Room 204

I have been in Lake Louise for 2 weeks now and I have started getting use to my accomodation - well sort of. My lounge is in a constant disarray with a combination of empty beer cans, milk cartons and dirty dishes. There is weed lying around in zip lock bags and a funny range of implements to smoke them with. I'm starting to sit in the living room sometimes now (usually before it gets smoked out), but only on the one chair we have.. parking my ass on the lounge is something I have not courage for just yet. My fridge has a rusty pool of water at the bottom and food for 7 people is literally shoved into it... my flatmates have no concept of stacking. The sink as expected is always full of dishes. I own one set of cutlery and one bowel and only dare to use 2 of the saucepans, the microwave and the toaster. There is two bathrooms and it so happens that the girla use one and the guys the other. Both pretty grotty, th guys one is 100x times worse... even the dodgiest hostels I stayed in Europe is no comparison. I have only been in it twice (one in each of the 2 crisis.. read on!). It hasn't been cleaned in years, walls are covered with graphic pictures from Playboy, and there is a clipping over the toilet that reads "Local Horny Chicks only 69c a minute!" followed by a toll free number.

The girls bathroom is a lot less interesting, a lot more liveable, but I would never be comfortable in it. It has also staged a lot of dramas in the last week too...

Drama No. 1

I get home from the staff X'mas partee (the one where food ran out and I nearly died in the cold)... my bathroom door is locked, water is running, and snoring sounds seep through. Ends up that Vicki who does not live with us but is a frequent "guest" of one of my flatmates has passed out drunk in there whilst a bunch of drunken boys are pissing themselves in the living room. Naturally I am worried thjat someone has passed out and water is running, and tried banging on the door with no repsonse. In the end I went to bed reassured that she was ok by the loud snoring that floated into my room effortlessly.

I wake up in the morning, releived that the bathroom door is unlocked and that I didn't have to use the boys bathroom. The relief sorta died when I realised there was vomit and some suspicious brown substance all over my bathroom. I swore if I came home from work and it was still there I would wring someone's neck. Maybe it was a good thing that no one was home when I got there coz there would have been a fatality. They crap was still there and some idiot decided that cleaning was not good and put some incence in the toilet instead.. the red kind that us chinese people use for people who have passed away. Nice.

That was why I was so upset on X'mas eve!! But after a 2 hour nap it was a good, Vicki was back to clean up and I was happy again!

Drama No. 2

I'm rushing to leave for work and the stupid toilet won't flush. Thank god that after three goes, it was fine and I was not late for my bus. I come home, Gino my flatmate tells me me soemthing terrible has happened - he leads me to the bathroom and points to the toilet which someone obviously tried in vain to empty their bowels in, only to find that the crap (literally) rose to the rim instead of disappearing down the hole. My bright flatmate was waiting for someone to come home rather than call housing. So I called housing, and they said that they could send someone tomorrow which was not my preferred answer, but doable since it was not over flowing.

So I had to use the boys bathroom for the second and very last time. I left a bunch of drunken boys in the living room while I went to dinner at a friends (my mistake)... I came home to find my carpeted hallway soaked in shit and water (literally).... the friends downstairs had brown water dripping through their ceiling. My flatmate the smart cookie, and his friends wanted to fix it which was quite sweet, but the plan backfired. And ofcourse someone has the dead people worshipping incence burning again to relieve the stench *sigh*

So this is my apartment. I share with 6 other people.. all smokers! There is Sumi, a really sweet girl from Japan - nurse turned cook. I like her the best. And then there is Barbara, a a waitress.. nice girl, cleans the house all the time.. as well as always having one issue or another and stresses out all the time over every bloody thing. I think there is one guy called Blake whom I ahve only met a few times as he is a cab driver who works 4pm - 4am. Then there is Benoit and Gino... both french guys from Quebec, both chefs, slobs, pot-heads.. but besides that, nice enough when they have a clear head. Gino's girlfriend is Vicki - the lovely girl who vomitted all over my bathroom. Gino also shares a bedroom with Jamie, my last flatmate which I really like. He's Canadian, also a slob, but forgivable since I really admire the fact that he can work 3 jobs and only averages 2 hours sleep a night. I also feel sorry for him that when he does get his 2 hours sleep, he has to put up with sharing a room with Gino and his girlfriend when she is not in her own apartment or locked up in my bathroom. I can vouch that she is a terrible snorer too.

So there has it, Room 204.. otherwise known as the worse and dirtiest apartment in Chucktown (formerly known as Charlestown).