前文提過的一份功課.
*為了保護自己以及文中的主角,我將名字稍為改動了一下.
A Life in the Day: Todor Dimitrov
The 26 year-old has just finished The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) part II course this summer in Canterbury School of Architecture, University College of Creative Arts. Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, he moved to London with his family when he was 6 years old because his father had landed a job here. He is now working in The Aukett Associates as an architect assistant. He is single and currently living with his parents in Southbank.
I get up at 7.15am when my alarm goes off. Then I will head to the kitchen and have some brown bread and fruits for breakfast. I’m very health-conscious, and I love every kind of food that can help me to build muscle and stay fit. After having my breakfast, I’ll get changed and go downstairs to the Southbank to do a bit jogging for about half an hour. I moved to the flat I’m living in now 2 years ago, and I love the view from my room because I can see Blackfriars Bridge and the River Thames from the big windows. My father finally could afford to buy a flat in central London after working so hard for 20 years, since we moved to London from Bulgaria in 1987. We used to rent a small flat in west London, and I was playing football semi-professionally for my local team before I left home and studied interior architecture in Rochester, Kent, for my first degree.
I work in Bethnal Green, so I’ll leave home at 8.15am and walk to St. Paul’s to catch the No.8 bus. I want to have a car, even though I can’t drive, and I’ve always wanted to buy a MINI Cooper Convertible and have it painted in black. It’s been my dream car since I was 10. I’d love to buy a bicycle too, but my parents always warn me how dangerous it is to ride a bicycle on the road during rush hours. Also, as it is so convenient to travel around the city by public transport in London, getting either of them is not my first priority – but getting my own place is.
It sounds odd when I tell people I’m still living with my parents at the age of 26, but I’ve just finished my Graduate Diploma, and I owe a huge amount of debt because of the student loans that I had borrowed over these years. Therefore, it’s very likely I’ll still be sharing the same roof with my parents until I’ve totally paid off my debt. By then, I’ll buy a piece of land in a London suburb, just like what my brother did earlier this year, and then I’ll design and build my own house. My brother, Christo, is 5 years older than me. He’s working as a financial analyst in DVB Bank, so it allows him to afford to buy his own place at such a young age. I admire him very much indeed, but I don’t think I’m under his shadow. He’s always my best friend, as well as my role model.
I start working at 9am, and the first thing I do when I arrive at the office is to get the mug from my table and make myself a cup of hot tea. I’m a tea person, and I can’t start my day without it. After grabbing the tea, I chat with my colleagues and catch up a bit before I start working on the paperwork. I joined the Aukett only 2 months ago, so I have to work very hard to catch up with everything that’s going on in this company. I worked as an architect assistant in a smaller firm for 14 months before I joined the current one, and the work experience I gained in that company is very crucial to my career now.
I specialise in designing architecture with recreational uses. However, I’m too green in this industry to lead on any project at the moment. What do I do when I’m working then? Most likely, when my boss has come up with some new ideas, it’s always my job to draw them on the paper, and do all the calculations to see whether the design is feasible. Time flies by, when it’s 12.30pm, I go downstairs and grab a sandwich from the café nearby, and then head to Victoria Park to catch some sun and enjoy my lunch. I especially treasure my lunch hour when the deadlines of some projects are approaching, because the pressure from work is tremendous. Watching people walking their dogs, jogging, and playing with their kids, this is the only time in the day that I can get away from thinking of my work.
After going back to the office from lunch, I work on some calculations again and get myself prepared for my boss’s presentations to the clients in the afternoon, before having a tea break at 3.30pm. It’s essential to have a tea break because it can re-charge my battery and I can concentrate on my work much more afterwards. Although work can be exhausting, I’m very proud of what I’m doing for a living, and I love my job at the Hamiltons. But, I always have a gut feeling that I won’t be staying and working in London for my whole life. I’m a rather ambitious person, and I fancy working in some other countries that are more vibrant, such as the States, or Japan and Hong Kong in Asia. I’m sure my creativity can be utilised in those places rather than in the UK. ‘Be daring and adventurous’ is always my motto. I really want to broaden my horizons when I’m young and when I don’t have any family obligations.
I leave my office at 6.30pm, but sometimes I do have to stay until 11pm if there are deadlines to meet. After leaving my workplace, you’ll find me hitting the gym in Southwark. I work extremely hard on building up my muscle, because being 5ft 8in, I’m always insecure about my height. On the other hand, I want to burn the calories
that I gained from the alcohol I consumed the night before, too. After working out, I’ll have a hot shower and then head home for dinner. My mom always cooks the best food on earth, she can cook everything and the lamb chop that she cooks tastes the best, I dare say you can’t find anyone who cooks better than she does around the world. I’m going to make sure she’ll give the recipe to my wife in the future.
Speaking of my ‘wife in the future’ – I don’t have a girlfriend at the moment, but I’m not in a hurry to find one. It’s not that I don’t feel lonely. I’d love to have someone to cuddle with sometimes, but I just enjoy being single better – I can hang out with my mates and get drunk whenever I want, without being obligated to ringing someone every now and then to report where I’m or what I’m doing. Also, being single allows me to meet different new people in pubs, and perhaps having some harmless fun with them if the feelings are right.
Although I’ve said that I’m very health-conscious, alcohol is like an addiction or a guilty pleasure of mine – I feel uncomfortable when I haven’t had a drink for more than 2 days. I know it can damage my liver, but I love being in a drunken state, even if the hangover will give me a hard time in the morning. My mates have branded me as a ‘party animal’, but I believe I’ll know when to stop this kind of lifestyle. I’m still young, why not live my life to the full before it’s too late? I will settle down sooner or later, and I want to start my own family at around the age of 35, if I can find the right woman by that time. I hope that when I’m 35, I’ll have enough life experience to qualify me as a good father to my kids: someone who can be a role model, who’s always being around for them guiding them and taking good care of them.
At about 12pm, I go to have a shower, listen to some music and do a bit of internet surfing, before I go to bed. I don’t have any kind of favourite music because I listen to every kind, but I always opt for the softer ones before I sleep. When the lights go off in my room, I love looking out from the windows, seeing the scene of River Thames and St. Paul’s and do some thinking or reminiscing if I can’t fall asleep at once.
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