The cashier at the restaurant handed me the credit card terminal. I slid my
card in the terminal, as I had done many times before. As the printed
receipt, I removed the card from the terminal, too, as I had done many
times before. It was then she yelled at me.
She spoke a language I did not understand. Slavic. But his tone was
unmistakable. She was upset. Then she changed into English:
"Why do you remove the card !! It was not done. Now it's all bad ".
She called the employee younger male on. I guess he was correct any
problems that I talked with the credit card machine. As she finished
speaking to him in their native language, he turned to me in the same tone
angry.
"You can not remove the card !!! Why do you do that?!?! It has not been
done, you should not have done that ".
Like I n t understand the first time. Finally, I hit back.
"I KNOW. I understand that it was not ready. This printed, I thought it was
done. You can now stop crying".
Everyone behind me in line looked a little disoriented. I had it. I was a
paying customer, and then I realized it was my fault, I'm not going to sit
there and yelled at. I simply defended their tones. As I left the
restaurant, I took out my phone and connected to my bank's mobile
application.
There were two identical loads the restaurant. The first was through many,
as I had suspected. It was at this point & # 8230; I missed home.
Soviet medicine & # 8230;
The doctor
I woke up to the fifth day in a row with a headache and a bit light-headed.
I got out of bed, and poured my coffee in the morning in the hope that it
would solve the problem. For the fifth consecutive day, he did not. What I
had first taken was the nasty jet lag showed symptoms of infection nasty
sinus of all kinds.
I sent several offices "general practitioners" that day after their phone
number has never taken, asking when they go open, and how much it would
cost a foreigner to get a basic health check for the probable sinus
infection. A week later, I had heard nothing.
The symptoms continued. I was always tired. I was not getting my work. I
was cranky and irritable. My girlfriend tried to call around. A clinic, she
could get a hold of told him they could see me & # 8230; in 3 weeks. I
started researching natural remedies for sinus infections, thinking that I
would just be a doctor myself if no doctor in this country wanted to take
my money and give me a prescription.
For the next three days, I swallowed raw garlic with this wicked concoction
I had thought and hoped it would go. For two days, I felt like a genius.
Then the symptoms returned. Finally, on Friday afternoon I went to Google
and found a new doctor in the street. I entered its Soviet-style office.
All his "office" was a room with two offices and a patient "table".
She said she could see me right then and there. She conducted a review on
me while I sat on a plastic chair next to his desk. She wrote me a
prescription, and I paid a reasonable $ 25 for a 5-minute service. A week
later, the symptoms persisted. I felt scammed. It was at this point & #
8230; I missed home.
the delivery guy
I expected an expensive package to be delivered by DHL. I expected to be
around all day. My apartment has four doors locked before ringing at my
door, so I had to be. All morning, I heard nothing. At 11:41, I refreshed
my tracking page and was met disaray.
"11:32: Invalid address, please contact DHL to confirm the contact. "
I called DHL. Apparently, the number the driver had been wrong.
ME: "Did the driver think to contact the alternate order number? "
DHL, "No."
"OK & # 8230 ;? Can you have the file to the local DHL "(A five minutes
from me)
"No."
"Why?"
"Because. You can get this package tonight, at the warehouse DHL. At any
time after 18 hours, I think." (This warehouse is a 1 1 round trip time for
me)
"Are you sure he will be there at 18 o'clock? "
"No. Maybe 19 hours may be 20 hours. I don know".
I sigh.
I ventured to the warehouse & # 8212; my journey involving two subway lines
and an old Soviet-style school bus. The driver was angry with me that I n t
have exact change & # 8212; it wasn t included bus on my all-city transit
passes, unbeknownst to me (hindsight is 20/20, I just take Uber).
I finally made it to DHL and give me back my parcel. As I stood in the
grass, desolate field in the middle-of-nowhere waiting for the bus back
while holding $ 1000 + the value of electronics in my hand, I wondered what
the hell I was doing with my life.
It was at this point & # 8230; I missed home.
Closing thoughts
It is these moments that make me might wonder if people are when they think
I'm crazy for having moved abroad. It is these moments that make me wonder
if I can really live abroad for the rest of my life.
I'll admit, at first, some of them seem small. I consider it the price to
pay for living abroad, and live a life free of all poisons of Western
culture. But no matter how you are patient and tolerant, these things can
and will eat you. The little things on a daily basis do you wear over time.
What was once a fresh and unique adventure & # 8212; DHL venture in the
boonies, for example & # 8212; is a huge waste of time and frustration.
These three stories are just a handful of deal with on a regular basis
consistent things expatriates. If you're on shorter trips, you do not even
notice these things. It's the long term, you lose patience. And your only
choice is to suck it up and deal, or return to your country of origin.
Ultimately, what I realized is the & # 8212; no place is perfect.
If you want to learn how to get more dates, check out my free guide. For
more articles, visit my blog This is the problem.
Learn more: 6 Rules For All Expats should live
No comments:
Post a Comment