₦airaland Forum

TochiPhotos:
I just remembered my first day working for mr Agbaje. Lol this is a really funny and embarrassing post lol.
I started working for him as cleaner. I was 17 and just finished waec and I got a cleaning job through cleanway. A cleaning company in Lagos. They usually post their workers to banks or companies they partner with, be luckily for me I was posted to Mr Agbaje’s company. On my first day, I cleaned his office tables with water. Lol the cleaning company provided mr sheen and other stuff but been an inexperienced young boy, I used water instead of the cleaning materials provided and I ruined the expensive tables in his office lol.
I was so sure I was going to get sacked but God had his way. My time working there is really long story with happy endings so let me just summarize it.
When I was working as a cleaner for him, I had access to the internet in his office and one of his employees (Jumoke) let’s me use her laptop. So I took advantage of that and started learning how to build websites and also photography. He bought me a laptop when he noticed how passionate I was about learning. Etc I went from Cleaner to office assistant, to a full time employee and it was while there I started doing photography. I worked for him on weekdays and did my photography on weekends.
The time I spent working for him were the best moments of my life and I owe everything to him and the wonderful colleagues who became family.

This is a story for another day and I can’t wait to share it with you guys.
Just put this tiny bit out there to inspire someone. I had nothing, I came to Lagos with N300 to stay with my Uncle and now look at God. I am not where I want to be yet but I can’t deny the goodness of God.

TochiPhotos:
I just remembered my first day working for mr Agbaje. Lol this is a really funny and embarrassing post lol.
I started working for him as cleaner. I was 17 and just finished waec and I got a cleaning job through cleanway. A cleaning company in Lagos. They usually post their workers to banks or companies they partner with, but luckily for me I was posted to Mr Agbaje’s company. On my first day, I cleaned his office tables with water. Lol the cleaning company provided mr sheen cleaning spray and other stuff but been an inexperienced young boy, I used water instead of the cleaning materials provided and I ruined the expensive tables in his office lol.
I was so sure I was going to get sacked but God had other plans. My time working there is really long story with happy endings so let me just summarize it.
When I was working as a cleaner for him, I had access to the internet and one of his employees (Jumoke) lets me use her laptop. So I took advantage of that and started learning how to build websites and also photography. He bought me a laptop when he noticed how passionate I was about learning and he told me he will stop at nothing to make sure I go to back to school.
I remember the joy in his face when I got admitted into Unilag a few years ago (I didn’t finish because it was not the course I wanted)
While working for him, I went from Cleaner to office assistant, to a full time employee and it was while there I started doing photography.
I worked for him on weekdays and did my photography on weekends.
The time I spent working for him were the best moments of my life and I owe everything to him and the wonderful colleagues who became family.

This is a story for another day and I can’t wait to share it with you guys.
Just put this tiny bit out there to inspire someone. I had nothing, I came to Lagos with just N300 (three hundred naira) when I was 17 to stay with my Uncle and now look at God. I am not where I want to be yet but I can’t deny the goodness of God.

TochiPhotos:
I just remembered my first day working for mr Agbaje. Lol this is a really funny and embarrassing post lol.
I started working for him as cleaner. I was 17 and just finished waec and I got a cleaning job through cleanway. A cleaning company in Lagos. They usually post their workers to banks or companies they partner with, but luckily for me I was posted to Mr Agbaje’s company. On my first day, I cleaned his office tables with water. Lol the cleaning company provided mr sheen cleaning spray and other stuff but been an inexperienced young boy, I used water instead of the cleaning materials provided and I ruined the expensive tables in his office lol.
I was so sure I was going to get sacked but God had other plans. My time working there is really long story with happy endings so let me just summarize it.
When I was working as a cleaner for him, I had access to the internet and one of his employees (Jumoke) lets me use her laptop. So I took advantage of that and started learning how to build websites and also photography. He bought me a laptop when he noticed how passionate I was about learning and he told me he will stop at nothing to make sure I go to back to school.
I remember the joy in his face when I got admitted into Unilag a few years ago (I didn’t finish because it was not the course I wanted)
While working for him, I went from Cleaner to office assistant, to a full time employee and it was while there I started doing photography.
I worked for him on weekdays and did my photography on weekends.
The time I spent working for him were the best moments of my life and I owe everything to him and the wonderful colleagues who became family.

This is a story for another day and I can’t wait to share it with you guys.
Just put this tiny bit out there to inspire someone. I had nothing, I came to Lagos with just N300 (three hundred naira) when I was 17 to stay with my Uncle and now look at God. I am not where I want to be yet but I can’t deny the goodness of God.

TochiPhotos:
I just remembered my first day working for mr Agbaje. Lol this is a really funny and embarrassing post lol.
I started working for him as cleaner. I was 17 and just finished waec and I got a cleaning job through cleanway. A cleaning company in Lagos. They usually post their workers to banks or companies they partner with, but luckily for me I was posted to Mr Agbaje’s company. On my first day, I cleaned his office tables with water. Lol the cleaning company provided mr sheen cleaning spray and other stuff but been an inexperienced young boy, I used water instead of the cleaning materials provided and I ruined the expensive tables in his office lol.
I was so sure I was going to get sacked but God had other plans. My time working there is really long story with happy endings so let me just summarize it.
When I was working as a cleaner for him, I had access to the internet and one of his employees (Jumoke) lets me use her laptop. So I took advantage of that and started learning how to build websites and also photography. He bought me a laptop when he noticed how passionate I was about learning and he told me he will stop at nothing to make sure I go to back to school.
I remember the joy in his face when I got admitted into Unilag a few years ago (I didn’t finish because it was not the course I wanted)
While working for him, I went from Cleaner to office assistant, to a full time employee and it was while there I started doing photography.
I worked for him on weekdays and did my photography on weekends.
The time I spent working for him were the best moments of my life and I owe everything to him and the wonderful colleagues who became family.

This is a story for another day and I can’t wait to share it with you guys.
Just put this tiny bit out there to inspire someone. I had nothing, I came to Lagos with just N300 (three hundred naira) when I was 17 to stay with my Uncle and now look at God. I am not where I want to be yet but I can’t deny the goodness of God.

TochiPhotos:
I just remembered my first day working for mr Agbaje. Lol this is a really funny and embarrassing post lol.
I started working for him as cleaner. I was 17 and just finished waec and I got a cleaning job through cleanway. A cleaning company in Lagos. They usually post their workers to banks or companies they partner with, but luckily for me I was posted to Mr Agbaje’s company. On my first day, I cleaned his office tables with water. Lol the cleaning company provided mr sheen cleaning spray and other stuff but been an inexperienced young boy, I used water instead of the cleaning materials provided and I ruined the expensive tables in his office lol.
I was so sure I was going to get sacked but God had other plans. My time working there is really long story with happy endings so let me just summarize it.
When I was working as a cleaner for him, I had access to the internet and one of his employees (Jumoke) lets me use her laptop. So I took advantage of that and started learning how to build websites and also photography. He bought me a laptop when he noticed how passionate I was about learning and he told me he will stop at nothing to make sure I go to back to school.
I remember the joy in his face when I got admitted into Unilag a few years ago (I didn’t finish because it was not the course I wanted)
While working for him, I went from Cleaner to office assistant, to a full time employee and it was while there I started doing photography.
I worked for him on weekdays and did my photography on weekends.
The time I spent working for him were the best moments of my life and I owe everything to him and the wonderful colleagues who became family.

This is a story for another day and I can’t wait to share it with you guys.
Just put this tiny bit out there to inspire someone. I had nothing, I came to Lagos with just N300 (three hundred naira) when I was 17 to stay with my Uncle and now look at God. I am not where I want to be yet but I can’t deny the goodness of God.

edoman2016:
Are you an undergraduate or postgraduate student in the university in Russia?

SAMBHOSS:
the above post made me lmfao......
with time....language will no longer b a problem.....
welcome back oh.....Season's greetings.....

daamazing:
this young man!

TochiPhotos:
Hi guys, welcome to my diary. I’ve always wanted to start a journal/diary of some sort since I arrived in Moscow, but I’ve been too inundated with school, freelance programming jobs and getting used to the city to start, but now I think I’m ready.

I’m a Nigerian student studying at HSE Moscow. I’ll be sharing my life and daily experiences living in Moscow. Hope you guys enjoy my diary.
I’m not good at writing; this is my first attempt, so I apologize in advance for my mistakes and errors. I’m not aiming for perfection but rather just to share my experience and life as an international student in Moscow.

I love documentary photography and I love exploring new cities and meeting people so I’ll also be sharing pictures and stories from Moscow, etc.
Welcome to my World and I hope you guys enjoy and find my diary interesting.
P.s this first post is a bit long because this is the introduction but subsequent posts would be shorter and more interesting, please bear with me.



Chapter 1 – Stranger in Moscow.



My first night in Moscow was terrible; it was a baptism of fire, which I brought upon myself. After spending over an hour at Domodedovo International Airport waiting in line to get my migration card. I took the bus and then uber to my dormitory, checked in and registered my visa with the admin all done seamlessly. I unpacked my luggage and decided to head out to Billa a nearby supermarket to get food. I haven’t had any solid food in the past 20 hours.

I quickly changed into my joggers and jacket, and slipped into my sliders, those comfortable slippers one usually puts on when inside the house (This was where I bleeped up) armed with Google map, I set out to navigate and walk to Billa and buy dinner. I thought putting on my socks before wearing the slip on would make the cold outside more forgiven, it was just a 10 mins walk and I thought I could easily go in my sliders cos I was too lazy to put on my shoes.

I got downstairs and found out for some reason I could not access the internet with the new sim card I had bought from the airport and I was stuck outside and had no idea which direction Billa was, then a guy and his gf were standing not far away and they noticed I was visibly clueless and needed help and the guy could speak a little English and he offered to take me to Billa.
His name is M, I shall tell you guys more about M later cos he was truly a lifesaver.
After we walked for 10 minutes, I felt my legs get so cold, my feet’s tightened and clamped together and I could barely walk. It was -3 that night, and here I was, in my first night in Moscow, in just my socks and sliders instead of putting on shoes like everyone else.
I tried to endure but I couldn’t literary feel my feet anymore and to be honest, I became scared thinking my feet was paralyzed lol. I could not move and just stood still and nearly cried.

I’ve not felt this cold my entire life, I couldn’t literary feel my face or feet, the inside of my body was so cold and vibrating, like I could feel my intestines dancing and vibrating as if my chattering teeth were playing atilogu/ogene for it.
M and his gf noticed I wasn’t’ in great shape and told me to run instead, run as fast as I could till I get into the heaven that is indoors lol. How I got the strength to run was beyond me but finally we got to Billa and everything was well in my feet and world again. My first night out was terrible but I learnt my lesson.
The next day, I took the metro for the first time. I purchased the troika card and headed to the metro all confused cos I could barely understand the Yandex map I had. I was going to Lubyanka, spent over 30 mins wandering inside the metro station till I finally figured it out.
I don’t know if this is crazy but taking the metro is slowly becoming my favorite thing to do in Moscow, It can be chaotic and overwhelming at times, but I love love the beautiful Soviet design; The marbles, the utopian, gilded mosaics. And Strangers staring and trying not to stare for too long at the often only black man in the area.
A lot has happened since that first day, I’m in my 3rd month here in Moscow, and I think I have finally gotten used to Moscow.
I was lucky to have such amazing individuals as classmates and very nice, wonderful and helpful teachers.
Our class feels like one big family and that really made the transition and settling in easier.
Also the guys at the dormitory are all awesome friendly people. The dormitory feels like a community of carefully selected nice individuals from all over the world cos everyone is super nice and good.

I can’t really tell all what happened in the past 8 weeks so I’m going to summarize and properly start this diary in the present day. In the last weeks, I made lots of friends and having such good friends really helped make everything easier for me.
My first weekend in Moscow was really nice, I was slowly getting used to the city, people and things. I have been surviving on snacks and chicken from Billa since I arrived, so I needed to get cooking utensils and start cooking my own food which would save me more money in the long run.
I went to Ashan with Filipe and bought all the necessary cooking things I need and bought foodstuff to make Nigerian jollof rice.
I invited some friends over from class and also invited some friends from the dormitory to have a taste when I was done and they all really loved the food.

Weekends are the only time I get to have some free time so what I do is usually cook all I’ll need for the week and store in the fridge, I cook mostly Nigerian stew and I always invite friends to have a taste and safe to say, they all look forward to eating Nigerian food and that makes me smile.

Before I came to Moscow, I heard some comments about people saying Moscow isn’t a safe place for foreigners especially blacks, I hear them always say Muscovites are unfriendly and grumpy.
To be honest yes most Russian are always grumpy and serious but I think that’s just on the surface cos when you really get close to a Russian, you’ll see beyond the grumpy look that they are very friendly and nice. I’ll be honest everyone I’ve had an opportunity to interact with has been nothing short of nice and always willing to help out. I was told I’d be racially abused but I’ve been here for 8 weeks and I haven’t heard any racists remarks or witnessed any form of racism, I haven’t even been stopped by the police for a min.
I must admit I do get stares from strangers in the metro but most times when I tried to start conversations with people in the terrible Russian Language I’ve picked so far, they all get warm and are nice so the staring is often of curiosity I think.
Personally I think people have the wrong perception of Russians and still judge them based on the past cos the Russians I’m seeing here and the ones I hear about in the media are completely different or maybe I’ve just been lucky. People really need to stop judging people based on hearsay and past experiences. Moscow is a wonderful and beautiful city just that the weather can be unforgiving. I’m fully settled now and gotten used to everything and can’t wait to share more interesting stories with you guys.
Whew! So this first post was like basically the introduction so I’ll jump next to the present day in my next post and tell you guys about my day to day activities here. I’ll also be sharing pictures of Moscow, Moscow itself and the buildings and designs are truly beautiful with the finest and most beautiful architecture and designs and I can’t wait to share all that with you guys.

Off to class right now, see you guys later.
пока, скоро увидимся.


Follow me on snapchat username = Kincito for videos

TochiPhotos:
I created a dedicated thread about this in the travel section and it was closed.
I thought maybe, it was because I posted in the nairaland.com/travel section, instead of the dedicated nairaland.com/travel-ads section for travel agents.
I then created a new thread in the travel agents section and was surprised to find out, the new thread I created in the /travel-ads section was also deleted. I don't know why it was deleted, because I thought that was a dedicated section for people and travel agents to advertise such offers.

Well, thanks for clarifying this for me. Now I know it is prohibited and I've promptly removed my contact information and won't promote such offers again on here.


I'm sorry to all those that already contacted me and showed interest in the the world cup package. After much thoughts, I've decided to discontinue this offer to Nairalanders.

TochiPhotos:
Hi guys, welcome to my diary. I’ve always wanted to start a journal/diary of some sort since I arrived in Moscow, but I’ve been too inundated with school, freelance programming jobs and getting used to the city to start, but now I think I’m ready.

I’m a Nigerian student studying at HSE Moscow. I’ll be sharing my life and daily experiences living in Moscow. Hope you guys enjoy my diary.
I’m not good at writing; this is my first attempt, so I apologize in advance for my mistakes and errors. I’m not aiming for perfection but rather just to share my experience and life as an international student in Moscow.

I love documentary photography and I love exploring new cities and meeting people so I’ll also be sharing pictures and stories from Moscow, etc.
Welcome to my World and I hope you guys enjoy and find my diary interesting.
P.s this first post is a bit long because this is the introduction but subsequent posts would be shorter and more interesting, please bear with me.



Chapter 1 – Stranger in Moscow.



My first night in Moscow was terrible; it was a baptism of fire, which I brought upon myself. After spending over an hour at Domodedovo International Airport waiting in line to get my migration card. I took the bus and then uber to my dormitory, checked in and registered my visa with the admin all done seamlessly. I unpacked my luggage and decided to head out to Billa a nearby supermarket to get food. I haven’t had any solid food in the past 20 hours.

I quickly changed into my joggers and jacket, and slipped into my sliders, those comfortable slippers one usually puts on when inside the house (This was where I bleeped up) armed with Google map, I set out to navigate and walk to Billa and buy dinner. I thought putting on my socks before wearing the slip on would make the cold outside more forgiven, it was just a 10 mins walk and I thought I could easily go in my sliders cos I was too lazy to put on my shoes.

I got downstairs and found out for some reason I could not access the internet with the new sim card I had bought from the airport and I was stuck outside and had no idea which direction Billa was, then a guy and his gf were standing not far away and they noticed I was visibly clueless and needed help and the guy could speak a little English and he offered to take me to Billa.
His name is M, I shall tell you guys more about M later cos he was truly a lifesaver.
After we walked for 10 minutes, I felt my legs get so cold, my feet’s tightened and clamped together and I could barely walk. It was -3 that night, and here I was, in my first night in Moscow, in just my socks and sliders instead of putting on shoes like everyone else.
I tried to endure but I couldn’t literary feel my feet anymore and to be honest, I became scared thinking my feet was paralyzed lol. I could not move and just stood still and nearly cried.

I’ve not felt this cold my entire life, I couldn’t literary feel my face or feet, the inside of my body was so cold and vibrating, like I could feel my intestines dancing and vibrating as if my chattering teeth were playing atilogu/ogene for it.
M and his gf noticed I wasn’t’ in great shape and told me to run instead, run as fast as I could till I get into the heaven that is indoors lol. How I got the strength to run was beyond me but finally we got to Billa and everything was well in my feet and world again. My first night out was terrible but I learnt my lesson.
The next day, I took the metro for the first time. I purchased the troika card and headed to the metro all confused cos I could barely understand the Yandex map I had. I was going to Lubyanka, spent over 30 mins wandering inside the metro station till I finally figured it out.
I don’t know if this is crazy but taking the metro is slowly becoming my favorite thing to do in Moscow, It can be chaotic and overwhelming at times, but I love love the beautiful Soviet design; The marbles, the utopian, gilded mosaics. And Strangers staring and trying not to stare for too long at the often only black man in the area.
A lot has happened since that first day, I’m in my 3rd month here in Moscow, and I think I have finally gotten used to Moscow.
I was lucky to have such amazing individuals as classmates and very nice, wonderful and helpful teachers.
Our class feels like one big family and that really made the transition and settling in easier.
Also the guys at the dormitory are all awesome friendly people. The dormitory feels like a community of carefully selected nice individuals from all over the world cos everyone is super nice and good.

I can’t really tell all what happened in the past 8 weeks so I’m going to summarize and properly start this diary in the present day. In the last weeks, I made lots of friends and having such good friends really helped make everything easier for me.
My first weekend in Moscow was really nice, I was slowly getting used to the city, people and things. I have been surviving on snacks and chicken from Billa since I arrived, so I needed to get cooking utensils and start cooking my own food which would save me more money in the long run.
I went to Ashan with Filipe and bought all the necessary cooking things I need and bought foodstuff to make Nigerian jollof rice.
I invited some friends over from class and also invited some friends from the dormitory to have a taste when I was done and they all really loved the food.

Weekends are the only time I get to have some free time so what I do is usually cook all I’ll need for the week and store in the fridge, I cook mostly Nigerian stew and I always invite friends to have a taste and safe to say, they all look forward to eating Nigerian food and that makes me smile.

Before I came to Moscow, I heard some comments about people saying Moscow isn’t a safe place for foreigners especially blacks, I hear them always say Muscovites are unfriendly and grumpy.
To be honest yes most Russian are always grumpy and serious but I think that’s just on the surface cos when you really get close to a Russian, you’ll see beyond the grumpy look that they are very friendly and nice. I’ll be honest everyone I’ve had an opportunity to interact with has been nothing short of nice and always willing to help out. I was told I’d be racially abused but I’ve been here for 8 weeks and I haven’t heard any racists remarks or witnessed any form of racism, I haven’t even been stopped by the police for a min.
I must admit I do get stares from strangers in the metro but most times when I tried to start conversations with people in the terrible Russian Language I’ve picked so far, they all get warm and are nice so the staring is often of curiosity I think.
Personally I think people have the wrong perception of Russians and still judge them based on the past cos the Russians I’m seeing here and the ones I hear about in the media are completely different or maybe I’ve just been lucky. People really need to stop judging people based on hearsay and past experiences. Moscow is a wonderful and beautiful city just that the weather can be unforgiving. I’m fully settled now and gotten used to everything and can’t wait to share more interesting stories with you guys.
Whew! So this first post was like basically the introduction so I’ll jump next to the present day in my next post and tell you guys about my day to day activities here. I’ll also be sharing pictures of Moscow, Moscow itself and the buildings and designs are truly beautiful with the finest and most beautiful architecture and designs and I can’t wait to share all that with you guys.

Off to class right now, see you guys later.
пока, скоро увидимся.


Follow me on snapchat username = Kincito for videos

TochiPhotos:
Happy Christmas everyone! May the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ bring peace, blessings, love and happiness into our lives. Seasons greetings form me and B and have a lovely Christmas and new year celebration.


I’m sorry I have not been updating my thread, I have been really busy with school and other side projects. So much has happened in the past few weeks. My school is on a 2 week winter break now but I’m still not free because this is the only time I have to dedicate to an app I’m working on.

It’s so difficult dating someone who doesn’t speak your language and my relationship with B has not been a bed of roses because we misunderstand each other some times and disgreee and have minor quarrels once in a while mostly because of the language barrier because my Russian is still not as good or near fluency.

One thing I really like about her is she’s understanding especially about her expectations from me. She knows I’m a student and I’m not able to buy her anything or provide because my school is priority and she understands that but the problem now is she often jokingly tells me I will leave her later when I am done with school and I start working because I will go and look for a more beautiful woman. That I am dating her because I don’t have money, it pains me when she says this even tho I keep reassuring her I genuinely like her. I confronted her about this and she said it was because her friend told her African men are fond of abandoning their white girlfriend when they start making money. Our relationship hasn’t been easy because of the language and cultural difference but we try our best to make it work.

For Christmas I don’t have money to buy her any gift so I gave her a Dashiki I brought from Nigeria and she loved it so much. Even her mom loves the Dashiki. It feels so good when someone truly appreciates your gift no matter how little it is.


I’m spending Christmas and new year in her place and we plan to go skating soon because I have not experienced ice skating before and I look forward to doing that.

Have a happy holidays guys!

See you guys soon and I’ll try and make out time to update my thread.

pocohantas:
Very nice thread.
Your narrative prowess is excellent and enviable.

I wish you well in your studies and love life too

Mr Agbaje is a really nice man.