A book...Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig.CT - Where and when were you born?
Falkirk, Scotland 08/04/72
CT - Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Allan: I have 3 sisters and 1 brother.
CT - When did you move to England?
Allan: My family left Scotland when I was a baby and went to live in Zambia. We stayed in Africa for 5 years and then moved to England.
CT - Why did you leave England?
Allan: I left England because I was bored with my job and the British weather was getting me down. I wanted to live in a hot country with nice beaches.
CT - Do you miss England?
Allan: No.
CT - Do you miss your family?
Allan: Yes, very much so. I´m trying to convince my whole family to give up their lives in England and come and live here in Rio.
CT - Do you intend to stay here for good?
Allan: I can´t think of any other place I´d rather be. Rio´s a difficult place to leave, but who knows? In ten years time, I might be working on a farm in Scotland, milking cows for a living.
CT - What was your job in England?
Allan: The last job I had was as a maintenance engineer - not very interesting really. I prefer working with people even though they don´t always do what you tell them to.
CT - How long have you been in Brazil?
Allan: Almost 4 years.
CT - How did you get a job at Cultura?
Allan: I met Sérgio through playing football against DC United. When I found out that he was a director of Cultura Caxias, I begged and pleaded with him to give me a job. After paying him a few bribes he finally let me in the door.
CT - What do you like about working at Cultura?
Allan: The classes are quite big so lessons are more fun. The students are very friendly and keen to learn. The working atmosphere here is much better than any other school I´ve worked for.
CT - A book:
Allan: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig.
CT - A film:
Allan - Crossroads - It´s quite cheesy (brega) but there is some amazing guitar playing in it. It´s about a boy who learns how to play the blues by experiencing them. In the final scene he has a guitar battle with the devil - it´s classic cinema. I won´t tell you who wins because that will just spoil it.
CT - A beautiful word - Tempestuous
Allan - An ugly word - Pamphlet
CT - What wouldn´t you do for $1 million?
Allan: Work for FISK or support Flamengo. Sou Botafoguense e pobre!!
CT - What would you do if you won the lottery?
Allan: I would make it my goal in life to visit every country in the world. I´m not sure if 3 million Reais would be enough though.
CT - Brazilian food or British food?
Allan: British food. Brazil has the best 'churrasco' type restaurants but Britain has the best Chinese, Indian and Italian restaurants. What could be more British than a curry?
CT - What do you do in your freetime?
Allan: I love sports. I play football on Saturdays, volleyball on Sundays and I go surfing whenever there´s time. I don´t know if what I do with a surfboard can be called surfing though, more like wiping out (tomar caldo). I go wiping out whenever there´s time.
CT - What type of music do you listen to?
Allan: When I was a teenager I used to listen to The Cult, The Chili Peppers and Faith No More. Now I´ll listen to anything except Forró.
CT - What´s your favourite TV programme?
Allan: Show do Milhão. It makes me feel so intelligent.
CT - Brazilian women or British women?
Allan: Brazilian women. There are some pretty women in Britain, but not nearly enough. The ratio is better in Brazil. I like the direct approach of Brazilian women. If she likes you she´ll let you know almost immediately. In Britain you could wait for weeks.
CT - In a few words, how would you describe yourself?
Allan: Calm and dozy. If I stay in the same position for more than 20 minutes I start falling asleep. That´s why I could never work in an office, I would spend half the working day sleeping.
CT - A message to the students at Cultura…
Allan: If you really want to learn English, why not stop watching things like 'Gente Inocente' or 'Faustão' and use the time to do some exercises from English Grammar in Use?
