also gullible. The rule “I will bring money later” also works in London. Somehow in the bookstore I missed two pounds. The books were given to me, and two pounds were told to deposit when there would be time. Brought in a month. I can easily take the books of the XIX century home from the library, and once in two months I just check if everything is in order with them. And still inhabitants of foggy Albion really believe in ghosts.

Medicine

In Kiev, if something bothers you about health, you can always enroll to a specialist on the same day. In London, you always come to the reception first. general practitioner (this is how we have a therapist) who will prescribe antibiotics for you regardless of your problem. Once, according to his prescription, I took antibiotics for almost two weeks, and then I had to go to an emergency ambulance, where I sat in a queue for five hours at night. And this is taking into account the fact that there were a few people: about ten people in the waiting room. And when I had cystitis, the doctor advised me to wear socks. In short, it is better not to hurt here.

Security

It always seemed to me that London was safe, and much safer than Kyiv. This is wrong. During the time that I have lived here, there have already been several terrorist attacks. One is on Westminster Bridge, where I usually end one of my excursions, the second is near London Bridge, the third is at Parsons Green tube station, which I also passed periodically. During the terrorist attack near London Bridge, I was just in the east part of London, from where it was impossible to leave for two hours. The area was sealed off while police searched for the terrorists. I just wanted to get home; I was ready to walk across the city. It's a little scary when you know that terrorists are next to you within a square kilometer radius.

After a recent attack on the metro station, the level of the terrorist threat was critical, and I had guided tours in the center on the same day, but everything worked out. By the way, yesterday, near the famous shopping center people doused with acid. Today, when I wanted to send an article, I went to the metro station. The phrase was sounded: “Passengers should immediately leave the station, immediately leave the station!”. I already thought that I would not get to my excursion. It turned out there was a test alert, fuh.

Photos from the personal archive of Valeria Danchenko

English traditions

Despite feminism, English women change their surname after marriage. A business coach I know, James, told me about his sister, who got married and changed her last name to Kok (means “cockerel”, and if translated from slang - male genital organ). He giggled at his sister, but he couldn’t imagine that she could stay with her last name, because according to tradition, the last name needs to be changed. At the same time, in Kyiv, many progressive girls increasingly do not do this.

I also had to get a pseudonym because my name turned out to be difficult to pronounce. From the mouth of the British Valery Danchenko it sounds something like this: “Vaaleuriaa Daanchin-nko.” After six months of living in London, my ears couldn't take it anymore and I started introducing myself only as "Valery Danko". I even changed the name on my tour guide badge.

Each district has its own mayor. At official events they dress in ceremonial clothes and look like gentlemen from the 19th century. If our politicians put on Kozak costumes, would it be obligatory to behave more worthy?

Sometimes my friend Steve, the ex-mayor of Westminster, comes to me on excursions. I said that next time I come in ceremonial attire, in a Napoleonic three-horn hat and with a medal. It is unlikely that someone will understand that he is the mayor, but everybody will believe in a ghost from the 19th century.

Photo: Facebook Valery Danchenko

Attitude towards animals

Some animals have work here. Pigeons fly with sensors across London and measure the level of air pollution. Horses carry the royal carriage. But who has the most interesting work? Do hawks: they guard the area from pigeons. Historically, hawks have been in office since 1851, when Prince Albert organized the World's Fair. Pigeons and sparrows left their droppings on exhibits at the World's Fair, so the Duke of Wellington gave practical advice to the prince - to invite hawks. Since then, they have a job, and I often observe in public squares and on the areas of trained hawks, frightening pigeons.

Sometime in January, I picked up a pigeon with a broken wing. That same evening, I began to look for how to help him, I wrote emails, and in the morning I was called back from the pigeon rescue service, given contacts to the organization London wildlife protection. I called back, thanked me for saving the pigeon, as if I had found not a street pigeon, but their pet. The volunteers of the organization took the pigeon just a few hours after the bell, and then reported how the pigeon feels.

The last clarification is about food: in all restaurants there is food labeling and division into vegan or vegetarian, because for me there is a big choice of food. Nobody laughs at vegetarians.

I still have a lot to learn, but for now I'm happy to live in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and call my work a favorite thing.

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