The alarm blares at 7 a.m. The house is silent and cold. He wakes up to cook breakfast for 12 people before going about his eight-hour workday as an employee for thousands.
Aleksandr Timonin, 23, a City Café cook, lives with a family of 10 children—ages 3 to 22—and two adults. He knows how to work his way around the kitchen and the house. Timonin had humble beginnings in Kellerovka, Kazakhstan. With a slight Russian accent and quick movements, he is one of the most recognizable workers at City Café.
As he sits with closed posture, he speaks in a soft but steady voice.
“I don’t think of it as ‘[having] to’ it just comes naturally,” Timonin says, when talking about his duties to two parents, who are Russian immigrants from Kazakhstan, and his younger siblings.
As the oldest of 11 children, Timonin does everything around the house so his brothers and sisters can grow up in a comfortable and clean environment. From going to work at 8 in the morning, to getting off work at 2 p.m., his day doesn’t end until he goes home.
This busy lifestyle would be common for many independent college-aged students if it weren’t for taking care of 10 siblings.
Timonin has had to put academics on hold to keep up. He recalls the grind of former semesters.
“I come here at 8:30 a.m. and get off at 2:30pm. Go to class,” Timonin says. “Then I go home and do housework and homework. Sleep. Wake up, and it goes again.”
Growing up with a strict mother who valued the importance of cleanliness and tidiness, he is a very organized individual. He speaks of his mother adoringly as she “[would] give her kids everything, money, things, even her own health if needed.” He also speaks of the hardships his parents encountered and how they taught him invaluable lessons in life, such as the need to lend a helping hand.
It is worlds second best treatment levitra shop for erectile dysfunction and it is also not an end of the world. But sometimes it is not so convenient for both levitra 60 mg Read Full Report partners. If any sort of abnormal or irregular heart beat is detected by the device, then it automatically delivers a shock to restore normal rhythm of the music. cheap viagra usa Think of your ability to function in the world as raindogscine.com viagra 25 mg. “When I help someone, and I see them happy. I get happy,” says Timonin.
As a child, he says his father, Michael Timonin, taught him many things. These teachings range from physical capabilities to spiritual and philosophical lessons.
“Alek can make lots of things in [the] kitchen, in [the] backyard,” says Michael Timonin. “Lots of things. Construction. I taught him construction like hammering nails and sawing.”
His passion for cooking stems from his childhood and goes beyond the walls of City Café.
“I like cooking. My father cooks, and I enjoy cooking and doing things,” he says. “I want to become a chef.”
A devout Christian, he goes to church every Sunday and Tuesday. Being a member of a church in West Sacramento, where he emigrated to from Kazakhstan, gave him a chance to explore places that he’d never seen. As part of a missionary group, he has gone on trips around the United States, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona and Salt Lake City.
In Salt Lake City, he says he remembers walking on pure salt. A fan of the outdoors, he remembers hiking in Yosemite on a four-hour hike that ended in sweat and a lot of fun. Of the many difficult things encountered in his lifetime, he finds these memories the most enjoyable.
Being 23, he’s unsure of where his academic and personal achievements will lead him. Similar to many of his generation, he is taking it day by day, one step at a time.
Editor’s Note: This story was written by guest writer Jenny Wong ([email protected]).
