11 April 2006, Napoli
It seems that my hobbies have evolved. In Australia life is a little busier with work, AFS volunteering, family and friends, maintaining a house and car etc. However, with less demands on my time and changes to living space my hobbies in Naples are somewhat different.
As some of you know Gi and I have an aversion to making beds, and one of the first house rules for any exchange student we host is that making beds is not an expectation. At the moment we are sleeping in my sister-in-law’s bedroom, so each morning I feel obliged to make the bed in an attempt to keep our mess looking a little less messier.
Similarly, in Australia I like to wash Friday nights, fold and iron Sunday night in front of ‘Law and Order’ to have all clothes ready and available for the coming week. Getting up ten minutes earlier each morning to iron whatever I want to wear to work is my idea of a bad start to the day. Two things have changed; I tend to wash every few days in Naples and haven’t ironed anything since we left Brisbane. With more time available, no real place to put our dirty laundry, a smaller washing machine and limited drying space on the balcony I wash much more regularly. I could iron but the ironing board and iron are such monstrous looking things (and a few creases don’t matter when it’s under a jumper or jacket) that I couldn’t be bothered. Doing it in front of the TV on Sunday night would also certainly raise a few eyebrows I’m sure.
I’ve also taken to painting my nails. It always seemed like the greatest waste of time to me, and in fact I’ve confirmed that I can easily waste at least 2 hours preparing, applying and drying finger nail polish. I’ve bought a bright red polish, something like a prostitute might wear. I’m now fighting the urge to go out and buy a bunch of other colours, thinking that I should match my nails polish to my daily outfit!
My other hobby is that of observation. Gi’s sister Irene is unemployed, apart from a few hours on a Saturday night as a cashier in a pizzeria, and spends the majority of her time at home. In an effort to use my time more effectively I’ve been observing how she fills in the day, and night, doing very little. The key seems to be obsessive house cleaning - dusting, vacuuming and then mopping floors, wiping down kitchen benches without actually ever washing up anything, and cleaning the bathroom. Now, I’m not in a position to take over any of these roles here (and anything I have done has been re-done a matter of minutes later) but I am taking notes for when we have our own space. The other thing is spending at least 2 hours in the bathroom bathing and doing whatever happens in bathrooms. Sometimes she emerges in fresh pyjamas to spend the rest of the day at home, and occasionally she squeezes herself into some jeans and goes out to meet friends or her father.
It seems that my hobbies have evolved. In Australia life is a little busier with work, AFS volunteering, family and friends, maintaining a house and car etc. However, with less demands on my time and changes to living space my hobbies in Naples are somewhat different.
As some of you know Gi and I have an aversion to making beds, and one of the first house rules for any exchange student we host is that making beds is not an expectation. At the moment we are sleeping in my sister-in-law’s bedroom, so each morning I feel obliged to make the bed in an attempt to keep our mess looking a little less messier.
Similarly, in Australia I like to wash Friday nights, fold and iron Sunday night in front of ‘Law and Order’ to have all clothes ready and available for the coming week. Getting up ten minutes earlier each morning to iron whatever I want to wear to work is my idea of a bad start to the day. Two things have changed; I tend to wash every few days in Naples and haven’t ironed anything since we left Brisbane. With more time available, no real place to put our dirty laundry, a smaller washing machine and limited drying space on the balcony I wash much more regularly. I could iron but the ironing board and iron are such monstrous looking things (and a few creases don’t matter when it’s under a jumper or jacket) that I couldn’t be bothered. Doing it in front of the TV on Sunday night would also certainly raise a few eyebrows I’m sure.
I’ve also taken to painting my nails. It always seemed like the greatest waste of time to me, and in fact I’ve confirmed that I can easily waste at least 2 hours preparing, applying and drying finger nail polish. I’ve bought a bright red polish, something like a prostitute might wear. I’m now fighting the urge to go out and buy a bunch of other colours, thinking that I should match my nails polish to my daily outfit!
My other hobby is that of observation. Gi’s sister Irene is unemployed, apart from a few hours on a Saturday night as a cashier in a pizzeria, and spends the majority of her time at home. In an effort to use my time more effectively I’ve been observing how she fills in the day, and night, doing very little. The key seems to be obsessive house cleaning - dusting, vacuuming and then mopping floors, wiping down kitchen benches without actually ever washing up anything, and cleaning the bathroom. Now, I’m not in a position to take over any of these roles here (and anything I have done has been re-done a matter of minutes later) but I am taking notes for when we have our own space. The other thing is spending at least 2 hours in the bathroom bathing and doing whatever happens in bathrooms. Sometimes she emerges in fresh pyjamas to spend the rest of the day at home, and occasionally she squeezes herself into some jeans and goes out to meet friends or her father.
No comments:
Post a Comment