I realised that, having been here over a month, I haven't mentioned much about the living quarters!
The little flat where I live is occupied by some awesome chicks. Emma, her friend Nadia from NZ, Nadia's friend from the circus - Laura, and (another) Zoe. Occasionally we get boyfriends come to visit; Laura has GRTH (name is actually Gareth, but he's Irish and forgets his vowels) and Zoe has Jasper, who is Australian and has a fantastic ginger beard.
Em's room is the first at the top of the stairs, and I am sleeping on her floor - it's not as bad as it sounds, I swear! I have a fold-up foam mattress and blankets and a pillow from Argos, with enough space to flail (as I do when I sleep...) And we have a little routine now; when she wakes up at 6:10am I jump up and get in her bed! Her room overlooks the back garden, and into about five other neighbors gardens, too...
Our kitchen is a bit rubbish - it's not really big enough for more than one person to be cooking at any given time; there's not really enough space between the two benches (unless you squeeze, and even then your bums still touch), and if one person is by the door to the lounge, they need to move if we want to get into the fridge... Having come from working with New Zealand's best kitchen and bathroom designers, it's a bit of a shock to the old system.
The lounge is pretty cool, it's big and sunny and we have a nice big couch and two armchairs and a decent stereo. We don't have a TV so we actually have some decent dinner conversations (not that we have all been home at the same time to eat together, but still!) There are two windows so we get loads of sun inside. And even though that's roadside, it's quite private.
(Fred in the background, staring at the fence. My handy weeding work and subsequent newly rearranged patio)
Em's room is the first at the top of the stairs, and I am sleeping on her floor - it's not as bad as it sounds, I swear! I have a fold-up foam mattress and blankets and a pillow from Argos, with enough space to flail (as I do when I sleep...) And we have a little routine now; when she wakes up at 6:10am I jump up and get in her bed! Her room overlooks the back garden, and into about five other neighbors gardens, too...
Our kitchen is a bit rubbish - it's not really big enough for more than one person to be cooking at any given time; there's not really enough space between the two benches (unless you squeeze, and even then your bums still touch), and if one person is by the door to the lounge, they need to move if we want to get into the fridge... Having come from working with New Zealand's best kitchen and bathroom designers, it's a bit of a shock to the old system.
So I won't even mention the bathroom. Although I did just buy a new (purple, £4 from Primark) bathmat, so that's greatly enhanced the space...
The lounge is pretty cool, it's big and sunny and we have a nice big couch and two armchairs and a decent stereo. We don't have a TV so we actually have some decent dinner conversations (not that we have all been home at the same time to eat together, but still!) There are two windows so we get loads of sun inside. And even though that's roadside, it's quite private.
Our back garden is a bit overgrown, even though I managed to weed it and reposition the table to utilize the little bit of sunlight that hits the patio. We have a cat (Emma named him Fred) who hangs out in our garden. We have semi-adopted him, except he doesn't like humans and stares blankly at us if we interrupt his cleaning. He's very odd, is Fred; spent three consecutive days staring at the fence. On day three he was up on the fence, so I sent Emma a snapchat saying Fred was in the midst of a very important decision...
And - that's about it!!
Hehe - cool blog Zoe - great idea to keep you occupied on the tube! Crack up cat Fred...he must be a fairly disturbed wee individual! lol
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly often similar living situations here in the South of France.... places can be costly & when your just starting out job hunting you don't have much $ so we cram as many people in as possible! lol...best so far for me has been with 6 people in one room which is the bedroom, lounge, kitchen & living area all in one....very lush indeed! haha! :D Only plus/minus was that it was on the very very top level of the apartment block so looked over all the pretty terracotta roofs/sooooo many stairs to climb when tired!! hahaha
Best of luck & keep on with your blog....thats the hardest challenge! hehe ;) Goodluck!
xx Joey