Komedi of Errors

By Erin Bromfield s27
Murdoch University

Today is Wednesday, 10 December 2008. My mission this morning was fourfold and simple. Stick to the schedule and all four aims would be achieved.

Aim One: 7:30am, wake up early, stop by circle K to buy non-Australian made but not so bad Tim Tams for percakapan class at 9 (student's turn to contribute snacks).

Aim Two: 11am, drop off cardboard box in INCULS (Indonesian Language and Cultural Learning Service) common room as a drop-off spot for an orphanage collection.

Aim Three: 11-12 Print and deliver group presentation on social change. Social change lecture at 12 noon (group up til 12 midnight last night finishing it).

Aim Four: Afternoon/Evening - find out what the hell is going on with group presentation for African Politics class as group members haven't contacted me.

So I sleep in, and with 10 minutes until class I throw on a poncho and drive my motorbike to Circle K (like a 7/11) in the pouring rain. I try very hard to keep cardboard box wedged between my feet dry with emergency poncho. I park just outside and run into Circle K for Tim Tams, trying not to slip on the immaculately polished floor.

With the biscuits in hand I press the ignition to zoom off to campus but suddenly my bike lurches to a stop. What's wrong? I try to reverse a bit. Lurch again. What on earth? I look down and notice the extra lock I use on my wheel. Great, I must have forgotten to take it off. Somehow I managed to drive from home to the shop without any trouble but now the lock has decided to assert itself. I can't move far, it's raining, I have custody of a cardboard box and Tim Tams and I've effectively stolen my own motorbike. Puddles grow as I think “Hmmm...”

Of course when I dig my key out of my jeans pocket and try to remove the lock, said lock has been damaged and the key no longer fits. Sheltering the cardboard box and looking all too much like Darth Vader in my full face helmet and flowing poncho, I try to extract the lock for 10-15 mins. There's a bengkel (mechanic) near where I am but of course it's not open at this time of the morning.

Eventually I decide that if I got that far with that thing on the wheel then heck, I can go further - at least somewhere more protected from the rain to find help. I get back on the bike and drive extremely slowly. The bike makes a sound, something like maju...maju... (slowly...slowly...) then BOOMF! when the lock goes around. Maju..maju..BOOMF! Maju...maju...BOOMF! I get around the corner and find an awning to hide under. I hope this time the key will work on the lock but when I look down the lock is gone, fallen somewhere with only a slightly bent spoke left in its wake! One of those BOOMF!'s must have knocked it off.

By now I'm soaked and very late for class. When I get to campus I make a beeline for free average coffee in the common room to warm up a bit and finally go for the second hour of percakapan (conversation) class. At least the cardboard box didn't fare too badly. Percakapan topic today is 'cari jodoh' (finding a soul mate). The teacher had us look at the classifieds to see if there was anyone we liked the look of. Not today for me, as I'm lucky enough to have my real-life partner with me in Yogya (though kind of glad he hasn't seen the drowned state I'm in on this particular morning).

So with that done it's time to print the presentation for 12noon. The time is only 10:55am so I don't hurry; the printing room is close to where I am. Oh-oh...when I finally get there, turns out that only one computer is hooked up to the printer today. It also happens to be the only computer that uses word, and our group has done the assignment in open office. Drat. Time is 11:31am.

No matter, I hop on the bike and, singing the mission impossible tune (a girl is allowed some concessions) and looking like Luke Skywalker's dad once more, I head to a net cafe I know to have open office. I've been going there all semester and the printing is quick, cheap and reliable.

That net cafe closed earlier in the week. As in closed down, computers gone, no one in sight. Totally empty, business gone, kaput. The time is 11:46am. The rain continues.

So I go to another net cafe, and for some reason can't print with pictures. Which wouldn't matter except the presentation outline was to analyse a picture. I just print the words to read from, thinking we can show the pic from my flash disk. I drive back to campus and race to class, late but still, my other group members haven't arrived yet. They call to say they're running late from a morning outing and are hurrying back in a taxi as fast as the driver's skills allow...

...hang on, no one's giving presentations...the lecturer is talking about dependency theory....the guy next to me says “presentations next week Erin.” How did everyone but my group know this? The lecturer had said presentations after field trip which was last week! How did I miss the memo? Nothing on the notice board, no email.... Aaaaaaaah verbal culture strikes again. I'm not in the proverbial loop and as a result am late, bedraggled and laden with 5 useless printed sheets of paper.

Ah well, just relax and try not to draw too much attention to yourself Erin (or else will be asked copious questions about Australia in lecture).

With class finished, debrief es jeruk (iced orange juice) had with classmates at the canteen, I head to an internet cafe with one final goal in mind. There is indeed an email from African Politics waiting for me. As it turns out I got weeks mixed up and the presentation which I thought was tomorrow isn't actually until next week either.....again, not sure how that happened!

Well Erin, perhaps now is a good time to slow down and stop planning! It's been a hectic day but if the worst that happened was that I accidentally stole my own motorbike and had my homework done early, then who's complaining?