One part of moving abroad that nobody talks about enough is the chaotic reality of living in hostels or shared apartments.
The stories you hear from other international students often sound too wild to be true, but nothing truly prepares you for the challenge of sharing a small room with a complete stranger from a different culture.
When I first moved into my hostel, my new roommate seemed incredibly sweet and welcoming. She was already settled in, and I felt relieved to have an accommodating partner. Little did I know the absolute shege that was brewing right under the surface.
As soon as I unpacked, she laid down her first major rule. We were not allowed to wear any shoes inside the room, not even indoor bedroom slippers. Only socks. When I asked her why, she simply said it made her uncomfortable. Since I was new and wanted to keep the peace, I agreed. It did not seem like a massive issue at the time.
A few weeks passed and in the thick of winter I bought a pair of thick, fluffy indoor slippers to keep my feet warm. One afternoon, I walked back into the room and found my brand new slippers sitting right inside the trash can. I asked her directly if she had thrown them away.
She calmly told me that she had already warned me about the shoe rule. I tried to explain that these were clean slippers meant strictly for the bedroom, but she completely refused to listen. That single argument escalated so fast that she stopped talking to me entirely.
If only the silent treatment was the worst of it. Over the next few weeks, she started bringing guys over to stay the night, deliberately finding every opportunity to make my life miserable. I am a very quiet person, so dealing with the constant hostility, the random guests, and the endless fights over the lights, the cleaning, and the trash started to take a massive toll on me.
One particular strange occurrence happened that made me pack my bags. I woke up at midnight one day and saw her sitting directly in the middle of the room with a lit candle.
I rubbed my eyes, hoping I was hallucinating but she was still there. She was whispering words I could barely hear. I stayed completely frozen, pretending to be asleep so she would not notice I was watching.
The next morning, I did not confront her, but I finally took a closer look at her bed area. The items I originally thought were just innocent decorations actually had strange inscriptions carved into them, and she had different coloured materials hanging around.
The very next night, it happened again. She lit the candle and started spraying water from a bottle all around the space. Right then and there, I silently called out to every single God I knew to protect me. My roommate was literally performing rituals in our room.
That was the absolute final straw. That occurrence changed how I saw her. I noticed the dark confidence she had among many other things. I immediately packed my bags, requested a room transfer, and finally found my peace of mind.
Living in shared student housing is always an adventure, but sometimes you have to know when to choose your sanity. Please, if you are living under conditions that completely drain your peace, remember that you do not have to just sit there and take it.
Your peace of mind is worth moving for.
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