1) Climbing 10 storeys' (some claimed) worth of stairs to get to my room -- courtesy of being assigned a room in the tallest block in the hall which sits upon the highest hill. I'm lucky I didn't get the highest floor.

2) Hanging clothes out to dry in the morning, going for lessons, and then groaning out loud when it starts to rain. Some rooms get sheltered clotheslines, but that also means they don't get the crisp freshness of sun-dried clothes. (Sun-dried makes them sound like fruits.)

3) Having classmates and friends live so close I can literally holler to get their attention.

4) Having to defrost (and excavate - I'm serious) the freezer component of my lousy fridge at the end of every semester. It kinda sucks that after some time, you can't put anything inside (or get anything out of) the freezer. Which means no more ice cream.

5) Having ice cream parties in our hall rooms. Or any party, for that matter. We're notorious (amongst ourselves) for hanging out at someone else's room till past midnight, just talking about random things or having what we call heart-to-heart talks (HTHT). In fact, some of my friends have made it a point to visit more rooms. They call it room-hopping. Many life lessons to be learnt, I've heard.

6) Rushing to the printing room 5 minutes before midnight, trying to print notes for the next day's lessons. The frustration is compounded when:

a) The printer runs out of paper
b) The printer spoils (and it's locked so you can't try to fix it yourself)
c) Someone's hogging the printer
d) The printer and computers shut down (after midnight) while you're printing something

Makes you wanna break something, I swear.

7) Hall dance. Is awesome.

8) Knocking on friends' doors and then running away. Multiple times. Yes we still do this.

9) Huge gathering of people to spring surprise birthday celebrations, usually near midnight. They can complain all they want but it's part of hall life and it keeps happening.

10) Talking about life and stuff deep into the night with the roomie.

11) Making silly comments and antics and having laughing fits in the room with the roomie.

12) Both roomie and I studying so quietly I sometimes turn around just to check if she's still there.

13) Being proud to claim which hall I am from when people ask. Despite its many shortcomings (especially now that the shuttle bus routes have changed - we've lost our advantage), this hall has been, and will continue to be, my home away from home.

Labels: author: ji inn, lists, school and schooling, themed entries