In Reply to: I have a friend in bali that has been posted by inmyblood on Sunday, 26. June 2005 at 12:51 Bali Time:
We go to Bali and like to help our Balinese friends. We always arrive each year with a whole suitcase full of clothes for our friends, including Nike running shoes (that look great but have the tread worn out underneath from running each morning) and lots of tips and gold coins....We give these to our friends because we want to, they need it, and always tip them when they service us. But last year the same thing happened to us..One of our good balinese friends asked outright for more money. We didn't expect it either. So we wondered whether we were giving them too much, only by their standards, not ours, to a point where they think we are rich.
We travel to Bali every year, and each time I travel without all my gold jewellery so as not to give our Balinese friends the wrong impression, but last year it happened to us too.... It is so hard for these people to comprehend exactly where our money goes. They don't have the normal expenses like we do. Has anyone tried to tell their friend that they pay $400 AUD on a mortgage repayment each week? Its hard for them to understand we give up things to go to Bali each year!!!!
It won't deter us from doing our annual pilgrimage to Bali, but we need to become more aware.