Our Dormitory

After arriving at Senshu University, we were given the opportunity to live in an international student house where we met many Japanese students, as well as students from other places. Life in the dormitory is very vivid, and it almost feels as if you are “home”. When you go out, you have to say いってきます (I’m leaving), and when you come back, you have to say ただいま (I’m back). On the contrary, if you see any of your housemates going out, you have to say いってらっしゃい (Have a good day) and when they come back, you have to say おかえり (Welcome back). Everyone seems to say it, and the exchange is called 挨拶. This establishes a good relationship between the students, residents, and the gate guards that work at the international student house.

Once you are in the three-storey high building, the first thing you would see is a shoe room. This is different than in Canada, and it seems to encourage a greater cleanliness of the dorm, as outside “dirt” is not tracked into the dorm. The sandals provided are mediocre, and people usually buy their own slippers for comfort. There are also bathroom slippers but it does not seem to matter in this international house as it does in other homes. As you go through the coded door, there is a big lounge, which includes a kitchen, and a big eating/studying area. In the kitchen, there are shared refrigerators where students have their own designated spots to put their groceries. There are many different towels to clean different things, such as designated table cloths, cutlery cloths, and cookware cloths. There are also cupboards for each student to their eating utensils, as well as dry foods. We are also assigned rotating cleaning duties for the public places (such as the kitchen and toilets), which lessens the dependence on janitors and encourages a communal responsibility to look after the dorm.

There is also an extensive trash sorting system to reduce waste. In Japan, trashes are collected during different days of the week. Trashes are sorted out into plastic, paper, bottle, and cartons. In Japanese, this is called ゴミ分別. Everything has to be cleaned and sorted thoroughly. Even the straws and drink cartons must be separated.

Women dormitories are located on the second floor, while the men’s are located on the first floor. As you enter the shared bedroom, cupboards can be seen at the two sides of the wall. After that, there are two single beds on each side of the room, with a desk facing the end of the bed, the desk connected to some storage compartments. Each bed has a curtain divider to ensure that roommates won’t disturb each other at night. Small towel racks are also given, to prevent people from hanging their towels at their cupboard, as moss can grow in the cupboards.

In the lowest floor of the international house, there are two shower rooms—one for women, and one for men. In this shower room, students need to put their slippers in the shoe cupboard in order to enter. There are private showers and public showers available in both genders’ shower rooms. Shared hairdryers are also provided. Also, there is a playroom on the same floor, and it is another place where residents can hang out with each other. There are board games, instruments, books/magazines, and a ping-pong table that are free to use, but are not able to be brought outside of the room.

Other necessities include laundry rooms, a roof to hang clothes, security boxes.

This dorm is relatively new and we are very lucky to stay in this dorm in all of its glory.

世子（ゼシ）

Xian-Meng and Sherry