I'm an exchange student from Germany and I current...

I'm an exchange student from Germany and I currently live at the 21st street Co-Op. I've been living there for half a year and I will stay for one more semester, before I have to go back to Germany. I love my Co-Op! But that love took a few weeks to develop ;) Let me tell you about my experience: When I first arrived at the Co-Op in August, it was in the state of "Interim" - basically a transition time in between the spring and fall semester and labor (work that every member of the Co-op does while living there, a big part of what keeps everything going) was only scarcely being done. I had been warned before coming that this truly was the worst time, and to expect anything, and I thought I did. But to be honest, when I first arrived there, I was in shock! It's hard to describe the state of the Co-Op during that time, let's just say, there was a lot of dirt in various places, a lot of things standing and lying around, rooms and bathrooms that had not properly been cleaned for a while. I personally just had not seen anything like that before and I was baffled by the carelessness that seemed to have caused a lot of it.
The next day, I moved into another room, in another suite and there, I first got to experience what it means to have suite mates (you'll share your suite with 4 to 9 other people), who I really liked. I slowly started to feel a little at home at the Co-Op. I started talking and getting to know the others that lived there during that period, and pretty much every conversation I had, was an uplifting one. After about a week, I ended up moving into the renovated building, which was completely clean at that time, and by that time, I had decided to stay, to try it out - at least for a semester. Now that this semester is coming to a close, I can tell you that I have not regretted my decision! 21st Street has become my home and all of its members/ residents have become somewhat of a family to me. It is just a special kind of closeness that you develop with everybody that is part of this special place, of your community. And we are 100 people at 21st street!
Now, there definitely still are things that annoy me, don't get me wrong. Like when doors get slammed at 3 am, when people just won't bring their dishes back to the kitchen, when they dump their food into the sinks, or just don't clean up after themselves... And that definitely is something that you have to be somewhat comfortable with, if you want to live at 21st street. Like a friend said: "21st streeters are more concerned with community than with cleanliness." But I can tell you - what you get in return, is absolutely special! You will make experiences at 21st street that you will never ever make anywhere else! You will get to know people from literally all over the world. You will meet people whose life experiences have been so different from yours that you can't even imagine it before you've heard their stories! You'll learn and you'll experience, you'll be part of craziness and seriousness, a lot of childishness, and messiness sometimes. There will probably be a few people that you won't be too close with or that you might disagree with but you will have so many people who will want to hang out with you, who will take you places, who will help you out with a drive, a talk, who will carry your big mattress across the Co-Op and who'll give you a massage, and a big hug when you need it. There will be parties and events (my favorite so far definitely was baby-oil wrestling!), clubs, and excursions that you will experience with your fellow Co-Opers. You will have the chance to be creative and to inspire change, to start your own projects. If you put enough effort, energy and excitement into something, you'll definitely be able to get something going!
And if all of that sounds just a little too crazy, too messy for you, I can only encourage you to look up the other Co-Ops! I'm sure you'll find the one that matches your personality and your idea of living together with others!
I'm definitely glad I stayed and I'm looking forward to next semester!