I lived in a dorm-like building called Am Steingarten. I had my own room, but shared a kitchen and bathroom with 8 other people. My other floor mates were from Germany, Poland, Greece, Spain, and France. While this was cool to be living so closely with different cultures, it also was challenging for communication. I could hardly use my kitchen because it was so filthy and the bathroom was often dirty as well. I was intimidated to speak to some of my neighbors about it because of the language barrier. I eventually got over my fear, and was relieved that they all spoke English. However, the cultural differences still remained. They didn’t find it necessary to clean up after themselves and thought it was acceptable to smoke and leave cigarette butts in the kitchen. Also, quiet hours were different as well. At UMASS, for the most part, my experience in the dorms was quite civil. We had quiet hours and most people respected that. However, the students from Spain tended to be very loud very late at night. When I asked about why this was, they explained that it is just their culture. Very late night parties is the norm. My German neighbors were very neat, but very reserved. A German boy lived next to me, however, never spoke more than a “Hi” to me. I swear for the first 3 months I lived there he would run away anytime we were approaching or leaving the building at the same time. My German neighbors were very quiet and liked to keep their doors closed, whereas I kept my door open whenever I was home. I think that the other exchange students were intrigued by this and I noticed that they would often poke their head in my room to say hello when they walked by. I felt very fortunate that English was my native language since even though we were in Germany, everyone spoke English as a default. Anytime I held a door open or waved, I always got a “thank you” or “hello” instead of a phrase in German. I was sometimes envious of my friends who lived in suite style dorms. I felt as though they had more interaction with their neighbors and were able to build closer friendships with these international students that weren’t here for just one semester.
