Saturday, April 29, 2006

15 things (8 to 15)

Note : continuation of my 15 highlights/lowlights during my first month living in Chicago

8. Helped a man $2 for bus
This guy I met on my way to Borders book store was short on cash to get on a bus...I was more than happy to help him, to be honest. There are other cases as well (no money to get on train, etc), but this particular instance I cared the most.

9. Save $60 for trip from Midway airport to my apartment
I took a taxi from my apartment to Midway (for my SF trip) and it costed me about $45. Which was fine, since it was early in the morning and I did not want to risk missing my flight. However, on the way back, it was lunch hour in Chicago and I figured that it would cost me more since the traffic would be so bad. Thank God for U-Pass, CTA Orange and Red Line, I got home safely at my apartment for FREE!

10. Friendly neighborhood and surprisingly convenient apt complex
I wasn't sure about my apartment at first: it was far from school, the neighborhood looks kinda scary....all that stuff. But I was delighted to discover Dominick's grocery store (which has excellent meat and produce) was just two blocks away, the church was near, Borders book store was located at walkable distance, the Red line was just beside my apartment, the neighbors were nice and friendly.....I could go on and on and on with this.

11. All my favorite stores at State St
What can I say.....
H&M, Forever 21, Nordstrom Rack, New York and Company, TJ Maxx, Wet Seal, Payless Shoe Source, Old Navy, Marshall Fields....all in two blocks. Nuff said.

12. Great sunglasses at New York and Company
I did not know that New York and Co has such fabulous sunglasses collection this spring, and they cost $18 for two! I loved them so much that when I lost one of the sunglasses during my SF trip, I came back and bought the exact same model and another one. So I have three sunglasses now! Woohooo!!

13. Fights with boyfriend
My deadly sins of Wrath and Pride have always been a major stepback in our 4-year-old relationship. The great thing is, we always make up afterwards. But still, we cannot go on like this forever now, can we?

14. Ugly encounter with Quixtar representatives
See my previous post of "Settle in Chicago (part 2)" for more details. This is the name of the company that I was reluctant to share initially, but now I don't care about it anymore.

15. Being used by Indonesian personnel of Department of Trade Ny. Sondang
.....It always angers me whenever I realized there are so many incompentent, sleazy, and stubborn people that dared to call themselves government officials......especially from my country. I met her when I attended the seminar "Expansion Through Trade & Investment with Indonesia" on April 7. Basically, the seminar's objective was to lure US inverstors to Indonesia (that's why the Indonesian Minister of Trade, Dr. Mari Pangestu was there). I came there partly out of curiosity and partly to gather materials for one of my classes' papers.
Before she asked for my notes (which I vigorously took while she was nodding off to sleep or chatting with other people at her table - how did I know? She sat at the table in front of me!), she did not do as much as spared a glance......that's whey I was so pissed off when she acted pathetically, persistently, forced me to lend her my notes. She said she was going to use my paper to "help" her make an official report for the Department of Trade. She also told me that she was having a hard time taking notes since she still had some jetlag disorientation. To tell you the truth, I was never willing to lend her my notes since it felt like she insisted to invade my personal space, and because it was for my own purpose of creating an academic paper. But if I had not lend her, OH MY GOD.....I could not even imagine what S&*T she would be saying about me! And after the deed was done and she said thanks (she even called me a “drafter”….what nerves…), she immediattely switched back to her "I-don't-know-you-anymore, I'm-the-great-government-official, go-scram!" mode. However, what pissed me off the most was that there are so many jackasses or bitches out there in Indonesian government like her.
For those of you who are offended and/or Indonesian like me, I am sorry for my language. It's just that I am tired that everytime I look for something positive about the government agents' attitude from my country, these kind of things always come up. Sorry, but the damage was done, I was deeply dissapointed and I stand by my words about bad government officials who only know how to enslave their subordinates to do their job and get away with everything they did not do. Stupid, pathetic, and a horrid dissapointment.

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