My Housing Experience
In the early morning of 3rd February, I left my home and was preparing myself for one of the most challenging task ahead of me, which is to travel far away from my home country to study and work for Walt Disney World. It was my very first time travelling overseas to study and work. My parents and relatives were all worried about me. Even I myself was a bit afraid and did not know how I would be able to survive aboard in a foreign land.
Together along with eleven other students from Singapore Polytechnic, we set off to one of our most exciting journey. I still recalled, everybody in the airport was sad as we all have to leave our family for seven months, and it was also during the festive season of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Many people cried during the emotional farewell. I said my last good bye and was ready to board the plane.
It was a long journey; we have to transit at Tokyo Narita and Washington DC before arriving at Orlando International Aiport at around 11pm. All of us were very tired and suffered jet lag as it was about 26-27 hours flight and was seriously in need of a good rest.
Upon Arriving at Vista Way, I was assigned to room 3806 along with another Singaporean friend. We were expecting the room to be empty, but to our surprise, there were already four guys in the rooms. They invited us with a warm welcome and introduced themselves. They also offered to help us carry in our heavy luggage. Once we entered into the room their introduced themselves and we found out that three of our roommates are from Peru and the other one is from Switzerland. Although they where very friendly, I still felt a little uneasy and uncomfortable as it was my first time interacting with students from other countries. Furthermore, I will have to share the apartment with them for seven months.
I was unable to room with my Singaporean friend because the Peruvian and Swiss each occupied a room, leaving both of us with no choice but to share the room with either one of them. My roommate is from Peru and his name is Gonzalo. He is a quiet person and always carries a serious look on his face. We had problem communicating during the first few days even though both of us were able to speak English. It might be because I tend to speak too fast and he is unable to catch my words. It was always difficult to find a common topic to start a conversation with him, but as the days goes by, we started greeting each other and talking about our work schedule and stuffs.
After staying in the apartment for a few days, I felt that the apartment was a little too small to accommodate six people. Each apartment has only two toilets. Especially, in the morning when all of us were rushing to use the toilets, things started to be chaotic and messy. Worst of all the apartment has no television set, making all of us very bored during our off days.
To end it off, I am glad and happy to say that my first week in Florida went smoothly, I have settled down in my apartment as well as my workplace training. Being here, it allowed me to learn many new things. I have learnt how to be independent by cooking my own meals, washing and ironing my own clothes. I have also picked up valuable skills during my training in Disney University. Last but not least, I have managed to accommodate well with my fellow roommates, sharing our daily experiences and exchanges each other’s cultures, which makes my housing experience truly memorable.
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