Xaverio Boe Bo, USJ Student

        I live in a skyscraper in Macau. Though it is only the sixth floor, it is so high for me because I have not experienced living in an apartment before in my country, which is Myanmar. Although living on the sixth floor in an apartment for people of Macau is typical stuff, for me, who used to live in a small house in the countryside, it is a considerable matter, especially for those who have the condition of acrophobia like me. 

First and foremost, let me share my initial experiences living on the sixth floor in Macau. An elevator plays a vital role when going up and down in my building, and I started facing a problem with it. When I entered it for the first time, I automatically felt so nervous and insecure. Most of the time, I thought about what would happen if I got stuck inside it without a way out and what would happen if the elevator went down suddenly because of technical problems and so on. 

In addition, air conditioning is another reason that I got into trouble in this building. Due to facing a difficulty in breathing properly because of the impact of high humidity and poor ventilation, I turned on the air conditioning the whole night. Consequently, I ended up with a runny nose and sneezing the next morning, whereas for other people, it is almost impossible to live without it. Truly, air conditioning is instrumental in big cities like Yangon and Mandalay but not in the countryside, especially in my village, where people have never seen it. Usually, we are used to sleeping in one room made of bamboo without any air conditioning. But for the cold winter, we always kept a fire burning throughout the night to provide warmth for the family, which we used to sleep around.  

Last but not least, the next challenge was that I could not sleep properly that night because I was sleeping on a bed on the sixth floor. Despite lying quietly in bed, my mind was worried about sleeping at that high place for the first time. It was just impossible to stop my worries completely. It could also be because of my personality that I had trouble sleeping in the new bed even though it was so comfortable compared to my bed, which consisted of one blanket and a pillow, at home.

 As I have mentioned before, these points are the main challenges that I have gone through. Although it could take some time to get used to, I believe that I will manage it very soon because I have come here for a specific reason: to pursue my goal. Therefore, I foresee myself after five years to be able to live on the thirtieth floor or in any other building and skyscraper.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash