Getting Gas

For over four years in Vietnam, I managed not to have to call to order gas when it runs out since each time it happened Andy was home for the rescue. (Here people cook with portable propane gas stoves.) Yesterday Andy was out taking a student back to her hometown two hours away for an emergency in the family. In the middle of cooking dinner, the fire went out, and I knew what I had to do... I called the number on the tank and ordered a tank of gas. That I managed to say, plus our address. But when the lady asked me what color the tank was, I realized there are different ones like red, blue, and gray etc. for different sizes I believe. Ours was the gray one, but I didn't know what "gray" was in Vietnamese! But, I did know "red, blue, black, and white." So I told her literally, "Not color red, not color blue. Color black and white." Voila! A grey tank of gas was delivered within a half hour! Learning to survive in Vietnam still...