5 Irritating Habits of a Housemate

Sharing a house with other adults can be an exciting and enriching experience. If not for any thing, a cure for loneliness, people to talk to, laugh with, and so on. You also learn from your housemates as no two persons are the same. We do things differently and are experts at different things, so we can teach and learn from each other. Unfortunately, these differences can be the cause of constant friction, irritation, arguments, bitterness, malice, brawls and all what nots. I have had roommates, flatmates and housemates. And there are not many things that piss me off as these 5 habits of a housemate.
1. Leaving used crockery and utensils unwashed for days. 
I understand that it's easy to forget. You might have planned to get the pot soaked so that when you come back later to wash it, the stains would come off easily, then you forgot. That's alright. But when this happens not once, not twice, c'mon, you're just lazy. Period. 
2. Smoking in the house 
While I don't expect you to suddenly change your habit just because I'm your housemate, I expect you to be sensitive and considerate. It is written boldly on the wall, "DO NOT SMOKE ANYWHERE IN THIS HOUSE". That actually includes your bedroom. The smoke percolates through the apertures on your door to the whole house and it smells like hell. It literally nauseates me. More so, please don't put me at risk of the adverse health effects of passive smoking. So I would really appreciate if you took it outside. 
3. Soiling the sink after brushing 
Why would you brush your teeth and not rinse the stained sink properly? If your own spittle irritates you, how much more me? 
4. Not brushing off stains in the toilet after doing number two 
Now, how do I confront you with this matter? To say that I love to meet a clean bathroom and toilet to do my business in, and not have to first clean up your mess, leaving a decent loo for you to mess up again. Rule of thumb - always leave the toilet in a state you'd be happy to meet it. 
5. Never cleaning 
Since when did houses start cleaning themselves, or kitchen stains disappear spontaneously or bins empty themselves? Will you say you have not noticed these changes? Or have you taken for granted the fact that I will always clean up? 
Somebody please tell me what to do about all this. How do you begin to teach adults to unlearn habits they've prolly had for years. I am tired of whining. 
Is my list same as yours? Please let's talk. 
©Radiant ~ October 2017

My Experience at Hillsong church, London

I visited Hillsong Dominion Theatre today. Scrap that. I worshiped at Hillsong church today. 'Visited' sounds like I went there for tourism. Well, there is a little truth to that, but I seriously was looking for a Pentecostal church to worship at and was glad the Hillsong Dominion Theatre was not too far.  

Two weeks ago, I was out on a church hunt. On Googling churches near me, all I could find were St. this, St. that. Though I was brought up Catholic, I have long become a Pentecostal that I feared I might find an Orthodox Church boring. I travelled three miles to get to a Pentecostal church I had seen on Google, but on getting there I discovered the church had moved. Sadly, I reversed my journey and since I was determined to go to church that day, I walked into the Methodist church that was close to my house. I wasn't surprised to be greeted by grey headed men and women. The church was from my perspective 60% black, 70% middle aged and elderly. As expected of an Orthodox Church, we stood severally to sing hymns. There was a sermon which I thought was rather too short. But the people looked happy and united. I was happy I was in the gathering of believers, even though like my guts had suspected, I was bored. 
Last Sunday, I was outside London. I felt I really needed to be in a gathering of believers. I didn't care what church as far as it was Pentecostal. So I attended a Deeper Life Bible church made up mainly of Nigerians, though there were other Africans and a few white folks. It was immediately I stepped my feet into the church, that I remembered that I was putting on trousers and had my hair uncovered. I thought, 'But this is UK. Does it really matter?' I scoped the premises and found out some women had no covering on their hair, but I was the only one in trousers. Anyway, I just told myself 'Chidiogo, this is your Father's house. Relax.' I actually enjoyed the service. We had a Sunday school, a very interesting question and answer session. I was blessed hearing other believers' contributions to the subject matter. We had a short praise session and I've been singing the first song we sang everyday since then. The brethren were lovely too. I didn't feel out of place with my trousers. I'm sure visiting again when next I go to Cranfield. 
So today I decided to go to Hillsong. I knew it was going to be an amazing experience because I've watched their YouTube videos and the worship sessions are Spirit-filled. There was a little bit of a tourist in me, like let's go to Hillsong and be able to say we've been in one of those rapturous worship atmospheres, but by and large, I wanted to be in a gathering of believers. I wanted to see a side of Londoners or White people that I hadn't seen viz. a God-passionate people. Yea, so I went. It was glorious, to say the least. It was amazing to see the number of youthful people in there. Of course the music was awesome as you already know from the videos, but more than that, I experienced true worship. The lyrics were on point with the salvation message. They did not spare the name of Jesus. When I was going I was concerned that the service might just be all about the music. But thankfully, it was not. We had a long sermon and I was marvelously blessed. I have always been one that looks out for The Word in services. I don't care how good your music is, if solid Word ain't flowing, I won't feel like I've found my Rehoboth. 
By the way, I would have almost missed my blessing because I got distracted. When the preacher stepped on the platform, first thing I noticed were his tattoos and in my mind I was like 'seriously?'. I tried so hard to see past the tattoos, but I just couldn't. All I could see was the verse in the Bible that says do not tattoo. In my mind all these thoughts were reeling, 'That's outright violation of scripture. Okay maybe he did it before becoming born again, but why display it then by folding up your two sleeves. Younger ones may just want to copy you. This is exactly how some people see my wearing trousers. Oh is not the same, blah blah'. It was not until he started preaching that I completely forgot about the tattoos and was immersed in the Word.  
Now this post is getting too long. I should end it here. Let's continue the discussion in the comment section below.  
©Radiant~ October 2017

UNMSA 012 Mourns Her Own

I pick my phone as I stand in the bus on my way back home from work. Reflexively, my thumb goes to Whatsapp checking for new messages. I notice the blackout DP and the group name that has been changed to '012 Mourns'. I'm worried. 012 mourns what? I remember last night in the group was a whole lot of lamentation about the state of the country. So I'm not surprised at the name change. Maybe my classmates are still mourning for the situation of things in Nigeria. But that dark DP - I only see that when the worst has happened. We just mourned the loss of a senior colleague a few weeks back. Even then, I don't remember the group name being changed to '012 Mourns'. Does this mean we've lost one of ours? OMG! I open the conversation and the first word that gets my eye is Linda. What happened to Linda? I scroll through the conversations for answers. It is confirmed. Another has bitten the dust. But she is not just another. She is one of us. She is Linda. 

They said she had a fever, she was breathless and then she slumped while walking on the road. Just like that! Just like that, a journey of twenty something years brakes to a halt. Just like that, a new life beyond the Jordan begins and all the struggles here are forgotten. Just like that, dreams truncate, an assignment is cancelled and a soldier reports back home. Linda is to be wed to the love of her life this coming Saturday. Just like that, a day of joy becomes a day of sorrow.  

Aaron Shust in his song, "My Savior, my God" writes,  
I am not skilled to understand  
What God has willed, what God has planned  
I only know at his right hand  
Stands One who is my Saviour...  

Yes living, dying let me bring  
My strength my Solace from the Spring  
That He who lives to be my King  
Once died to be my Saviour  

Rest in peace dear Linda. We are comforted that you knew the Lord.  

©Radiant ~ October 2017  
UNMSA stands for University of Nigeria Medical Students Association 
UNMSA 012 is the graduating set of 2012

Keeping up with Radiant (Life in London)

Hi guys. I know you've not heard from me in a while. Really, I have no excuses. I could say I've had a lot on my plate like relocating to London, writing a professional exam, starting an internship, and all that jazz, but the truth is - I've been pretty lazy. Nothing should be enough to distract me from doing what I love the most. So, I'm really sorry I haven't met your expectations. I'm sorry for the times you've visited my blog, all to see that I had not posted anything new. I know that feeling. Like all those days of going on YouTube to check if SGIT Season 4 was out. I just gave up. But thankfully, it's back now. Just that it is being released in aliquots and I'm not good with suspense. I think I might just wait till the whole season is out and then watch everything at once. 
So to catch up with what has been going on with me lately. Firstly, I am now a Masters in Public Health degree holder. Yippee! I am soooooo grateful for the past year, even though I was almost regretting that I did not make the distinction I so longed and worked for. I got a Merit instead and you know how it is - your mind tells you, 'if only you had worked harder in that one course that brought down your marks', 'if only you spent more time studying', 'if only you didn't have to work'. But looking on the bright side, I can say I had a great year. I got the chance to explore different things. I sang in the choir every Sunday, I performed Superman on stage, I launched a food business and got a few customers and learnt some business lessons too, I worked as a catering assistant so I understand more about the hospitality industry, I wrote my professional exams, I blogged (at least, to some extent) and I acquired new skills during the Masters programme (which I'm applying in my current internship). I also made friends and acquaintances. So I can say it was indeed a great year. My regret though is that I did not learn the guitar which has been on my priority list for so long; and less importantly, I did not visit any other European country. 
Secondly, I am now a Londoner and I'm trying to adjust to the cost of living and pace of life here. To begin with, my rent is almost twice what it was in Nottingham, whereas the room is about half the size of the one in Notts. Next, transportation cost is something else. Plus the human traffic at the underground train (tube) stations every morning. This morning I decided to take a bus to work instead of the tube because I heard that bus travel is cheaper. So I woke up very early. My dearest Google Map had said it would take 48 minutes, but I gave a one-hour leeway, just in case. The traffic was terrible, almost a gridlock. My bus driver had to end the journey abruptly and gave us temp tickets to board another bus. Story was that there was an accident early in the morning. People were dismounting and continuing their journeys on foot. Who was going to board another bus when all buses were in the same boat? I had no idea how to get to work from where he'd stopped us because I had no internet on my phone. After much perambulating, I got to work one hour late full of apologies. I can now understand why the tube is always jam-packed with people even though it's costlier. What I can't wrap my head around is how I'd buy a return train ticket to travel outside London and on my return journey I'd stand up throughout the journey because all the seats are occupied. I just don't get it. Y'all Londoners, please give me top tips on surviving in London so I don't have to learn from several bad experiences. Looking forward to your comments. Ciao. 
Radiant ~ October 2017