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Haaaaaaaaaaaa.

I must be cursed by the laundry devil if there is such a thing.

I went to the laundromat, put my laundry in the washer i had used before, went to the nearby cafe to kill time, went back to the laundromat 40 minutes later, the washer was still in the rinse cycle, thought it was funny since I expected it to be done or at least in the spinning cycle, sat down to wait, netsurfed on the smartphone and 30 minutes later found it was still in the rinse cycle.

It was stuck there.

I kicked the washer, but nothing happened. I tried to open the door, but of course it wouldnt open since water was running in.

I took out the prepaid card for the laundromat and found a phone number on it. I thought about calling Y san at P's office for help, but decided to call the number myself. More people than you expect speak English here, so I thought I would try.

So I called. No answer. Called again. No answer. Called again and finally a man answered. I adked him if he spoke English. He said "English? Yeah." Yay. I explained to him the situation. Silence. "One more time" he said. I tried to speak with simple words in simple sentences. "Washer broken. Help."

I could hear he was talking with somebody, but no matter how many times I repeated myself, i could not get through to him. He did not speak English.

So I told him i would call him back. "Call back. Yes, yes."

I called Y san and gave her the number of the man. She called me back to tell me he would be there in 5 minutes. What a relief.

He showed up soon after. I used google translate to communicate with him, but he did not get it. Y san had explained to him what the problem was, but he kept saying to me that there were three steps in the rinsing cycle (I understood because he said rinsu, rinsu, rinsu, pointing at the indicator on the machine).

The thing was that he seemed to believe firmly that there was nothing wrong with the machine and i was mistaken to think it was broken. I think he thought I wanted to stop the machine before the spin cycle.

I dont think it was the language barrier that prevented him from understanding the situation. When he was on the phone with Y san, he kept talking and repeating himself about rinsu rinsu rinsu. He just does not listen.

But he seemed to at least get that i wanted the machine to stop. He opened the top with a key and stopped it. I asked Y san to tell him i just want to put everything in the dryer and get done with it so i can go back to the apartment and that what he does with the washer is his business. I was exhausted.

So he left, without putting up a sign or anything on the washer. Ha.

But the chances are that the washer will behave just fine when somebody else uses it.

At least the dryer is working. Yes, im still at the laundromat. It's been more than 3 hours. I deserve some ice cream. Double scoop.