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Out of context: Reply #63825

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  • nb2

    "I live in a house of 55"

    - oey

    Please explain! I am very intrigued.

    • ..of 1955. No...LOL! I leave in a community/living project.oey
    • with hippies, anarchists, students, hackers, teachers, doctors, programmers, social workers, feminists, cultural programmers, artisans...etc...oey
    • very engaged people. we are around 55 adults and 17 children. one dog and one cat.oey
    • musicians, artists, designers...most people has more than one activity.oey
    • it's in a small town in Niedersachsen, Germany.oey
    • I can not tell much over an open forum as you probably understand. because of political reasons. and privacy. our house is under watch for sure.oey
    • but we have a good relation with the city, neighbours and some institutions. people are very socio-political active.oey
    • left. but different levels or types of left. some neutral. nobody is right. no sexism. violence (physical or verbal), discrimination allowed.oey
    • we don't have a democratic system. no majorities or minorities. each has a veto right. not out of the blue.oey
    • everybody has a house job that consists in 100 hours per year working for the house. some take care of the garden. others clean the windows.oey
    • some repair the roof. others are responsible for the water and gas maintenance. and so on.oey
    • and there's other things. it's a 30 year buying project and in the end it belongs to a estate with the name of the house. no private owners.oey
    • it belongs to whoever will live here in the moment they live. people come, stay, move, come back..oey
    • there's people living here for 20 years and others for 2 months. used to be a school, then a residence for students, then a squat.oey
    • we have a music school, kung fu, recording studio, practice rooms, ateliers...oey
    • and enough :) I really like it. one of the reasons why I left Amsterdam though I miss it.oey
    • fascinating oey. i'm totally intrigued.capn_ron
    • it's not perfect though...LOL! Sometimes I go grrrrr south European style :)oey
    • I could go on with the good stuff cause that's what make me live here. but there's issues like everywhere. and sometimes one has to debate stuff.oey
    • now it's more relaxed. lots of people got kids. and it's not in a develop moment like before. I lived here 6 years ago and there was real discussion going on.oey
    • sometimes one has no patience cause it's a system by itself and living together with people is also politics in relations. power issues, you know, humans...oey
    • alpha animals :) so sometimes I want to get out of here but that's my emotional southside style LOL! on the broader perspective it's awesome.oey
    • one of my issues is that more things (culturally and political debate could happen here) but at the moment the vocation is more for the kids.oey
    • plus, we live 10 minutes outside the city next to a forest and there's a lake 5 minutes by bike. we have a world music festival and some parties and concerts.oey
    • it could be crazier. there could be more animals. more drugs :)oey
    • but we respect the and protect the individual but no individual is above the project and the collective.oey
    • pretty coolmoldero
    • Thanks! But shit dude, you could have started a fresh reply! The internet has plenty of free space. :)nb
    • Super interesting.nb
    • 100 hours of work a year doesn't sound like muchterry_cloth
    • sorry nb. I know there's lots of space. was doing my JavaScript homework and didn't thought at first in such big reply. got carried away.oey
    • Sounds amazingset
    • sounds better then it actually is but still awesomeoey
    • Cool! Sounds like Burning Man camp 24/7 and a much smaller orgy tent!robotron3k
    • totally not like that. it's a big house divided in three apartments and four families. maybe 10 people take drugs. No hard ones except for maybe three.oey
    • No orgies or group sex either as far as I know...LOL! Some couples and that's it. People are actually more housemates than friends.oey
    • And we are not into that big family thing. Well, some are but they are disconnected with reality...LOL!oey
    • Right, so you live in Christiania, then. Or the Lower Saxony analogue of it. Minus the weird little Christiania charm.Continuity
    • minus the wagenplatz atmosphere.oey
    • i'm stuck on this 100 hours of work a year bit, so once a month on a saturday you contribute? how? are there tradesmen there? how is the place not falling apartterry_cloth
    • LOL @ terry...oey
    • it works in different ways. one can do those hours when it's needed and not specifically on Saturdays.oey
    • One can be without doing anything for weeks and in one day one can do 6 hours. There's no specific rules for that.oey
    • There's also house days where the group takes care together of a specific bigger task like organize and clean the basementsoey
    • if one goes to a house meeting/discussion it also counts.oey
    • the way one organizes the hours is ones decision or when it's needed if one can. there's plenty to do for all.oey
    • some people repair washing machines oother take care of the internet, network, spam, databank etc...oey

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