How to crack living in an all-girls uni flat
What’s it like to live in an all-girls flat, you ask?
Seven girls in a tiny student accommodation is as fun and crazy as you’d imagine. So, if you’re ever in the situation of having to move out and finding flatmates, here’s what you can expect if your new house-sharing mates are all young, lively women
Let’s get this one out the way first thing: yes, your periods will synch up. Happy now?! Good, let’s move on
Be prepared for the inevitability that your wardrobe won’t be your wardrobe anymore
It’ll only take a couple of weeks for you to start “occasionally borrowing” clothes from your roommate and for them to start stealing clothes, because, yes, that’s what it will become: stealing. You will soon say goodbye to that beloved hippie crop top of yours. And that cute little black dress? Its presence won’t grace your cupboard anymore. But fret not, you’ll definitely see it in pictures of last night’s glam party posted on Facebook the next day, only it’ll be on her body and on her Facebook.
You’ll eventually get used to the downfalls of not finding that one pair of jeans that you were sure you carefully folded and put in the drawer just the other day, and instead come to appreciate the benefits of having one big communal wardrobe so to speak.
Fridge investigations
I can assure you that like any self-respecting first-year student you will start to consider and classify alcohol as a type of food sooner or later… Hey, alcohol might not have any nutritional value but it’s got calories so my point is perfectly valid! And yes, indeed, that is a pot of Lush face mask right next to a ketchup bottle in the fridge!
We have separation anxiety with letting go of temporal celebrations
Clearly, the girls in my flat and I are very fond of celebrations: judging from the snowflake decorations still firmly attached to our kitchen cabinets, apparently, we’re still celebrating Christmas even though it’s March…
Nights out are a whole other ball game
Since we’ve mentioned nights out: not only will you find hair pins everywhere and the smell of hairspray will saturate the entire flat, leaving you almost choking and gasping for any last remaining molecule of oxygen, but also rest assured that on a Friday night your shared kitchen will not doubt become London’s best-stocked bar. As Cyndi Lauper’s song goes: oh girls just wanna have fun! And if someone from the Residence Team was to ever come in for an inspection the next morning, they certainly would have trouble locating both the table and the counter, they’d only see a sea of half-finished bottles of spirits, beer and cheap wine.
We take decorations seriously
But, in all seriousness, you will have nice flat dinners, both at home or at Pizza Express, and cake at birthday parties which are always accompanied by a wonky (with missing letters… but others are sometimes multilingual!) hand-drawn sign on the birthday girl’s ugly-brown door to celebrate.
We’re not afraid of expressing how we feel
Lastly, given the dreadful state our global politics is currently in, a random anti-Trump protest sign brought back home from the Women’s March as a testament to our incessant fight for our rights makes an unavoidable appearance in our kitchen.
So shout-out to my amazing flatmates because I have been very lucky to have found them, I’ve created what are sure to be long-lasting friendships and had tonnes of fun in the meanwhile, living with other six wonderful girls is a truly amazing experience: 10 out of 10 would recommend!