St Gabriel's Hall is gorgeous. It's wonderfully old and small and adorable. I can't believe I get to live in a building that looks like this for the next year, at least.
We arrived one day earlier than the residence contract starts so there wasn't much going on. I didn't mind so much because that meant I could get to know the hall on my own before being overwhelmed with waves of unfamiliar faces and the chaos of new names to attach to said faces. My dad and I lugged my giant suitcases into reception, which is a small warm room furnished with unbelievably comfortable brown leather couches and a fish tank. One of the girls from the Hall committee was there, probably to help out the earlier arrivals like myself. So I gave her my contract and one of the tutors came out to give me my keys and all that good stuff. I got room MB (Main Building) 1, which the girl exclaimed, was in the basement. The basement?
Yeah, the basement. If you look in the next picture, on the bottom-most row of windows, the one right behind the car is my window. Yeah. I have the most glorious view of feet and a parking lot. And I have to look UP to see that. It's only slightly disappointing. Plus I get to hear all the drunk kids stumbling home at 3am. And that's always nice.
As for my actual room, it's itty bitty. And I don't mind that at all, it just feels sort of cramped and sad. I'll get over it soon enough, put some pictures on the wall, a houseplant or two. The ceilings are really high and while that is often desired in fancy homes back in LA, here it makes me feel like I'm at the very bottom of something, like a little box. Or dungeon. My window adds to that as it's very high up and I have to stand on my bed to open or close it. And it has bars on it. Their thin iron selves make me feel safe, like all the bad things in the world waiting for me directly outside my window cannot reach me. Ha.
See above? That's my bed, peach marble comforter. Delightful, isn't it? And you can't even see the bottom of the window. The whole room consists of a bed, a small dresser (which you can see by the bed), a desk, a deskchair, a random other chair, a wardrobe, a bookshelf that is bolted to the wall, and a washbasin (!!!!!). Since then, my dad has added a giant dresser that he thought I needed? I only wanted a small shelf. Ah, well. And a desk hutch, which is really lovely and covers up some of the empty wall space. And now that my suitcases are gone and/or put away, there's more floor space which makes the room feel bigger. So while at first, my room was huge disappointment (the fact that it's in the basement is still rather unfortunate), the more I settle in, the better it gets and the more I like it. Plus, down here in the basement, we've got the biggest kitchen and the best showers. And all my closest friends are on the basement too. I don't know if we all became friends because we are on the basement but it's nice that they're here, either way. My parents both want me to try and move up to a different floor but I think I'll stick it out. I'll survive :)
See above? That's my bed, peach marble comforter. Delightful, isn't it? And you can't even see the bottom of the window. The whole room consists of a bed, a small dresser (which you can see by the bed), a desk, a deskchair, a random other chair, a wardrobe, a bookshelf that is bolted to the wall, and a washbasin (!!!!!). Since then, my dad has added a giant dresser that he thought I needed? I only wanted a small shelf. Ah, well. And a desk hutch, which is really lovely and covers up some of the empty wall space. And now that my suitcases are gone and/or put away, there's more floor space which makes the room feel bigger. So while at first, my room was huge disappointment (the fact that it's in the basement is still rather unfortunate), the more I settle in, the better it gets and the more I like it. Plus, down here in the basement, we've got the biggest kitchen and the best showers. And all my closest friends are on the basement too. I don't know if we all became friends because we are on the basement but it's nice that they're here, either way. My parents both want me to try and move up to a different floor but I think I'll stick it out. I'll survive :)I got a tour of Gabs a bit later on. We have a nice JCR (junior common room) fit with a television with Sky TV (which is equivalent to cable as in we have a zillion channels from all over the world), a ping pong table, a pool table, several small seating areas, and a bar. Yeah. This hall was founded by some nuns in the 1920s (ha doesn't that story sound familiar?) as a girls boarding house and now, to hono(u)r their founders, the residents have named the BAR, THE BAR, after one of the nuns. So reverence is obviously way up there on the priority list. We have a dining hall but it doesn't have long benches which is saddening. I like dining hall benches. They make me feel like I'm at Hogwarts (I bet you saw that coming). We also have a small library, a gym, and a laundry room. I think the laundry is on every floor? Or not. No idea.
I also got to meet the warden, who is so sweet and awesome and I liked her immediately. She and my dad chatted a bit before my dad and I went out to see the city and explore.
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