Dear Jim,
It has been a long time since I last send a letter and a lot has changed In my life. First we have moved once again as the economic crisis takes hold although we are still in the same area. We have moved to near to the end of one of the main roads although here it is quite and peaceful. The last time I wrote we were in summer but now winter is upon us and it is taking its toll with the temperature hardly getting above 5°C. The neighbourhood has become run down and the buildings turned to disrepair as there is no money to fix them. We have moved to a small house but are not the only ones living there, in total we are 13 people. The house is a 2 bedroom place of which are both upstairs with one bathroom. Downstairs is a small kitchen, bathroom and sitting room. In the sitting room there is a fire place which is our main way of keeping warm although we also have a fire running out side as the house can get quite crowded. The house is of wooden construction and painted white but is starting to peal off although at least the place is just about water tight. Along the road out side it is lined down both sides with trees and is quite clean and nice looking. Going down the road towards the centre of town there is a few tower blocks of about 10 floors and these are in a very bad state of disrepair full of rubbish and abandoned but there is a small group of people who in these hard times are worst off than us and use these buildings as there home. There are many people in the street trying to better their situation but it doesn't look as though they will be able to for a long time yet, work is harder and harder to get and the pay for the few jobs nearly isn't worth it. The other way down the road which is my favourite brings us to a big forest and open fields from here is where we get wood for the fire and sped our spare time doing things to have some fun.
Hope you write soon
Bob
Dear Jim,
Winter has passed now and we are entering spring, my favourite time of year. Our economic situation has not got better although my dad will possibly be getting a better more steady job as he has got the qualifications and my mum is still busy at the house looking after all the children there are here. Being a busy house we don't spend much time together as only our family when we do mum, dad, my sister and me like to go for walks in the forest as we can not afford to go on holiday or even away from the area. We are in some ways grateful as although we live lots in one house we have other wise a good way of living as we have just enough food, water and resources and the house is clean. The other day I went into the centre and it was awful with the smell and sight of the dirtiness and disease that was around. The rest of the people living with us are like family now we do everything together but they are still finding it hard to find work but I think that hope is around the corner as I read in the news that people were going to start to bring money into the area. I only know the family that I have here as I think I have a few other relatives but they live on the other side of the country and we have never met. Another thing that we do as a family or well everyone in the house is that each week we have to get certain things so that we can live by using things we find in the street but nothing can be stolen as this is a serious offence in the house and is dealt with harshly. Living in the house is a range of people starting with my dad the engineer and mum the person who does everything. We have a waiter, professional cook, mechanic and also an astronomer but for all of them work is hard to find.
Hoping your situation is better
Bob
Dear Jim,
The days have become longer now as we move in to the height of summer and we can go out and play more. School finishes at about 14:30 so we have long time to play. I am now in 9th grade but its not getting better, the school I go to and all the children living in the house is a small school near where we live although its still a 30 minute walk each morning and afternoon. School doesn't really teach me much and I would rather be at home learning life skills although I have some good friends who make it worth while. They are Bob, Frank and Jeff and all live in the same road as me so we also spend a lot of time after school playing as we have a great community of children in the area of which there are all ages. At school there is one teacher of which I get on well with and the rest make me do things I hate doing as they get away with the least they can possibly do. Take miss black for instance she only sits there and makes us do things from books which are 30 years old as the school has no money to by new ones. This is also why the building its self is in such a bad state with the paint coming off and all the leaks each time it rains but we must make do with what we have these days. After school each we get our group together and play what ever comes to mind or find some junk in the road to makes out of such as one time with made some push carts and raced them for weeks before we broke them. Also we like to go to the wood to play hide and seek or go exploring as we have to make our own entertainment.
Awaiting your reply
Bob
Dear Jim,
Coming into autumn now, the most colourful time of year and the situation is getting better. We are stilling living all together but more people now have jobs and we got enough money to buy a new radio as our old one had been broken for a long time and as the evenings are getting sorter we all get around the radio and listen to our favourite programmes and shows. Around us in the neighbourhood things are getting better for a few but even worse for others and now the government is trying to do some thing to help stop the process that is happening. On the radio they were that the damage to the economy is so bad that it could take 5 years to recover to become stable other than that not much has changed but the season. People are still trying to make the most of the situation and live on in hope of a new future. At the moment there are some new fashions emerging as people start to get some money the main ones are the cinema and raise of new music especially jazz. A lot of poor people from poor areas have got there hands on an instrument and played it 24 hours a day 7 days a week and become popular music that people enjoy as it is happy and takes away the problems that they have at the moment. Jazz is a mixture that is new and funky making these people famous and taking them out of their bad situation. The radio is another item that lots of people us as it can be used for many things. In our area there is stations for music, radio shows and also news to see what is happening in the rest of the country and world. Cars are starting to appear again now as people can afford the fuel where as they couldn't a year ago. That is about all from here got to go to school now.
Bob
