On my last day of work at Fiordland Lodge (thankfully that betrayal is over), I met a family from Taiwan. They were in excellent spirits and I enjoyed serving them as they explored different types of New Zealand food and Wine. At the end of the evening, the mother purposefully ran into me and explained that it was Chinese New Years Eve and her and her family were celebrating the forthcoming New Year. (Having studied Mandarin Chinese at the University, I felt pretty dumb and disconnected from the world because this was news to me). As she said good night, she handed me a Taiwan $100 bill.

New Zealand is not a tipping culture and the tips I received at the lodge were negligible at best. So a $100 tip really got my attention. I confirmed with Natalie, who was polishing cutlery in the kitchen, that the bill was not Chinese Yuan (she studied abroad in China so she would certainly know) before stashing it in my pocket.The next day, I excitedly got online to check out the current exchange rate. Imagine my amusement when I learned that $100 Taiwanese dollars is equal to about $3 (USA)!

I clearly made two mistakes here.

1. $100 is a good amount of money in the United States. I have not spent enough time in countries with hyper inflation to appreciate that $100 is often not worth much. Still, my basic understanding of the world and the Taiwanese economy should have clicked a few things into place in my foggy brain. Oops!
2. The $100 was not a tip. It was a New Years gift. The Chinese do not typically give expensive gifts at Chinese New Year. Instead, they typically give a small token (like a $100 bill) as a means of saying happy New Year. This is also something I was well aware of but again, brain Fog.

Lesson learned. I imagine that when we get to China (hopefully around September), these type of incidents will occur with great frequency.

Happy New Year! Enjoy the Year of the Ox.

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