By Bhanavi Mathur
If you have read the first part of my Study Abroad series, well more specifically, studying in the UK, then you know how it’s no cup of tea (get it? *winks*). (Here’s my first part for newbies: Studying Abroad: What No One Tells You: My Story)
So well I figured why not go the extra mile and write one on housing, for you peeps.
KeepWalking
This one fine day my friend and I decided we needed to open local student bank accounts and ‘apparently’ the only HSBC was in the next town. So my friend, wanting to save some cash decided we should just walk there, even though the distance was about 15 km. So I agreed thinking it’ll be good exercise.
We walked for two hours, which my friend never realized by the way (Sorry Em :P). She started getting paranoid once we hit the motor road (highway). I was amused because she still insisted we should walk and not take a bus or call a cab. Eventually, she lost it and stopped walking.
So long story short, we got there and realized we’ll need bus back to our town and went to the High Street and guess what we saw? Yep, an HSBC branch. Right there. Just ten minutes away from halls.
#Justourluck
Speaking of halls, as we tend to call them, ours had four building and I was lucky to be allotted the flat in the building that had a brilliant view. Luckily, one of my best friends was from the UK as well and hence happily ranted to her hearts desire about what all things British.
Anyways, getting on to business. Here are some anecdotes and horrid memories just for you folks.
1. Have you heard of Murphy’s Law? If you haven’t, it basically says that anything that could go wrong will go wrong. I’d like to believe this is what my stay at halls was like. Just completely wrong.
As happy as my other two flatmates and I were with our views, our other three flatmates were absolutely wild and crazy. One of those three, let’s call her Satan, was the wildest.
The minute she stepped in the flat with her girlfriend in tow, she told us we’re going to hate her. The girl was the devil’s spawn sent for our personal torment if you ask me.
And guess what? Her room was opposite mine and I could hear all of their noises if you know what I mean. #ScarredForLife
2. So Satan’s girlfriend wasn’t actually allowed to stay at halls since she was a student elsewhere. And the warden got a whiff of that. But the girl didn’t give up.
Some days she’d hide her girlfriend in her suitcases under her bed while the wardens came to check on her or they’d wear disguises to get into the complex. So much so, they got banned from the local pub for their
So much so, they got banned from the local pub for their behaviour but still went back with their disguise on and made a mess of the place just to get revenge. I mean, seriously?! #TroubleInParadise
3. Our kitchen was a common one, which means these girls ALWAYS had their friends over for drinking. No matter what the time may be.
Some of them would trim and dye their hair right there and most of them would just be disrespectful, way too loud and using up all our groceries while Satan and her girlfriend decided to pee in both our sinks to ‘christen the place’.
Yeah, I stopped leaving my dishes in there. #DoingMyDishesPeeStyle
4. So Satan was absolutely crazy and decided that one of my flatmates had complained about her girlfriend living at our flat, and so she decided to make the poor girl’s life hell by piling mounds of garbage bags right outside her door. She eventually moved out.
Well, we soon realized that not all is nice and dandy in Satan and her girlfriend’s paradise and the latter happened to cheat on the former, which led to Satan being enraged, and stomping on her face in front of everyone in the building.
Which resulted in Satan being taken in by the police and eventually being expelled from Uni much to our joy while her girlfriend, wait ex- girlfriend was taken into the ER. She eventually sued Satan. So much drama, don’t you think? #BackStabbingB*itch
5. Now I for one was glad for some much-needed peace after this whole fiasco. But one thing that never let me rest (literally rest) in peace was the damn fire alarm.
Before I move on to the why, let me first tell you that my building was full of wild, party animals. So these people would never rest and almost every other day, someone was burning their toast at 3 am or someone left their toilet door open while showering at 4 am. This stuff happened too much.
And I absolutely hated the damn fire alarm because it was right outside my room and I freaked out every time it went off. I mean who likes to leave their nice and cozy room to go down in the cold just because some idiot burned their toast at 3 am!!
6. As I have mentioned earlier, I lived in the cray-cray building. So the boys who lived in the flat opposite mine (no cute ones, sadly) were the pranksters.
So one morning they decided to give a surprise to the rest of us. How? They decided it would be funny to tape chairs upside down on the ceiling right where the stairs end at the ground floor and at each level…
Let’s just say if you’re in a hurry and didn’t bother looking up; you’ll be in a world of pain.
7. Halls weren’t the tidiest of places, to be honest. Every morning while leaving for Uni we’d come across food on the floor, condoms, alcohol bottles and what not.
In the end, I’m glad to not have to go back to those horrid halls that shall forever haunt me in my dreams.
But one good thing that came out of the hell hole was the friends I made because eventually, we got each other through the disaster our accommodations were with our coffee breaks, Central London trips, weekly GoT nights with our favorite snacks and beer and the much-loved movie nights, make up sessions, hair dyeing sessions and occasionally study ones too.
So enough of ranting and chanting from my end, I guess it’s time you guys share your secret stories too :p ;)
Image Credits: Google Images
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