Monday, June 13
Today was a long but entertaining day. In the morning I went with two of my coworkers for a meeting with the managers of a hotel that will be hosting our first performance group, in order to clarify and agree upon details for accommodation of the guests, checking in/out processes, etc. It was a very enriching experience - the negotiation, all the fine details - and I was particularly impressed by one of the managers, who really seemed to know how to provide quality customer service. The hotel is gorgeous, reminding me quite a lot of the hotel I stayed at when visiting NYU in Abu Dhabi last spring - the luxury and the details to hospitality were impressive.
Today I also had my first awkward cultural moment today - during the meeting, I requested orange juice, as did my coworker, Jill. I didn't get a picture of what they brought out, and I can't find any pictures online, so I'll try to describe it to the best of my ability: juice in a jug-like bottle, with a glass that looked like a shotglass with an orange slice garnish. I must say, I had no idea how I was supposed to drink it! I kept waiting for Jill to make the first move for her juice so that I could copy her movements, but I guess she was just as confounded as me, as neither of us touched our drinks until halfway through the meeting, one of the managers interrupted to ask why we weren't having our refreshments. The other proceeded to explain how to drink the juice (pick up the straw, place into bottle of juice, and drink.) The juice was delicious though - fresh squeezed, NOM.
After the meeting, the rest of the day at the office was a mix of hilarity and frustration as we tried to work with our local Internet service providers to figure out and fix what was wrong with our Outlook emails and laughed at each others' frustrations. Damien, one of my bosses, attempted to speak with me in Spanish, which failed as soon as the words "mucho bien" came out of his mouth, and then attempted to speak in Arabic to my other co-workers by proclaiming "sabaa, sita, sita, arba!" which roughly translates to: "morning, six, six, four!"
Today was a long but entertaining day. In the morning I went with two of my coworkers for a meeting with the managers of a hotel that will be hosting our first performance group, in order to clarify and agree upon details for accommodation of the guests, checking in/out processes, etc. It was a very enriching experience - the negotiation, all the fine details - and I was particularly impressed by one of the managers, who really seemed to know how to provide quality customer service. The hotel is gorgeous, reminding me quite a lot of the hotel I stayed at when visiting NYU in Abu Dhabi last spring - the luxury and the details to hospitality were impressive.
Today I also had my first awkward cultural moment today - during the meeting, I requested orange juice, as did my coworker, Jill. I didn't get a picture of what they brought out, and I can't find any pictures online, so I'll try to describe it to the best of my ability: juice in a jug-like bottle, with a glass that looked like a shotglass with an orange slice garnish. I must say, I had no idea how I was supposed to drink it! I kept waiting for Jill to make the first move for her juice so that I could copy her movements, but I guess she was just as confounded as me, as neither of us touched our drinks until halfway through the meeting, one of the managers interrupted to ask why we weren't having our refreshments. The other proceeded to explain how to drink the juice (pick up the straw, place into bottle of juice, and drink.) The juice was delicious though - fresh squeezed, NOM.
After the meeting, the rest of the day at the office was a mix of hilarity and frustration as we tried to work with our local Internet service providers to figure out and fix what was wrong with our Outlook emails and laughed at each others' frustrations. Damien, one of my bosses, attempted to speak with me in Spanish, which failed as soon as the words "mucho bien" came out of his mouth, and then attempted to speak in Arabic to my other co-workers by proclaiming "sabaa, sita, sita, arba!" which roughly translates to: "morning, six, six, four!"
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