During my fresher year at my university, I stayed in a flat. We had a common room in which we used to hang out whenever there was any event. We also had a shared laundry room. I managed to get to know a lot of people in my first week. It was all nice chatting with people from different countries but this blissful experience did not last until the second week of my stay. The common room had become so dirty that I had to lift my foot for each step I walked in the room. The laundry room was so full that I had to dry my clothes in my room. Worse, bottles of milk in the refrigerators leaked, releasing unbearable odour each time I opened the refrigerator door(s). For the rest of my stay, my fresh groceries spent most of their time with rotten food. When I moved out in September 2017, I could even find food which had already expired in November 2016.
First month living in my hall, I had already decided that I had to move out in the upcoming semester. I simply couldn’t stand this anymore. All those nights of my indirect marijuana intake due to flatmates smoking them in the corridor have to come to an end. At that time, little did I know that my future housemates were the most awesome people I could have ever meet in my whole life. Below are a few reasons why I prefer living in a share house:
- Develop your sense of responsibility
When I first moved into a share house from a flat, there was no longer someone to take care of the cleanliness of my kitchen and bathrooms. No one will replace all those used toilet paper rolls for us. We had to make an inventory list for our share house. It might sound a little bit intimidating at first, but in the long run, you are going to become more self-reliant and responsible. Personally, I feel that living in a share house is the first step towards adulthood.
- Build a family-like friendship with your housemates
Living far away from my country, it feels good to have a group of people celebrating festivals such as Chinese New Year, Christmas and Mid-Autumn Festival together with me in a foreign country. My share house also has a really cool dining area in which we always invite our guests over to have dinner together. It also helps me to broaden my network of people, helping me to get to know all those people who I would have never met throughout my university life. Occasionally, we’ll organize a trip to visit other places in the United Kingdom.
- You’ll be more motivated to try on different things
Throughout my stay in my share house in the UK, I was more willing to try out different kinds of dishes to impress my housemates. They also gave me the motivation to do things which I would not have done otherwise, such as going as far as Tokyo to have my internship. They were always there to give me support whenever I felt lost. Having them around me gives me the energy to take on more difficult challenges.
- I loved the diversity
Since we were all studying different courses at our university, our skill was one of the things that I enjoyed the most. We had an architect, an electrical engineer, two chemical engineers and a pharmacist. For a curious person like me, there was always someone who could answer my questions, though my pharmacist-to-be always returned my question with 10 more questions. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed talking to every single one of them and if you’re reading this, I want to thank you for being with me in 2017-2018.
- Greater exposure to different cultures
Let me be honest with you, sometimes it can be quite difficult for you to blend yourself into a group of people with a similar cultural background. Guess what, staying together in a share house could very possibly solve this problem for you! Ideally, you wouldn’t want to stay with a large group of people who have already known each other for long because you might be left out in conversations and group activities. A group of 5-6 is ideal because it offers diversity and also leaves everyone plenty of opportunities to get acquainted with each other.
BUT there is still something that I want to tell you. My experience could be highly unique and you might or might not experience the same thing when you move into a share house. Despite that, you should open yourself to other people. I wouldn’t say that I’m an introvert by birth, but I am definitely not the kind of people who talk much. But, I’m willing to take the first step to approach other people when deemed necessary. I wouldn’t have known my best mate at the university if I didn’t initiate a conversation with him when he was alone. It still saddens me whenever I think of my graduation next year because we’ll be separated. Nonetheless, I wish you all the best if you’re moving into a share house! It’s going to be exciting despite occasional tiffs 😉
By Abel Tie
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