I'm sure those of you who've lived overseas can relate:

Today, like I've had to do a couple times since moving to Hong Kong, I had to call the US to take care of some business. The lady I'm talking to asks for my number to call back in case there are any problems. I tell her it is: "country code 852 and the number is 5555-1234"

She says, confused "Oh, I'm afraid I don't know how to call that kind of number!"

This has happened to me a couple of times already. For some reason, people are instantly confused and afraid of any number that doesn't have the typical (253) 555-1234 pattern. And I'll be the first to admit that I didn't know how to call an international number either before our move to Hong Kong. But, at least I wouldn't have made myself look so dumb by saying that I didn't know how to call it, I would take the number down and do a little internet research and figure it out. It's almost as if I asked her to call me with smoke signals and dialing: 83zY$%& what you don't know how to do that??

So, I tell this lady, well, you first have to enter a number to call an international number from the US. Of course, me being dumb, I didn't remember waht is was.

As a public service annoncement for anyone needing to call internationally from the US, here is how you dial:

011-(country code)-(area code, if applicable)-(phone number)

of course, dialing a 9 first, if needed to get an outside line.

If you think you'll forget, please bookmark this page.

And please also utilize this page, so you don't call me at 3am.

Thank you for your time.