My name is Oneika. I am almost 29 years old…. And I currently live in a dormitory with about about 30 Americans who are not even old enough to drink.
*Cue violin music*
The above is my humble abode for the next 3 and a half weeks, until July 15th. Living with other people, as someone who grew up as an only child who had her own bedroom and bathroom, is difficult for me.
Not that I haven’t done it before.
As a (poor) exchange student in France, I lived in a French dorm and shared a bathroom with Frenchies (who actually DO shower, despite the stereotype). I was puzzled by the lack of toilet seats and the prevalence of pink toilet paper (those of you who have travelled to/live in France know exactly what I’m talking about).
When I moved to France again to teach English, I shared a one-bedroom apartment with a crazy American who apparently had an aversion to flushing her own waste down the toilet, which made for some unpleasant surprises when it was my turn to use the loo *shudder*.
When I went back to university to do my teaching degree, I lived with roomies in two different houses off campus (I had to switch houses because the first one I was living in had a nasty cat owned by another roomie who would routinely pee on the couch and walk across the kitchen counter). Lovely.
Oh, the joys of co-habitation.
Anyway, I am currently resting my weary, jet-lagged head in a residence hall. It is cold and drafty. The carpet in the hallway is worn and stained. I am once again sharing a bathroom. The other, younger people staying here have decorated their doors; signs with their names on them, feathers, and clipboards with pen and paper attached beg passerby to knock (or at least leave a message if the occupant of the room is not in). The blanket that people in the residence hall gave me so I could stave off the cold had a long, blonde hair in it *shudder*. I have shower shoes so that the balls of my foot don’t have to touch the slimy floor of the common shower. My classmate mentioned that her mom said bedbugs were a real problem in uni dorms in the States, so every time I put my head on my pillow I wonder if I am at risk.
July 15th can’t come fast enough.
51 Comments
I'm a college student and I never wanted to try dorms. :/ I hear they are part of the college experience but I think I'll just be a big head ache for me! I like my own room and bathroom.
Plus I like living at home rent free!
oh god…kuddos for you for going ahead with that kind of set up. I'm not sure I could have braved it. July 15th is really not so long off, so you can definitely hang in there! Just don't cave when the other (pre pubescent) dorm residents knock on your door to ask you to go buy them booze. And hell, you look like you could totally pass for 20…why not tell a little white lie for the next 3 weeks? 😉
Girl, that dorm room is posh, compared to most!..:):)
Girl, you have loads of closet space! Nice! It will pass by fast with all the homework and assignments!
Enjoy the experience 😉
Hahaha. Oh goodness. Lord love you. Look at the situation you find yourself in! Praying for an extra dose of patience!
Hey someone else who likes their space! I always wondered if I had a bit of a princess mentality. I even have had trouble living with a boyfriend.
For bedbugs, supposedly you can look for reddish/brown stains on your mattress, near the seams. That would be the bedbugs feces (sorry..). If no stains, than you are prob. ok. And they don't really live in clothing, mainly in beds, so if you stick to your room than you are good.
Ugh, I did not enjoy dorm life in college. I only survived two years.
stories from the trenches: my roommate peed on the floor and didn't clean it up.
the next year my roommate cut her pubes but left the clippings on the toilet seat.
Welcome to America!
You're going to have a great time. We're actually pretty nice people.
And the bedbugs thing is more regional. I live in Texas, and have never had a bedbug problem. The infestions have been more in the midwest region, and I think I remember hearing something about New Jersey. But all that was months ago.
*Sigh*.
I really sympathize with you because in all honesty I doubt that I could do this at this stage of my life…
I am in my 30's and have spent many years enjoying my privacy so to loose that even for a short time would be pretty hard. Do-able but still hard. I thought there would be some student accomodation with private bathrooms- even it technically just a teeny closet sized shower/toilet/sink?
Oh well, whats life without a little adventure right?
Look on the bright side- you're getting your degree, the accomodation is free (I hope!) thus saving you money and best of all it's only temporary!
Welcome to the US!! Room looks nice; thumbs down on the communal bathroom. Is it worth it for you to purchase a cheap pillow, sheets, and blanket at Walmart? Best of luck to you!
Welcome to the US!! Room looks nice; thumbs down on the communal bathroom. Is it worth it for you to purchase a cheap pillow, sheets, and blanket at Walmart? Best of luck to you!
I NEVER stayed in a dorm while in college. I cannot imagine having to share a shower with a bunch of other females!! I go in enough public restrooms to see how nasty people could be! Gross!! And I agree about bedbugs being regional. We don't have bedbugs where I live, but I heard that big cities like New York have them alot.
But I hope everything goes well and enjoy yourself here in the States!!!
I'm not at all sure that rural eastern Washington qualifies as an introduction to American life, but welcome to the States.
If it's any consolation I turned 30 to find myself sleeping on an inflatable half-mat tucked in the corner of a room I shared with someone. Three people in a one bedroom, two fashion students and me without the excuse. We managed six months without killing each other and I finally graduated to a larger apartment with a nice couch in the living room that I called home.
Considering your extensive travels you'll do just fine. But I would be worried about those dorm room door signs. Watch out for the LOLspeak.
Blech. You would have to pay me some big cash for me to stay in a dorm room. I did that for my first year in uni and that was enough. Hells no, I say. (The room looks good though; at least you're not sharing with some giddy uni type.)
As for the bed bug thing, don't put your suitcase on the bed. They (the bugs) like when you do that and they'll get in your clothes and you'll bring them (the bugs) home with you… Sounds like a good time, eh?
July 15 is just around the corner!
It will be over before you know it. Like you, I HATE shared living. I did that for all 4 years in university and it was not horrible for time entire time (some roomies were horrendous while others rocked) but I didn't like it. Just keep telling yourself, "just a few more weeks, just a few more weeks."
@liveletlive: Aint NOTHING better than living rent free!
@crystal: you might be on to something… lol
@Patricia: I guess it's not so bad! At least the room is big!
@kuesooM: Tons of closet space but I haven't even unpacked my suitcase yet LOL.
@Hannah: Thank you!! I really need the Lord right now!
@gia: Thanks for the tip! But now I'm afraid to look…
@Deidre: Um… what?! Details!
@Shena: Thanks for the warm welcome! I have met quite a number of nice Americans since I've gotten here!
@sprite: How I wish that the accomodation was free! I have to pay for it… Sigh… Shocking that they don't offer rooms with their own private bathroom! argh!
@ElleX: Thank you!! Would you believe that this town is so small that there's NO Walmart?
@ButterflyKisses: Sharing a toilet/shower grosses me out to no end! But not showering grosses me out more, so I'll have to suck it up and share. 🙁
@legrandezombie: Ooh, sounds like fun (or an episode of the New Melrose Place). Where were you and what were you doing exactly?! What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, eh?
@Tanya: thanks for the tip! When are you in Toronto, again?
@Rhona: 4 years?! God bless you!
D and I arrive in town on July 27th. I think we'll be there for 3 weeks; we haven't bought our return tix yet. We'll hook up during that time.
I was in Paris either in search of my marbles lost through living or because I had suddenly lost all my marbles. Can't really say it was like Melrose Place because it wasn't something people would tune into, but someone did fall off the toilet and break it which was exciting.
I went to Paris in 2007. I never saw pink toilet paper. I did have a man scream out obscenities to me to get me to come to the sex show.
@Leslie: LOL!
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