I have this weekly session at a multi-national corp, where I talk about life, the universe and Leonardo DaVinci with a variety of accountants and administrators. They’re lovely people, and we find ourselves discussing all kinds of aspects of their lives.
Last week it was the upcoming dinner with the big boss. This guy has been running the Taiwan branch for a year, but due to the size of the organisation has never met my students. So, he decided that last week he would have a series of ‘getting to know you’ meetings and sit down with them in groups of 10 or so to build some bridges. And each meeting was followed by a dinner.
Good stuff, except that he’s a foreigner and doesn’t speak Chinese. My guys were terrified last week and we spent the class rehearsing small talk so that the ordeal wouldn’t be too arduous for them.
Anyway, last night I got the report on how it went. Apparently someone had told him that my students had been practising, so they were singled out for ‘chat’ - which can’t be bad for career-building even though it was a challenge. But the story everyone was talking about concerns the ‘star’ English-speaker.
Asked what her biggest concern was, she didn’t mention the probability her job would be outsourced. She didn’t talk about communication problems, or workload associated with his pet project. She didn’t even ask if the budget for English classes would be renewed.
She complained that the ladies toilet was blocked a couple of times last month by someone dropping too much paper into the pan.
:bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: :bravo: I imagine that will be at the top of his priorities to fix this week. It’s a non-smoking environment, so he sometimes pops outside for a ciggie. If anyone sees a well-dressed man in a pair of yellow marigold gloves smoking outside one of those big shiny buildings downtown then please say Hi from me. I feel kind of responsible.
As part of my new geriatric get fit program I walk up the mountain and down the other side to where there is a bus which I catch home. Takes about two hours. When I got to the bus stop I realized that I had lost my wallet and so did not have change even for the bus. I walked back up the mountain and down the other side in the dark to wherein mine domicle is located. Upon arrival it was delightful to discover that some kind Taiwanese soul had found my wallet, checked my ARC I guess, found my address and returned the wallet. On monday I will deliver a bottle of cognac to his place of employ. If he doesn’t like cognac it can sit on the mantle and be the bottle of cognac given to him by the foriegner whose wallet he found etc.
[quote=“bob”]As part of my new geriatric get fit program I walk up the mountain and down the other side to where there is a bus which I catch home. Takes about two hours. When I got to the bus stop I realized that I had lost my wallet and so did not have change even for the bus. I walked back up the mountain and down the other side in the dark to wherein mine domicle is located. Upon arrival it was delightful to discover that some kind Taiwanese soul had found my wallet, checked my ARC I guess, found my address and returned the wallet. On monday I will deliver a bottle of cognac to his place of employ. If he doesn’t like cognac it can sit on the mantle and be the bottle of cognac given to him by the foriegner whose wallet he found etc.
All in all quite a nice story rather.[/quote]
Same thing happened to me about two years ago. Not sure where I lost my wallet, but when I went to the 7-11 for ciggies it was gone. Searched everywhere for it but it was no where to be found. Monday morning I get a call from work. A Taiwanese lady had found my wallet and returned it to my work (ARC has the address). It still had all my money inside. Nothing whatsoever was missing. I was gobsmacked. Bless her.
While we’re listing the amazingly good deeds of the Taiwanese people, I left my Iphone on a bus seat about a month ago. It was anonymously returned to the bus company and I picked it up that night. I was blown away.
