Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Here I Am

Norwich, East Anglia, Southern England, United Kingdom.

I work at a kitschy cool bar on Bedford Street called Frank's Bar. There are board games and fairy lights (a.k.a. Christmas twinkle lights), teapots and ten-year-old National Geographics, Alice in Wonderland and a rocking horse.


I also work at the Green Grocers, a local, organic grocery store run by Tim, Tom, and Ben. I stock shelves, work at the till, and get free food when I play my cards right.

I volunteer at the Greenhouse, a charitable trust dedicated to publishing information on self-sustainable living. The cafe sells vegetarian organic goodness that I help to cook and bake. My friends Tom and Mark both work there.

I also volunteer at Oxfam Books and Music, where I realphabetize books and rearrange postcards.

I hang out at the Buddhist Centre, where I work on reception or clean or sit in a group meditation session and practice metta bhavna or mindfulness of breathing. My friend Tom works here.

I order pizza at friend's houses and watch My So-Called Life on DVD. I ride my new (to me) purple bike everywhere. I buy spices from the spice man in the market. His name is Gareth. I do yoga in Heigham Park. I sit in the sun in Chappelfield Park. When it rains I stay inside, but sometimes I'm on my bike or walking home when it starts falling so I get wet. I make chili or risotto for my housemates with leftover food from the bar or the grocers.

This is one of my friends. His name is Alex. We went to Sherringham, which is by the sea.
I want to visit more places sometime, but Norwich is quaint and full and I'm happy just being here right now.

My house is full of students and writers, girls and boys. Here are girls being girls:

and boys being boys:

I write stories and read my friends' written words. Alex just finished a novel. Tom writes plays. Which Tom, you ask? Excellent question! All English men are either named Tom, Ben, Paul, or James. Unless they're named something else.