After yesterday's wild goose chase, I took extra care to ensure that history does not repeat itself when I head down during my long break today to get my charger examined. My heart cannot take such excitement twice in a row.
Breakfast was my favourite blueberry bagel from Dalloyou, which I happily munched on the way to the subway station. The free shuttle bus to the Bumin campus, where all my classes are at, does not operate between 7:00 and 10:00 so for people who have classes in between, they'll have to take public transport. Supposedly if we use our matriculation cards (they act as a t-money card too) to pay for the subway, we could claim the money back through a series of unclear and complicated procedures. I have yet to try it out but for the sake of my sallowing wallet, I will.
Class was boring as usual. The professor always speaks extra slowly because he thinks that doing so makes it easier for the Korean students to comprehend his American accent and that once they understand him, they will answer his questions during class. I don't really think the reason they're keeping mum is because they don't understand him. They understand him fine, even if he were to speak faster, it's just an Asian thing to be modest about speaking up in public.
Anyways, I had lunch in the school's cafeteria with my classmate since school food is cheap, so that I wouldn't have to spend any unnecessary money at the mall. The school's cafeteria is slightly different from the cafeteria in the dormitory, as its offers a selection of food instead of dictating your meals. I took 칠리닭갈비 (chilli dalkkalbi) for 2,500W, which was served with potatoes, coleslaw, fishcake soup and kimchi. 닭갈비 means 'chicken ribs' and although I rarely eat spicy food, I like this dish as it tastes a lot like the canned curry chicken my siblings and I always eat.
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| So spicy but so homely! |
After lunch, I whizzed to TUVA. I have a 6-hour break in between class every Thursday but I still ended up being half an hour late for class. Thankfully the professor wasn't mad and could still joke with the class that I was late because I was at the BIFF. It wasn't that I took a long time to get there, or I waited for eternity for my turn. It was just that the lethal combination of a language barrier and my inability to be assertive about what I want cost me three queue numbers.
In my first consultation, I was sure that my charger had broken down so I wanted to enquire if a repair was possible and how much would it cost. Mac users should know that our chargers comprise of two parts - the battery and the plug. In Singapore, we use the squarish three-pin plug but over here, they use a round two-pin plug. So the guy replaced my three-pin plug with his own to test the charger and to my utter embarrassment (and relief), it worked perfectly well. He stared at me like I was wasting his life and I had to make a quick exit from the awkward situation.
I sat at their lounge for ages thinking about what just happened and I was so sure that something was wrong with my charger. I couldn't be that stupid to go to all that trouble without properly ensuring that something was truly wrong right? (this is when the audience should chorus a loud yes despite the number of times I have been a muddlehead)
Then it dawned on me that the three-pin plug could be the one that was faulty! I quickly took another number and patiently waited for my turn. The guy, on his way out for his break, saw that his pesky customer was still here so out of kind obligation he asked me if something was wrong again. I told him that I would like to purchase a two-pin plug and wanted to know where I could get one. He stared at me with a you-are-such-an-absurd-girl expression and replied that there are no instocks in Busan and I would have to go to Sincheon (which was in Seoul) to get it.
Thankfully, I decided to bank on my foreigner right to be shameless and I asked another guy if I could purchase a two-pin plug. He, who was so much more helpful, told me that it's possible for their resident engineer to make an order but it would take four days and asked if I was alright with that. Of course I was alright, you're such a funny man. Surely the plug would cost much less than buying a brand new charger, why would I not be alright? In fact, I'm not just alright, I'm over-the-moon-whizzing-about-in-space-like-an-atom-high-on-sugar alright.
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| I forgot to take a photo of my third number in my elation, I enthusiastically threw it into the bin. |
Their resident engineer turned out to be Guy A who went out for his break, so I had to wait another hour for him to be back before I could place my order. I think the reason why he was so hostile was because he didn't knew that I was a foreigner. (secretly happy about being mistaken as a local) So in the end I paid 12,000W for the plug, a tenth of what a new charger would cost. Budget Daphy is very happy.
All this hoohaa took a ridiculous four hours and I was running really late for my class. I contemplated to skip class but I can't let my precious three chances of cutting class go to waste just like that so I had the brilliant idea of using Naver's directory to check for the shortest route back to school. What happened next affirms my suspicions that I am a hidden genius and to cut a long story short, with the help of Lady Luck, a kind imo and my broken Korean, I manage to make it back to school before class ended. I think I exhausted my one year's worth of luck.
The originally grumpy and worrisome day ended on a great note when I had pizza for dinner with my friend. Good food always makes things better.
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| The huge pizza that was more than enough for two hungry girls only cost us 9,900W, inclusive of the soda! We ordered garlic chicken which was great but I think I still prefer the thicker crust of the pizzas back home. |
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| Exam welfare from the dormitory! Coffee, chocolate milk, spicy cup noodles, peanut butter bun and green bean bun. |
xoxo, ❀
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