So you thought you'd take a trip to Southeast Asia to get away from the pressures of modern life, including the spam that clogs your e-mail daily, especially those Nigerian scams that ask you to give your bank account information. As if you'd be so daft. So you plan a short trip to an exotic locale, such as Bali, Malaysia or Thailand, where you can escape from it all and refuse to even check your e-mail.

You arrive at your exotic locale and are walking around the city when someone comes up to you and asks where you're from. You sense immediately that you have become the target for this person to practice their English. But the man seems nice enough, and his English is pretty good, so you just follow the conversation. You know from experience that these types usually have some kind of connection with the English-speaking world, such as a brother studying in the U.S. or a cousin living in London. This man is no exception. His sister will soon be going to your country to study nursing. Would you mind giving her some advice?

You accept the man's invitation to his house for tea and a chat with the sister. After all, it would be a nice opportunity to experience some local culture. You arrive at his modest house and are introduced to various brothers, grandparents and caged birds -- the whole family, in fact, except the sister. It turns out that the sister has just left to take her mother to the hospital, but she'll be right back. In the meantime, you have a few laughs with the family while exchanging cultural information and drinking tea.