It’s Friday morning in the basement library, and I’m typing on a computer here instead of my own machine. My own machine is fixed and healthy (barring accidents)! Here is the extended version of my labours in that regard. Skip past it if you don't won't a tale of woe.

I rose extremely early (5am. On my sleep-in day!!) on Tuesday morning to get on a bus that went to Emeryville (the place where the call centre said I could fix my computer.) After a seriously heart-stopping trip (if I stayed on too long I’d end up on the motorway and in San Francisco) I reached the place I needed to go - BDI computers. Unfortunately the call centre was a year out of date and the company didn’t exist anymore (the lady inside the office seemed exceptionally surprised to see a New Zealander with a computer stroll into her lounge.) Hmmmm.
Going back to the call centre, they then told me to head for the nearest radioshack. This I duly did (after my classes). This was a mistake because I was supposed to be a speaker on a discussion panel talking about comparative higher education. I missed that while I was arguing with the radioshack guy. (The machine was under warranty and he still wanted to charge me heaps of money.)
So I rang up the call centre again, and they hung up. After wailing and gnashing my teeth, I tried again. And again. And again. Never buy a HP product, their service is rubbish. Finally I got someone who could speak English, and by this time I was pretty hacked off, so I basically told them to give me a new power-cord or else. Again they tried to fob me off onto the non-existant BDI computers, but I was adiment.
The conversation went something like this.
"You should..."
“Let’s not do that. Give me a new power cord. You will send me one.”
“Ok Ma’am. I’ll send that out to you right away.”
“How long will it take to get here?”
“About 1 to 2 weeks.”
“No, that isn’t going to happen. How about tomorrow?”
“………… Thursday?”
“Ok. Thursday then.”
So finally by being rude/decisive I got what I needed and now my computer is working like a charm.

On Thursday I played another game of soccer, (again at 11pm) and it was much better. I really need to figure out how to score – my team-mates describe me as a ‘moving wall’. I head in one direction until I run out of space. The Australians keep laughing and saying that the only reason you’d have a New Zealander on a soccer team would be to rugby-tackle the opposition. hey - I was pretty good. I'm a ruddy goalkeeper for goodness sake! My entire life is spent getting cracked on the noggin with the ball! I can't change the habit of a lifetime just because I'm now doing way more running than normal.
A guy on our team was very funny though – he showed up as the game was ending, but he thought he was on time. It turns out his watch started to go backwards instead of forwards, which is a little unusual. Poor guy - he cycled for an hour to get there.
Moving on.

Another large essay was due today, so I scrambled to make something up that sounded right. The topic was Slavic Folklore and its effects on the individual perception of Heroism. Good fun!

Today I also have a coffee thingy with a few friends, was invited out for drinks AGAIN by my soccer team (but you can’t drink here unless you’re 21! I don’t even want to drink, just to hang out, but they won’t even let you in) and also have a couple of admin things to do (like figure out how to apply for a California Drivers Licence.) I mentioned that I was invited to the Brizilian dance party, yes? It sounded like fun, but only for over 21's. Those Brizilains were very lucky.

Yesterday on the administration side I applied for a social security number, so I can get paid from the job fair. It’s pretty gold – whenever I come back to the states that number will always be the same. I also looked into getting a part-time job somewhere so I can start to save money and go on a bit of a travel adventure. A Social Security Number is also useful for those types of things.

I’ve got a couple more friends to describe, and then I’ll let you rest from the blog. You know how in every dorm there is one person whose got more ‘go’ than the Energizer Bunny? Stephen is that man in our house. He doesn’t walk – he bounces. When I’m in my basement I can hear exactly where he is in the house because the noise is quite distinctive. He’s about 5’7”, but works out a lot, so he is almost shaped like a triangle. When he doesn’t smile the mood of the entire house plummets – I know because he had is mid-terms, got tired, and then everyone got cranky. Weird how these people infect others eh?

Speaking of short (well, not really) we’ve got a 4’10” girl in our house. She studies way too hard, and gets a little stressed about the whole thing sometimes, but if she wasn’t like that she wouldn’t be Arielle now would she? She is the friend who introduced me to the ‘Numa Numa’ song which is possibly the most disturbing song in the entire world. It’s sung by Romanians. She also knows the entire score of every Disney song ever produced, and will sing them at the drop of a hat, forcing you to join in. I would never have got to Emeryville without her – I was so confused! Public transport here isn’t the greatest.

I have also been invivited to speak at an EAP lunch thingy for a small group of people, about EAP and golbalisation. That's cool - I'll just talk about how America was nothing like I expected it to be from the media. It makes everyone happy, because then I can throw in a few good jokes about what I thought America would be like.

Again guys, cheers for reading. If there is anything you particulary want me to talk about or describe for you, post it on the comments thingys (which I do read!) and I'll do my best to get it up here for you.

Wish you were here

Margie

written by  Crosswood on October 5, 2007 from Berkeley, United States
from the travel blog: New Zealand Student, American University.
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Every ting in my flat is CLEAN! ok my room and the kitchen. But for me thats big news.

My posts are readable? I have to look over them twice to work out what I'm saying.

written by  Rebecca Harris on October 6, 2007

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