Technological Difficulties

Technological difficulties always seem to come at the worst times. Whether it is your laptop self imploding the night before your term paper is due or a printer refusing to print an important document when you need it most, technology decides that interrupting your life is the most convenient thing that can occur. It’s only fitting that having a major technological issue would occur during my year abroad, causing me massive inconveniences.

Now, as a person in my early 20s, I am probably a bit too reliant on technology, as most people my age are. However, there’s a certain security that comes from knowing I can rely on apps such as Google Maps for directions and WhatsApp to communicate with people at a moment’s notice. Especially since I am abroad in a place I did not grow up, my reliance on technology has grown a lot this year. It is my way to contact my family and

A few weeks ago, my phone decided that it did not need to be functional anymore. I was heading back to my neighborhood from being at the university, when it stopped connecting to the cellular data network. This meant I could not send any messages, look anything up, or do anything beyond playing the couple of games I have on my phone. Of course this was not practical for what I needed my phone for. So, naturally, I was quite annoyed. Now, technology (and the issues it can occasionally present) is not my strong suit, I barely would know how to handle a situation like this in the US. I knew I was in for a ride as I tried to figure out a game plan to get a working phone.

This occurred two days before I was scheduled to leave for a trip to Venice where I was meeting my boyfriend. I assumed it would be the best choice to wait until I saw him again, as he knew more about how technology functioned and would be well suited to assist me. I figured I would have a couple of days of inconvenience. Now when I went to the Venetian Apple Store, I was told that my phone would need to be shipped off, so I was advised to visit the Apple Store in Germany.

A week later once I was back in Germany, I went to the Apple Store in Sindelfingen and there I gave away my phone to the Apple Store so I could receive a replacement. I started the interaction in German, but eventually the Apple Store employees switched to English once they realized I was American. I then waited a long week for the replacement to be ready before I went into the Apple Store again, but I finally did have a working phone.

This experience has taught me a lot about how to handle a problem on my own, in a foreign language/country. I also learned that technology problems can be overwhelming, but that with a bit of determination, you can figure out a solution. While I was initially overwhelmed, I did manage to find a solution.