Room 409 in Block 4 of the new dormitory complex at United International College is a cozy room sleeping two; the building is so new that it is not even finished yet. nbsp;It is substantially finished, meaning it will not fall over, and the fundamental pieces of its construction are complete. nbsp;The windows shut, the doors lock, and all the furniture is installed. nbsp;The walls are scuffed, however, because a paiting crew has not been around to paint them, and the tile floor in the hallway needs to be finished. nbsp;The floor in room 409 is finished, but appears as if the college finished construction the moment before moving in the students. nbsp; nbsp;The furniture is assembled, but the drawers in the desk, armoire, and under the bed still have woodchips and other construction related debris lying on the bottom. nbsp;The floor in the room needs a good sweeping as construction worker footprints can still be seen on the tile, and large piles of concrete dust and tile grout sit on either side of the armoire. nbsp;In short, the building may not look sharp, but it is livable.

The room is small and crowded, and with three beds and desks. nbsp;The other new buildings are still under construction so 409 has an excess of furniture because some of the rooms need to house three instead of the customary two. nbsp;Two of the beds are bunked and sit opposite the window and balcony door. nbsp;The two desks perpendicular to the bunked beds are separated only by a water cooler, the kind that might be found in an office, which serves up the only drinkable water in the room. nbsp;Against the window is another desk and bed that looks into the adjoining room, 411. nbsp;The concept of adjoining rooms doesn't work very well as the excessive furniture blocks any and all movement between the two rooms. nbsp;There is no open flow of traffic betweent the two rooms.411 is a mirrored image of room 409 and all of the furniture is made from the same maple-looking particle board, except the bed, which is really not much more than a sheet of plywood made up with blankets and a mattress pad bolted atop a cabinet like fixture with three drawers and two magnetic doors. nbsp;Another desk sits outside on the balcony, apparently 411 decided to put their extra desk out there, and it will make for a great place to do homework or talk on skype while the rest of the room is asleep.

The bathroom is the first thing seen when entering the room. nbsp;A frosted glass door separates the bathroom from the rest of the room, and a metallic latch on the inside keeps it closed. nbsp;Contents of the bathroom include a lockerroom-style shower stall, but with a better showerhead, separated from the toilet and sink by a sheet of the same frosted glass as the door. nbsp;No curtain, no door, only a sheet of glass just long enough to keep the shower water from spraying all over the sink and toilet. nbsp;The sink is a plain looking stainless steel basin with a simple faucet. nbsp;It seems pretty standard and reasonable for a dormitory, but when turned on it yields only a slow trickle of water, if anything at all. nbsp;The floor in the bathroom is even dirtier than that of the actual room. nbsp;Made from blue tile, there is a think layer of sandy soot: a mixture of grout, concrete and a myriad of other mystery dusts, covering the entire surface.

A large basin sits attached to the wall above the showerhead with highly insulated hoses jutting out from the wall into it. nbsp;On the front face of the basin there is an oblong shaped object that looks something like a gas gague and a dial on the side with one end marked with a snowflake and the other marked 75deg;. nbsp;It is turned all the way to the 75deg; mark. nbsp;Apparently this is where hot water comes from. nbsp;Part of the things still apparently on the list to complete in the building process is getting the water supply working properly. nbsp;Until Saturday the shower barely squeezed out any water at all, and on Frida...