I answered a call to go to the police cadet college at Andemen to give a talk on the British Legal System. I had spent a considerable amount of time putting together a very interesting and in parts, humorous walk through mainly the criminal system and the police.
I was met at the gate and then marched to the sports hall which was about a kilometer from the gate and as it was tipping down, by the time I got there I was soaked. My trousers were wet from the bottom to about 4 inches up and my shoes were sodden.
The inevitable pre-talk banquet had only a few edible dishes and these were all vegetables. I did my best to look enthusiastic but the senior officers I was with seemed to enjoy it a lot more than I did.
After I started talking, I noticed that a few students were already texting on their phones (or playing games). This is an annoying habit that the Chinese have. They think it’s completely acceptable to use their phones in meetings, talks, lessons… in fact anywhere they like.
It has been said that the most important thing to a Chinese person is answering their phone.
Anyway some of them listened and laughed at the right places. The games went down ok but although I had asked them to make sure the speakers wold work for my “I shot the sherrif” song they didn’t and their suggestion of holding the microphone next to the laptop speaker was a failure. So I went on with my next game – the murder story game. This went well thank heavens.
Walking home in the rain I was starving having turned my nose up at the Chinese banquet offerings. In desperation and feeling faint I stopped at KFC. This is usually a last resort so you can imagine how hungry I was.
They seemed happy with the talk and I got paid so I can eat today.