First things first, I am very glad that I clicked yes to having an international roommate, but there are a few things I wish I knew when I was sitting in my mom’s room going through the residence life application. This past week of having a Korean roommate has been the most interesting part of my life so far. I have enjoyed it so much that I want to share the things that I have learned in the past week about international students.
1. What countries do people come from to go to college in the U.S.?
The first thing I wanted to know was what country my first college roommate would come from. Could she be from Korea, Thailand, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Argentina, or even somewhere in Africa? I didn't know and that kind of scared as I was waiting for the email of who my roommate would be. Once I got to Northern I learned that she could have come from anywhere. There are girls and guys here from Korea, Thailand, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Argentina, and some other countries that I don't know about
2. What exactly are the international students like?
Even though they come from a different country they really are not that much different than us. They love food. They really do my floor always smells like delicious food because there is always someone eating or cooking food in the lounge. They also love their phones. Like us Americans, you rarely see one of them without their phone. Another reason they are like us is because they can be loud, they can be quiet, they can be shy or outgoing. The bottom line is their human just like us.
3. How much English will they know?
The answer is you never really know until you meet them. During the summer I had the opportunity to talk to my roommate through email before I met her. The English were not the best through those conversations that were mainly due to the fact that translation from English to Korean and back again was not perfect itself. Once she did get here I learned two things through our language induced barrier; have patience and learn keywords for places. I learned that talking in shorter more to the point sentences helped a lot for both of you
4. How do I prepare for an international roommate?
In reality, you can't. Mostly because you don't really know until you get that very important, very nerve racking for incoming freshman, email. Even after I learned that my roommate was from South Korea I didn't even know what to do. How will it seem to her to have an American roommate? Will she even like me? Will we get along? All of these questions were answered within the first few days of meeting her.
5. Do I really want an international student for my roommate?
This was a question I did not ask myself until a few weeks after I sent in my resident life application. However, when I finally did ask that question the next day I found out that I will indeed be getting an international student as my roommate. This question I learned is really only one you ask yourself if you are self-doubting yourself. The next or even for the first time you go through that application for your future roommate no matter what college you go to think it through if you really want an international student as a roommate.
Having a Korean roommate has been and hopefully will continue to be the best choice that I made while starting my journey as a northern wolf. I hope that if you do choose to get an international roommate that you never doubt yourself and that you get the best roommate that you could possibly get. I know that I personally did just through the last week of spending time with my roommate.
