There's a lot of things about going away to school in a foreign country that can make a student anxious; finding one's way around a new town, communicating in a language that isn't one's native tongue, making new friends and learning from new teachers and being so very far away from everything that's comfortable and familiar.
None of this worried me, as I prepared for my year on exchange at Kansai Gaidai; I'm familiar with Japan from previous visits, and have never been the type of person to worry about communication - where there's a will, there's usually a way - and where there isn't a way, there's usually someone who speaks at least a few words of English to help me out. I didn't worry about making new friends - in fact, I found the prospect exciting. I've traveled all my life, and can handle being far away from my hometown and my family.
No, there was only one thing that worried me - and that was meeting my roommate.
I'm from New York, where I grew up as an only child in a fairly large house; since I was born, I've always had my very own room, and all the privacy that one could ask for. I am, by nature, a solitary creature - I enjoy my 'alone time', and I simply couldn't imagine myself sharing a room with anyone else, much less a complete stranger. On my application, I requested a single room, then worried for days when I was told that it wasn't an option. Who would this stranger be? What would she be like? Would I hate her taste in music?
Would she snore at night? Be messy? Monopolize our phone? Go to bed too early?
Wake up too early? Go through my personal possessions? There were a thousand things about the prospect of having a roommate that I absolutely hated.
When I arrived at Seminar House 3, straight from a 13-hour plane ride, the last thing that I wanted to do was make friends with someone new. I dreaded an awkward first meeting - dreaded being trapped in my own room with someone who made me feel uncomfortable with their very presence. Filled with trepidation, I opened the door of my dorm room.
I was greeted with an open smile and a friendly introduction by an American girl with long blond hair and a great wardrobe. It took us approximately thirty seconds to become friends. As it turns out, she was dreading meeting me as much as I was dreading meeting her - we're both only children and have never shared our personal space with anyone else. We're both very outgoing, and our worst fear was being stuck in a room with someone shy and uncommunicative.
In the past two months, I have become great friends with not only my roommate, but all of my suite mates; we make pancakes together every Saturday morning, toast marshmallows on chopsticks in our toaster oven, and settle down on the couch every night at 7pm to watch Dawson's Creek together. We laugh about little things, and work together to keep things running smoothly in our house.
Having a roommate was the experience that I dreaded the most here at Kansai Gaidai, but it's turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life!