Chinese New Year
This week at Ant Hill we have been very concerned about ushering in the New Year as according to the chinese lunar calender. Why we were so concerned about a holiday none of us celebrated as children is a puzzle; perhaps it has something to do with Gabby’s job at the Chinese noodle shop. But on Tuesday I took Gabby to the asian market to pick up some special ingredients before our predicted snow storm. While we didn’t get the storm we were expecting, we continued to prepare ahead of time. (Completely out of character for us.) On Wednesday Sarah folded chinese dumplings and I made paper lanterns in the colors of the rainbow. With all this planning, this had better be a great potluck.
And it was! Our new housemate Mary came and brought the first round of her stuff, a prospective housemate, Nick, came over and met everyone, and many of our neighbors and old friends made a point to come by. Many couchsurfers showed up, perhaps motivated by the meeting about frostburn that happened after things had calmed down a little. While not many brought chinese food, there was plenty to eat, and even more to drink. I think it is safe to say everyone had a great time talking and eating together.
So now it is the year of the rabbit. While I don’t subscribe to ancient chinese superstition, I still think that the year has started off well, and it looks like things are only going to get better, especially around Ant Hill. For those of you wondering how things are, considering how long our blog has been inactive and perhaps you haven’t been around in a while. So, an update on Ant Hill from my perspective.
The implementation of a chore fine system that taxes you for chores not completed and dishes left around the house has drastically improved the state of our house, especially the weekend kitchen mess. The house is overall pretty tidy, relatively speaking, and I think we all feel at home.
Our house is still pretty evenly divided omnivores and vegetarians, but peace has reigned over the land for the last few months. Recently, through the lost of some beloved housemates, we have shifted the tide yet again. With our die hard meat eaters retiring to other locations, we have decided to give a meat CSA a try until May. The meat is more expensive, but it is locally and ethically raised, a big deal to many house members including myself. The fact of the matter is we just can’t buy as much as we have been eating at the cost of the CSA, so that is why we are giving this a go now, as the silver lining on the always upsetting departure of friends.
We are staying pretty full. While we have had a lot of moving in and moving out the last few months, we are at the moment full, and while Halina is moving soon, we have a prospective housemate to discuss. It has been stressful trying to make sure that the logistics work out, but we have been lucky in finding amazing people to move in at just the right times. I personally am hoping we can have a more stable membership in the near future, but my more temporary housemates are wonderful and I am glad they have found their way to our house.
I am finally feeling completely at home at Ant Hill. Five short months in the house and I feel I have the hang of it (more or less), which is a good thing considering my ever increasing work load at school. The longer I am here, the more I learn to love Ant Hill and all of its flaws. I can’t imagine living outside of a community, and I am happy to say that Ant Hill is becoming every day more of an intentional community as I understand the concept.
-Jen
Jen is a grad student in physics at the U of R. She has lived at Ant Hill since August 2010, and is currently Inco and Bookkeeper.