The wifi wasn't working at my apartment when I returned home from work and the gym around 6pm on Tuesday. The next morning I informed my Korean teacher at the school. She promised to call the apartment office to get it fixed.
Another day went by and it still hadn't been fixed. Living in a foreign country, I really depend on the wifi to stay in touch with people, and simply to entertain myself and kill time when I'm at home. I even play rain sounds on YouTube when I go to bed to help me fall asleep. With the wifi still down, I was starting to feel the inconvenience.
On Thursday evenings, I have a regularly recurring call with some friends from Japan. We practice speaking English and generally have a nice conversation. Since the wifi wasn't working, I asked the Korean teacher if I could come to the school at 8pm to have my video call there. She said it wouldn't be a problem and gave me the key to the English room.
The building would be locked, but she would call ahead to the night security guard who would be expecting me and let me into the building.
I texted my co-teacher a few minutes before I left for the school and called her when I arrived at the locked school door. There was no answer and no sign of the night security guard. The school was very dark and quite creepy at night. I waited at the door for a while but decided to leave. I didn't want to be mistaken for a night thief.
With only a few minutes before the start of my call, I rushed to the nearest cafe, ordered a green tea latte and set up the wifi. I wanted to avoid the cafe because it plays fairly loud music and there are often many customers, which would make it difficult to hear and speak on the video call. Also, I would have to wear a facemask if I were near other people. I managed to get everything set up in time for the call, although I was frazzled and distracted. The call was fine, just a little too much background noise in the cafe.
The Korean teacher apologized the next day for failing to take my call and arrange for my use of the school after hours. Yet, I was pretty frustrated that there were no indications that the wifi would be fixed anytime soon.
As I've learned here, if I want to move things along I have to make some kind of absurd threat. I told my Korean teacher that I couldn't stay in the apartment until the wifi was restored, so I would be staying in a hotel. That really shocked her frugal mindset. I turned the knife once more and said that I want the apartment staff to pay for my hotel stay. She tried to explain that it was unlikely to happen as these things just aren't done. I insisted.
Within two hours my wifi was fixed at my home and I didn't need to find a hotel. Later in the day, the teacher said she couldn't believe how serious I was about the inconvenience.
It always seems to work that way. When I needed medicated skin cream and had been asking for weeks, I was finally taken to the doctor after I said I'd go to Canada to see a doctor. When my boys' classes were becoming truly unruly and the Korean co-teachers weren't attending class, that situation wasn't resolved until I said that I changed my mind and I wouldn't renew my contract.
Always, I try to be reasonable at first. Inevitably, when that doesn't work, I have to raise the stakes.
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