I love my flatmates

I really do! We are just like a little family. Every night we all cook dinner together, it's kind of like dinner at GrAnn's (of course, not as good, but a still a taste of home). I've been having a lot of rice and pasta. One favorite: Sauteed onions, tomatoes, jalapenos and garlic, with grilled chicken breast all mixed in with brown rice and cheddar cheese. Very simple to make, very healthy, very delicious!
All the kitchens in the buildings in the Village have huge windows and are stacked on top of each other, so around 6:00 if you look across the street you can look up the building and see all five stories cooking dinner. Last night a bunch of people were dancing in one window, so we started dancing, and they noticed us and we had a dance off. It was a real laugh, especially since we couldn't hear their music and they couldn't hear ours, and we don't even know them. Just two kitchens, kickin' it old skool.
Connor would definitely get along with the boys in my flat. Every night they all open up a can of beans, or a can of potatoes, or a can of mini hotdogs in sauce, or a can of spaghetti, or a package of ramen, and that's dinner. Last night Richard had 12 sausages and 3 pieces of bacon and canned potatoes and beans for dinner (because he had a "stressful" day).
The other night Richard proposed to his girlfriend, and is engaged! He rode the train home and bought a 200 pound ring which is ten times more than he can afford and proposed and she said yes! So today he bought a bottle of champagne and little plastic wine glasses and we toasted him and Dom for getting a job and all of us for surviving the first week. Then I taught them "A Toast To Where We Girls Was Born" from the Marx Bros. Go West! "Mississippi! Alabama! Louisiana! North Carolina!" They think I'm funny and want me to stay the whole year.
Yesterday we took a walk through Earlham park. It was foggy and rainy. I thought I'd be depressed about all the rain but am learning to love the weather. It makes everything seem slower, not as fast paced. The woods smelled like a wet basement, in a pleasant way. They all agreed that walking in the woods was one of their favorite things to do, so I think we're kindred spirits. One thing I've noticed about people over here is that they're all very comfortable with who they are. They're not afraid to be nice. No one is putting on airs, or trying to act cool, or macho. No one has an attitude (at least none of my flatmates). Even the guys are comfortable enough with their masculinity to admit that they love walks in the woods and moss on the trees and the smell of rain. And they sang "Build Me Up Buttercup" for me last night at Karaoke.
They tease me all the time and since the Missing Kara incident always steal her and I find her hanging from the telephone cord and hiding places.
We're planning on putting up a Christmas tree for the holidays and doing secret santa. I'll be sad to leave them.