When people ask me about the hardest part of living in a shared student accommodation far away from home I do not hesitate a second to answer them.
People would usually guess my answer to be sharing a flat with someone, cooking and doing the laundry but that's really not it.
Not even the fact that my family lives roughly 10 000 km around the globe.
No, the hardest part for me is that we are not allowed to have candles in the apartments. No candles. Lit or unlit.
For me, a candle is not just a random chunk of wax I would light when feeling in ashtanga-yoga-chai-aryuveda-mood.
A candle is the most flavorsome, calming and homey bliss in a jar there is.
Without a candle the days are dark and grey and pass by monotonously without any kind of fire or spark.
Well, before I have to reach for the handkerchiefs again and nostalgically start dreaming of those days when that stuff was still legal, let me quickly tell you why this rule exists.
A few months ago, there has been a huge fire in one of the student accommodations caused by a candle.
Luckily, no one got seriously injured but ever since they are illegal goods on campus side.
The students were informed on this matter at the induction talk during freshers week.
I still remember it as if it was yesterday when it was announced that all candles lit or unlit to be found will be immediately taken away. And destroyed.
A pause. Silence in the ranks.
The speech reminded me a bit of Liam Neeson in "Taken" ("I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you") but the effect was highly dramatic.
Between you and me I even avoid walking through the candle section at Waitrose because I'm afraid to arouse suspicion. In days of NSA and Facebook and what not you never know who might gets wind of something and before you can say knife you would be taken to court.
Like a smoker trying to quit by using e-cigarettes, I downloaded a "candle-app" on my iPod so that whenever I feel burning desire I can at least light a visual fire.
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