World Citizen

This is always my favorite post to write each year. A lot happens in a year, and I am always amazed at what all took place when I write this post. 2011 was a good year. My life faced new changes and challenges, and I walked away a stronger, and more experienced person than before.

January: The new year kicked off with my Peace Corps loves in Chicago. I then headed back to the LSE to complete the year. It was a constant adjustment trying to wrap my head around the British system. This was one of the major challenges of 2011.

February: My friend Laura from Peace Corps visited me. I submitted the dual degree application for Columbia after many drafts of the essays. I was anxiously waiting to hear a response. I wanted to be in the US and at Columbia. Meanwhile, I continued to find balance with readjustment into the “real world”. Even after all those months, there were moments that were extremely difficult. Reverse culture shock continued to affect me in the early part of 2011. In an attempt to find balance, I took mini city breaks to Cambridge and the like.

March: March was a good month. I received my acceptance to Columbia in the beginning of the month. That relieved a lot of stress for me. Peace Corps celebrated its 50th anniversary and I attended a celebration party in London. In search of inspiration, I attended a China in Africa conference at Oxford and met many fascinating individuals, including a guy from Burundi who became a good friend and mentor. Despite not being satisfied in my academic life, I enjoyed my life in London.

April: A rough month due to personal matters. But luckily this was the month where LSE had a month-long break/revision period. I took two trips: one to Bologna and another to Ibiza. Both trips were absolutely necessary for me to get away from London, to gain a little perspective, and to re-energize myself for the exam period. The end of the month was the Royal Wedding. It was pretty neat to be in London for this historical event. My friends and I participated by going to Trafalgar Square and watched it on the big screen! pretty cool.

May: The intense exam period began. Summer term full of review sessions took place. Life became pretty dull for the next two months. I also went on a Facebook Hiatus/Detox.

June: Exams were in full swing. Since the LSE library was so oversubscribed, Jenn and I found a perfect two-story Starbucks on Bond Street and went there from open to close every day during the month. It was the worst academic purgatory that I’ve ever experienced. The British System is simply not for me.

July: Things began to look up after exams in July. Immediately after exams, my sister visited me in London. Then, we took a trip to frolic along the French Riviera. It was much, much needed. During the vacation, I read Jacqueline Novogratz’ Blue Sweater, and Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Both of which made a big impression on me. The Tiger Mom book especially inspired me to tell my own story. I began working at Big Issue Invest, a social investment firm in London after my vacation. Very interesting work; right up my alley. Oh, I finally tried out the Cameroonian restaurant in London. It brought back all sorts of fantastic memories.

August: I thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks of my summer in London. My internship was fulfilling and interesting. It was a nice end to a rather frustrating academic year. I reflected on the year of reverse culture shock. Jerome visited me from Paris and we reminisced life in Cameroon. Nearly all of my visitors in London relate back to Cameroon in one way or another.

September: I began the long-awaited journey at Columbia SIPA. I finally felt like I was at the right place. It was really exciting to meet new people and get into the groove of things. SIPA threw a really fun Welcome-Back party, that kicked off my birthday celebration. I began to attend many networking events for jobs, and attempted to determine what path I want to take with my career. A major Peace Corps reunion in DC wrapped up the month. It was fantastic to see my loves again. It was bittersweet to know that people have all moved up with then next phase of life, and it will never quite be the same again.

October: SIPA continues to treat me well. There are always a million events happening. The Boat Party kicked off the month. Between job search, classes and a busy social life, I was always running around, but felt very happy and fulfilled. Columbia is a big bubble. Every now and again, it’s nice to break away to visit the Met, to stroll around Central Park, etc.

November: The month began with a trip to DC to attend Africa Gathering. An inspiring event with amazing African diaspora who have great ideas to contribute to the continent. School and job search remain incredibly busy. But holiday season kicked off with Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, massive feast, friends, and fun.

December: Early in the month was incredibly busy with finals. Job interviews began to take place and juggling the two kept me at the libraries all day long. In between all the frenzy, I tried to slip in some time to walk around the city and to take in the holiday spirit. New York is amazing during this season. It was nice to be home for Christmas. It has been nice to be closer to family and friends in the later part of this year.

And that, was 2011. Since I will graduate in May, 2012 holds much unknown. Anything is possible. That is at the same time exciting, and somewhat scary! I hope you have also had a fulfilled 2011, and I wish you all the best in this new year!

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Had an amazing time leaving NYC for a bit to attend Africa Gathering in DC. Unlike other typical African conferences, this was literally a gathering of ideas from entrepreneurs ranging from film, music, to solar power, agriculture investment, to youth voting promotion, women’s empowerment. Each speaker discussed their ideas for 20 minutes and it was a packed day full of inspiring moments.

As I am in the midst of job searching, this was the kind of inspiration that I needed. Being surrounded by people who truly believe in what they do remind me that finding purpose in a career is absolutely possible.

Beyond the great inspiration, this was also the first event where I live tweeted with many cool tweeps whom I had been following on issues regarding Africa. Even without prior realization, I found myself in the same room with @LightSolar, @InnovateAfrica, @Solar_Sister, @KateBomz and more. With the hash tag #AGDC, each organization that presented, we found their twitter handle and there was instant interaction not only within people tweeting in the room, but with everyone else out there who was following the conversation. People and groups such as @VoteorQuench, @kambale, @khwezimagwaza, etc were noticed. Even @WorldBankAfrica retweeted one of my many tweets!

It’s nice to step out of daily routines and search for tidbit of inspiration everywhere. I look forward to many more gatherings as such, and to that end, I must plug for the African Diplomatic Forum that Columbia SPAN (SIPA Pan-Africa Network) is hosting next Friday, November 18th! If you are in the NYC and has time to attend, it’s free to the public and should be very interesting and inspiring! If you are unable to attend (since it is on Friday, and people have jobs and whatnot), follow hash tag #CUADF for the play-by-play livetweets!

PS – a fellow blogger wrote beautifully recapping some key speakers from the conference. Check it out!

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The last few weeks have been a crazy blur. I had my leaving drinks the night before I left London. I went back to the Midwest for 10 days to catch up with family and friends. Even though I have been living in the developed world for the past year, coming back to America is still a culture shock. For example, who needs a salad like this one?!

10 days of Midwest was plenty for me. More and more, I am convinced that the suburbia life isn’t for me. It is for many, but not for me. I find it very odd that although it’s 100 degrees outside, it’s possible to go through an entire day and only feel the heat for 5 minutes (walking from your house to the car in your garage, then from your car to the destination and back). Something about this life feels awfully unnatural. There is convenience, and then there is excessive laziness.

I then packed my bags again and moved to New York City. As a teen, my dream was to live in NYC. Somehow, that dream went away, and now I find myself fulfilling that desire I had so many years ago. Somehow, wishes come true, but maybe not in the order that you want. In the past week, I spent time running around getting my apartment set up, meeting new people at SIPA (School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia). I finally feel at home. This is where I am suppose to be. I walked through the building and remembered the information session I attended in the spring before I went to Cameroon. Again, my wish came true, albeit in a different order.

New York City from up top

The student body is much larger than the LSE MPA, and much much more diverse. For one, people actually are interested when I say I was in Cameroon for two years. And in exchange, they have equally fascinating stories of life before SIPA. This is what I wanted. Academic life is only a fraction of the grad school experience; your peers can teach you a great deal. Tomorrow is first day of classes, and I am looking forward to getting the ball rolling!

one of the many SIPA meet & greet events

Other impression from my first week in NYC:

• New Yorkers are so much more friendlier than Londoners. It’s so normal to strike up conversation with people in the streets, or guy selling you xyz in the stores. In some ways, this is the warmth that I missed from my Cameroonian village life.
• London has cleaner underground and trains come much more frequently, but New York has AC in its subway.
• New York in general is dirtier than London, but it’s nice to not be lost all the time thanks to the numbered streets.
• There are way too many choices in every aspect of American life.

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I left Cameroon just a little over a year ago. This year went by in a blur. Swoosh! and it was gone. As I reflect upon this past year, I begin to realize the impact that reverse culture shock had on me. People always say that it’s easier going into a new experience than coming back. I never really had too much difficulty with past international moves, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. And then it hit me. It didn’t take me too long to get over the potato chips incident, or getting used to the luxuries of modern society. Yet the other aspects of reintegration affected me in ways that I didn’t allow myself to recognize.

I hate nothing more than people who make excuses for life, and I was determined not to be one. I thought nothing of jumping right into graduate school one month after my return. After all, many of my peers and those before us took the same path. So off I went again, far away from family and friends. I thought there would be plenty of others at grad school who would understand me. Yet because I didn’t carefully consider the student body, I was left feeling confused alone.

After living in a West African village for two years, it’s hard for me to want to care about theories or get stressed over academic marks. It’s all relative. In the initial months, I couldn’t balance the stress that my peers were experiencing with the thoughts that my village friends would simply be glad to have the basic comforts that we enjoy. And because I had such a terrific time there, I found it extremely difficult to not be able to share my stories and have people who understand around me. I was always fear to be the girl who can’t stop talking about Cameroon. It was frustrating to study development yet feel a major disconnect between the theories I was taught and my own experiences. And to top it off, not having someone to vent to. Although I was studying at a world-class institution, my life felt purposeless during the year.

Since I wasn’t really living around other RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers), I then get the feeling that I am the only person who has trouble re-adjusting back to the real world. Everyone else appears to be handling life splendidly, whether it be graduate school or starting new jobs. Every now and again when I do converse with my PC friends, I am reassured that others experience similar feelings, to various degrees. But most of us put on a front and carry on. Sometimes it’s easier to simply pretend it didn’t happen and live like “normal” people.

Even one year later, there are still days when I just can’t be bothered to care about certain things, days when I wonder how I lived without running water for two years, and remembering how glad I was to simply being alive after a crazy taxi ride. Days when I think about the simplicity of life there in Cameroon, I can’t help to wonder what all the fuss is all about in the modern world. Life struggles exist everywhere, but they are absolutely relative.

Coming back from two years of experience like Peace Corps is weird. The process takes time, and it helps to be around others who get it. I am not sure how long it will take, but perhaps it will take a lifetime of struggle to balance between the world that I experienced and the world I live in today. A friend recently said that having multiple life experiences actually complicates our outlook on life. We are left to find a balance between all of our experiences, and that is incredibly confusing and challenging. He was right, yet I would not trade it for anything.

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Since I am transitioning from a UK system to the US, my summer was cut short to just under 8 weeks. In which, I took up an internship at a social investment fund here in London. This is the 2nd time I have spent summer in London, and I remember just how much I love it.

Sure the constant 60 degree weather doesn’t scream summer. But the occasional 70+ degree days accompany by sunshine make me grin and glad I am not suffering through the East Coast heatwave that I keep hearing about. With the LSE behind me and my nights and weekends free, I am finally able to really enjoy the city. This summer has also been filled with visitors and when showing people around town, I get to really appreciate the city from the view of an outsider. I forgot how lucky I am to live at Shad Thames, and within two minute walk to the south bank and a view of Tower Bridge.

Here are some of my favorite summer/tourist activities in London:

1. Follow Thames Path on the South Bank and walk from Tower Bridge all the way to Westminster (but stop by Borough Market for lunch first), cross the river to Parliament, cut through Whitehall to St. Jame’s park, and get a peak of Buckingham Palace.

2. Regents Park up through Primrose Hill, rest and take in the view, then trek up to Hampstead High Street for the best crêpe in London.

3. Take the TFL boat to Greenwich (be sure to only do it on a sunny day) and visit the Royal Observatory. Or if you are cheap like, just enjoy the view of London from atop and knowing you are at the place where time begins (and ends).

4. Portobello Market – but avoid mid-day. Late afternoon is best. Then talk through Embassy Row and hit Kensington Gardens, then stop for a coffee or something sweet on High Street Kensington.

5. Grab a beer and fully relish in the freedom of drinking outdoor. I like sitting at the steps of South Bank at night and marvel at Tower Bridge (tourists have also disappeared by night fall in the area).

While I wouldn’t chuck my year at the LSE as BEST YEAR EVER, great friends were still made and I’ve shared some pretty amazing moments. I am also blessed with 6 different visitors to the city, with two more on the way next weekend before I bid farewell to this place. Life likes to hide those silver linings, whether it’s the best or worst year of your life. I’ve learned to watch for them. They tend to have a magical way of bringing a smile to my face.

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