It's finally here - Topic: LIVING IN A DORM ROOM

After...

Before...

Her midt i min kavalkade af jule-ferie-oplevelser bringer jeg lige et sprit nyt indlæg: 

Jeg har nemlig endelig fået afsluttet mit sidste projekt på mit lille "kollegie"-værelse - nemlig billeder af familie og venner. 

Jeg synes faktisk at det er lykkes mig at gøre et ret trist værelse til et rigtig hyggeligt og hjemligt sted. 

På mange universiteter i USA er det obligatorisk at man bor i "dorms" (kollegier) "on campus" det første år du starter - altså når du er "freshman". 

Det er også obligatorisk for os GRSP studerende at bo "on campus", og jeg kan huske at det næsten var min største frygt ved at skulle afsted, da mange dorms herovre f.eks. har fællesbad og toilet med hele gangen, og du i mange tilfælde også skal dele dit soveværelse med en anden person - altså bogstaveligt talt sove en arms længde fra en fremmed... (Det er vist det man kalder "first world problems"...)

Derudover var jeg også nervøs over at skulle bo sammen med andre - jeg har aldrig haft en roomie før, andet end i én måned i sommers inden jeg skulle herover.

Heldigvis endte jeg i hvad de fleste mener er det bedste dorm på skolen, hvor man har eget værelse og kun deler bad med én anden person :-) 

Og så er der jo også den fordel at jeg har kunnet indrette og dekorere mit værelse fuldstændig som jeg har lyst til - og jeg er nu rigtig glad for resultatet og med billederne på plads føles det jo som om de alle er lidt tættere på :-)

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Here in the midst of my cavalcade of holiday experiences I now bring a brand new post:

I have finally finished my last project in my dorm room - which was hanging pictures of friends and family. 

I actually think I have managed quite well in turning a boring and sad dorm room into something homey, comfy and cozy.

At American universities dorm living is common, and obligatory for freshmen at many colleges. We don't have anything similar to that in Denmark!

When you enter the university you are responsible for finding a place to live, and you can of course decide for yourself as well. 

We do have something that we call dorms. They were built to provide cheap housing for students where you have a single room and share kitchen and bathroom with the rest of the hall, but they were not obligatory to live in. 

The dorms that are built today are typically slightly bigger and more expensive than earlier and now have own bathroom and kitchen, which makes them more like tiny studio apartments.

As a GRSP student it is obligatory to stay in a dorm, and I remember that it was one of my biggest fears before coming over here since many dorms in the US have shared bathrooms with many people, and in some cases you even share your bedroom with another student - meaning sleeping with an arm's length to a stranger... (I guess it's a good example of what's called "first world problems"...)

I was also nervous about having to live with someone - I have never had a roomie before except for one single month before coming over here.

Luckily I ended up in what is considered to be one of the best dorms on campus where you have your own room and only share your bathroom with one other person :-)

And another advantage is getting to decorate it anyway I wanted - and I am pretty satisfied with the result, and with the pictures in place it feels like everyone is just a little bit closer than before :-)