I just arrived in China and checked into the third hotel in as many countries in the past day and a half. I flew into Korea for applicants interviews, flew back to Fukuoka in Japan, spent one night, then left the next day for China. Some things that left an impression on me in the past couple days:
-Interviewing 31 students in one day at our Seoul office. That was a marathon, from 9 am to 7 pm. I'm glad APU is gaining popularity, but its a rough schedule. Not to mention the other 13 we had the following day.
-I think I managed to get someone fired by failing their boss's son at the interview. This guy is the personal secretary to a corporate bigwig in Seoul. The boss assigned him to get his son accepted to APU. So apparently he filled out all the application forms, including writing the essay for the student. However, when the student showed up for the interview, his English was terrible. I tried soft question, like if he is interested in Japanese culture, he says (misunderstanding somehow) 'No'. I ask him if he wanted to study at APU, he says 'no'. It was an easy choice to fail his application. But apparently this secretary's job was on the line, but there's not much I can do about that.
-Another student we interviewed came not dressed in his suit but in his army fatigues. With the Nuc-u-lar missle test in North Korea, he was called onto active duty and he got permission to come to the city and do the interview. This guy had been in Afghanistan as well, and he had an interesting perspective on things I'm normally not exposed to.
-I did a shot of Bacardi 151 with the Seoul office manager and I think it nearly killed him. In case you didn't know, Bacardi 151 is a 75% Rum. Ooooo...it burns....
-So 'bi bim' means something like 'mixed' and 'bap' means rice in Korean. So 'Bi bim bap' is that famous korean rice bowl dish. Well, I had the 'bi bim' but with kimchi and meat potstickers instead of rice. You mix it up and eat it the same way, but this was much tastier.
-It is like 45-50 degrees here in Dalian, China. A cold shock after 70 degree weather in Seoul and Fukuoka.
-A pleasant reminder that yes, I have arrived in China: Waiting for my taxi at the airport exit a young boy was relieiving himself on a pillar as travelers rushed by him.
-Due to overbooking I have been placed in a suite room at the hotel in Dalian. Two huge rooms, king bed, two TVs, etc etc. The complete opposite of my single room in Fukuoka at the business hotel, which would fit in the closet of the room I'm staying in now.
That's all for now!
