Welcome to the House of Fun

Cardiff, Wales

There is great excitement in the household tonight as the number of inhabitants is set to rise by one tomorrow when a supposed 'she', who is in fact a 'he', is due to arrive from France.

We have had other housemates before. First there was John, who had been living and working abroad but returned to look after his mother who was not well. He stayed until he found teaching work and could afford a place of his own (a couple of months). The house was a happy one whilst he was here and more than a few glasses of wine were consumed, and discussions on life, love, the world and everything, had.

Then came Elizabeth, who was a Patagonian Welsh student. This was news to me, however everyone else in Wales (at least the Welsh-speaking half of Wales) seemed to be well aware that Patagonia does indeed have a large Welsh-speaking community. Many Patagonian language and teaching students travel to Wales each year on exchanges to improve their skills. This does lead to some confusion though, as Elizabeth's first language was Spanish. Her English was quite limited, whereas Heulwen's languages are English and Welsh (as are Owain's) and mine is simply English. Apparently, Welsh with a Spanish accent is quite different and sometimes difficult to follow. As is Welsh with a Welsh accent to someone with a Spanish Welsh accent...apparently...and all of it was confusing to me.

Elizabeth left about a month ago now and life here has settled into an easy, no-fights-for-the-shower, routine. It will be good to have a new housemate, although perhaps a little strange at first... especially for him, being surrounded by us.

The gender confusion came as Heulwen assumed Eric was an abbreviation of Erica, as she believed (and I can see why) that a young bloke wouldn't really want to move into a house with a woman, her son, and a student. But, on receipt of a photograph via e-mail, 'she' is most decidedly a 27-year-old 'he'.

And He is arriving around 2pm tomorrow.