Here We Go Again – Moscow Life Update #6

Internet

I think I just paid my internet bill? Perhaps? My apartment wifi on my laptop has worked beautifully since I moved into my place. This morning for the first time I could not get online. This message would keep popping up, in Russian of course. I was not able to translate it because I couldn’t get online. My phone wifi wasn’t working either and for some strange reason my internet on my phone works on data when I am outside my apartment now, but still not in it. There were some blanks to be filled in so I figured I had to sign in. I tried various combinations of my account number, password, telephone, etc. I gave up and tried to pay my internet bill online at school using my online banking. That didn’t work because “The operations cannot be processed. Sim card parameters have been changed. Please contact customer support.” So I asked my AT to translate the login in information that I took a picture of in the morning, turns out I had to put the amount I owe along with my account number and phone number. How was I to know how much I owed? Shouldn’t they be telling me? Of course I had to contact my school HR to figure out how much I owed. It’s only $12 for a month. Seems pretty cheap to me. I would prefer to pay more and not have all the hassle to be honest.

I came home tonight and filled in the information and then was directed to another screen to enter my credit card information. I thought that would be pretty easy, name and number. It wouldn’t let me enter anything into the blanks. Finally I entered my number and then my name and it worked in the opposite order that one expects. Then some more Russian came up and I kept clicking on the button that looks like it would get me somewhere. I have no clue what I actually did and if I actually paid my monthly bill, but I do have wifi now!

Have I mentioned how hard it is to do everything in Russian, especially when my aids like my laptop and my phone aren’t working!!! Everyone asks about how much exploring I have done. This is what I do, figure out how to live in a new country! It’s like a new life where I have to figure out how everything works again.