feed da pigeons: benefits and bunnies

I went to centrepoint today. gonna start as soon as i have all my papers ready. it's a big place, biggest cp hall in london- 80 residents. had a talk with lindsay, whom I'm gonna assist as far as I know. lindsay's great and the place is great and I can't wait to get started. some facts about the people there: there are 40 boys and 40 girls, the average age is 18 to 25. it's a 2 years residence. the accom fees are paid by the government as a benefit, until they find a full time job. so when they find a full time job they have to look for renting in the private sector, or pay the accomodation fees at centrepoint (meaning 120 pounds/week).when they have the benefit, they have to pay 11 pounds a week to the halls. they also have 45 punds per week from the government. this benefit is like a support for the period in which you are looking for a job- which means you have to prove that you are looking for a job, and have job interviews and so on. from this 45 pounds a week, you pay 11 pounds to the halls, which leaves 34 pounds per week. the transport for a week is usually 10 pounds, so that leaves 24 pounds for a week... which is acually not much at all. but anyways, that's the benefit system, and it's ok that it exists. all these 80 residents have different stories- some of them just couldn't get along with their parents anymore, some of them were living in too small places, some of them just don't have parents. there are tons of reasons that can make you become homeless. which is a very radical word, similar in a way to "aurolac" in my country, but people seem to use it- so i guess it's not offending. anyways, so for a homeless kid, life seems to be like that: you go through care until 16 years old- which means that the government provides you a place to live and money and food and all, and then when you are 16 the care system cannot take care of you anymore, so you go to halls and homes and hostels like centrepoint. and when you have the right age to work, and when the government decides that you are able to work (which means that you pass some tests , I guess), you start looking for a job and you get the benefit until you find a full time job, which means that you are able to live by yourself, which means that usually you move from the halls and become an adult.lindsay told me that everybody's looking for a job, but there are a few people who don't really want to find a full time job, because, in essence, that would mean that they have to leave and become adults. there also some people who have full time jobs and don't want to leave the halls, so they pay the accomodation fee by theirselves, although in the private sector it would be much cheaper. (you can find a rent with 90 pounds per week in the private sector, whilst in centrepoint you have to pay 120 pounds per week.)

other news:

- I have a new teapot: