If you know me, you might know that I tend to get locked out of things frequently. Keys and I just don’t always get along. I mean, I think in the last month I was home I had to break into my truck 3 times after locking my keys inside. One time in high school, I lost my keys at my youth leader’s house. We looked EVERYWHERE and yet it seemed they vanished into thin air… until they were recovered two years later! So, you might not be too surprised if I were to tell you that I got locked out of my apartment the day we arrived in Harbin. Now, what if I told you that it happened twice on the same day with two different doors? To my own defense, it was not a forgetful “Laura moment” that got me locked out this time. I still don’t quite understand how it all went down but here is the story…and I won’t be offended if you laugh…I’m already laughing as I type this!
Crazy story #1…
The day we arrived we walked across the street to the mall to use the internet. I was exhausted and not feeling well so after a while I walked back to the apartments with my teammate to lie down. When I got to our room I knocked on the door since I knew my teammate Diane was in the room already. She came to the door to let me in and… dun dun dun…the door would not open! Apparently in China, if you lock a door from the outside you are unable to open it from the inside without the key. If we would have known that beforehand, we would not have unintentionally locked poor Diane in the room! The only key we had was back at the mall and since our phones no longer have service I had no idea when she would be back. I didn’t have anyone else’s room number so I couldn’t find anyone to walk back over to the mall with me to get the key (I’m a buddy-system rule follower…you’re welcome, Mom and Dad). I ended up sitting on the floor in the lobby for almost 2 hours before a teammate came in to walk with me to get the key. In the time I was waiting, I confess, I was not very happy! I had just finished an EXTREMELY long 55 hours of travel and my mood was…umm…not quite up to par. All I wanted to do was take a nap, shower, put on some clean clothes, and now I had to wait even longer to do that. Here’s to my first lesson in patience and grace on the WR!
Crazy story #2…
When I finally got to my room after being locked out the first time, I immediately laid down and fell asleep. I slept hard for two hours when I suddenly woke up and realized I overslept and was late to our first meeting with our ministry contact. I shut the door behind me and ran downstairs with the knowledge (thanks to our earlier encounter with Chinese doors) that the door can only be locked from the outside. Therefore, I assumed that the other girls had the key with them because to my knowledge, I didn’t have it and it wasn’t in the room. Turns out, they left the key IN the door on the INSIDE so that I would have it and without that knowledge I shut the door behind me and when I did, the door automatically locked…with our ONLY KEY locked IN the door on the INSIDE! Therefore, my two roommates and myself waited 3 days before being able to get to any of our luggage! Since this all happened the first day we arrived in Harbin, we had not even had a chance to shower before getting locked out. I had the outfit I had on, my fleece jacket, and iphone and that was it. We ended up staying with other teammates who were incredibly generous to share their belongings so that we could be more comfortable.
Morals of the story…
- Don’t assume all doors lock and unlock the same way in every country as they do in America.
- Communication really IS the KEY!
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need something…whether an extra toothbrush, a bed to sleep on, some grace, patience, or forgiveness when your circumstances affect your mood.
- Find joy in receiving
- Laughter is awesome!
