a little bit about my flat

My living arrangements at QMUL are much different that the living arrangements I am used to at UR.  Here, students live in "flats," which are kind of a hybrid between the apartments and a dorm.  In my flat, I live with eight other people, so there are nine single rooms arranged in a hallway style with a shared kitchen.  A key is required to get into the flat, so the hallway and the kitchen are private areas.  Each room is smaller than a typical room in Richmond, but is a single.  Each room also has a tiny private bathroom.  For a size comparison, I would say that the size of the bathroom with the shower, toilet, and sink is a little bit smaller than just the shower area in a typical UFA bathroom.  In fact, the shower is separated from the rest of the bathroom by just a tiny curtain.  There is no tub or ledge or anything; the shower just drains on the floor right next to the sink.  Although it's different than I am used to, it is nice to have my own room and my own bathroom for a change.  It never feels lonely without a roommate, because there is always someone else in the flat to visit if I just want to say hi. 

My room before I was settled in

My tiny bathroom

The flat also contains a shared kitchen.  The kitchen has a balcony, but there is no handle on the door so that we can't actually go out to it.  The big kitchen window overlooks an area known as Canary Wharf, and is a pretty view when it is lit up at night.  In the kitchen, there is a large freezer, but no refrigerator.  We each have a tiny personal refrigerator supplied to us in our rooms.  The kitchen has two stoves and two ovens, which is convenient with so many people living in the flat and potentially trying to cook at the same time.  There is also a toaster, a microwave, a tea kettle, and two sinks.  The counter space is also much bigger than I am used to in an apartment kitchen at Richmond. 

A few views of my kitchen

My flatmates are all great, and I think that we are all going to get along very well this semester.  We have already gone out together as a flat and we have planned weekly "flat family dinners."  My flatmates include three British "freshers" named Hannah, Sam, and Dma (short for Dmitri); two Australian exchange students named James and Katherine; a Turkish "fresher" named Selin, another international fresher named Steven, who I have not yet met, and another American exchange student named Jenny.  Our flat has also bonded with the flat below us (which is where my friend Lauren who I met on the bus lives). 

Some of my flatmates and me at the Tower Bridge

Although my closet has hardly any shoes in it and and my clothes are stored in desk drawers (because there is no dresser), this flat is already feeling like my home away from home.