The 10th Floor
Travelling to a new country to study as an international student can be very exciting when you think about the opportunities ahead of you. You spend a lot of time checking pictures of the new city and university online and you can’t wait to see and experience the new country but the thought of leaving your friends of many years and family will always dampen your enthusiasm. It dawns on you as the day draws closer to your departure that you will have to be without them for some years. Friends and family are special gifts because you can always count on them. Most times, they are just a phone call away but in a new country, they are thousands of miles away and you start feeling sad.
The biggest question in your mind as you say good-bye to your family and friends is "Can I ever find new friends that will stick like a family?" This was the case of the students on the 10th Floor! The 10th floor in one of ITMO’s dormitory is made up of several international students from more than eleven (11) different countries and studying different courses. Living on the same floor turned us into one big unbreakable family.
Beyond the classroom, a lot of learning takes place on the 10th floor, one of them is cooking! This was the first and most important survival skill to pick up. Cooking your own meal in St. Petersburg has been discovered to be cheaper and more enjoyable that eating out for us pn the 10th floor. At first, the floor was always smelling burnt and we triggered the smoke alert a couple of times because we didn’t know how to cook yet. We would also spend hours trying to make simple dishes that should not take long because we didn’t know how best to make the dishes. Few months down the line we are sure that we’ll not only graduate with university degrees but cooking mastery certificates too (LOL).
Starting in September we developed the culture of buying cakes to celebrate birthday celebrants and those leaving for exchange programmes. This initiative has strengthened our bond as a family. It is planned as a surprise to the celebrant even though every other person in the block is aware, and then, we cut the cake together at midnight. This is a way of showing love and respect to each other.
Another interesting thing is you can rely on anyone on the 10th floor to have your back. We also have Russians that stay on the block and they are simply amazing. We rely on them to help us buy stuff like bathing soap; one of the international students had bought a bathing soap from the supermarket and was using it as body cream for over a weak because he translated it wrong (LOL). The natives are our heroes, they literally have our backs even on campus and would drop any other task just to help an international student in need of help.
Staying on the 10th floor has made us accept our cultural, religious and racial differences. The truth is family can come in various shapes and colours, the 10th floor is one, big, multicultural family made of students from all over the world. Together we help each person feel at home a thousand miles away from home.
