Add a zero to that

There was a very important workshop at my work. The local government of Pudong had accepted our program to be part of the regular curriculum. The coming year is a test year and twelve schools are involved in redesigning the Aflatoun program to their needs. My colleague gave an open class for the officials, teachers and principals at one of the schools. Pudong district in Shanghai is special in that it hosts very poor, but also very affluent communities. And this particular school obviously had both.

One of the questions to the children was about how much money they have. "Not so much" said one girl "only RMB 100,000" that my parents gave me. "Not so much" said another boy "My mother always gives me the change when we go shopping. If she buys something for RMB 12 and she pays with 100 I get 82."

Our exercises have been designed for kids who own around RMB 1,000 and buy little things of a few kuai, and have bigger expenses of up to 800. Back to the drawing board for these spoiled brats! Obviously not everyone has that much money on their accounts. Many staid silent in the open class, overruled by their peers' stories.

At the wedding last week