Friday 17 October 2008

From South to West to East.

Hello and again. It's been a hectic few weeks. First off, I moved out of the Peckham Rye mansion. The owner of the house moved back to the UK after losing her job in New Zealand and becoming gradually more mentally ill. She has now returned and has her 70-something year old mother look after her. I couldn't cope with the thought of having to deal with a manic depressive person as a landlord and with the mortgages going through the roof I decided it was time to move on. And so I found this place in Bethnal Green, 2 minutes from the tube, but this turned out to be a dodgy affair and when push came to shove, the retard landlord cunt decided not to let the room out to me (I think I asked too many questions and after speaking to the flatmates without having him around I found out he's an unreliable bastard, and I think he knew I knew.) So no loss there, if anything I was better off. Anyway, this meant that I had no place to live, as I was supposed to move into that flat the day I moved out of Peckham Rye. Luckily, I was able to spend a couple of nights at my mate's place in Earls Court, and within a few days I found this other place in Bethnal Green, 5 minutes from the tube, 30 minutes from frontdoor to uni. At first sight I got a bit worried as the interior of the place reminded me to much of my very first flat in the Netherlands and the last thing I could use at the time was having to live with annoying disrespectful people. But after a chat with Tristan, the Australian guy who's subletting his room to me, I knew it was going to be alright. I occupy a small double room with a double bed, a desk, cupboard space and it comes with a small storage room where I could keep a small family if I wanted to. I now live with 3 Bulgarian dudes; Dicho, he arrived a month ago and is studying really hard to learn English. He didn't speak a word of English when he arrived. (He's the big bloke with one eyebrow in the blue Adidas shirt.) Basically what he does, is sit in the house, he watches subtitled films, studies, cooks and cleans. He's very polite and thoughtfull and is trying really hard to explain to me what life in Bulgaria is like but when the place get's too crowded and noisy he rushes off to his room. These guys make excellent Bulgarian food. It's impossible to be hungry in this house as Des, a funny loudmouth bike courier (the bloke in the green tshirt) also loves his food and food wise, the general policy of the house is 'If iz on zhe table, iz foh everyone'. Then there's Nas, the oldest in the house, he's a barman who's well into anything eardrum-rupturing; Metal, Gabber, Techno and some other weird shit that involves a lot of crying, hysterical laughter and screaming. (He's the guy in the black Rammstein shirt) I found him quite intimidating in the beginning but he turned out the be a total sweetheart. Then there's a Spanish couple; Jade (obviously the blond chick in the photo) who's an interior designer and her boyfriend. (I keep forgetting his name, he's the gnome resembling guy in the yellow shirt) The last person in the house is Dave, an hyperactive Australian guy (the guy in the white shirt) who's addicted to his Wii and has snorted a few too many lines imo. He's incredibly intelligent and he's happy to fix my PC when it needs fixing but he lives in his own little world and very often doesn't give a fuck (about anything I reckon.) They all seem to be getting on well though, and everyone here seems to have accepted Dave for who he is. The other 2 guys in the photos are Kyro, he's French, used to live here and is into anything that contains breaks and beats and I have no idea who the oriental/french fellow is but they're part of some crew that shows up every week with a lot of illegal substances and booze. They're an energetic bunch, they all smoke, drink, work and love their rowdy times (lots of laughter, screaming, piss-taking and general wastedness) but at the end of the day it's all about respect and sharing. I feel very much at home here but not necessarily part of the household, I think I'm more like a rent-paying guest. I'm here only temporarily (until the end of my first term) and am still looking for the perfect flat on the perfect location. But for now I am content and this place will do. 






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