Studying abroad was one of the biggest I’ve ever made. I didn’t know anyone when I arrived in United States and I was just really a freshman like other students who came to Edmonds community college in last spring. Although I was incredibly nervous trying to get to know people and to make friends, I felt excited about moving into the dormitory and having roommates. As I arrived into my dorm, suddenly I could feel all the butterflies in my stomach and my hands trembled really hard. I had a flashback of my sister’s saying “What if you don’t get along with her?
What if she’s a psycho? What if she doesn’t want to be friends with you? ” All of those negative thoughts that my sister said about having roommates instantly went around my head. Since one of the Resident Assistants suggested me to enter my bedroom to check whether my room is available for me to use, and I opened the dorm by slowly knocking the door to make sure if there’s anyone inside. When I opened the room I found a girl sleeping on the other bed and my first thought was “oh great… now I’m going to interrupt my future roommate’s beauty sleeptadaaaa! ” the RA looked surprised since it was spring break since she probably expected that all of the students had gone somewhere for vacations rather than sleeping in their rooms all day.
Slowly I grabbed two of my suitcases into the bedroom because I didn’t want to annoy her by waking her up. Well it turned out that my effort of “not being an annoying person” actually worked fine for me and I felt a little bit relieved somehow. Since I finished with moving my stuff I went to see the living room of the room and I felt more positive because I imagined myself being independent for the first time in my life.
After a few hours I felt bored from sitting and playing my phone in the living room, so I went back to my room to check if my roommate woke up from her sleep. I found her still sleeping peacefully with the same position the last time I went to the bedroom, then I went to my bed to chill and also wait for her to wake up since I really wanted to greet her. An hour late my phone’s battery had gone very low so I needed to charge my phone, then I saw her checking her phone. Immediately I came towards her and said “HiI’m Sarah and I’m your new roommate” then she looked at me with annoyance written in her face. BOOOOM.. she hated me” that’s all I was thinking about after greeting her.
However I tried not to care so much about my failed attempt at being friendly to my lovely roomie, but the thought of not getting along with someone whom you will spend the next few months is utterly worrisome for me. When I finally saw the sunset I knew it was time for me to do other activities rather than wondering what went wrong with my roommate. I started by taking a bath then preparing my food aka instant noodle for dinner.
As I checked my phone I saw a missed call from my mother and I went to call her just to make sure that I’m okay (although a part of me wants to scream so bad). “hi momdid you call me earlier? ” I said, then she replied “heyhow are you? How’s your roommate? ” I figured that my mom was going to ask that question. “She’s fine I guess, but we didn’t talk yet so I suppose things are great here” I sounded sarcastic and my mom said “Just tell me if things aren’t going well, okay? I think I have to go now, can I talk to you later honey? then I replied quickly “yeah sure, I’ll talk to you later mom, bye” As our conversation ended I could feel that I was feeling homesick already. I didn’t want to cry over this thing so I decided to sleep earlier since I didn’t want to be late for my morning class I had the next day. When I headed to the room I tried not keep my attention so much on her, and surprisingly she was awake and also watching a television show in her laptop. My bed seemed to be a sweet escape since I could sleep without thinking excessively about anything.
At last I grabbed my blanket and tried to find a sleeping position that would help me fall asleep, and then I noticed that she didn’t even bother to turn down the sound from her laptop. After half an hour of holding my frustration I finally told her to reduce the volume, and she instantly plugged an earphone on her laptop. As I woke up in the middle of the night I saw her face looking at me furiously, but then she immediately turned away since she probably realized that I saw her staring at me. I was so frightened because I didn’t even think that it would be like this, but I decided to try to sleep again anyway.
However I heard voices coming from her side like “uh” “humph” “Ugh” as she she sounded and looked very irritated at me. The next morning I determined myself to discuss this issue with the housing office director and also ask him to move into another room. After chatting with the director he finally gave me the information of the new room and how much I had to pay since I requested a room for myself. I felt more peaceful and thankful to know that I could live without sharing a room with someone anymore.
As soon as I finished signing the new roommate agreements and other papers, I went back to my room to transfer all of my things into the new room. I saw my roommate eating in the living room, and I figured that this is the only chance we could actually talk. “I’m moving out to another room, so I have to take my stuff back again, is it okay? ” I said, but her reply made me realize that it was the one of the best decisions I’ve made “yeah sure” and she smiled. Thus, this event made me learn that living with someone else is full of surprises; it can turn out good or bad.
