Where Are We Supposed to Be When?

I am sitting here looking at 4 beautiful glossy tickets and 2 lanyards.  They were left last night for us with another Foreign English teacher in our building by one of the administrator ladies whose job is to take care of us. We were asked about 2 weeks ago if we would come to the 70^th anniversary celebration of the Foreign Language Department at our premier university. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon and would be slightly difficult, we readily agreed. We did not hear another thing until last night, 2 days before the event. The little bit of English on the tickets say that one set of tickets is for a 12:30 dinner. The other two tickets are for a program of some sort that will last from 14:00 – 16:00. However, we have absolutely no idea where these activities are going to happen. I will take the tickets with us to our Friday night study group in hopes they can read the tickets and tell us where that might be….but maybe not. Our organization team leader will write an email saying that their internet has been difficult and they have missed communication and could the head of department tell us some of the necessary details: where, dress code, other particulars? Although we could send other more direct social media requests for help to our administrators, it is embarrassing to admit how ignorant we are and also slightly accusatory that they have not told us yet. I kept expecting to receive an email with directions. They always just tell us about activities a few days before hand; it was unusual to receive the original invite 2 weeks before. But nothing seems to be forthcoming. I have every confidence that things will become clear, even if it means wandering about Sunday afternoon in fancy clothes on bicycles in the cold looking for a large group of foreign teachers. Don’t ever go overseas to live unless you can be extremely flexible. I joke that I have spent my entire adult life wondering where I am supposed to be when?

I have been reflecting on how many, many things in our environment we simply miss. Looking at the signs in McDonalds last week, I realized that many were about good deals and that I had absolutely no way of knowing what the deals were. Yesterday I finally figured out how to adjust the fan on our apartment heating from low, medium, high. We have lived in these apartments for 2 years and this is the first time I knew there was an adjustment! An elderly man lives 3 floors up from us in our apartment building. He is a well known art historian and is in his 80’s. He comes for one semester every year to give lectures here at the university. I was in the elevator going up to the other teacher’s apartment to get our tickets. Abruptly the elevator stopped and here was the elderly man who had called the elevator. He immediately asked me if I could help him in his apartment. I went in with him. The building inspectors had done something with the electricity in his apartment, and now he could not turn on his tv. There are teeny tiny buttons up the side of the tv that give you access to the overall turn on to the tv, and then you use the remote. Neither he nor I could read the buttons and so he headed over to the apartment registration desk to see what they would say. That is just the last day or so. I know that I talk about this type of things many times, but it truly occurs daily and one never gets really used to being that cut off/stupid/blind.

P.S. Rick lost one of his hearing aids a week after he got them. It was not fitting exactly right and we returned from the subway to find one gone from his ear. He retraced his steps, but no luck.