It is imperative that you have a sense of humor if you’re going to live outside your own country and culture! No exceptions! So what happened today?

I finally got a bike! Not a moment too soon, I had been on the bus so much that I think they were going to offer me a job as a driver…….Anyway, winter (such as it is) has arrived here in Kunming and I have NO heat. 32 degree’s farenheit isn’t that cold to a guy from New York… But when it’s that way inside you get a little cold.

Okay, to the point! In order to buy a heater, I needed a way to get it home – I.E. a rack on the back of my bicycle. I’ll spare you the details of going to 8 bicycle stalls till I got what I needed and fast forward to paying for the thing that was just installed. A couple of words can make a big difference! I confused ¥16 for ¥60… And proceeded to try and bargain with him for what I thought the correct price should be – ¥20. In Chinese you say ten six to mean 16. I thought I was hearing six ten…. Well, you’ve just got to laugh! The guy selling the stuff sure enjoyed me arguing to raise the price… 🙂