A few days ago, I was depressed because I had nothing to do. Today, I had to go to a certain place because my older sister requested me.
I had to go to an unfamiliar place to pay the exam fee. The counter is opened from 9 AM to 5 PM. After eating ramen as my lunch, I even wandered around bookshelves and bought two books. Then, I started my journey around 1 PM.
I took a bus and I got a seat. I was enjoying the view. Ten minutes later, I checked Google Map and I noticed that I was going in the wrong direction. I was like “oh, Shit!” and got off the bus at the nearest bus stop. I was stuck in the middle of somewhere I am not familiar with. I crossed the road, went to the bus stop, and took the bus again.
Because of the extremely terrible traffic, the bus moved like a tortoise. I was on the bus for two hours. I even had a nap. Suddenly, the bus driver spoke, “The bus has a mechanical failure and you have to get off the bus. Another bus will come here as an exchange.” I was like “WTF” and got off the bus. I explained my situation to my sister over the phone. She told me to take a taxi. I was booking a taxi through mobile applications but all of my bookings were canceled. I was calling a taxi but all taxi on the road were filled with passengers. Again, I was stuck in the middle of somewhere I am not familiar with.
It was already around 3 PM. I started to worry that I won’t make it. I saw the bus coming and then I continued my journey. I arrived at the township where the counter exists. I asked the bus driver about the bus stop I should get off. I didn’t hear him well and I got off at a bus stop. As expected, it was the wrong bus stop. I was stuck in the middle of somewhere I am not familiar with again.
I asked questions to the people around me. I took a taxi and told the taxi driver about the street I wanted to go to. Unfortunately, the taxi driver didn’t know the location. With the help of Google Maps, the taxi driver and I were wandering around the area for more than fifteen minutes. However, we didn’t find the street. I started to feel dizzy. I told the taxi driver to drop me off near a restaurant. I thanked him and paid a little bit more than he asked for because he did many things for me. Again, I was stuck in the middle of somewhere I am not familiar with.
It was already 4:15 PM. I explained my situation to my sister. She shouted and blamed me for not being on time. I got angry and I shouted back. I knew that she is afraid that she won’t be able to take the exam. I knew that the other party is Japanese and they do things in a timely manner. I was also trying my best. We had a fight over the phone.
I asked many people about the location of the street. I went to the direction they told me on foot. It took me a while to find the place because it exits at the edge of the street. What a place! And finally, I arrived at the counter. Japanese people greeted me. I greeted back. We checked the serial number. I took out my purse from my bag and counted the money. At that moment, I realized that I didn’t have enough money.
I paid the taxi driver a little bit more than he asked for and then, I was in need of money to give for the exam fee. The Japanese people at the counter asked me, “No money?” in the Japanese language. It was too embarrassing. I asked him to wait for a bit and I went to the counter where a Burmese woman was sitting. I briefly explained my situation to her and borrowed some money from her. I promised her that I will withdraw money from the ATM and come back to give her money as soon as I can. I gave the exam fee and I got a receipt back.
I went outside of the building, walked to the road, and was finding an ATM. Fortunately, I found one nearby. I walked back to the counter as fast as I could. In the middle of the street, my mind went black and I was not sure where I was going. Not knowing, I started to doubt whether I should go forward or backward. I pulled myself back, checked my environment, and went forward.
I went inside the building. When Japanese people saw me, they were surprised and their mouths were in an ‘O’ shape. I was like “What the hell?” and gave the money back to the lender lady and thanked her. Maybe Japanese people thought that because it was only a small amount, I won’t come back anymore. They told me “Good job, Well done” and they bowed. I bowed back. I saw a little bit of cultural difference here. On my way back to the bus stop, I thought about what happened. I saw their respect in my behavior and I am proud of it.
It was 5 PM. I had been waiting for the bus for about ten minutes already. The hostel I live closes its door at 6:30 PM. I became anxious. I booked and called a taxi but it didn’t work. The bus came and I was on a very crowded bus. The bus was moving and the bus driver suddenly stepped on the brake. A chubby woman near me pushed me with a force and I was hit by a steel pole on my stomach. I was like “Fucking shit” and continued to walk between the crowd to the door and got off at the nearest bus stop. I was dizzy and stuck in the middle of somewhere I am not familiar with again.
Calling and booking a taxi didn’t work and I took the not crowded bus. I got a seat and I watched google maps. I noticed that the bus route would take about two hours to reach my destination. I had to get off the bus again. But, this time I was not stuck in the middle of somewhere I am not familiar with. I had never been here but I knew this place because of the famous plaza. I was in front of a famous plaza. There were many people who were calling for a taxi. I was one of them. It took me about twenty minutes to get a taxi.
At first, I thought that my dinner would be water because there was no food. My stomach gave me noises and I realized that I need to eat something. I ordered food while I was in the taxi. A few minutes later, heavy rain started falling. Not only heavy rain, but there were very loud thunder and flashes of lightning. I reached the hostel, my food arrived and it was exactly 6:30 PM.
I ate the food within a few minutes because I was too hungry. Then, I changed my somewhat wet clothes. I went straight to my bed and covered myself with a blanket to warm up. Heavy rain, loud thunder, and lightning were playing outside while I was reading a book on my bed.
My roommate told me that the final result is out. I couldn’t log in to our university’s e-learning system because I forgot my account’s password. All posts on my newsfeed were about people posing their road to convocation. All I did was scrolling down their posts and then had conversations with my friends. This problem was later solved with the help of my roommate and her friend. I am also qualified to proceed to master.
In the morning, I noticed there were two small, fluid-filled blisters on my left arm. There are more of them now. I was like “What is it this time?” and I started to doubt about chickenpox. As I thought, I was indeed infected by the fucking varicella-zoster virus. I asked my roommate to move to another room.
What I learned today is that you never know what a person went through. So, be nice to them.
I was lying on my bed, trying to fall asleep. A gecko peed on my forehead.
What a day for me!
Oct 10, 2019
