Had a lovely feast, AG and I made a cake for it, and had a nice chat, and AG played with Aunt+Uncle’s doggie, isn’t she pretty?

Hooters, Parramatta.

Maybe I should plan my 21st birthday at Hooters!

Went to Soph’s graduation. Congrats!!!

Soph carryng the roses I gave her

Her cute duckie

Christmas trees at Central station

“Put your MP3 player on shuffle, and write down the first line of the first twenty songs. Post the poem that results. The first line of the twenty-first is the title”

Cleared the fog that was veiled around me

Haïti, mon pays,
Say it to my face
No more gold lights for the queen earth to keep you warm in your kingdoms
Shot down I stood

Don’t get any big ideas
Beating, Heart still beating for the cause
We’ve lost the minds
It’s the saddest sight

Watch out big ships are waiting
Tonight your soul sleeps
There is no turning back
Long Lost Love

Over the airwaves tonight,
Falling inside again
Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
The lighthouse lost its light on her a long time ago

Last week I had the strangest dream
On this day I see clearly everything has come to life
I cannot disguise,
I am thinking it’s a sign

I’ve been out a lot, so today was supposed to be my “stay at home” day, but dad dragged my butt to go grocery shopping.

I’ve been getting charged a bit of money from the bank lately but didn’t do anything about it since I had a busy semester, so I decided to bring my account summary and inquire about it.

I got to the bank and lined up (there wasn’t even a place to queue at actually). A lady came up to me and asked what I needed help with.

• Me: These $6 charges, what are they for?
• Her: I can change it to $4 if you want.
• Me: But are they compulsory?
• Her: Yes, they are account keeping fees.
• Me: But I didn’t sign up to this.
• Her: Oh it’s automatic.

Yes, they can charge you WHENEVER they like…

• Me: But I’ve never been charged that and when I signed up to it, they said there wasn’t any fees.
• Her: This is the fee you have to pay to maintain your account.
• Me: Oh.

Dumbfounded because that was the most unhelpful response she can give.

• Her: So you want to change this to the $4 one? Here, [guy] will help you out.

Okay then, I thought. THAT is helpful, lady!

• Him: So the difference between the $6 fee and the $4 is that they are exactly the same, except the $4 one you cannot make withdrawals over the counter. Say if you want to withdraw $2000, it will charge you $2 every time.
• Me: I see. Do they charge students this?
• Him: No. Are you a full time student?
• Me: Yes
• Him: Can I see your student ID please?
• Me: Here it is.
• Him: Can I have your name?

After that, he told me to go sit and wait. GREAT!

So when it comes to my turn, another lady was serving me, and I had to go over the same process again, repeating everything up to mentioned point. GREAT! But wait, that’s not all!

• Her: So now we will waive your fees.
• Me: So do I get a refund of the fees I paid?
• Her: No, you’re not getting charged starting today.
• Me: How come?
• Her: You’ve given us your student ID today, so it will waive from today on.
• Me: I signed up at UNSW’s bank, and they told me I wouldn’t be charged. I’ve given in my student card and everything beforehand.
• Her: But you need to give it in every year.
• Me: Look, I’ve been charged starting August – if it is this way, how come I wasn’t charged before August?
• Her: It’s because you haven’t given us your student card before,
• Me: Yes, but how come you automatically assumed I’m not a student starting August?
• Her: I’m going to get my manager.

Yes… perfect. Assuming I am not a student MID-semester. So the first
lady came up to me and starting talking

• Her: I have spoken to you before. As I said earlier, the $6 is the account fee

But that wasn’t what I wanted to know now, so I started explaining that I was aware of these fees, and I was aware that they weren’t charging students!

And SO, the whole process repeated AGAIN… GREAT service huh? Making me repeat all that to 3 different people! But wait, there’s even MORE. She apparently started becoming psychic!!!

• Her: So you must have signed up, and then not extend the student status, so we assumed that you are no longer a student and charged the fees. Because you have to renew it every year.
• Me: So you are not going to return this, even though I have been a student for the whole year?
• Her: But we have no proof that you have been a student this whole year because we haven’t received your student ID.

Ha, I thought, now I can challenge her!

• Me: So if I bring my academic statement to you, you will return these charges to me?

Not getting out of this one, surely?

• Her: Yes…

FINALLY!!

• Her: …but you have to go back to the original branch… so at UNSW… and give those details and then they will return the fees.

Ha, always a catch, isn’t there?

Them getting your money, too easy.
You getting a single cent off them – difficult as hell.
Getting your rightful money back from them after they made a mistake or charging when they’re not supposed to? Dream on…

So I said to them..

• Me: So I go to their bank, tell them that I’ve been sent by Campsie branch to present proof of my student status, and they will give me my money back?
• Her: Yes.
• Me: Thank you.

Ticked off, I walked out of the bank.

Different branches, same company – and this is how they treat their clients! Inconvenient! So if I made an account in Sydney, and moved to, say Perth, then I have to fly to Sydney’s bank to manage my account?! Pathetic!

But for now, I’m going to try doing it their way. I sure hope it’s worth it; it’s already been a serious waste of my time!!

Seoul Ria, City.