How well do you know Microsoft Windows? Of course, some of you would choose to stay as far away from it as possible. For me, it's part of my job, as well as a real source of satisfaction, to be able to not only use it well but to help solve problems others are having with their computers.
Julie and I were about to leave the Sunday evening worship service (Sunday night, of course) when Lynn caught us and said that a Korean lady, Yun, that lives two houses further down our street, needed help getting a printer connected to a computer. Her husband wasn't in Ukarumpa right now so Lynn told her that I might be able to help.
Asking for help doing this might take many different forms. This might be the first time connecting the printer, a hardware or software problem might have occurred for something that had been working just fine, it might simply require training the wife or a child. I had no idea. I was walking in willingly but blindly.
I arranged to stop by Yun's house after work yesterday. As I approached the front door, one of her sons was practicing the saxaphone. (It seems almost every student is involved in the school's music program in some way.) I was eagerly invited into the living room where I found two laptops and the printer (which had a built-in scanner too) spread out on the floor. I guess there was no furniture (chairs, sofa, table, etc) as a result of normal Korean decor.
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| A Korean keyboard (click to enlarge) |
Yun's skill with English is very limited and my Korean is non-existent. She explained that her son wanted to scan in some material and work with it on the older laptop computer. This computer wasn't older... it was old. The other thing that surprised me is that the Windows operating system was in Korean.
So, asking again... how well do I know Microsoft Windows... in Korean?
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| What I was experiencing (click to enlarge) |
I connected the printer and the screen tried to walk me through setting up the printer's software driver so the two could talk. It was really "funny" to match up my recollection of the questions and options the computer should be asking me and getting Yun to translate what the screen said. I got only so far and then it became just too hard since she doesn't "do" computers.
I noticed that the newer computer's operating system was in English so I thought I could run through hooking the printer up there as a refresher and then move back to the older computer. Trying this approach, I discovered that I would need to download the printer's software from the internet to get the job done on either computer.
Yun then told me that the newer laptop was barred from being connected to the internet because they had already experienced a very serious problem with computer virus infections. (I noticed that neither computer had any anti-virus/anti-spam software installed.)
I got the clear message that she was very uncomfortable my using this "English" computer to visit one site to download the printer software. I also realized that there was no way I would be able to do this on the "Korean" computer.
I told Yun I'd return home, download the software I'd need, and return the next day. She was very appreciative for my help. On the other hand, I still expect much difficulty returning to finish the job.
What fun! And what an interesting twist on providing support to a fellow co-worker for Jesus Christ.
If you would, pray to the God of all wisdom and the creator of all languages, that I'd muddle through this task successfully.
Thanks.
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