Gmana, Miss Erin?

Ok today has been one of ‘those’ days to the point where I need to post about it!

My mission this morning was fivefold and simple. Stick to the schedule and all five aims would be achieved.

1. wake up early, stop by circle K to buy imitation but not so bad Tim Tams for percakapan class at 9 (student’s turn to contribute snacks).

2. 11am, drop off cardboard box in INCULS common room as a drop off spot for an orphanage collection.

3. Print and deliver group presentation on social change. Social change lecture at 12 noon. Group up til 12 midnight last night finishing it.

4. 2pm After successful group presentation with James, Ada and Hadi, terus to an internet cafe and finish assignment for tomorrow’s African Politics class.

5. Evening – find out what the hell is going on with group presentation for same African Politics class as group haven’t contacted me.

So I slept in, and with 10 mins til class I drive to circle k in the pouring rain, trying very hard to keep cardboard box wedged between my feet dry with emergency poncho. I park just outside and run into circle k for tim tams, trying not to slip on the immaculately polished floor. With tim tam’s in hand I try to go to campus but suddenly my bike lurches to a stop. What’s wrong? I try to reverse a bit. Lurch again. What on earth? I look down and notice I’ve forgotten to remove the extra lock I use on my wheel. Great, I must have forgotten to take it off. Somehow I managed to drive from home to the shop without any trouble but now the lock has decided to assert itself. I can’t move far, it’s raining, and I’ve effectively stolen my own bike with lock still on wheel. Hm.

Of course when I get out my keys and try to remove said lock, the lock has been damaged and the key no longer fits. Sheltering the cardboard box and looking all too much like Darth Vader in my helmet and flowing poncho, I try to extract the lock for 10-15 mins. There’s a bengkel (mechanic) near where I am but of course it’s not open at that time of the morning.

Eventually I decide that if I got that far with the thing on there I can go further – at least somewhere more protected from the rain to find help. I get back on the bike and drive extremely slowly…..something like ‘maju, maju, BOOMF! (when the lock goes round), maju, maju, BOOMF!!) – slow, slow, BOOMF! I get around the corner and find an awning to hide under. I hope this time the key will work on the lock but when I look down the lock is gone, fallen somewhere with only a slightly bent spoke left in its wake! One of those BOOMF!’s must have knocked it off.

By now I’m soaked and very late for class. When I get to campus I make a beeline for free average coffee in the common room to warm up a bit and finally go for the second hour of percakapan. At least the cardborad box didn’t fare too badly. Percakapan (conversation) topic today was ‘cari jodoh’ – finding a soulmate. The teacher had us look at the classifieds to see if there was anyone we liked the look of.

Anyhoo with that done it’s time to print the presentation for 12noon. The time is only 10:55 so I don’t hurry, the printing room is close to where I am. Oh-oh…when I finally get there, turns out only one computer is hooked up to the printer today. It also happens to be the only computer that uses word, and our group has done the assignment in open office. Shit. Time is 11:31. No matter, I hop on the bike and, singing the mission impossible tune (a girl is allowed some concessions) and looking like Luke Skywalker’s dad once more, I head to a net cafe I know to have open office. I’ve been going there all semester and the printing is quick, cheap and reliable.

That net cafe closed earlier this week. As in closed down, computers gone, no one in sight. Totally empty, the business is gone. Kaput. Time is 11:46. Rain continues.

So I go to another, and for some reason can’t print with pictures. Which wouldn’t matter except the presentation outline was to analyse a picture.

I print just the words to read from and hand in, thinking we can show the pic from my flashdisk. I drive back to campus and race to class, late but still, my other group members haven’t arrived yet. They call to say they’re running late from a morning outing and are hurrying back in a taxi as fast as the driver’s skills allow……

…hang on, no one’s giving presentations…the lecturer is talking about dependency theory….the guy next to me says “presentations next week Erin”. How did anyone know this? The lecturer said presentations after field trip which was last week! How did I miss the memo? Nothing on the notice board, no email…. Aaaaaaaah verbal culture strikes again. I’m not in the proverbial loop and as a result am late, bedraggled and laden with 5 useless printed sheets of paper.

Ah well, just relax and try not to draw too much attention (or else will be asked copious questions about Australia in lecture).

Just now I reached the internet cafe. Turns out I got weeks mixed up and my presentation tomorrow isn’t actually til next week either…..again, not sure how that happened! :0)

Time to stop trying to plan and go secret santa shopping!! Adios!:0)