continuing frustrations of an expat

Yesterday was such a frustrating day. After the first day of school I pooled all my efforts into 1 simple task... paying my internet/cable and utilities bills. My bahasa skills are steadily improving to the point where I feel confident enough to have solid conversations but when it comes to difficult situations I am still at a loss. So if there is any sort of complication or something that needs to be examined further I am left scratching my head. I was able to pay my utilities bill with relative ease but my internet and cable bill drove me mad. I spent almost 2 hours on the phone speaking to a number of people all of which were unable to speak english properly while I was unable to speak Indonesian properly. Both sides were equally frustrated. After 2 hours of fruitless persistence I gave up and asked a friend of mine to help, the only problem was that she was at work and wouldn't return until 6pm. As things go here she didn't arrive home until 9pm. At this point I have just about lost all patience and am ready to punch someone in the face. She speaks to someone we have to drive 30 minutes away and eventually finally my bill was paid....

My friend couldn't understand at first why I was so frustrated even after I explained all that I had gone through just to pay a bill and I finally realized that all that complication is just a way of life over here. It is so normal for such a simple task as paying a bill to take an entire evening that she thought nothing of it. I returned home relieved but exhausted aaand my apartments parking lot was full so I had to leave my car parked outside and leave the keys with security so that it can be moved in necessary. I love this country but good grief..