This is me at 8 years old — my first Christmas in the UK. My family and I emigrated to the UK from South Africa in 2002 after my mum was offered a teaching job. Mum went ahead of us to settle down and 3 months later my brother, my dad and I joined her. 

Those first few months in a new country were strange but also so normal because I had my core family structure around me. Because I was so young, I don’t think I really internalised the scale of the move we had just made and I adapted somewhat easily to my new life. 

I remember back then I was hyper aware of everything that made me different to the kids in my class and I did everything to minimise my ‘otherness’ — especially my accent and the way I spoke. Although diversity wasn’t an issue — my class and my school was super diverse with kids who were from, or whose parents were from, India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Kenya, the Philippines and of course the UK — I still felt different and out of place for a long time. I’ve come a long way since then and I’m learning to embrace all the things that make me South African. I feel so connected to my country, my heritage, my roots and where I’m from. 

There are some days when I feel particularly British; when I’m with my friends, when I’m at work or when I’m doing all the things that are a part of my life now. Then there are days when all of my South Africanness comes tumbling out; when we have braais with our South African friends, when I add random Afrikaans words to my sentences, making koesisters or just chilling with my family and laughing at the weirdest things. 

I’ve decided that not living in South Africa doesn’t make me any less South African and doesn’t take away from my identity. 

by Kristen Bingle