So I am writing this email from my bedroom. That’s not hugely unusual. What is unusual is that my computer got to my bedroom through the balcony window. Odd, I grant you. The computer came through the window because my flatmate passed it to me through the living room window, over the 7 storey gap, into the balcony. This happened because I was unable to open the door to the living room to collect it myself. You see, I am locked in my room. Seriously.

So at about ten past midnight, the episode of M*A*S*H that Bec and I had been watching finished and I went off to bed, closing the door behind me. Then a few minutes later I went to go get my water bottle from the living room, only to discover that my unlocked bedroom door would not open. Bec and I spent about half an hour trying to open it before giving up and calling the landlady, despite the lateness of the hour. She and her husband came round and half an hour later they left apologising – my door still firmly in place. I had managed to unscrew the handle from my side – we then discovered that the lock mechanism inside the door was broken and there was nothing to be done but wait for a locksmith. In the morning.

It’s night time and I’m just going to go to bed, but it’s still rather disconcerting to know that I can’t open my door for any reason, for an unspecified length of time. Bec suggested (tongue in cheek) that I could just climb in the lounge room window – our landlady was horrified despite the laughs that went along with it. Honestly, though, when she was handing me the laptop I had a good look and worked out that it really wouldn’t be that difficult (or dangerous) to pull off – just step from my window to the railing and into the lounge room….

Then again, it’s just one night, so I don’t think it needs to come to that. And now it’s nearly 2am – past my bedtime, I suppose, but all this excitement (and unease) is going to make it hard to sleep tonight!! But I just had to stop and share this story – too crazy not to!

love Tanya

UPDATE: I did get out the next morning, after about 11 hours locked in. The locksmith had to drill the lock mechanism to pieces and pull it out in order to open the door. The landlady was upset – she had bought expensive German-made locks, and believed if she’d bought cheap Chinese locks it would have been simpler to open and wouldn’t have been destroyed in the process. (Most Chinese believe that German-made products are best quality). Later that week she replaced the broken lock with a shiny new…cheap Chinese version ;)