Although I’m only a two hour flight from home, the shortest distance I’ve been to since I started Uni.. I have never felt so effing lost in translation.

On top of that my correspondent for this program and the accommodation keeps screwing up, and he’s a foreigner who speaks English too so it’s not like we can’t understand each other.

So I initially chose to stay on campus. Easy. Done. I get an invoice, but a few days later he e-mails me and says he made a mistake and there are no rooms left, so I can stay nearby instead and share an apartment. This was near the end of January, I effing applied in OCTOBER!!! How?! WHY?! Anyway, he wrote that this new option is a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment that comes fully furnished with bedding, kitchen utensils and supplies.

Fair enough, I take it. I land this morning, I arrive here at 11:30am and the lady who is supposed to give me a little induction because I’m a few days early, says she can only come by at 4pm and shows up at 5pm. Fuck it, I see the apartment and it’s an old building but the interior is nice. However, it is not ‘fully furnished with bedding, kitchen utensils and supplies.’ In fact there was a packet of dog food opened on the counter next to an empty box of tea bags. No pots, no pans, no kettle to make instant noodles at the least, and a letter with a password for the wireless internet that doesn’t exist in this apartment.

Oh and the program director is currently in the U.S and will be back on the 24th so he’ll ‘fix it’ then.

Why am I so annoyed? It’s between -3 and 4 degrees here, I don’t know what that is, and. I. don’t. even. have. sheets. I’m currently deciding on sleeping on the couch with my jackets and this heater that doesn’t work. I can’t clean the place before I unpack because there are no supplies.I’ll have to buy everything tomorrow, which is fine, but then WHY am I here a few days earlier to ‘settle’ in when someone shows up 5 hours after I arrive only to point out where I can buy ‘the essentials for tonight’ because you screwed me over and then rushes off because it’s already nightfall. ?!

However, I know it could be worse than the narrow path downstairs with no light from the entrance to the last block, which I happen to live in. OR the six (but really twelve) flights of stairs that have censored lighting that switch off if you don’t move for TWO seconds while you’re trying to open the rusted gate which needs its key to be inserted at a SPECIFIC angle.

This week is going to be a little crazy, hopefully things will fall into place.