On being extremely spoiled, or, in the words of Monkey, my life is weird

I mentioned my flatmate to a new friend last night. That was stretching the truth a bit, but it was not the time to explain my unusual living situation. You see, I currently live with my ex-boyfriend’s parents. It sounds really weird, but people that have met Carol & Mike (not their real names) completely understand.

Carol & Mike are unusually nice people. They go out of their way not just for me, but for everyone. Carol has even mended Monkey’s clothes for him. Carol & Mike are limeys, and they have been in Prague for almost as long as I have. Mike is a banker and Carol looks after Mike. They are not much older than me; in fact I am slightly closer in age to Carol than I am to their son, my ex-boyfriend.

Anyway, I first stayed with them in the summer of 2003, when I was over in Prague from England for only 2 months. They invited me to, and it seemed to make a lot more sense than spending money on temporary accommodation. So when I finished law school in 2004 and I did not know what I was going to do next, they offered me once again to stay with them.

I came back to Prague in the middle of July and started working at the end of August. Carol & Mike, being aware of my student debt, said that just because I was working did not mean that I had to move out and that I should stay and try to get some of my debt paid off. They said that they love having me live with them (I don’t really understand it, but they seem to find me extremely entertaining), and the only reason for me to move out would be when I felt I needed my own space.

So I was ready around Christmas, and Monkey found a flat for me, and Carol & Mike talked me out of it because I was being sent to South Moravia for work for 6 months, and they thought it would be silly for me to pay rent on a flat that I was only going to use at weekends.

And it is not only that I live with them. My room in Carol & Mike’s flat is large and light with huge windows looking right out onto the river, and across to the Dancing Building. My view is stunning. The household’s computer is in my room, with a high speed ADSL connection. Carol does all the cleaning, she does my laundry and irons everything. I pay no rent; I do not contribute financially to the housekeeping; if I am home in the evening, I am fed a very nutritious meal (Mike is on weight watchers and Carol cooks). They take me out for meals and I am never allowed to pay even for myself. They have bought me plane tickets to go to England in the past (the first one was to visit their son before he dumped me for a tall, skinny, horsy-looking limey; the other was to help me get to law school). In short, they treat me like a daughter, but without any of the parental expectations, and I am spoiled beyond belief.