Friday, July 23, 2004
Alexander’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
Well, not that bad, lah
I went to the Universiti of Malaya this morning…it’s a surprise I’m not bald from pulling my hair out.
I hate when there are rules (stupid rules) and the only reason that they are complied with (the enforcer recognizes that they are foolish rules) is that well, thems the rules, kid. Be sensible! If a rule or law is stupid, civil disobedience is in order! (Or at least look the other way!)
I suppose the offences aren’t so bad. The UM library charges per page photocopied, rather than per page printed (ie I can fit two pages of a book on one page of paper, but they still charge me for two!). I found that annoying because it’s never done that way and makes no sense. The cost is directly related to the number of pieces of paper being USED…granted, it’s a rather minuscule amount of money in the end. But it’s the principle of the thing.
I kind of indicated my disgust/exasperation/annoyance to the staff….basically, I acted American. I took it out on the poor guy, who had no control over things. His supervisor was the one who sang the ‘it’s the policy that came down from the main library, not up to us’ song. After a minute of acting out, I realized I was behaving poorly and apologized to them (blaming it on a tough morning full of frustrations). Actually, I nearly broke down in tears, but managed to hold it together (frustrated at myself that time).
Then, someone in this country actually wanted to follow copy right law!?! (Pirating VCDs, computer software, etc is what half this country makes their living on!) The book in question is only available on reserve, all photocopying at this library must be done by staff, and since it’s from 1983, there’s no way the bookstore has it so I can buy it. So, that means I get to come back to the beautiful library on another loverly day. Joy. (I had just distributed a survey about business and work ethics to a UM class as a favor to a friend in the UK writing a paper for a conference…and then I was trying to bend the rules and get this woman to do something illegal! Opps! Good thing I was just giving the survey, not taking it!)
(I just went to this predeparture orientation program for Malaysian Fulbrighters coming to the US…they noted that sarcasm is a vital part of American humor. Also, that it was true that people from the NE are colder and more distant than those from the south or Midwest. Another annoyance: the people at the Fulbright office here seem to have overlooked the fact that I’m from Iowa and a Fulbrighter just left for the U of Iowa a few weeks ago. Wouldn’t it have made sense to put us in touch with each other?!?! I’m going to hunt her down when I’m back in IC to offer her my help and family.)
So, reflecting on my funk today, I realized that if I had patience, then I wouldn’t get frustrated. They’re two sides of the same coin, really. But, like faith, I don’t know how to get patience. If only I could go down to the corner store and pick up a bottle.
Argh! And now I just kicked over a glass and broke it! At least it wasn’t a mirror.
Cult
This concludes my presentation
I went to a Toastmaster’s meeting last night. I didn’t know anything about it before going, other than it was a speech club type dealio. My Chinese Businessman Friend invited me along (and I confirmed with another friend who had gone before that I should brave it and not just make up an excuse why I couldn’t go…she’s the one who said it was like a cult). A lot of people turned up—a record number, in fact. There was impromptu speaking and two assigned speeches: a mix of high school debate and good old 4H presentations. It seemed like a lot of fun and I’d better be careful what else I say as some of the people in charge of running it may be reading this! They go through various tasks in their speech giving—working on gestures, volume, eye contact, persuasiveness, etc. They have clubs all over the world and next time I find myself in a new country, I’ll be sure to check it out so that I have a way to meet people! (Ghana doesn’t have, but Kenya and Egypt do. Iowa City has three.)
Now, back to the regularly scheduled programming…
Well, not that bad, lah
I went to the Universiti of Malaya this morning…it’s a surprise I’m not bald from pulling my hair out.
I hate when there are rules (stupid rules) and the only reason that they are complied with (the enforcer recognizes that they are foolish rules) is that well, thems the rules, kid. Be sensible! If a rule or law is stupid, civil disobedience is in order! (Or at least look the other way!)
I suppose the offences aren’t so bad. The UM library charges per page photocopied, rather than per page printed (ie I can fit two pages of a book on one page of paper, but they still charge me for two!). I found that annoying because it’s never done that way and makes no sense. The cost is directly related to the number of pieces of paper being USED…granted, it’s a rather minuscule amount of money in the end. But it’s the principle of the thing.
I kind of indicated my disgust/exasperation/annoyance to the staff….basically, I acted American. I took it out on the poor guy, who had no control over things. His supervisor was the one who sang the ‘it’s the policy that came down from the main library, not up to us’ song. After a minute of acting out, I realized I was behaving poorly and apologized to them (blaming it on a tough morning full of frustrations). Actually, I nearly broke down in tears, but managed to hold it together (frustrated at myself that time).
Then, someone in this country actually wanted to follow copy right law!?! (Pirating VCDs, computer software, etc is what half this country makes their living on!) The book in question is only available on reserve, all photocopying at this library must be done by staff, and since it’s from 1983, there’s no way the bookstore has it so I can buy it. So, that means I get to come back to the beautiful library on another loverly day. Joy. (I had just distributed a survey about business and work ethics to a UM class as a favor to a friend in the UK writing a paper for a conference…and then I was trying to bend the rules and get this woman to do something illegal! Opps! Good thing I was just giving the survey, not taking it!)
(I just went to this predeparture orientation program for Malaysian Fulbrighters coming to the US…they noted that sarcasm is a vital part of American humor. Also, that it was true that people from the NE are colder and more distant than those from the south or Midwest. Another annoyance: the people at the Fulbright office here seem to have overlooked the fact that I’m from Iowa and a Fulbrighter just left for the U of Iowa a few weeks ago. Wouldn’t it have made sense to put us in touch with each other?!?! I’m going to hunt her down when I’m back in IC to offer her my help and family.)
So, reflecting on my funk today, I realized that if I had patience, then I wouldn’t get frustrated. They’re two sides of the same coin, really. But, like faith, I don’t know how to get patience. If only I could go down to the corner store and pick up a bottle.
Argh! And now I just kicked over a glass and broke it! At least it wasn’t a mirror.
Cult
This concludes my presentation
I went to a Toastmaster’s meeting last night. I didn’t know anything about it before going, other than it was a speech club type dealio. My Chinese Businessman Friend invited me along (and I confirmed with another friend who had gone before that I should brave it and not just make up an excuse why I couldn’t go…she’s the one who said it was like a cult). A lot of people turned up—a record number, in fact. There was impromptu speaking and two assigned speeches: a mix of high school debate and good old 4H presentations. It seemed like a lot of fun and I’d better be careful what else I say as some of the people in charge of running it may be reading this! They go through various tasks in their speech giving—working on gestures, volume, eye contact, persuasiveness, etc. They have clubs all over the world and next time I find myself in a new country, I’ll be sure to check it out so that I have a way to meet people! (Ghana doesn’t have, but Kenya and Egypt do. Iowa City has three.)
Now, back to the regularly scheduled programming…
