The Art of Confusion
Classes started today and I immediately F%#ked it up. Because of the way the scheduling works here, classes are much more fluid. Times change constantly during the first week as every class on campus arranges itself (somehow??????) to have no conflict with any other class students are taking at the time. I have no idea how this works but somehow it does and I have no conflicts so I can't complain. However, students (I assume) at Chulalongkorn have been doing this since day 1 and any problems or confusion with the system was worked out years ago, so coming in new as a third year is a different story. Everyone knows the ropes and sort of expects you to know them as well. Anyways take a look below at the process of figuring out my Monday.
I got a text on the Tuesday before classes start from one of my Thai friends telling me my lesson will be "next Monday at 13:00". I, of course, screwed up this entire sentence. Mistakes 1 and 2. Next Monday (or whatever), in english, is my least favorite combination of words. What does that mean? If used properly it means not this coming Monday but the Monday after that. However, people often use it incorrectly (including me) to mean this coming Monday. You almost never know if the person is using that phrase correctly or not and so it's basically useless. I, of course, thought she was using it correctly without asking so assumed my lesson was next week at 3:00 because even though I've done it constantly since I got here, I messed up my conversion of 24hr time. Will that come back to haunt me? Probably not right?
Next up, I meet one of my professors on Friday. She shows me the room that my Thai drumming class will be in, tells me the meeting time is 1pm, and tells me I should take Thai strings too. Yes, of course I want to do that! So she tells me the first meeting will be January 29th, then leaves. Wait, was that for strings? Drumming? Both? I don't know and don't ask for whatever reason. Mistake number 3. I go back home feelin' good.
Sunday I get a text from a student I don't know yet: "Don't forget to go to your drumming class tomorrow at 1pm." Ok, solid. Now I know that the professor was talking about strings and that drumming will actually meet this week. (nope, mistake number 4) So I go to the drumming room on monday at 1pm. No one there. I ask one of the students out front of the room if there is a drumming class today. They say no meeting til the 29th. Great, so I was right all along. I wanted to check out one of the malls so I walked to one, which is about a 20 minute walk. I walk in the door and BAM. A text. "Where are you?!?!?"
Great. What could this be about? It's the student from before telling me they are waiting for me for the drumming class. ?!??!?!?!?!?. He says I had the wrong building and I should come now before it's too late! I sprint back along my path plus some and get there out of breath. What the heck could this be? They sit me in the percussion practice space alone and a professor i've never met walks in. She turns out to be my private lesson instructor and I am now unwittingly entering in to my first lesson with her with nothing prepared thinking I had a whole week (mistake number 5). Awesome.
Now, i'll place some of the blame in my lesson being called "drumming class" and the Thai drumming class being called "Thai drumming class" but really it was my lack of clarifying that really boned me. My advice to you: if there is a language barrier, never assume anything. It makes a... well... whatever I am today.
-Max