Day 55 - Day from Hell

The Great Yuzu Approaches

June 2nd, 2015

Today was a terrible day. Well, the daytime was. Occasionally while I’m sleeping, I’ll grab my phone to see why its been going off all night. There are usualy quite a few notifications because that’s when everyone back home is awake. An e-mail from the school in China glowed on the screen, which probably isn’t good. I open it to see that I have to have my police clearance check to them in 3 weeks in order for my visa to be ready before the training will start.

It’s 9:30am and there’s no way I’m going back to sleep as I roll around, mentally take the steps needed to solve this problem. I do some RCMP work online, contact everyone I can, but everyone is goddamn useless. Either they point me to a group that is supposed to help, which then doesn’t, or they're clueless. The Canadian Consulate in Perth is just a façade of a consulate, simply pointing you in the direction you should go. Usually this means they will deflect you toward High Commission of Canada in Canberra (Aus Capital). Their hours are open until 4:30 with a break for lunch. I will call them after doing some other things in the more immediate environment.

After a distracted gym session and a rushed shower, I print off some forms at the library to get finger printed (Upside: the printing card I was given still had enough money to print all my forms with no charge to me!), then walk to the local police station to find out that they basically won’t help me. They tell me that I have to print off a form and mail it to Canberra myself just to get an Aus police clearance. This is already a desperate move to give the Chinese government SOMETHING while waiting for the Canadian one. They try to deflect me to the Federal police station, but instead I push them to print the forms for me, then make some calls. 

Yes... Get rid of that nasty Hungry Thirsty...

Now is when I call the High Commission, it’s 3:20pm. Again, the commission is open until 4:30, so their automated voicemail says. It then says that they are currently closed. What the flying fuck. I use their voicemail to redirect me to an emergency Canadian line in Canada, which is equally unhelpful. The guy told me to talk to the high commission. That, I explain, is how I was speaking to him. He said to call them when they’re open, clearly not understanding what I’m saying, which I attempt to explain again. He's not ESL and he's still not getting it. I end the call. The comfortable couch in the police station helps me keep it together as I try to contain my anger and frustration before deciding what to do next.

Useful things that happened at the police station: I found out that I have to get finger printed at a Canadian authorized fingerprint digitizing location, and that I can apply for the Aus clearance check online. It's a place to start. I go home, do the Aus one, but can't find anything for the Canadian authorized locations. 

It’s about this time that I realize I have to head out for the free Salsa lessons at Mustang, which I am really not feeling up to after all this frustration. Stoicism: Engage. I’m out the door and spend an hour learning how to dance Merengue and Salsa, meeting a few people while I’m there. To the single gentlemen: go to dance classes. Not only do you learn to dance, which will help with your dance floor confidence, but they’re hurting for male participants. I cut out as soon as its done, and head home.

I call the RCMP directly on Skype. The guy who answered didn’t seem altogether with it, and gave me a phone number that looked suspiciously Canadian. It’s 9pm, so I don’t try the number, thinking it’s supposed to be Australian and they won’t pick up now. However, it is a lead.

What a Beaut

Yuzu arrives at my place and we head to Hip-E bar for the free beer and sausage deal. She didn’t realize it began so late, and ended up starving herself until caving for a late dinner. She wanted to take the hotdog home, but it’s kind of awkward to hold a fresh, hot sausage in hand and not take a bite.

I chatted with this purple-haired German chick who had a confused British/Aus accent, somehow. She reminded me of a friend back home, Haley, but with more piercings and tattoos. Yuzu was speaking with three french guys, and seemed comfortable with it, allowing me to say hello to Cougar Linette from last week.

She quit her job with the eccentric old guy, she tells me, because he had started making sexual passes at her, then getting overly jealous after she had rejected him. This jealousy included trying to force her to work very early on weekends (in an obvious attempt to stop her from being able to go out), and making rude comments when she spoke with other men who passed through the office. Remember: she’s the assistant/receptionist, which entails speaking to most people who enter the office. Anyway, she said sayonara. I got her to admit to being a Cougar, and she talked about the kind of guys she’s into, basically describing exactly what I was doing at the time. Hm. Time for Yuzu and I to dance.

Such a handsome dumbass

This environment isn’t the best for Yuzu because it’s so loud, and that makes the English even harder. Hell, I have a hard time understanding people in clubs most of the time. She also doesn’t particularly like to dance, but she wanted to watch people dance, and seemed entertained at the idea of me dancing. We shake it for a bit, and she does fine. No idea why she avoids it.

Around midnight, Yuzu wants to leave. I know she won’t be comfortable walking home alone and I don’t really want to let her, either. "Au revoir;" I walk her to her place before backtracking to mine.

As I unlock the front door, I catch a whiff of Shimou’s perfume. Strange. I get a text from her telling me that she’s out front. Stranger still. I go out to find she has a cake for my birthday, complete with candles. That is the sweetest thing anyone's done for me in a long while! In the kitchen, we both have a slice, and I make her a grilled cheese. If you’re going international, no one seems to know what grilled cheeses are! What! Wow them with your amazing culinary prowess. Shimou caught a cab back to her place, allowing me to turn in for the night.