The Open Lounge at UniMelb

The Open Lounge
By Socheata

A group of undergrad students just finished their lecture and they are chatting warily and noisily while walking toward where I am sitting…

An older couple walking, holding each others hands just sit down next to where I am sitting…

One lady in a beautiful red jacket just look around before decides to sit and pull out her sandwich for her lunch…

And an Asian-look girl, presumably in her undergrad study, sits alone for her lunch time while reading for the next move…

Many passerby and the line goes on

This is the scene I am seeing at the open lounge of the University of Melbourne. It is the popular place where student like to hang out, discuss, read alone, have lunch, coffee, or gather for relax, teasing, telling jokes, or what happen to them the night/day before, how horrible they experience during the class presentation and so on. Some people could be really loud and noisy while other stay calm and concentrate. The space itself is big so it doesn’t matter is someone shouting too loud. No one is really care what you are doing here, just focus on your own business. When there is sun comes out, the lounge is much more crowded than when it is a cold day when temperature drops to 8c or 9c. I have not experience winter yet but I guess there are always people who like to hang out here.

Some couples hide themselves away under the shade tree and like to gaze into each others eyes to signal the level of love they have for one another… only if you can check on what is it in the true mind!!!

During the opening period at the University, there are many events organize around the lounge area especially open sausage barbecue for different country groups: African barbecue (1.30-3:00), Southeast Asian gathering (come if you want to find out who are your country fellows at the Uni Melb)…. We always see things like this posted on the student portal. But I hardly join the barbecue. I don’t have the patient to wait in the long queue for the piece of cheaper sausage and lunch… I don’t like sausage that much anyway!!!

Nevertheless, I like to come to the lounge once or twice a week for lunch especially when I come to work from Bailieu library which is locates just opposite this location. Today my friends are not around to join lunch with me. As well as feeling a bit lonely, I got the time to observe and my mind travels back to the campus space at the Royal University of Phnom Penh-RUPP where I used to study and work from. But not many students stay for lunch outside at the campus space in RUPP like here.

That is the beauty of studying here. Got so much space to wander and possibly get lost until you really work out your way around the university. Got lots of books to read and when you wander between rows of book shelves you can’t stop yourself picking more than you plan to come and borrow. AND got lots of assignments to complete as well! Opppp I have to go and complete my assignment now!!!

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