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Advice for new
international students - from one who has been there, done
it
by Tugce Soysalturk, staff writer
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When we make one of the biggest decisions in our lives, to
leave our hometown to pursue our college education, we are
almost ready for a new beginning. It is not only about adapting
to a new culture, new life-style, new people and places, but
it is also about facing all the responsibilities of life-not
just our education-and dealing with them alone and without
help from others.
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| When we were first accepted at HPU, and we purchased
our plane ticket to Hawai‘i, people envied us. They said
they would die to be in our place. They were sure that we would
do little studying on a tropical island. We would basically be
vacationing for four years, collecting free fruit from the trees,
having the most fun in the world, and coming home for summer
vacation with a great, dark tan. |
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| None of these things happened to me, but one great
thing did—finally I grew up. |
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| Life in Hawai‘i didn’t start so easily
for me. When I arrived at Honolulu Airport-after a 38-hour-flight-I
was exhausted and nearly broke. My luggage was missing, and there
was no one to pick me up. My feeling of extreme loneliness came
from being literally isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. |
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| The lost luggage turned out to be good luck. TheBus
doesn’t allow passengers to carry luggage, so I could take
advantage of the cheap transportation to look for the cheapest
hotel in town. Someone said the Ala Moana Hotel was cheap. Right!
Maybe for Bill Gates. Fortunately, right across the street was
the YMCA, which is about $25 a night. Even this was expensive
for me, especially compared to long-term rent, and it wasn’t
that comfortable either. |
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| So the next day, my first goal was to find a place
with a roommate, and I started looking at my options. As students
do, I checked the listings at the HPU Housing Office. There were
many different choices. Depending on one’s budget, one
could share a room, a studio, a one- or two-bedroom apartment,
or a home. Or get any one of these alone, without roommates,
or get multiple roommates. If you want more control, you can
check out the Honolulu Advertiser’s Sunday’s classifieds,
rent the place first, and then pick your own roommate. Put an
ad on the student board or give the listing to the Housing Office,
or go on-line to campus.hpu.edu and place a free e-ad. Or do
all three. However, remember that if you rent the place first,
you have to pay both the full deposit and the first month’s
rent, and sometimes the last month’s rent too. |
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| When looking for a roommate, either as landlord
or tenant, you should be as picky as if you were choosing a spouse.
Find someone who is dependable, and who complements your lifestyle.
Discuss expectations and responsibilities and set up some informal
rules to avoid future argument. Otherwise, neither you nor your
roommate will feel comfortable sharing a place. Do this even
if you are moving in with your best friend; living together and
sharing all the responsibilities is not like having a coffee
on the Mall or going to see a movie. |
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| At the time, in my situation, I didn’t really
care if I would get along with my roommate, or if I would have
a private room, or an ocean view from my room, or a pool and
barbecue, or if utilities were included in the rent. I just wanted
to rent something before I wasted more money on hotels, so that’s
what I did. However, these needs, which seemed too luxurious
at the time, started to be important later on when I realized
that I would like some privacy, and that if I hadn’t rushed
I could be living in a better place for the same price. However,
I couldn’t move out since, like almost every place, mine
required a six-months-lease. |
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| So if you are new- to Honolulu, I recommend you
stay in a hotel for a couple of more days and find a place and
roommates you like, because you will be living with them for
the next six months, and your comfort and happiness is more important
than the $50 you will spend in the YMCA for a couple of more
days. |
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| After moving into your new place, eventually you
will want to fill up your fridge. The grocery store prices here
might shock you at first, especially if you choose to live in
Waikiki andyou want to stick to your mother’s cooking.
First, you should find one of the big grocery stores near you
and get the discount card from that store. Then learn to shop
not for what you would like to eat, but for what is on sale.
Don’t refuse to try American-style food. For example, if
your traditional breakfast is cheese, tomatoes, and bread, which
will cost more than $5 here, you can save money by trying some
of the endless variety of American cereals. They are all nutritious,
tasty, and cheaper. |
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| So, all you new international students, do not get depressed
because nobody put a nice-smelling lei on your neck the day you
arrived; and do not be shocked when you go grocery shopping for
the first time, and you realize there is not a single vegetable
or fruit less than $3 a pound. Remember, there are always discounts,
always ways to survive, and all these great people you will meet,
from all around the world, who will become your friends, and
will give you those nice leis on your birthday. |
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| Not only will you meet many new interesting people from all
around the world, you will come to feel very comfortable living
here in this culturally diverse place, and you will stop feeling
homesick. This happens to all of us sooner or later, depending
on how adjustable we are to a new culture and life-style. As
long as you are easygoing, responsible, and open-minded, you
will have the best time of your life, an exceptional experience
in this tropical paradise about which the rest of the world can
only dream. |
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