“How much did your bike cost?”
I was vaguely aware that the person I was asking had a strange look on their face.
“Six hundred dollars,” they replied.
I was shocked a bike could cost so much, so I told them so.
“Wow, that’s a lot, why did you pay that much?”
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| I've got used to eating rotten fish with herbs and spices |
Later, I was thinking back over the conversation and wondering why the bike owner had such a strange look on their face. Then I remembered when I first got to China I used to feel uncomfortable when people came up to me to ask me how much I paid for my laptop/bike/jeans/eggs/books. It seemed like an invasion of privacy to my Australian ear.
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| Durian, a smelly fruit I have not got used to eating. |
After my Chinese friends had found out how much I paid for something, they would often tell me I’d paid too much. I think I usually felt annoyed at them, it sounded like they were insulting me, but I don’t think they thought they were.
I guess in Australia we don’t ask questions like that, but in China they do. And I guess I had got used to those questions without even realizing it.
Also, my bike in China only cost me around 10 US dollars, so you can see why 600 shocked me.
This memory (which is from when I just got back to Aust from China) fits into my Surprise series and the re entry one. It’s only after it over that I can look back on it and reflect like this.
I wonder if I’ll have any experiences like this over the next few months, as I go back to live in Australia for a few years, after being in Cambodia.
1 comment:
An African from across the road asked me how much rent I paid. I thought I was surprised because I've always owned my own home, but the direct how much do you pay is a bit confronting.
I accept questions like that from people from other cultures.
m
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