Okay! I just had to use this quote from the recently released movie, 'Prince of Persia,' since my friend K.L. and I went to go see a screening of it the week before it came out! I was pretty skeptical about watching it, since the trailers are certainly of over-the-top-cheesiness, but... we were able to see the movie for free and have the opportunity to see Jake Gyllenhaal in person! I was expecting to be laughing throughout the whole movie, but... it actually was better than I expected, got K.L. and I both cringing at the grotesque snakes flying out of sand (IS that even possible for snakes to do that?!?), and.. hey! It landed me with a decent photo of Mr. Gyllenhaal, and a cheesy, epic quote from the movie...
"The gods have a plan for you. A destiny."
Which leads me to the theme of this post... which is just, general luck/surprises or.. general decision makings in your life that you think and might change your life.
Two days ago, I was looking at the horoscopes in the LA times, and was met with this particular hypothesis of my destiny for that day:
In general, I usually don't pay attention to horoscopes, since they're usually wrong or just... so general that they can be applied to literally, anyone. However, there are always a few cases when I read the black and white, find it to really strike a coincidence with my present life... typically resulting in my "oh-my-god-this-is-my-fate!!" emotional outburst and temporary loyalty to whoever genius (or.. GOD) it is that writes the horoscope column.
Anyway. This day of my fated horoscope, I found the fortune to be particularly accurate, as I was stressing sooooooo soooooo much over the protest conditions in Bangkok, the news that my research-program was going to be delayed for (at least) 2 weeks, and just the concern of changing my flight to Bangkok for financial issues.
Upon calling United Airlines to ask about changing my flight, I encountered:
1. Friendly Lady: who said that I could change my flight to Bangk
ok without a service fee. However, I was not ready at the time to make decisions, yet, so I didn't make any changes.
2. Stuck-to-the-rules Man : who said that because my date of flight (beginning of June) into Bangkok wasn't included within the time-waiver (U.A. offered to cancel a service-fee if people were originally planning on travelling to Bangkok with the month of May), and that I'd have to wait a few more days to see if the beginning of June would be covered within the waiver. I was shocked to find that I now had to pay a service fee of $250, so I didn't make any changes.
3. Stingy Man: The professor heading the research progra
m called U.A., explaining the situation to them and managing to allow me to change my flight without a service-fee. When I explained to the U.A. representative this and saying that it listed on my 'file' that I was able to waive the fee.... he basically said that he didn't see anything, and that I still had to pay the service fee. I was about to cry at this point.
4. Life-saviour Lady: Who... I called, explained the same situation to her as I did to 'Stingy Man,' was asked to wait for a moment... and although she had to take a moment to ask her surpervisor to look more deeply into my files, she was able to see that, indeed, I was not lying and I was able to get a fee-waiver.... so I changed my flight, FINALLY! To which, I literally was just thanking this lovely representative over and OVER since I was SO grateful that my tempest was over!!
Take into account the fact that I called U.A. representatives 2~4 within 20 minutes.
Needless to say, I am now very well aquainted with the automated system (and, how cool is it that you get to do voice command when answering questions?? ooo, yeah..); know that it is now a good idea that if you don't get what you want, to just hang up and try calling again ; am now slightly biased and think that female representatives are not only more friendly, but just.. far more helpful.
So, in any case! Back to my horoscope... oh yes. Despite the fact that I was going crazy over the fact that my summer was being affected by events that were out of my control, things ended up working out. On my original date of departure from the U.S., I will be going to Shanghai (instead of Bangkok) to visit my sister, spending time with her and visiting the World Expo.
A Map of the World Expo in Shanghai
Hopefully, the research program will still go on, in which case, I will book a flight from Shanghai to BKK in time for the start of the program.
If it is still deemed too unsafe in Bangkok, the research program will be cancelled... and I would probably either spend more time in Shanghai, go to Japan, and just figure out my way back home to the U.S., later.
It's not use fretting with unforeseen events... just deal with them as they come.
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