So this semester I decided to live in a dorm that was closer to my classes and the center of campus. I picked a room and signed up for it. Because I haven't made that many close friends in college, I had no one to room with me, but I wasn't too worried, since I usually get along well with people. Plus, there is a profile online that people fill out, to describe their sleeping habits and study habits, and it seemed like the girl I was paired with was alright.
Then I started rooming with her. She's from China, but has been going to my university for a couple of years. However, her English is still not that good, so I can't really have conversations with her. In addition, her sleep schedule (I say schedule, but there really is none) is completely different from mine. In the beginning, she would sleep all day and then wake up and eat and be on her computer all night! I, on the other hand, like to go to bed around midnight, and wake up around 9:00 am, like a normal person who has morning classes. In addition to the noise she makes while she's awake, she also turns on her lamp, which is so bright, it seems like it's daylight.
Eventually, I bought a white noise machine and an eyemask and now I can get my sleep. But, this took me a while to get used to, and it cost me money! I shouldn't need to pay money to be able to sleep!!
I guess one good thing about her is that she doesn't complain about light or noise during the day (when I'm awake and she's asleep). If she did, I think I might have to yell at her.
Yet, it has been almost four months of living on the east coast of the US and she is no closer to getting on a normal sleeping schedule. In fact, she has started sleeping even more now. It's starting to be more than 12 hours of sleep!! Now, I know this is not healthy, but since I am not friends with her, and she might not understand me, I really don't want to talk to her about it. So, she's just going to keep sleeping and I'm going to keep resenting her for it.
Most of the resentment comes from not being able to have any privacy whatsoever. I am someone who needs complete privacy sometimes and her sleeping all day, not having classes (or not going to them), eating in the room for every meal, and talking extremely loudly in Chinese on the phone does not help.
There are some other things, too, which have particularly annoyed me:
`She is not a clean person, and while she does keep her mess on her side of the bed, it is not pleasant to look at. I'm not saying I'm the cleanest person, but at least I try. She doesn't seem to care.
`I bought her a birthday present recently (which cost me money that I shouldn't have spent), and she said thank you and stuffed it in a drawer. She hasn't looked at it since.
`She does not take showers once a day. To each there own, but I don't understand it.
`She spends so much money on food. She orders from Chinese restaurants at least once a week and has a friend drive her to a grocery store so she can buy bags and bags of groceries. Also, she continues to be skinny, which is not fair.
`Generally, she does not seem to think about her impact on me. At the beginning of the semester, I tried to be very quiet during the day so that she could sleep, but now, since I know she doesn't have the same concern, neither do I.
Hopefully, I will be studying abroad next semester and will never see her again!
