Where do you live? How long have you been living here? Where are you originally from?
現居城市？住在這多久了？你來自哪裡？
Valentina: I live in Siem Reap, Cambodia and I am here since 5 years now. But I am from Rome, in Italy and actually I am starting to miss my country quite a bit.
Valentina: 我五年前來到柬埔寨暹粒，但我來自義大利羅馬。老實說我已經開始想念家鄉了。
What did you do and what do you do?
你現在和過去都做些什麼？
Valentina: In Italy I worked as architect and Interior designer. But I had lots of interest and passion, like photography and traveling that's why I am in Cambodia now, I fall in love with the country in my first trip in 2008 and later I came and live. Since I am here I did many things, I started first working in a travel company for the Italian marketing, but not used of a boring work in the office, I decided to quit the job and travel but then I started a part time job as accountant for an hotel in Fiji Island, so a job that allow me to move; in the mean time I changed my house and I rent that one where I live now, I renovated all and design all the furniture and I manage a small b&b called Villa Medasia with 3 rooms, I live at the ground floor with my partner Steve. But at the same time I do some photography work on request and I started to design furniture, that is in my plan since I was in Italy and mainly here, because there is lack of nice furniture and also I like to be creative and mix my taste with some art&craft piece that I find in Cambodia and from other place in Asia.
Valentina: I like beautiful things and I love interior design, I like to create something beautiful that actually people can have in their house and for me as I said before, is really creative.
Valentina: Normally I work 3 morning for the part time job of accountant and the rest of the days I am busy for my furniture project, or just taking care of my b&b and do some sports, I don't have a fix schedule and I have quite a lot of free time, that's what I love more.
How many family members currently live with you? What is the style of the house you are living in? Why would you choose to live here and how do you like it?
你們的家中成員共有幾位？你們的房子是什麼風格？為什麼你會選擇住在這裡？
Valentina: I live with Steve, but since 3 years now; I met him here and I came 5 years ago alone. My house is very colorful, I live in a Cambodian wooden house of course renovated from me, but I like to keep the traditional part mixing with some more contemporary style, is not a style that I follow is just what I like and I mix with my taste, that's all. Maybe I like Indian, Moroccan inspiration and bohemian atmosphere if I have to talk about a style, but if I was living in a top floor of a building in Rome, I bet it would have been very different; all is connected with the part of the world where you live.
Where is your personal favorite spot or corner in your place?
你最喜歡的家中角落？
Valentina: Is the table where I am sitting at the moment, near the window and facing the garden and the other favorite spot is my green hammock in the garden and the blue table where I have normally a tea in the afternoon and see the sunset and the green that change in the garden.
Valentina: Live now and enjoy what you have, you don't know tomorrow, so never plan too much in advance.
Valentina: 活在當下並且享受你所擁有的。你不能預料明天，所以絕不要事先做太多計劃。
What makes travel so important for you?
為何旅行對你而言如此重要？
Valentina: Now that I live in Cambodia I am actually traveling less, because is still a travel living here. but let's say that 2,3 times per year I go somewhere close to Cambodia to explore new part, but has been a little while, maybe 3 years that I don't do a proper trip alone with my camera and some of my best friends. Travel open your mind and you can understand better what's going on in the world and I love to understand different cultures as well.
Valentina: Mmmm good question! because I don't plan short term, so my plan is to focus on my furniture business and at some point go back in Italy or in Europe with my partner and my 4 cats and enjoy there my life, where my roots are....but I don't know when it will be!
Where do you live now? How long have you been living here? Where are you originally from?
現居城市？住在這多久了？你們來自哪裡？
Leif: I was raised in Toronto, then spent the last 15+ years in New York City and now I am currently in Berlin.
Leif: 我在多倫多長大，之後在紐約住了十五年多，現在住在柏林。
What did you do and what do you do?
你們現在和過去都做些什麼？
Leif: I studied first philosophy in Canada then graphic design in New York. I worked very briefly as a designer but quickly transitioned to freelance illustration. I continue to do this but also increasingly work as a fine artist under my middle name Low-Beer.
Corresponding to the previous question, why are you so interested in illustration and art?
為何你會特別對於插畫和藝術感興趣？
Leif: Illustration felt like it condensed the part of design that I enjoyed the most and was the best at. Quick problem solving and image making. I enjoy the quickness and challenge of solving visual problems and trying to find a fresh angle and concept. After years of illustration I wanted to push my visual vocabulary farther which was hard within illustration. I had been interested and happy to produce quite a commercial oriented product that served the market, but this also made it hard to push on the edges of what was expected. In contrast the fine art work is quite loose and free, so now I maintain two practices that exist quite separately and happy together.
Leif: I used to work very late nights, but now I have a young child so essentially I keep quite regular hours 9:30-4 or 9:30-8 depending who is picking up the little munchkin. The weekends are essentially family time, though on Sunday morning I try to go to the flea market to find supplies for sculpture.
How many family members currently live with you? What is the style of the house you are living in?
你們的家中成員共有幾位？你們的房子是什麼風格？
Leif: My partner and I live in an apartment in Berlin, I did not exactly choose to live here but came to be together with my partner and child. It is a nice city and I have a great studio here but I do miss my community in NYC and being closer to my family in Toronto.
Leif: I tend to like things that are unconventional or odd. I also like to have a very simple minimal clean space but next to another space that is full of objects and clutter and chaos.
Where is your personal favorite corner in your place?
你最喜歡的家中角落？
Leif: We have an overgrown corner with lots of plants that I quite like
Leif: 我還滿喜歡我們有一個生長了超多植物的角落。
What do you consider as the most important thing at home?
你認為一個家中最重要的元素是什麼？
Leif: If the studio does not count, then perhaps the bed, or mattress more specifically.
Leif: 如果工作室不算的話，那應該就是床了，更明確一點就是床墊。
Do you have any collection?
你有收藏品嗎？
Leif: I have a bit of an art collection that I have been building through trades and purchases over the last 20 years or so.
Leif: 我有一些藝術收藏，是我花了大概二十多年的時間累積，經由交換和購買而來。
What is your life philosophy?
你的生活哲學是什麼？
Leif: haha - rather a big question… I was quite inspired by zen buddhism when I was young. I guess the closest I have found to a way to live is try and find a nice balance between "cessation of desire" and productivity, and trying to do the thing you are "meant to do"
I've learnt that bike is your main transportation?
為何會選擇單車作為你的主要交通工具？
Leif: Bikes are a great mode of transportation. Clean, quiet, fun, exercise, fast, really seems from my vantage point to be the best urban mode of transportation
How many family members currently living in this house? Can you give us a little bit introductions of what you do and who you are?
目前住在家裡的成員有幾位呢？可以請你稍微介紹一下自己與你的職業嗎？
We live with our two daughters, Charlotte (14 years old) and Gwendolyn (9 years old). We are both artists and we are collaborating on a wide range of different projects and have been over the years, originating from inquiries around images, technology and our existence in general. We both also work as college teachers.
How long have you been living in this city? Why did you choose to live here?
請問你們在這個城市裡居住多久了呢？為什麼選擇住在這裡？
We live in Chicago for 5 years now and came here for Beate's job. 我們搬來芝加哥到目前為以有五年了，當初搬來是因為Beate的工作。
Where are you from? A big city or a rural area? How did you learn to adapt to a city from your previous experiences?
你們來自哪裡呢？都市還是郊區？依照過去的經驗，你們是如何去適應一個都市呢？
We're both originally from Germany, Beate from a rather small village, Heilsbronn, in the south and Oliver from Düsseldorf, a city in the west part of North-Rhine Westfalia. Before we came to Chicago we both lived in Cologne, Germany, but we both had lived in bigger cities before, like London and LA. Through our line of work we're naturally gravitating towards metropolitan areas.
Describe a normal weekday for me? Do you follow any routine to complete a day?
可以告訴我你們的平常工作日是什麼樣子的嗎？有沒有必須得做才算是完成一天的例行事項呢？
During the semester we get up between 5 and 6 am, get dressed, get the kids on track for school and everyone leaves the house by 8am, except the dog, who gets visited by a neighbor around noon. We all work us through the day in different schools and by late afternoon, either Beate or Oliver pick up Gwendolyn, the younger one, and we all meet at some point back at home, walk the dog again and fix dinner, the kids are doing homework, we both most of the time work some more from home and go to bed, mostly by 12 am. Next day same thing again...In summer we travel a lot to see friends and family, mostly in Europe.
We both love our bed. Sleep is the other place of our existence, the one where our consciousness rests... ;-)
我們都很喜歡我們的床。夢境是我們存在的另一個世界，也是我們的意識休息的地方。（笑）
How do you arrange your place, any daily life habits apply? Do you agree the issue of house arrangement comes to some kind of politics when there is more than one person living in the same place?
We both perceive our lives most of the time as a consistent rush in an accelerating flow of time. Therefore, and out of practicality we developed a certain attitude towards our domestic surrounding, which can be best described with what is printed on the label attached to cactuses in a flower store, “Handle with benign neglect”. There is certainly a huge entanglement of relational intentions and habits present in any form of dwelling. We're very much informed by a notion of what the paleolithic campsite might have been as described by many anthropologists, or other scientists, like for example E.O.Wilson. Cro-Magnon needed to collaborate in order to survive and only with modernity and increasing options for individuality the ur-cell of what now is considered a hetero-normative family unit became the prevalent model. We both think both forms of living as much as all other constructions in between that have emerged in the last 10.000 years are still valid and in constant flux.
其實可以感覺到大部份的時候，我們都一直企圖趕上不斷加速的時間步伐。於是我們從現實面向出發去著手佈置我們的家居環境，可以用一句常常你會在花店裡陳列的仙人掌植栽上的標語看到「Handle with benign neglect」。其實各個居住的形式的確皆包含了各種關係上的意圖與習慣。許多人類學家與科學家像是愛德華•威爾森（E.O.Wilson） 都曾經描述過現代人事如何被舊石器時代的聚落所影響。克羅馬儂人（Cro-Magnon) 為了求生而互相合作，而是一直到了現代才逐漸有了「個人」又或者是「個體」的觀念，以及增加中，為個體所存在的各種選擇，由「異性」而組成的核心家庭觀念也是直到近代才成為普遍的模式。我們都認為這兩種已經存在超過一萬年的生活方式與運行于其中的其他建構因素，於今日都還依然適用並處於不停歇地變遷中。
Do you collect anything?
你們有收集任何物品嗎？
No, we don't collect material things of any kind. If anything we look after the archive of our work. As a family we consume and use huge amounts of everything, because the society we live in not only allows, but requires it.
Oliver runs as much as time and the winter in Chicago at the moment allows together with the dog on the lake front. Charlotte is on her high school's track team, Gwendolyn participates in a great program called “Girls on the Run” here in Chicago and Beate runs in the gym.
Have you ever thought of the way you lead in life now might be influenced by your parents? Do you have a picture for an ideal home?
有沒有想過你們的父母如何影響你指揮生活的方式？是否有一個理想家庭的想像呢？
Your parents make without a doubt a critical and all encompassing imprint. Everyone's life initially is entirely depending on their parents and therefore naturally the one source of your understanding of the world. As we gradually become more distant from our parents and gaining independency we again are confronted with their world and through inevitable decisions different from or equal to those our parents made we form our existence as what they call “adults”.
We enjoy eating together a lot. We're fortunate enough to be able to identify shared meals as the time of family gathering. It's hard to pick out a particular episode that would impart what's going on at dinner time in our house, also because it's never the same, but I want to say it can be everything from the very site of relaxation to laughing our heads off – or picking a fight... We are lucky to have a lot of friends coming to our house too and everyone in our family enjoys big tables.
How many family members are there currently living in this house? Can you give us a little bit introductions of what you do and who you are?
目前住在家裡的成員有幾位呢？可以請你稍微介紹一下自己與你的職業嗎？
There are only two of us in the house. Trevor chose Malaysia for business reasons and has a long-term visa via the scheme of MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home). His business interests are in a town nearby - Taiping (about 45 minute drive from Penang) and Penang was chosen simply because culturally it is more happening and a greater choice for restaurants. Fan Chon chose to live in George Town because it's a town size just nice enough to walk around and relatively cheaper living expenses compared to KL, where he’s from.
目前只有我們兩個住在這間房子裡。Trevor 因為做生意的緣故選擇來到馬來西雅，並且透過第二家園方案申請到了長期居留的簽證。他對於附近城市–太平 (從檳城開車約45分鐘)有生意上的興趣。而選擇檳城的原因單純是因為有比較多文化活動與更多外出用餐的選擇。 Fan Chon ：會選擇住喬治城主要因為這是個規模上適合步行的城市，再加上生活消費相較他長大的吉隆坡要來得低。
How long have you been living in this city? Why did you choose to live here?
請問你們在這個城市裡居住多久了呢？為什麼選擇住在這裡？
We have been here for 15 months. We chose George Town because it’s active culturally, and it has the charm of an island city.
我們已經搬來有十五個月了，我們選擇喬治城主要是因為這裡文化活動興盛，而且有著島上城市的魅力。
Where are you from? A big city or a rural area? How did you learn to adapt to a city from your previous experiences?
你們來自哪裡呢？都市還是郊區？依照過去的經驗，你們是如何去適應一個 都市呢？
Trevor: Growing up in Australia I lived in capital cities of various states within Australia and the National Capital as well as 2nd cities before working and living in London for many years, so adapting to life in Penang as a city has been easy with the pace and atmosphere more relaxing than most other cities. The easiest way to adapt to a new city is to be oneself and enjoy the new experience and cultural change without being afraid to try and experience new things.
Trevor : 我在澳洲長大，並且在倫敦工作生活之前，我一直都住在澳洲各州的城市，與澳洲的首都，或者是澳洲第二大城。所以搬到檳城的時候，很輕鬆的就能適應當地的步調，而當地的氛圍也比其他的城市要的放鬆。其實要適應一個城市最快的方式就是做你自己，在新的文化中享受新的經驗，並且不要害怕嘗試與體驗新的事物。 Fan Chon: 我大半輩子都住在吉隆坡，也在倫敦生活過六年。去適應一個新的城市對我而言並不需要太多調整。
Describe a normal weekday for me? Do you follow any routine to complete a day?
可以告訴我你們的平常工作日是什麼樣子的嗎？有沒有必須得做才算是完成一天的例行事項呢？
Fan Chon: Got-up, walks to nearby local Kopithiam for breakfast or sometimes fruits or cereal at home. Then, checking emails, follow-up on social media and news. Depending on my schedule, sometimes I work mainly on computer and at times I have to go on meetings or prepare exhibitions or events that's happening soon. Also, I am currently learning woodcarving every Monday and Tuesday.[Trevor] Similar start to the day as Fan Chon and spend time checking internet for various items of business interest, check the progress of the business and discuss with business partners when needed to. Assist with running the Gallery when a show in preparation and manage the gallery when needed as well.
FAN CHON: 起床，去到附近當地的咖啡攤吃早餐，或者在家吃水果跟麥片。然後開始讀我的電子郵件，看看我的社群網站與新聞。看我當天有哪些行程安排，有的時候我主要會在電腦前工作，有時候我需要去開會或者為即將到來的展覽或者活動做事前準備。我現在每個禮拜一跟禮拜二都在學木雕。 Trevor: 我一天的開始跟fan chon 差不多，我會在網路上瀏覽有關生意的訊息，並且查看公事的進展，然後需要的時候跟生意夥伴進行討論。當藝廊正在佈展的時候我會去幫忙，還有必要的時候協助管理藝廊。
Do you have a favorite spot/corner at home?
你們有沒有特別喜歡家中的哪個角落或者家中的部分？
Fan Chon: Living room. And the back garden of the gallery, where there’s a very old Ketapang Tree (Terminalia Catappa). Trevor: It depends on the mood I am in, could be sitting at my computer doing my work or if relaxing sitting in my favorite chair watching a movie or tv show or if I feel like creating would be the kitchen baking.
How do you arrange your place, any daily life habits apply? Do you agree the issue of house arrangement comes to some kind of politics when there is more than one person living in the same place?
Fan Chon: We don't really have that issue. Trevor: The house is arranged so that it is functional, comfortable and works to our needs.
Fan Chon: 我們倒是沒有這個問題。 Trevor: 這間房子內部是以我們使用上與舒適度上的需求而擺設的。
Do you collect anything?
你們有收集物品嗎？
Fan Chon: I’m naturally a hoarder and currently I am trying to collect all species of Croton plants. Trevor: I am trying not to collect things, though find it difficult not to buy cooking books though have enough already.
Fan chon: 想當然爾我是個收集狂，目前正在收集各個不同品種的巴豆植物中 Trevor: 我試著不要去蒐集物品，但是卻常常忍不住又多買一本食譜，其實根本不需要。
Are you a walker? Is there a route?
你們喜歡散步嘛？有沒有什麼特別的路徑呢？
Fan Chon: We were avid walker when we first arrived, but now we got a bit lazy. I personally cycle sometimes. Trevor: when we first arrived we walked everywhere around town, now I do walk to do the minor shopping at close shops or markets.
Fan Chon: 剛搬來的時候我們是算是很熱衷在散步，但是現在我們比較偷懶一點，我自己有的時候會騎腳踏車。 Trevor:當我們剛到這裡的時候，去到哪裡都用走的。現在我只有在要去附近商店或者市場簡單買東西的時候會選擇走路。
Have you ever thought of the way you lead in life now might be influenced by your parents? Do you have a picture for an ideal home?
有沒有想過你們的父母如何影響你生活的方式？是否有一個理想家庭的想像呢？
Fan Chon: No, I don't think I’ve got any influence from my parents. If there’s an ideal home I think I am living in it. Trevor: the way I live might have been influenced by my parents as they took a big risk by migrating from the UK to Australia with three small children then we toured Australia living in a tent for 6 months before settling down in the Adelaide Hills for 10 years then moving to the Queensland Gold Coast when I was a teenager, so I suppose a small influence of not growing up with close relatives around (cousins, uncles, aunties, grandparents etc) has left the impression on no real home commitment when it comes to settling in a specific place or country. Plus being moved to various cities with work within Australia for work in my early career made me realize how transportable we are. Moving to London and working with many other Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans in contracting positions one realizes how to adapt to the conditions you are in and make friends and relationships from all over the world. So was I influenced by my parents, I think I was encouraged buy my parents to by myself and experience what I was willing to experience rather than accept what is given or told. Ideal home, well not sure that exists as we all find fault in the home we live in, as long as there is some grass and plants and a comfortable place to sleep and sit that is all I need.
Fan Chon: 我並不覺得我的父母有影響我的生活方式，而我現在就正住在我理想的家中。 Trevor: 父母的確有影響我的生活方式，像是曾經冒了很大的風險帶著三個還年幼的小孩，從英國移民到澳洲。並且僅僅靠著一頂帳篷處就這麼四處遊走在澳洲，直到阿德萊德山，落腳了十年之後，在我的青春期時搬到昆士蘭的黃金海岸。所以我猜，可能長大的過程中沒有太多親戚在身旁（像是表兄弟姐妹，叔伯嬸姨，祖父母…等），並沒有讓特別對某些地方或者國家有特別的歸屬感。再加上因為工作的關係，需要在澳洲境內的各個城市不斷地搬遷，更讓我深刻地體會到要移轉異地其實並不如想像中困難。同時搬到倫敦，開始與很多澳洲人，紐西蘭人，與南非人以合約的方式工作之後，其實你可以了解到要如何去適應某些你身處的狀況，並且從中交到來自各地的朋友，以及與各方建立關係。所以父母的確影響了我，他們鼓勵我去體驗我想要體驗的事物，而不是被動地接受既有事物或者觀念。 要講理想的家，其實每個人總是可以在家裡找到一些缺點，也不太確定是否理想的家真的存在。其實只要有一些植物跟草坪，然後有個舒服的地方可以睡覺跟休息，我就很滿足了。
Tell us a story about eating at home.
跟我們說一個在家吃飯的故事。
Fan Chon: Penang food is too good to be eating at home. Trevor bakes sometimes.
How many family members currently living in this house? Can you give us a little bit introductions of what you do and who you are?
目前住在家裡的成員有幾位呢？可以請你稍微介紹一下自己與你的職業嗎？
Anja: We are a typical patchwork family with 6 members: Mina16, Luka 14, Caetana 9, Lavinia 4, Markus and me 45. Mina and Luka are living part time with their father Markus and most of the time with me. Fortunately we are all living in the same city now, Frankfurt am Main. Markus and me are photographers, working on people, lifestyle and food. The three older kids are going to three different schools and the smallest one is going to kinderhaus.
How long have you been living in this city? Why did you choose to live here?
請問你們在這個城市裡居住多久了呢？為什麼選擇住在這裡呢？
Anja: Mina and Luka grew up in Spain and moved to Frankfurt 4 years ago with me. I grew up in Frankfurt and the origins are in Montenegro/Jugoslavia. We returned to Frankfurt in order to live closer to their father and their stepfamily. Markus has returned to Frankfurt, after living in Spain for 14 years, when I was in the 7th month pregnancy with Caetana. Before that, Markus and me were living between Frankfurt and Barcelona for 2 years.
Where are you from? A big city or a rural area? How did you learn to adapt to a city from your previous experiences?
你們來自哪裡呢？都市還是郊區？依照過去的經驗，你們是如何去適應一個都市呢？
Anja: I was born and raised in Frankfurt until 22. I then travelled to South America, studied in England and lived in Berlin. I returned to Frankfurt in 2000, because I had the need to feel “at home”. I started to think about getting my own family after both of my parents died. I wanted my children grew up together with the ones of my oldest friends, who remained in Frankfurt and were always a substitutional family to her.
Frankfurt is a city with lots of opportunities, especially for people with creative jobs. It seems that people cooperate more. Everybody knows everybody, a society of small circles. It’s a small city with a huge appearance; it has 1.4 million inhabitants in the daytime and 700.000 at night. It ‘s one of the big centres of capitalism. If Markus and me get tired of the grey weather in the Rhein main area they work in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Italy and Cyprus. I love Frankfurt, but it`s only bearable, when you travel a lot. It’s in the centre of Europe and has a huge airport.
Describe a normal weekday for me? Do you follow any routine to complete a day?
可以告訴我你們的平常工作日是什麼樣子的嗎？有沒有必須得做才算是完成一天的例行事項呢？
Anja: Porridge with yogurt(bio). Markus has to leave earlier for a food shooting in the city for clients from Berlin. The older girl Caetana helps her sister to get up, eat breakfast, brush teeth and to dress herself. Mina needs quite some time for her morning make-up and Luka has a hard time to leave bed. Mina and Luka go to school independently. Mina travels by underground and Luka is with his skateboard. I take Caetana and Lavinia to school and kinderhaus by driving the VW-bus.
Anja: My favourite spot in the summer is the balcony. In the winter I prefer to sitting in front of our fireplace.
Anja:夏天時我最喜歡的角落是我們的陽台，冬天的話我喜歡坐在我們的壁爐前。
How do you arrange your place, any daily life habits apply? Do you agree the issue of house arrangement comes to some kind of politics when there is more than one person living in the same place?
Anja: We always have little family meetings to discuss the exercises that everybody has to do in the household. It is politics and sometimes not easy to discuss with children in any age. Here is times, when it works perfectly. Last night Luka did hamburgers for everybody including friends’ kids, Caetana arranged the table, Lavinia set the children’s room, while Mina our sensual poet writes a great prose text for a competition.
Anja: I love collecting pictures. You don’t find any on the wall at home though. The walls are empty but filled with pictures in front of them, filled with the great action of all children. The people living here and the many friends, who are always around.
Anja: I just started to do some fast walking with Caetana. There is a huge park near by. Anja: 我剛開始跟Caetana 一起競走，這附近有個很大的公園。
Have you ever thought of the way you lead in life now might be influenced by your parents? Do you have a picture for an ideal home?
有沒有想過你們的父母如何影響你生活的方式？是否有一個理想家庭的想像呢？
Anja: It’s very much influenced by my parents, even though I feel I can never fulfil my dream of an ideal home. I used to live in huge houses with my parents and I often feel that our place is too small. I guess we all would feel liberated, if we had more space. But in the end what really counts is not so much about the space, but the energy. It’s the energy and the love that fill the air.
Markus: Eating at home is one of the most important things we do together. Markus is the cook. Lavinia is the second cook. The 4-year-old girl is the most enthusiastic member of the family in cooking. She can handle and is allowed to use sharp knives. Tomatoes and cucumber are her favourite to cut.
We use lay cook in old claypots we brought from Mallorca, Spain. Cooking in clay gives a very different result and adds a Mediterranean appearance and taste to the food. Having 6 people you better decide right away cooking for ten. Somehow it always attracts friends to come and share the table. On one hand it’s very chaotic, on the other hand it’s very organised in the kitchen. That’s because we have 12 hands to cook, prepare the table, and clean up. Everybody has to help and everybody has his position and knows what to do in this professional kitchen.the most important moment of the cooking and eating event is to lift up the lid from the pot.“pollo a los 40 ajos,”(chicken with 40 garlic cloves) I think you can imagine how this Spanish meal smells and imagine the eyes of the hungry kids.
For Sunday brunch, It takes time from 11 to 14 pm at our place. This is strictly for family members.
How many family members currently living in this house? Can you give us a little bit introductions of what you do and who you are?
目前住在家裡的成員有幾位呢？可以請你稍微介紹一下自己與你的職業嗎？
Three of us (Zoltán and Ida, and Ida’s mother.) Everyone is retired. Z: I am a retired university professor. I: Life has thrown me to different places. I worked in a hospital for quite some time but diabetes had stopped me continue working. Since I’ve been in the household. But I look for opportunities to meet people, keep up my relationships and try to not to become narrowed.
我們家裡有三個人，(Zoltán and Ida, and Ida的母親）。我們都已經退休了。 Z: 我是退休的大學教授。 I: 生命一直將我帶領我到不同的領域。我曾經在醫院工作了滿長一段時間，但因為糖尿病的原因讓我不得不停止工作休息，於是成為家庭主婦。但是我會不斷的找機會去認識朋友，維持自己的生活圈，並且保持開放態度。
How long have you been living in this town? Why did you choose to live here?
你們在這個城市住多久了？為什麼會選擇住在這裡？
Almost a quarter of a century. Work brought us here. The village is only ten kilometres far from Győr and we couldn’t allow to buy such place in the city when we moved here. And we wanted a new house and a new life. We decided to migrate to Hungary from Transylvania (Romania) in our middle life. I: I had enough. I had enough of everyday routine and conventions. We had everything: work, home, lot of friends. But that was it. I did not see our future there. Zoltánsticked to Hungary because of the language. For me it was less important. I could have moved to anywhere. He got very disappointed though very soon after our move. Z: There was no perspective because of Romania’s one-sided national politics. There was a national quota system and despite of the quota only 10% hungarians were present in positions. I: The final straw was when TV streamed ultra-national songs all day long on the 26th of December, 1989. I didn’t have problems with average people though, I like them (Romanians).
Where are you from? A big city or a rural area? How did you learn to adapt to a city from your previous experiences?
你們來自哪裡呢？都市還是郊區？依照過去的經驗，你們是如何去適應一個都市呢？
We come from a big city, Romania’s second largest city. So it’s kind of downgrade here. It compensated the costs of the move that time. But I can’t imagine living in a 10-floors block of flat. Instead of the vertical blocks the horizontal country-life provides more rich connections to people. And the flatland is beautiful with the big horizon.
Describe a normal weekday for me? Do you follow any routine to complete a day?
可以告訴我你們的平常工作日是什麼樣子的嗎？有沒有必須得做才算是完成一天的例行事項呢？
I: When I'm done with things in the daily routiine I read and walk a bit. Z: Thanks to it, we are not isolated but I think that Internet keeps us too busy while it is a waste of time. Going shopping or gardening brings people together.
I. Kitchen and bed. Seriously, I feel best while sleeping when nothing bothers me. But maybe the winter makes me say that. It's been winter for so long. I'm awaiting spring very mush although I like winter. I love my plants. Sofa and legs up or the opposite: doing something extreme around the house or in the garden. Z. Apart from browsing the Internet I start to wonder nature more and more. I contemplate trees and plants, how they grow, change and what they produce. Nature has partly taken over library.
How do you arrange your place, any daily life habits apply? Do you agree the issue of house arrangement comes to some kind of politics when there is more than one person living in the same place?
Z: On the countryside you've got more space in general. Therefore tension between family members can dissolve easier. I: "Do it yourself sir, if you have not servant".
I: Man, this is the best question of all! Stones! Wherever I go I bring stones home. Z: I'd like to "collect" more friends, also among the people in the village.
I: I am. I love walking. I don't use the bus if possible. Z: Life is movement. I choose the further supermarket in the village. When we go to Győr we always park the car at the same place regardless of our actual destination.
Have you ever thought of the way you lead in life now might be influenced by your parents?
有沒有想過你們的父母如何影響你生活的方式？
I: No, I haven’t thought of this and I feel that there's no influence. Z: I think this isn't true, of course there's influence. By our parents we were taught to love work, being straight and honest. "The straight road is the best."
I: Harmony, synergy and mutual respect. Z: Ideal relation between people. Openly talk through problems. I: As a child I imagined a sort of "rubber house" which would expand according to the growth of the family. When you're two, it's small and cosy, when children come it becomes spaceful and when you get old it is what you can hold up.
Z: The best thing is when everyone is at home, all the children around the table and Ida starts serving the grill. I: The media ruined our life. Zoltán doesn't want to miss any news in politics or sports. He comes to the table, stuck in his dish without talking and goes back to the screen. I imagined old age differently.
Where do you live? How long have you been living here? Where are you originally from?
現居城市？住在這多久了？你們來自哪裡？
Joshua: We have been living in the Hudson Valley of New York for the past nine years or so. I am originally from New Mexico and Kelly is from New Jersey. New, New, New.
Joshua: 我們已經住在紐約的哈德遜河谷九年了。我來自新墨西哥州，而Kelly來自紐澤西。
What did you do and what do you do?
你們現在和過去都做些什麼？
Joshua: Currently, we own and operate Blackcreek Mercantile and Trading Co. in Kingston New York which focuses on original wood "table top" items and furniture. Kelly has an extensive background in business, and I have been a woodworker and furniture maker for the past twenty years or so.
Joshua:目前我們在紐約金斯頓市持有並經營Blackcreek Mercantile and Trading Co.，致力於原木製作的桌上物件和家具。Kelly有商業相關背景，而我擔任木匠和製作家具大約已經二十年左右。
Corresponding to the previous question, why are you so interested in wood sculpture?
為何你會對於木頭雕塑如此感興趣？
Joshua: I say that I am a woodworker by trade, but that I was born with the heart of a sculptor. It is in me and sometimes it just has to come out! Wood speaks to me - not in a creepy way - but in the material sense. I am very interested in the practical but also in the artistic, the functional vs. gestural.
Joshua: During the week we spend a lot of time at the studio, there are always projects to coordinate, work to be done and orders to fill. On the weekends we try to take a break. Depending on the season, some time spent in the garden, away to the beach, or just besides the fireplace at home.
How many family members currently live with you? What is the style of the house you are living in?
你們的家中成員共有幾位？你們的房子是什麼風格？
Joshua: Kelly and I have a four year old daughter which makes three of us. Our home is a small stone cottage situated in the woods. I say that it is nice to have "elbow room" but our neighbors are not so far away that we couldn't borrow some butter or that we feel too disconnected. The Hudson Valley is a beautiful place to live, in many ways life here has remained the same for many many years. We are close to New York City, but not too close. For a woodworker living in the forest is like being connected to "the source".
Joshua: I do not like to decorate. I think houses and design should be supportive of a persons lifestyle first, what ever that looks like. At the same time, something that is well done in any style can be attractive to me, but that is rarely my first consideration. . . speaking for myself. I prefer original work, rather than reproductions. Kelly is a big fan of going with how she feels about how something looks & feels.
Where is your personal favorite corner in your place?
你最喜歡的家中角落？
Joshua: I have done most of the work on our house myself, so at any point, my focus, my love and frustration may be on a different spot. It is also a small house so there are not too many corners, and seasonally, I may be more interested in the garden than the wood stove.
What do you consider as the most important thing at home?
你認為一個家中最重要的元素是什麼？
Joshua: I suppose that the obvious answer is the kitchen, the hearth - but perhaps the people in it are really the most important in a home.
Joshua: 很顯然是廚房和爐灶。但也許住在房子中的人才是一個家中最重要的元素。
Do you have any collection?
你有特殊的收藏嗎？
Joshua: I have a hard time throwing out interesting wood scraps. I refer to them as oddities, I suppose that is a sort of collection although not a very popular one. We do have a small collection of Willow Ware that we like to use.
Joshua: I believe in hard work, nothing comes for free; in safety first but it's important to remember to have fun. And of course - that just because you can doesn't mean that you should.
Joshua: Everything, life is inspiring to me. Nature itself. A big part of learning rests in one's ability to stay open to new things as well as to old things. Often it is about how you look at something - perspective. Seeing with fresh eyes and an open attitude can reveal a completely new idea right under your nose.
Joshua: We are very opposite in the nature of our skill sets. Mostly, one compliments the other. We are also polar opposites in astrology. Libra & Aries...true to form :)
Joshua: Aside from keeping up with everything, we have been developing a small group of cast metal objects. In this, we are working on some new cast iron and stone pieces for our ever expanding line of furniture. Also we have a show of sculpture and wood turnings at March in San Francisco in October, and I am teaching a class on wooden spoon carving at the Center for Furniture Craftsmenship in Maine this August.
Joshua: 除了持續原本的製作外，我們也在發展一些金屬鑄造物件。我們正著手於一些新的鑄鐵和木製作品，以拓展我們的家具產品線。今年十月我們將在舊金山的March有一個雕塑和木工車床展覽。同時，八月我也將在緬因州的Center for Furniture Craftsmenship開課教學木湯匙製作。
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