So the gweilo got on an Air China flight.
It seems I was the only non-Chinese person on the plane.
The culture shock began there. Flying Air China is not like flying Air Canada. We take our western comforts for granted and don’t really appreciate what we have until it’s taken away. This was a good, gradual first phase introduction for me. Take all we are used to here and knock it down three notches. Space, service, quality whether washrooms, seating, or food. I did not suffer, but realized that I was like a city guy going to visit country cousins on the farm. I was going from a developed society to a developing society. They were trying to catch up with us, and doing a great job, but…

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By Ernie Tadla

So the gweilo got on an Air China flight. It seems I was the only non-Chinese person on the plane. The culture shock began there. Flying Air China is not like flying Air Canada. We take our western comforts for granted and don’t really appreciate what we have until it’s taken away. This was a good, gradual first phase introduction for me. Take all we are used to here and knock it down three notches. Space, service, quality whether washrooms, seating, or food. I did not suffer, but realized that I was like a city guy going to visit country cousins on the farm. I was going from a developed society to a developing society. They were trying to catch up with us, and doing a great job, but were not there yet.
 
Alone with my thoughts, I wondered and worried. What was I getting myself into? The pangs of being alone were deep. It would be four months before Lovy would join me. Without her at my side, I was at the mercy of others and my own mental meanderings. Would Dan and his partners, Wu Bing and Peter, accept me? Would the Chinese staff accept me? How would I order things since I didn’t know the language? Would I succeed? How would I begin? What would I do?

Then the “what ifs” started. What if they don’t accept me? What if I don’t succeed? What if? What if?

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Hi everybody (and in particular Celina, John, Mayke, Christina, Louis-Bertrand, Denise, Hani, Rob, Benoît, Jorge, Jef, Nir, who did I miss?),

Thanks, to many of you, for sending me mail asking what the China Business Group on LinkedIn is about and what you can to do help make the group an overwhelming success! I – Michiel a.k.a. Michael – hope you will appreciate me answering some questions through this message to all members. As it will:

a) Spare me some time to answer everybody in person (copy-pasting makes it rather impersonal to me)
b) Share what this group is about with everybody

So here goes! Read the rest of “Introduction China Business Group” or post a comment