The First Encounter By: CT First Year: I was not aware of this room’s existence until the end of my first semester in 2008 where Vivi, my twin from another mother and father, told me about the free English language classes in C101. So, I set out on my own with a runny nose and a pathetic flu, in search of this mysterious room. When I first read the room number, it reminded me of this cheesy horror movie from Indonesia on this haunted room with similar numbers, and I thought, “C101 must be one strict room”. My journey was not easy. I went round and round on the C Floor looking for ‘101’ and then decided to go to the D Floor, just to make sure. After walking inside Richmond for 30 minutes, I gave up and asked the friendly receptionist where this hidden room was. Despite her clear guide and explanation, I was still lost. Mind you, it was my first year and I was not used to hearing the Yorkshire accent. Finally, after adding another 30 minutes to my search, I found the room! The first person I saw was Michael sitting on the table and wearing somewhat relaxed attire. I, immediately, found him strange in a good way. He did not look uptight and serious like my lecturers. I did not feel any fear when I approached him. Even though I was suffering from a blocked nose due to my flu, I managed to speak to him in my best English, at that time. I observed his facial reaction while we discussed about the English classes. My heart slowly put its trust on him because he did not look down on me, a little girl wearing a headscarf, timid and probably looked diseased. He did not look confused when I uttered my broken English accent which I found relaxing. It is annoying to look at people’s bewildered face when you open your ‘foreign’ mouth. He then gave me an honest compliment on my English, “Your English is very good!” I gave him a thorough observation on his face. I studied the little wrinkles around his eyes. He was telling the truth. He was not mocking me. Thank god! He and C101 were added into my list of things to love in Bradford.