Ok I survived the first day of the workshop by the skin of my teeth as by the end of the day I could barely talk..will explain why shortly. So there are 23 countries attending and they are all in the region that the Ramsar Convention designates as Asia, which extends from the Middle East(west Asia) to South East Asia as Far East as the Philippines and then from Mongolia to Indonesia. Countries that are hear are all members of the Ramsar Convention, although 2, Oman and Bhutan, are very new members. Also here are U.A.E, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Vietnam, Lao, China Japan Mongolia the Phillipines and of course Korea.
It is always impressive at Asian meeting like this how well everyone gets along, how well they can communicate with one another and learn and remember one another's names, when most of the names are so different and from so may different cultures. Of the 40 odd people about 15 are women. They are all very knowledgeable and capable and very obliging with anything you ask them to do. And they are quick to laugh and joke so socially it is very relaxing.
I had a lot of jobs on Day one. I was responsible for the afternoon session from 1-5. But Roy Gardner the Chair of our panel had some transit trouble and got stuck in Ankorage for 24 hours so I had to do his welcome and another item for him and then they asked me to lead the introduction of participants session, so this is why I was a bit horse by the end of the day. Coffee breaks are short and you need to be quick to get something, however, the choice is small. The best thing on offer is Korean Tea which has a very nutty flavour and I am getting very attached to it. The worst thing is that the main food item is a packaged cookie that normally I would not go near, but it is the only thing going so I have consumed a few of these.
I got invited to a lovely lunch meeting but I nearly got to only look at it as they started the meeting with the lunch all laid out in front of us but no one said "start eating". Only when I said " I have to leave in 10 minutes" did they say "oh sorry, everyone eat!" Later that day a few people thanked me.
The boys are keen for a box of that cereal if you get a chance to purchase. Can't imagine you eating the cookie!
ReplyDeleteOkay, so all you guys look hard at work doing nothing. And why don't you get that thing catered, then you won't have to worry about eating. Maybe that restaurant you ate at with the tall chairs inside and the tables for short people on the outside can do it. Aren't these meetings all about the food? And is this meeting tied in with the Asian meeting of nations that is going on right now. I heard something about it on the news since the US or Obama didn't go and China is happy to take the lead. On another note, my dad had a great trick to remember names. Supposedly, when asked how he could remember people's names so well, he said that he just asked them their name and remembered it. But I found in his effects a little book by Norman Vincent Peale on how to remember names. I wonder if it's still in print.
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