Things we take for granted....

....the fact that you can read the buttons on your electronics/screens.

Adventure of the moment.....

A couple days ago I bought some DVDS (you know, because they are super cheap here.....even if they may or may not be pirated....)

and I was sitting down after a looooong, mind boggling day (more on that later) to eat and watch a movie.....

But I accidentally hit some button the the remote that I can't read (you know, because it's in Chinese).....which sent my TV (which had formerly played American TV, somehow set up by satellite) into loud, white noise. After some more button pushing, I managed to get it to Chinese TV......about 10 minutes of more random, attempted educated guesses about button pushing on multiple remotes and the TV itself, and I managed to stumble back to the Satellite TV. I also figured out how to make the DVD play.

So then, I put the DVD in (after pressing all of the buttons on the DVD player to see which one opened it....because it was not the logical looking one), and was excited that it looked like it was about to play.....

....but then, as the sound on the menu screen started up, I realized that for some reason it was playing in French.

If you know me, you know that I'm a bit of a francophile, and I love the French language, but after the past couple days, my brain really doesn't want to think, it just wants to veg, so watching a movie in French did not really seem appealing.

15 more minutes of struggling to try to get the DVD to go to the menu setting so I could try to change the language (this includes time trying to find the right sized batteries to make the DVD remote work, since it did not have batteries and I figured that might be that I needed a remote to get to the menu.....but not AAA batteries were to be found (so I thought) ), and I finally decided to try to find help. Because I really wanted to watch this movie. Any movie. I just really wanted to not have to think anymore.

So I walked across the hall and decided to try to meet my neighbor.

This was a very good idea! He speaks English!

At first I just tried to borrow batteries (completely forgetting, btw, that I live directly above a supermarket and could have easily bought some.....seriously, my brain is fried), but he only had AA.....so then I asked, very politely, if he could possibly come over and read something on the TV....

So he came over and told me what all of my buttons meant, and read the characters that were showing up on the TV when I pressed them.....and still had no luck, until he noticed that the batteries in one of the remotes (which I had already checked, btw....did I mention my brain....is fried?) were actually the right size, so we put those in the DVD remote, and with his navigation help, I was able to change the DVD audio to English, with french subtitles (there is no option to have no subtitles)!!!!!

It only took.....um.....40 minutes.

To make the Chinese TV/DVD player stop playing the American DVD in French.

Ugh.

Though, I think I'll be very thankful that I have a very very nice and helpful neighbor, who seems about my age, and who speaks English! Yay! Thanks neighbor! (ps: his flat has a spiral staircase inside.....which means he has two floors- how sweet!)