"Teacher, three air conditioning units are really expensive!"

My class is two hours long with a 10 minute break in between. Our teacher usually takes this opportunity to correct our homework and chit chat. So here's an abbreviated version of how break time went today:

Thai boy asks Teacher: Why are Chinese characters so hard, a little dot here or a stroke there changes the meaning of the word.
Teacher: English is hard too, a slight misspelling and you get a different word.
Me: But in English, if you just get the first few letters and last few letters of the word right, people can usually figure out what you're trying to say.
Thai boy: Yeah, I always get "is," "are," "am," and "were," mixed up, but it's still ok.
Brazilian guy in the back: Teacher, three air conditioning units are really expensive!
Me: (chuckle, chuckle, amused and wondering where the hell that comment came from)

(Bell rings, signalling the end of the break)

Teacher and Brazilian continue to discuss where he gets his quotes, that each store tells him something different about what needs to be installed, how to figure out who is telling him the truth.

Brazilian guy: I also need to set up Channel 4 (cable TV) and broadband at home.
Me: I'd recommend getting roommates and getting them to set it up. (a knowing grin and a nod, and even more amused with where this conversation is going)

Teacher, Brazilian guy, and South African guy discuss how to get cable, and Teacher talks about how back in the day, a lot of people would steal cable so you could see a bunch of lines connected to one cable line, and how that doesn't happen anymore because they lock the lines.

Brazilian guy: How do I set up automatic payment for my bills?
Teacher: You need to go to the bank and ask them to set it up for you.
Brazilian guy: But what if the name on the bill and the bank account holder are different people?
Me: (I don't know why I thought it was so funny, but I just lost it and couldn't stop myself from going into a giggling fit, almost slipped off my chair too. Almost.)
Teacher: I don't know. I live with my parents, so my Dad pays the bills.
South African guy: How do you open a bank account?
Me: You need two proofs of identification and a chop.
SA guy: Where can I get a chop?
Me: You need to have it made at a chop shop.
SA guy: What does it look like? What sign should I look for?
Me: (Pause, thinking about how to describe a chop shop) If you want, I can show you one after class.
Teacher: There's a place down the street. (She draws a map of the block and points him to the place across from McDonald's on the next block.) You can get them very quickly, a machine makes them now and it just takes minutes. It would take forever to carve them by hand.
Me: I got mine in an hour and they told me it was hand carved.
Teacher: How much did you pay for your chop?
Me: NT$1000
Teacher: (flabbergasted) Is it made of a precious stone?
Me: Bull's horns
Teacher: Some go for like NT$25. What do you need with such a fine chop?
Me: Because it's pretty.

I felt really bad thinking that the Brazilian guy might think I was making fun of him, but I wasn't really laughing at him, I just found the randomness of the conversation so incredibly entertaining. After class, I explained and apologized to him. Thankfully, he wasn't miffed, or at least he didn't look it. Still, I hope he won't stop asking these random off-the-wall questions every once in a while.

Note: No bulls were harmed in this blog. The lady at the chop shop assured me that their bull's horns are harvested humanely, without killing the bulls.