"Welcome everyone to the most prestigious and prominent university on the globe. All of you have come here because of your brilliant intelligence, undying ambitions, unique personalities, famed doings, and unsurpassed devotion to the Sceinces, Arts, Maths, Technologies and Cultural Awareness. Each and every one of you has had to overcome many obstacles, whether you realise or not. You have proved your strength and loyalty from hardships in the past, and we shall move on to a greater era, fostering peace between the broken, the divided, the weak, the desperate, the old and the young, and now we stretch out our hands to bring solace to those who need it most. We built this school on moral principles, seeing that it was needed to unite generations and people once more, to overcome fear, NLP, false accusations, and influence of outside forces. We need to understand each other, therefore not only creating lasting friendships, but eradicating the notion of fear from the unknown. We only really only fear the unknown, and to banish this unknown we must ask questions, study and delve into the unknown. That is the only way. Unite. Link. Communicate. And Dive." Mr. UK finished his speech, and the whole theatre went up in applause. "Thank you, dear students." He said over the din. Once the chatter and clapping died down, he stepped up again.
"Well, a more informal hello to you all. My name is Mr. UK, I am the headmaster of this institution. I am also the English professor, and I know I'll meet everyone personally, since it is a required class." He nodded to another teacher, who stood up and cleared her throat before standing up on the podium.
"Hello students, my name is Professor France, I teach drama and other arts courses here at IUUP, it's very nice to see you all here, at the start of autumn term. It's an exciting time in your lives, since this is one of the last stages of not having much responsibility, but free reign, at last, am I right?" Several murmurs and chuckles echoed across the room. Some people nodded and laughed as well. Professor France had a grey uniform blazer over a silly frilled white blouse with lace intricate patterns, and a black skirt. The part of her dress that stood out were her scarlet shoes, that see me to dim out the rest of her. She had a plump and kind face, and she wore a little black beret on her head. She looked confident but at the same time, funny.
"When I was your age," she continued. "I know it's hard to believe, I have children of my own now, right here too. But I was a young woman, before this wonderful school was founded, and I felt free, but also alone. I lived alone, ate alone, walked alone, and I was alone everywhere. I was scared to go up and talk to people, and when they came to me, I was scared that they wouldn't understand me, or I wouldn't understand them. I took me years to understand that you just need to try, never give up, and always have the want to move forward, into the future. I think the best that this school will offer you, students, is the chance to meet each other, and forge friendships in a safe haven without fear of lack of understanding. You hold it all in your hands my students." Several students stood up to give her a ovation. As she sat down with the other staff, one by one each introduced themselves and soon people were getting up and shuffling to the exits.
"If you still need a dorm key, come here!" Professor France announced through the microphone. Italy hugged me and said goodbye, only after we exchanged phone numbers and he checked if it was correct.
"See you soon, Germany!" He said, and him and South left. North stayed with me to retrieve a dorm key.
"Ah, Germany, Germany," Professor France said. "We've met before!"
"Mhmm," I nodded back.
"We don't have you separated by year, more by subjects," she explained, consulting her chart. "Ah, yes, here." She fished out a key with the number two hundred and one [201]. " So you are going to be in the Science Sector, that is where your dormitory is and where your school of science is located, since after you've finished prerequisites, you'll spend most of your time there. There are four dormitories per Sector, I marked your dormitory on your map." She pointed to the map, and then gave it to me. "I hope you don't mind being with an older student." She probably caught my falling face and then hastily added. "He's very nice and calm. His name is Finland, and he's a good person. I assure you that dorm switching can be done in two weeks, so if there is a real problem, we can fix it."
"Alright, thank you." I nodded, took my bag and map that Professor France gave me, and set off.
Th dormitories were at four ends of the campus. One at the Northern, Southern and Eastern and Western areas of the large and expansive campus. I consulted the map, and I saw a little black dot on the Eastern side, with my name on it. Professor France must've added a note for me already to show me where to go, along with a red dot to show where I was, the United Theatre, it was called. I set down to the east wing of the campus, and soon the old gothic style building became red and new, made from bricks instead of concrete, but maintaining the style that the school set. I noticed as well that the main school wide lobbies and meeting places were all at the Northern most, while the rest were scattered across the campus. Only the Cultural Majors had dormitories in the north, and below the main buildings. The buildings on each side were tall, and each looked exactly like the other, brick with stark white add-ons, designs, statues, gargoyles and dragons. I soon saw a very richly decorated iron gate that read "Birch College". It had little birch trees engraved on the gate. I looked at the map, and it read that each dormitory is named after a tree, and I belonged to Oak College, not Birch. I saw that it was more North and west of all the others, and I set out there, until I found it. The gate was less elaborate and dainty than Birch, but it had thick bars and it seemed that nothing could make it move. The placard on the top, as well as the coloured wood poster on the side of the building read Oak College. I fished out my key, which had a card on it as well to open the heavy gate. On the side of the building next to the poster was a number pad and a card slot, into which I inserted the card, and I heard a click in the gate.
"Yay," I half muttered, and with a grunt, I opened the iron gates into the dormitory. There was an archway into the quite large round cross between a patio and a garden, with windows facing into it. The handsomely carved oak wood doors at four ends of the round garden. I went to the west door and opened it, surprisingly it was unlocked. The stairway was darker than I was used to, with only a small lantern at the bottom with metal boxes I assumed to be used for mail. My room was on the third of the three floors they had. I trudged up the steps very noisily, but the carpeting on the third floor muffled my footsteps. There weren't a lot of rooms, and I could easily count them, as there were only four. I guessed that there were only twelve rooms in each college, therefore each Sector only had about ninety-six students. Not many, considering the sheer size of the university. I guess they do only take the best.
The door to the room was already opened, so I assumed that Finland was already there. My suspicion was correct, but my eyes fell on the room around first. The room was much better than it was described in the welcome package and how USSR described his stays in dormitories. The room was set up like a rectangle, there was a bunk bed in the nearest corner, a balcony overlooking the gardens, a large mahogany desk, and a large closet with a divider at the head of the bunks. I could see two adjacent rooms that I assumed were the restroom and kitchenette. The bottom bunk was already occupied by whom I assumed to be Finland. He looked very mellow and was listening to music out of a pair of wireless earphones. His dress was casual, and he wore a light blue windbreaker over a black tee shirt and a light brown leather belt on black jeans. He didn't look up at me, but I could tell he had a white face with a navy cross on it. I wondered if he was related to Denmark, when he looked up at me.
"Oh, hi," he said, his baritone voice was very quiet, and I almost asked him to repeat his words. I quickly shut the door behind me. His eyes were whorls of ice over a frozen sea, and he looked me over twice before standing up and shaking my hand. He was at least as tall as USSR, maybe taller, but he didn't look threatening, and unlike USSR, he slouched and was thin, compared to my broad chested and straight shouldered foster father.
"Hey, I'm your flatmate," I told him, as his icy hand wrung mine. "My name is Germany. I'm first year."
"Finland. Fourth year." He nodded at my words. Fourth year? That meant next year he would be out doing his Master's degree.
"Why aren't you with another fourth year?" I asked. "I mean, we have such a big difference in age and year. I thought you'd be second or third."
"Hmm, I volunteered, since there was an odd number of fourth years and first years, they needed two to be together."
"I guess that's us then," I smiled.
"Yes," Finland, I found, was a man of few but wise words. He wasn't a talker, but by the way he asserted himself, he looked like he was in control.
"Erm, I'm taking top then?" I asked.
"Yes." He didn't let me go on, so I put my suitcase and bags down.
"You can have the left side," Finland pointed to the closet when he saw me open my case. I nodded in thanks, and noticed that he already put his clothing in the right side of the closet, which was full of clothing in the shades of blues, blacks, whites, Greys and one light pink sweater that looked very new.
"Do you know when parcels are to arrive?" I asked him, since he basically was the oldest on the whole floor.
"Yes. They'll give them to us by floor." He answered curtly. His phone pinged, and he read the message, smiling slightly and addressing me again. "Ah, you know my sister Denmark?"
"Met her briefly."
"She's very enthusiastic. She has 'free' reign at last she said." Finland explained. "She doesn't need to do those prerequisites anymore."
"Are they that bad?" I unpacked my last shirt, when a howl of laughter made my spine tingle. It took me a second to realise it was Finland. When I turned around, he was sitting back on his bed, as if nothing happened, but the corners of his mouth hooked up in a smile.
"Hah. I almost failed English." He continued calmly. "I cannot process how languages work. I know two, and that's already progress."
"Oh, I thought you'd be in some Culture major," I blinked at him, and stowed the suitcase next to the large closet.
"No." He said, and took his earphones out, putting them in his pocket and then staring at his phone for a whole twenty seconds before looking back up at me.
"So you're a," I desperately wanted to know, and the curt way he talked was sometimes annoying. He didn't give more information, just exactly what you asked, no more. He taught me to word my questions exactly, since he would answer vaguely when given a wide response margin.
"I'm a fourth year mathematics major," he narrowed his eyes at me again, and then huffed, sat up, and started to text on his phone. This was a sign that the conversation was over. I was overflowing with questions, but I decided to keep them in for now. The balcony door was open, and some of the rain was on the carpeting on the floor. The balcony itself was covered, but the wind blew the raindrops in my face, splatters covering my glasses, so I stowed them in my pocket. I wasn't totally dependent on glasses, and I only had a minus two and a quarter, but it was annoying and I decided it wasn't worth the hassle to keep on without them. The garden spread out in front of me, and reached very far into the distance, until I saw the thick red brick wall that dived the school and the common land. The clouds were lazily making their way across the sky, and the drizzle became a downpour. Soon I could hear the clanging of the melody of rain and metal. Most of the garden was more of a forest, the beautiful pines dominant in the group, and a few oaks and spruces were dotted about, which were easily registered by their vibrant oranges and reds, now dimmed by the dusk and rain. I could hear the crickets of the gardens, and the laughter of the students below, as some lamps positioned strategically started to ignite, and shed light on the campus. Away from the garden, the gothic style buildings ate up the greenery and it became a concrete and brick wonderland. Paths spiralled out to different buildings, only to meet again in other places, while many statues of mythical beasts intercepted not only the paths, but hung on ledges, spires and outcroppings. I leaned on the metal railing and watched my breath slowly billow out, and by that time, the sun had set, and the day yielded to the night, and soon I heard a radio being turned on from inside my dorm room. Finland turned on a radio in Finnish and was listening to it only slightly, while bringing in parcels that came from the doorstep. I recognised USSR's scraggly English handwriting and my name and dorm room number were written in neat script.
"See, your boxes arrived." He nodded to the parcels. His own were white and his flag was pasted on, along with the name 'Suomi' written on it. I figured it was his name in his language. "If you're hungry, there is the cafeteria, I can lead you to it."
"You don't want to come?" I asked, stacking the parcels against the wall, while opening one to retrieve a windbreaker jacket.
"I have food for myself, but since you're new, I figured..."
"No, I'd like you to come." He shrugged and took his phone and keys, and swiftly left the room, only pausing briefly to let me lock it. Two doors were open, and the steady flow of chatter came out. The others were locked though, and by the looks, everyone had the same idea to go down to the cafeteria for dinner.
Author's note: Finland is my favourite non-native country, and I think it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Suomi on paras maa!