Day 74: Triumphant Mario!

It's 9:20 AM, and class is supposed to start. On the stage, Professor Ant (I call him that because, although his last name isn't spelled that way, it sounds the same—oh) is desperately trying to get the projector in the lecture hall to display his computer screen.

But it's not working.

He presses every button on the projector. Still nothing.

He calls the secretary/janitor for help. No luck.

The supercomputer professor from upstairs comes down to assist. He fails too.

Professor Ant is getting nervous. The students have no idea how to fix it. Finally, looking defeated, he turns to the packed lecture hall and announces that class has to be rescheduled because the projector is broken.

Then, suddenly, a voice shouts from the back row:

"DAS IST NICHT KAPUTT!!! ICH WEIß!!!" ("That's not broken!!! I know how to fix it!!!") (probably it was wrong...)

The entire class turns around, staring in disbelief at the very last row—the place where the leftovers of university society sit. The scourge of lab sessions. The Erasmus student.

People look at me in shock. (It's so common for people to assume that if you don't speak German, you must be stupid.)

Professor Ant says, "Come down here and help me!"

As I walk down the stairs toward the battlefield, there should be epic adventure music playing—the kind you hear when the hero is about to face an enormous challenge. I reach the computer. I click here and there (Start / Settings / Control Panel...). And immediately, the first slide of the PowerPoint presentation appears, projected onto the massive lecture hall wall.

…

Total silence.

…

Even if he can't speak, the Erasmus student is not an idiot. Professor Ant thanks me, and I walk back to my seat in the last row, victorious. Where I once again become the clueless guy who never understands anything.

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