Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Why doesn't cream ever hit the fan? Or does it?


I knew about just being down sometimes, and I’ve experienced unintended consequences, but up until the past few months, I have only chuckled about Sod’s and Murphy's laws. But that was before I sat foot on Danish territory.

 
 
Sod's law is similar to, but broader and more extensive than, Murphy's law which states that "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong". Sod's law as the axiom that refers to "if something can go wrong, it will" and often at "the worst possible time".
The phrase is seemingly derived, at least in part, from the colloquialism an "unlucky sod"; a term for someone who has had some bad unlucky experience, and is usually used as a sympathetic reference to the person: in this case ME!

 
 
During my preparations for Denmark, I thought that I covered all the bases, then the incomprehensible happened, and something, actually much more than something, went wrong.
 

I arrived on 6 December in the midst of hurricane/cyclone Xaver. Its strength surpassed expectations. Heavy snowfall and winds of 140 km/h were howling over the country. Eighteen people died. And I spend a weekend in a foreign city. Isolated and with no idea if it was safe to venture out of doors to set off on foot to find a food store. After a long day looking at the snow and wind though my roof-top studio, few things are as comforting as devouring a warm meal. During the weekend in the unfamiliar cold climate, eating not only satisfied my hunger, and kept me warm but also comforted me.  
 

During the first three weeks in Denmark, I moved three times: from Copenhagen to Gentofte and back to Copenhagen. With all my belongings. On foot.
and then

Instead of opening a bank-account on the day I arrived (as urged by all the partners and preferred by myself), only after extreme effort and even more frustration and much more tears of desperation, I eventually managed to open a bank account at Danske Bank. After three months. And only then was I entitled to receive my first remuneration. Banking charges from Nedbank and using my investments and savings to survive, was never part of the agreement. And it was costly. And nerve-wrecking. And not refundable.
and then

Due to the fashionable, but often foolish practices of restructuring and transformation, neither of my two partnering institution’s International Offices found he resources (mainly time and interest) to deliver the essential support as agreed on in the exchange contract.
and then

And then there was the Airport bus driver that left without me (after I waited 90 minutes at the bus stop). I missed all four consecutive flights on that day. However the cherry on the cupcake was when my funding agent tried to punish me by preventing me to make use of the travel-insurance, and insisted that I pay for the re-booked tickets myself! The project coordinator was still pondering on mean and malicious ideas, when I had a wonderful cup of tea on African soil!
and then

One month without internet at my studio-home was challenging; and expensive: my family and friends - who was my only support back home - was not accessible. I paid for every byte I was NOT provided with. 
 
and then

At one stage the International Housing Office handed me over to debt collecting: after I paid the required R12 000 deposit for my room. I was out of harm's way only after I paid an additional deposit of R12 000. And then the office refunded me with R12 000. Some things are just not meant to be understood.
and then
I travelled 70 000 km within 7 weeks, I ended up in an airport clinic because of exhaustion. I went through baggage claim, passport control and customs via a wheel chair, without remembering any of it.
and then
 
The Danish Embassy issued me with a working permit for 11 months, but with a Schengen visa for only 5 months. I was in transit on Frankfort airport when my visa expired . . .
and then

Although I was doubled insured, I did not managed to access medical treatment in Denmark: I just could not got pass the Danish answering machines on the doctors’ appointment phones lines. And once when I did managed to make an appointment, I arrived at a locked consulting room door because my doctor went on an unplanned roadtrip – after I waited 6 weeks for that appointment. The alternative was privately paid medical treatment for the neglected Tracheitis in South Africa.
and then
 
And then the final challenge was when my fellowship was cancelled because I presented a research paper in Adelaide, Australia - for which I got approval by all the parties involved. I was penalised for an achievement! Sue Wright, my Danish mentor opposed the decision, however, I decided to keep the door that the European Union slammed in my face, closed.  Sue immediately offered me fellowships via other funding partners, which I greatly appreciate and will consider at a later stage, because for now, I am treasuring the African humanness and can-do approach.
 and that's why
And I still don't believe that Sod and Murphy had laws: all the challenges is components of exciting times with extreme learning curves.