I have always regretted missing the chance to live in the residence while I was in Cal State Long Beach (CSULB). The residence seems too small for the student population, which includes 1,341 international students! Later a friend told me that I would actually have needed to apply as early as late April for the fall semester…Gosh!

Nevertheless, I visited the International House once to see a friend. This is the place for international students, a two-story building with probably no more than 40 rooms. Located in the southwestern corner of the campus, it is surrounded by trees, flowers and grass.

There are sofas, study rooms and a TV set on the ground floor, a good place for socializing.

My friend has been living there for quite a while. Walking into her room, a double room, I sensed the smell of home: the floor covered with carpet, posters and photos on the wall, toy animals at her bedside, books here and there, and clothes in the half-closed wardrobe…