Monday, November 13, 2006
Cell phone fun
I'll start this post with a slight warning ~~ never, and I mean NEVER buy a used cell phone. You can't understand all of the hassles I've been through over the past few weeks.
Last saturday, me and Tommy decided we should finally get cell phones. It's become essential with all the new people we're meeting here. EVeryone here has a cellphone, and is in consatnt txtmsg(txtmsg) mode. ANyhow, our buddy Chris said he knew a place where we could get cheap cell phones and took us to this underground market. Noice?
There were soooo many cell phones and different vendors, the selection was ridiculous. We both picked phones and tried to get them set up. Only, I had forgotten my forienger ID. So Tommy gets his set up, and I just take my phone (I would get it setup on monday). Tommy's phone worked fine, but mine was locked. I had to go back and get a new phone from the same place, which took forever. Altogether it took us about 3hours there.
This is just the beginning.
So I go monday to set it up -- everyone in the store was supernice to me. A bunch of the girls were talking to me and flirting a bit. It was fun, but I was there for about 2hours. Eventually, I find out that they can't set it up, because the phone is locked from the provider as someone didn't pay thier bill. So basically they want me to pay the bill, then i can unlock the phone. Wtf.
At this point I was late for work, so I said I'd go tommorow. I didn't - I waited until next saturday (yeah, I'm lazy). So I go over on saturday (hung over to shit-- we had been out until about 9am the last night), with Chris and Tommy. Both are still hammered.
On top of all this, it Peppero day. Basically a Hallmark holiday where people give eachother candy in eloborate boxes. We bought some fake cardboard swords on the street and brought them in with us. They were filled with said candy, and I brought it as a gift for Song, the girl who'd helped me last time. So we walk into the store, brandishing swords, and the girls are a little wierded out to say the least. It doesn't help that Chris is yelling "I'm going to cut your head off", in korean. They calmed down once I gave they gift. You had to be there.
So I sit for two hours, pay the other dude's bill (which would be reimbursed), and wait some more. Eventually, they tell me the phone is fucked and I have to go back to the guy who sold it to me for a refund. So at this point I'm upset, but Song tells me she will take me there after work and help me sort it out. What a sweetheart.
So I come back in a few hours and pick Song up. She was a really touchy-feely person, which leads me to our next problem. We show up at the cell place and sit down. Things seem to be going great but Song has her hands on me and the lady helping us is getting visablly agitated. Not sure exactly what happens next, but the lady behind the counter flips. They both start barking at eachother in Korean for what seemed like forever. I could pick out a few words here and there, like "foreigner", as she pointed angrily at me. I'm pretty sure the lady was either insulting me or insulting Song for being there with me. Eventually the barking stops, and I look at Song who just bursts out in tears and walks away a few feet. I give the lady a "WTF" look and go to try to comfort Song. Good luck. I can barely comfort women in english.
So, Song tries to explain to me what happened, but she speaks about 5 english words, so no luck. Eventually the lady apologizes to me and gives me a new phone. Again, she says she cant set it up and i have to wait until monday. At this point I just want to take Song and leave, so I say 'whatever'. I bring her home, and then head back to my place to meet up with some guys. It takes me about 2 minutes of playing with my phone to realize that it, MY THIRD PHONE, is also fucked. The keypad doesn't work.
Ok, I'm rambling a bit now, I should wrap this up. I get my boss to call on monday, but he totaly misunderstood my problem. He called and got the messed up phone set up. I say it doesn't work, but he insists it does and calls it. I try to show him the keypad, but its useless. I'm just going to use the crappy phone. You just have to really jam down on the keypad to get the numbers to press. Weak... especially for txtmsg, txtmsg.
But whatever, I HAVE A PHONE.
Last saturday, me and Tommy decided we should finally get cell phones. It's become essential with all the new people we're meeting here. EVeryone here has a cellphone, and is in consatnt txtmsg(txtmsg) mode. ANyhow, our buddy Chris said he knew a place where we could get cheap cell phones and took us to this underground market. Noice?
There were soooo many cell phones and different vendors, the selection was ridiculous. We both picked phones and tried to get them set up. Only, I had forgotten my forienger ID. So Tommy gets his set up, and I just take my phone (I would get it setup on monday). Tommy's phone worked fine, but mine was locked. I had to go back and get a new phone from the same place, which took forever. Altogether it took us about 3hours there.
This is just the beginning.
So I go monday to set it up -- everyone in the store was supernice to me. A bunch of the girls were talking to me and flirting a bit. It was fun, but I was there for about 2hours. Eventually, I find out that they can't set it up, because the phone is locked from the provider as someone didn't pay thier bill. So basically they want me to pay the bill, then i can unlock the phone. Wtf.
At this point I was late for work, so I said I'd go tommorow. I didn't - I waited until next saturday (yeah, I'm lazy). So I go over on saturday (hung over to shit-- we had been out until about 9am the last night), with Chris and Tommy. Both are still hammered.
On top of all this, it Peppero day. Basically a Hallmark holiday where people give eachother candy in eloborate boxes. We bought some fake cardboard swords on the street and brought them in with us. They were filled with said candy, and I brought it as a gift for Song, the girl who'd helped me last time. So we walk into the store, brandishing swords, and the girls are a little wierded out to say the least. It doesn't help that Chris is yelling "I'm going to cut your head off", in korean. They calmed down once I gave they gift. You had to be there.
So I sit for two hours, pay the other dude's bill (which would be reimbursed), and wait some more. Eventually, they tell me the phone is fucked and I have to go back to the guy who sold it to me for a refund. So at this point I'm upset, but Song tells me she will take me there after work and help me sort it out. What a sweetheart.
So I come back in a few hours and pick Song up. She was a really touchy-feely person, which leads me to our next problem. We show up at the cell place and sit down. Things seem to be going great but Song has her hands on me and the lady helping us is getting visablly agitated. Not sure exactly what happens next, but the lady behind the counter flips. They both start barking at eachother in Korean for what seemed like forever. I could pick out a few words here and there, like "foreigner", as she pointed angrily at me. I'm pretty sure the lady was either insulting me or insulting Song for being there with me. Eventually the barking stops, and I look at Song who just bursts out in tears and walks away a few feet. I give the lady a "WTF" look and go to try to comfort Song. Good luck. I can barely comfort women in english.
So, Song tries to explain to me what happened, but she speaks about 5 english words, so no luck. Eventually the lady apologizes to me and gives me a new phone. Again, she says she cant set it up and i have to wait until monday. At this point I just want to take Song and leave, so I say 'whatever'. I bring her home, and then head back to my place to meet up with some guys. It takes me about 2 minutes of playing with my phone to realize that it, MY THIRD PHONE, is also fucked. The keypad doesn't work.
Ok, I'm rambling a bit now, I should wrap this up. I get my boss to call on monday, but he totaly misunderstood my problem. He called and got the messed up phone set up. I say it doesn't work, but he insists it does and calls it. I try to show him the keypad, but its useless. I'm just going to use the crappy phone. You just have to really jam down on the keypad to get the numbers to press. Weak... especially for txtmsg, txtmsg.
But whatever, I HAVE A PHONE.
