Chris
Chris just finished his PHD degree in Geology from the University of Southampton, and is now working part-time at the Oceanography Center. What makes him very special is... he is interested in painting and growing his own food. He rented a piece of land not far away from our house with three friends, and they plant vegetables together during the weekends. I asked him how big the land is, he said it's about 8 times of our garden, so take a look of our garden and imagine the size..
(Click for larger view)
It's eight times larger than this..! No wonder it needs four people taking care of together. Imagine having your own farm and growing your own food, that's abnormal in Taiwan (I guess not as common in UK in general as well?) Chris said it's not expensive at all to rent a land, cost you only about 25 pounds per..year!? Unbelievable... then you get to eat healthier while having fun experiencing your own plantation!
The other cool thing worth mention is, I didn't realize until recently that all the oil paintings hanging in our living room are painted by Chris.
Have a closer look, one notices the signature from the painter..
Sometimes when the outside starts raining and getting cold...
Chris' paintings make our house a warmer place to stay in
Now, allow me to introduce the other housemate,
Nacho.
You might easily tell by his bright-smiling facial expression, finding Nacho a frank and outgoing person. He goes to the same department as I do, who, currently working on his PHD in composition. But in addition to composition, Nacho double majors in the classical piano playing, which to me is very inspiring, because it means I'm living with another fellow who needs to write good stuff while keeping up his daily routines properly.
So far I got more chances hanging out with Nacho, because he lives right next door to me, and sometimes we ran into each other at school, at music department, at graduates' room, or even on the way home. "It's good to have another musician in the house," said Nacho this afternoon after coming borrowed some blank music sheet to jot down ideas for composition. It's true. I feel very lucky to have a music colleague as my housemate, we get to share many things in common, discussing Tuesday colloquiums, or chatting about 'serious' musical issues (with a beer.)
Nacho is a Spanish, it's interesting that from time to time we both speak funny English... He showed me a lot of cooking, and I would just stand along, watching him cook this or that. It's a shame that I don't know cooking very well. Back in Taiwan, it was just too convenient to get food everywhere whenever one feels hungry. (I miss Taiwan a lot...!) But It's also great that I get to learn some here, especially when there's someone willing to show how. The other day Nacho was making omelette; it doesn't look hard, and he let me try some spanish sausage, chorizo. It was really nice!
Not only Nacho cooks almost everyday, Chris cooks a lot, too. Today three of us crowded in the kitchen talking about foods, recipe, and stuff. Someone suggested having a house dinner, it sounds exciting! I got nervous though... I need to ponder what then I will be able to contribute? (I can basically only cook eggs and noodle!) Can I bring any of the the famous Taiwanese food alive here? Say, the stinky To-Fu? the fried oyster? the sweet and sour pineapple cake? Gotta do a little search either from internet or consult my friends back home then.
Nacho and I went to a place near civic centre called 'Soul Cellar' last weekend.
Both of us haven't been there before, so we decided to walk to university and take the Uni-link from Interchange. On the way, I told him I found it such a damn-far distance walking from our house to the school when I firstly got here, he said he felt exactly the same thing when George walked him home for the very first time. It was a cool moment hearing him said so. But George was right, "the distance shrinks with familiarity." Gradually, I got used to it and now it only takes me ten minutes cycling from home to school.
Finally, I'd like to share some more pictures about our house and my room's former resident, George :-)
Chris and I
Our house chore schedule
Nacho and I
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