What I Wish I Knew Before Coming to Kent
Kent.
What can I say about Kent?
If I’m being perfectly honest my entire knowledge of Kent was based on going to Dover as a small child and being told not to trust the people on the other side of the water. It was an interesting time and something I completely forgot until I had to think about this. Now this might come across as a bit harsh but at the time it seemed perfectly reasonable.
So what to say about Kent, as a Londoner I was brought up being told that Kent was where the posh people lived. No one with enough money would want to live with possibly getting mugged or stabbed. A terrible generalization of London I know, but let’s be honest, you go walking in one of the bad boroughs on your own in the middle of the night and try to survive with your trainers.
I wish I’d known just how quiet Kent can be. From the friendly people who don’t say much unless it’s something important, to the general ‘chill’ of the entire place. There’s no constant rampaging traffic, the streets aren’t nearly as busy and everything is rather condensed, at least in Canterbury.
I wish I’d known not to go to certain parts of Medway. Without meaning to sound offensive, the closest I’ve come to London, in Kent, has been certain parts of Rainham, Chatham, and Sittingbourne. While on the surface they appear completely an utterly fine, it only takes a couple seconds and the odd word thrown out and suddenly bottles are being brandished as knives and you’ve got about ten minutes to run to the nearest train station to evade the Kentish mob sharpening their pitchforks and tying a noose. Not the greatest experience I can admit.
I wish I’d known to go to the beach more often. As a London boy born and raised the idea of a beach was something that only came up with the odd holiday. What was the point of leaving the concrete jungle just to go and get sand in my shoes and to dip myself into a giant bath? Luckily, a few trips to Ramsgate and Margate and I caught the bug and now I go whenever the weather is decent. There’s nothing like sitting on the beach, sipping on a Kopparberg while enjoying some bitchy conversation.
I wish I’d known how much nature there was to look at. Other than Hyde park and a couple other places there’s not much to look at that isn’t old or a skyscraper in The City. Kent being the ‘Garden of England’ certainly lived up to the reputation, with more than enough to look at and at least a forest or garden to go and visit pretty much everywhere. The sheer amount of greenery around can’t be ignored and makes Kent such a different place to live in than home.
I wish I’d have known just how fascinating a place Kent could be, rather than just somewhere to go for university. Rich with history and a culture I didn’t expect it to have. Admittedly seeing everything through London-tinted glasses, it was going to be hard to not compare it to back home. I can safely say that Kent was far away from what I expected when I moved here, and it continues to surprise, shock and generally blow my mind. While my blood might run with the brick dust of London, I can easily say that Kent has become a home away from home.
With thanks to Louise Parker and Toby M-S.
