2 Questions Every Girl is Asking Herself

Chapter 28

When I'm not busy thinking about Jeremiah, the majority of my time is spent happily writing.

And occassionally...shopping.

When you're travelling in Southeast Asia, one of the most important survival tactics you will need is - bargaining skills. Some people are real naturals at it. They are personable, quick on their feet, have a solid foundation in elementary math, know when to advance their interests and when to call it quits. They enjoy the fruits of their labours as much as the tug-of-war itself.

I, on the other hand, am nothing like that. I am shy, thin-skinned, slow-thinking, I couldn't count past 30 until my fifth birthday, and... I'm Canadian. I just want to be nice.

There was this one time, during my stay in Bali, I spent an entire day shopping for my very extensive extended family. With such a long list, you can imagine how exhausting shopping can be, especially in Bali, where you have to bargain for everything, where the price of goods could change 200%, based on the whim of the vendor. It's one thing to want to be nice and help their economy, but another to be ripped off like crazy.

In other words, I was forced to face my fears.

I came across these pretty silk scarves at the Ubud market and asked how much they were.

"Ok, I give you this 2 for 100,000 rupiah, and this 2 for 150,000." The vendor said, pointing at two different types of scarves.

"What if I take all four?" I asked.

"What price you want?" He asked like a shrewd businessman.

"4 for 300,000." I said decisively.

"Ok, deal. You bring good luck to me. Here's a fridge magnet as a gift from me to you." He said happily.

I handed him the money, pleased with my purchase.

As I walked to the bookstore to see if they had any good books in stock, I got this uneasy feeling welling up inside me that I couldn't understand or identify. Then, after 10 minutes or so, it finally hit me.

He was offering 4 for 250,000, and I bargained for 300,000!

No wonder I "bring good luck to him"!

I laughed at my own dumbness, and wondered if I should go back and explain myself. What are the chances he'd even admit it? If this were in China, they'd probably shoo me out with a broomstick, yelling, "No refunds. No exchanges!" But I went back to try my luck anyway.

"Hi, I made a mistake earlier. When you said 100,000 for these two, and 150,000 for the other two, I meant to say 200,000 for all four. But said 300,000 instead." I said sheepishly.

He smiled and handed 100,000 back, with no hiccups or hesitation, or a single word of protest.

The Balinese are so nice.

And...

Who said Asians are good at math?!