Thick Face

I had a metting with the manager this morning. Hold on. That's not quite right. What I meant to say was I went to the college, peeked to see if he was in and then pop up at his door uninvited. This time, I didn't bother emailing or giving him a courtesy call cos based on the many experiences I had with his answering machine, I knew I'd never get a reply. So. This morning, I gave him a surprise visit and showed up at his office unexpectedly. I figured if I pester him long enough, he'd eventually get sick of me and give me what I want.

I'm quite good at reading people's facial expression and judging from Mr. W's this morning, it wasn't good. It spelt: NO! NOT YOU AGAIN! He tried to hide this but I caught that look in his eyes. That inscrutable expression that said I wasn't welcome. And then he sneezed, a loud one at that. And I knew at that moment he's started to develop some kind of allergic reaction to something. When I sat down, he sneezed again, for the second time. There was only one explanation. It's not because of the winter bug or anything. He was allergic to me! Ahh...poor fellow. I sort of pitied him for having to put up with me for a whole semester. But being desperate, one has to be tabal muka in order to achieve one's goal. Mine was to get 15 guinea pigs for my research. By hook or by crook.

After some very good negotiations, he decided to give me one slot for my data collection session. An upper intermediate class comprising about 7-8 students. Well, I wanted 15 but beggars can't be choosers. I quickly took the offer and got out from his office before he changed his mind.

I'm starting to feel a bit more settled now but not entirely. Until I get my seven subjects, I won't be able to relax. I hope everything materialises on Friday. Fingers crossed.