How I'm livin': My new digs in the U.S. of A

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 three and a half weeks, until July 15th. I am here taking classes for a Master's degree I am finishing up. 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[d] 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, that 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.