The first year of college or university is hard enough, especially when you're traveling miles from home to study abroad in a foreign country, let alone having to deal with roommate conflicts. However, such conflicts are inevitable. That being said, conflict doesn't necessarily mean a terrible thing because ultimately you will grow and I speak from my own experience. Indeed, by managing conflicts between roommates, you will learn the skills and knowledge necessary to handle such problems in the future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay My story begins when I have an Indonesian roommate. Even though I am Malaysian of Chinese descent, we speak similar languages ​​and there are some similarities when it comes to our culture (between Malaysian and Indonesian culture). Because of this, I thought we could live together peacefully without any conflict, but I guess I was wrong. I still consider myself a self-disciplined person. After cooking and finishing my meal, I have a habit of cleaning the cookware and cooking utensils that I have used. However, my roommate tends to leave his plates and things in the basin after finishing his meal and sometimes not even wash them after a few days. At first, when I saw dirty, greasy silverware used by my roommate, I would help him wash it. However, he seemed to take this for granted and didn't seem to understand the hint. Sometimes he even left food scraps and cockroaches appeared. Even worse, the sink would be filled with giant bowls full of soggy leftovers that smell so bad, especially in the summer. However, I decided to leave it there and therefore, whenever I see unwashed and greasy silverware or dishes, I would just leave them in the basin. Sometimes he used my cup too because his cup was in the basin. In fact, even though I secretly hate him because he doesn't do the dishes and used my cup and just left it in the basin without washing it, I've become sort of desensitized to such a scene because I had this stereotype in the first place that Indonesians lack cleanliness consciousness. I thought I would put up with it and chose not to confront him about it. Until one day it was around 9 o'clock in the evening when I was studying in my room. My roommate knocked on my door and came inside. Out of the blue, he confronted me and asked why I didn't help him with the dishes for the past week. At that moment I felt it was absurdly ridiculous. I felt that just because I had helped him with the dishes at first didn't mean I had an obligation to do the dishes and I told him what I thought. I also told him that we Malaysians usually have our own cup and don't share our cup with other people. The next thing I know, his response made me angry. That's what he said. “Currently we live together so you have to be aware of your surroundings, even if it's my dishes you have to wash them if you see them because washing dishes is a team effort. Additionally, it is common for Indonesians to share our cups and dishes. In Indonesia, no one will want to be your roommate if you are so calculating and take care of such trivial things. Also, it is common for us Indonesians not to wash our dishes and leave them in the sink until the sink is full. » Hearing his explanation, II remained stunned. I was so angry but at the same time, I didn't want our conflict to be destructive. An awkward silence ensues. This got me thinking. In Malaysia, we are taught to be self-disciplined and doing our own dishes is actually a matter of common sense. Similar to the value that Japanese people have been instilled since they were young, which generally translates to "Don't disturb or cause trouble to the people around you." I also care about this value and as we are now studying in Japan, I expected him to be aware of this. However, this was not the case. I told him that we Malaysians tend to be more considerate of others and don't like to cause them trouble. Also, we Malaysians think that sharing our cups with the other person is like sharing a toothbrush, so it is for hygiene reasons that we think it is not appropriate. At that point I was actually quite worried if he would be provoked because it was clearly a conflict of values ​​because the way I told him was actually quite harsh and I was slightly angry so the words coming from me could be unpleasant. I thought he would be offended but instead of getting angry, he apologized and said sorry. He then explained that in Indonesia it is common for someone to leave their used dishes in the sink and he does not consider this dirty or unsanitary. They are used to only washing dishes when the sink is full. Additionally, it is also common for another person under the same roof to wash another person's dishes if they see them filling the sink. So he took it for granted and expected me to do the same, but he didn't know that in Malaysian culture we are taught to do our own dishes and it is rude to let other people do our dishes. He apologized again then told me he would change his habits and be more conscious because he would no longer use my cup or leave dishes in the sink for more than a day. I also apologized because I hadn't told him about it beforehand, I ended up talking to him less and our friendship grew apart day by day because I was secretly angry. I also told him that I felt bad because, in my mind, I associated him with my stereotype that Indonesians are dirty. I also told him that in the future I would remind him if he forgot to do his dishes again. We came to a consensus that it was just a cultural difference and we both smiled and couldn't stop laughing for the next three minutes. Now our friendship has become stronger and we have finally built stronger bonds. After this incident, I did some soul searching. First of all, stereotype is the preconceived and simplistic notion of typical characteristics of a person or group. Speaking of why I had this stereotype that Indonesians are dirty, maybe it's because a few years ago I went to the Batam Islands in Indonesia with my family during vacation and I remembered that the streets were dirty and that many people were unkempt and looked unkempt. Also, as far as I remember, the toilets were stinky and dirty and such a sight left a bad impression on me and further shaped my stereotype towards Indonesians. However, I was wrong, because stereotypes ignore individual differences and stereotypes assume that certain culture-specific information applies to every member of that particular cultural group. I also realized that the concept of hygiene is also influenced by culture...