Canadians Everywhere

Today I took a trip to the Canadian consulate, and got a bit drunk.

This came about because I was 'asked' in a manner that was clearly more 'told', to represent the organization at an event held by the consulate. This event was for Canadians in the education sector of Hong Kong to meet other Canadians. It was also full of all the big wigs of the education system in Hong Kong, so my job was to network.

My first problem was that I was not Canadian. Every time I opened my mouth I had to explain that I was in the consulate because our organization recruits Canadians. A solution was offered to this problem by a very drunk teacher who grabbed me and began making me copy her accent to try to fit in. Whilst she was only trying to help, it nicely rolled into my second problem, the Canadians were drunk.

After I was asked to sit on the lap of a rotund elderly red cheeked lady Canadian teacher I realized that this was not what I expected. What did I expect? Well I think on some level I was expecting the Ferrero Roche advert on TV, the one at the ambassadors party. In that advert there are no elderly ladies asking young men to sit on their laps. Yet it was quite a swish event, there were smartly dressed men walking around offering fantastic Canadian wine, beer, and food. It was just that unlike the Ferrero Roche advert the room was full of Canadians.

So I decided that if I can't beat them, I was going to join them. I picked out the most important people in the room and set to work. I ended up speaking to the head interviewer and general overlord of the Primary Education government scheme, which was interesting. The real result came when I made the first steps to have the organization advertised through the Consulate itself. That should make a serious difference.

So once that got done, it was time to follow the Canadian example. Which is how I got a bit drunk at the consulate.

bx