This page was held up by the fact I was locked out of my apartment for a while today. I went out to buy something to eat, and as SOON as my door closed I realised my error. See, my door LOCKS locks when you close it, and for the first time in two years I managed to leave the apartment without keys, without a cell phone, without a phone number to call (all my numbers are on my cell phone), and limited Chinese. I did have my wallet though.
As I wandered out to the street wondering what to do I had a few thoughts: I could go and get my friend B, as he is fluent in Chinese and probably knows the number of my landlady, but I had a hazy knowledge of where he lives. (I take taxis when I go, and I'm crap at directions.) I could ask my neighbours across the hall, as they might know something about my landlords. I could talk to the security guards who are posted at the gate. Which is what I ended up doing, and through a mime I was able to tell them my problem. One of the security guards got out this card and kept pointing at it and talking as if I knew what the heck he was saying while I flailed my limbs about and said TEEMBODONG! over and over. (When you devote all your free time to creative endeavours and reading Stephen King novels, you have little time to learn more Chinese.)
The pair of us went to my apartment which was, in fact, still locked. First we went to the apartment just upstairs and talked to the resident, and I have no idea what they were talking about, but I think it had to do with the windows. Whatever they talked about nothing came of it. We walked around the apartment to see if we could get in through the window I had left open. I've known of people crawling out windows from other apartments to get to windows. But I'm on the second floor so there are bars over the windows, with locks, so that thieves don't come in, so if we had to do that it would have to involve bar bending. So the gentleman and myself stared at the windows for a while, as he talked on a cell phone, until he said something that sounded like 'dial tone' and we walked to the back gate, and he borrowed a bike while I stood there going "god I'm dumb."
He came back a second later with another guy on a motorbike who came with a pick lock set. And now I can sleep very safe knowing that NO ONE can break the damn lock on my door. It's impossible. He was at it forever with me standing there going oh please, please, don't let this come to breaking the door down or something. The gentleman left miming that he had to eat dinner. Eventually the pick locking ruckus attracted the attention of the couple living across the hall from me. (There are only two apartments on each floor, so the only people living across the hall from me.) AND I WAS SO RIGHT to think that they might know something, because they had the phone number of someone who could come and open the door. And they were kind enough to let me into their apartment while we waited for someone to come about forty minutes later, where we watched dramas and French cinema, and the dubbed version of Art Attack.
I didn't really mean to go on forever about this. AH WELL. What, I posted a comic? I was going to talk about something else, but I guess I'll save that for next time.
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