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All work, no play = boring Shanna

Yup – I just checked.  I have a pulse and I am breathing.  Barely keeping my head above water, but breathing nonetheless.

I have been traveling and ridiculously busy this October.  I fly tomorrow to London and then to Marrakech for trade shows (and a few days of fun).  I’m bound to meet interesting people and do something more fun than sit at my computer and work ‘til my eyes bleed!

So sorry to neglect the fun part of my life and all you fabulous people.  On the bright side of working like a mad woman – ??? – Um, I’m thinking of that one.  Let me get back to you.  ;p

More posts will be coming soon.  I’ll probably even draft some on the plane!

 

Checking Out

And here is another thing we would never do in our culture.  Give a 3 day resignation notice by e-mail.  This forwarded email landed in my inbox and I honestly could not stop laughing, as I have never seen anything like this and would never imagine handling things this way…

 

Dear Mrs. D,  

Excuse me that I have late news for you.

I am sorry that I can not tell you before.  I need to resign from my work or check out from your company.

I have a very good opportunity from a big company in Luangprabang.

Thank you very much for the 3 years experience and I am very happy in working with everybody.

Best regards,

S

 

And that was just it.  Can you imagine?

 

Thank you for your kind reply

UPDATE 8/5/09: I just had to share this one today.  It may even be better than the Italian e-mail…

We understand that we have booked this booking a long time, but clients so late reply to confirm us.

So, we are very sorry to say CANCEL this booking because our Clients have decided to changed this trip.  Therefore, we apology this inconvenience Cancellation and looking forward to hearing your early reply with acknowledgement.

………………………………………………

Thank you for the acknowledgement of your confirmation.

Thanks with best regards,

I will endeavour to reply to your email on my return.

Thank you so much for your kind information.

 

These are actual comments from e-mails.  I have the pleasure of reading these types of comments in e-mails I see everyday exchanged between reservation agents in Laos.  Long story as to why I am auto-copied on the exchanges, but if nothing else, the e-mails give me a good chuckle everyday.  Here is the typical…

 

A:  Please kindly confirm the following booking.

B: Thanks so much for your booking. I’d like to confirm your booking:

A: Thank you for your kind confirmation.

B: You are welcome for the confirmation.

 

But today topped the cake.  I could not stop laughing when this one came in:

 

Dear All,

Please treat the above clients as VIP Treatment as they are very important (Italian) – I have just been informed by agent today that they are now complaint everywhere for slowly check in and they do not want to wait too long.

Therefore, please try to do the best for them to avoid any problem for us.

A – please hurry up prepare their immigration formality to avoid any delay for them. 

B – could you please serve them in house wine for them during Dinner at X as compliment from “Y”?  And prepare separate table for them from another passengers.

C – please kindly inform your guide at Z to do the fast check in and do the best services for them.  prepare separate table for them from another passengers during meals. 

Thanks all of you in advance for your kind co operation.

 

Aside from being hilarious to me, it hopefully serves to all as a warning how well the staff are aware of problem customers.  Clearly this group of Italians are just too impatient.  Can’t be bothered to wait for anything.  And they don’t like other travelers.  I find this hard to believe, as Italy certainly runs at its own pace and most Italians love a good group of fun people!  But I guess when folks travel to exotic places and are far away from home, they step outside the mold and get uncomfortable in new surroundings.  Too funny, though.

Thanks you for kindly reading this information.  Your kind comment is most welcome.

Thank you with best regards,

Shanna

What else can I carry for you?

I am a mule.

mule [myool]

noun

def. A mule is the offspring of strictly a male donkey and a female horse, typically sterile and used as a beast of burden.

 

I would like to clarify immediately that I am not a mode of transport for illegal drugs.  But over the last several months, as I’ve traveled between Vietnam and Laos, and back and froth from Hanoi to Saigon,  I have carried my fair share of boxes of materials and things our hospitality team members needed.  No worries.

This weekend, I am headed to Bangkok. I am cashing in on a whopping 1.5 days of vacation and heading out on Thursday night.  It’s a mini, mini-vacation.  Friday is health check day, as Bangkok’s hospitals are state-of-the-art and provide a wonderful and complete check-up service.  I’m actually looking forward to this, as it has been two years since I did this in Japan.  I am overdue.

I’m going out with some colleagues on Friday night and hopefully meeting up with an old college buddy Saturday.  Every other moment of my time will be consumed with shopping.  Indeed, my intention is to take an empty suitcase and come back with an over-stuffed one.  (But one which does not go over the Air Aisia 15kg limit.)  But I reiterate – this is a vacation weekend for me!

My colleagues in Bangkok had a lightbulb go off in their heads yesterday and I was asked to carry over some brochures…and a few bottles of wine.  If you live in this region long enough, you know what’s up.  And they know I’m coming to shop.  And coming with an empty suitcase.  Shanna can be our mule!  Cool!

Me being me, I agreed to bring the 3 bottles of wine and the 10kg (??seriously??) of brochures.  But today, I got another phone call and another request to transport goods into Thailand.  The Bumrungrad Hospital rep in Hanoi asked if I could take some food to one of her friends who is getting treatment for leukemia.  How in the world can I say no to that?  Of course the agents of Air Asia can say no to my suitcase if it is over the 15kg limit…that or be happy to get more money from me!

So as I pack my suitcase tonight, I am trying to pack as lightly as I can, simply so I can pack everyone else’s stuff to carry over.  I don’t mind being a good friend and serving as a mule in this situation.  Beast of burden.  Fine. I just hope the part of being typically sterile isn’t true!  Yikes!

 

On the Bright Side,

Shanna

Whoah! Chill Out!

On my way home this evening, I had to stop at the ATM, the market and walk home in this sticky humidity for about 10 minutes – in my work clothes and heels.  Yuck.  Running these errands after work allowed me to get home by about 7pm.  Not so bad. I was pretty happy.

As I headed down the ramp, turning the corner toward the main part of Lane 31, some motorbikes came up the ramp and I could hear a few behind me.  I learned super quickly to stay to the outside of this 90 degree turn – I nearly got run over 3 times the first time I walked home on the inside of the turn.

As all the motorbikes met in the middle, a young kid without a helmet thought it a good idea to pass other bikers going up the ramp.  The foreigner on the big motorcycle going down the ramp did me a favor by staying on his path and not swerving to miss the kid, nor to run over me.  The kid’s biked smacked the side of the foreigner’s bike and then bounced off the side of another bike he was trying to pass.  His bike hit the pavement, he sort of popped off the seat and managed not to get run over.

Everyone paused.  The foreign guy looked at the kid and in a thick British accent yelled, “It serves you fucking right. (pause) It serves you fucking right.”  And then he zoomed off.  Smart of him to do before he really drew too much attention to himself.  But there was no, “Are you OK?”  or even an ‘”I’m sorry” on either side of the collision.

All I could think was – WOW.  I really hope that I never get in an accident once I do actually get a motorbike.  And on top of that, I really hope I never get that bitter and angry about life in Vietnam.  The foreign dude had a super red face and was really, really pissed.

This week has been a tough week for me professionally.  No doubt, life here requires a bit of grit.  I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment with all that is on my plate.  And I feel I don’t have a good balance between personal and professional life.  I really don’t want to feel guilty during all the moments in my free time when I am not chained to my computer working.  What has become the norm is that my time during the day is not my own.  I spend FAR too much of it helping my staff figure out how to do their job, editing and proofing English, approving artwork and putting out fires.  By the time the end of the day comes, I often feel I have accomplished nothing, and long to go home to peace and quiet, simply so I can actually cross of one item on my TO DO list!!!  But we all know how that goes.  You arrive home exhausted and spent, and very little of what you turn out in the evening is actually quality stuff.  I long for a “do not disturb” sticker for my forehead.  Even then, I think my staff would ignore it.

I am still traveling on a windy path trying to find my way here in Vietnam.  I wrote to my friend Holly today:

I am also struggling with the fact that our local staff here are just not up to speed – to put it politely.  I spend so much of my day being teacher, mentor and coach, that sometimes I feel like a kindergarten teacher instead of a Director, Sales & Marketing.  The role of teacher is not foreign to me (obviously), but when they don’t know how to do something or a poor decision costs us business, it’s hard for me to accept this and not get upset. And “upset” is not an emotion which is OK to display in this culture.  So I’m finding my way of how to get things done and how to steer the horse to water AND make it drink!!!

The Vietnamese, while they have many good qualities about them, lack some very basic skills which would help them better succeed in today’s modern business world.  Their English is actually pretty good, but decision making, organization, professionalism, work ethic and others are lacking.  Work ethic is a biggie.  I think what gets me is that I end up spending numerous additional hours in the office or at home doing my own projects/work because in the regular working hours I am all too busy helping them do their job.  And so when I get a “Where are we on the ABC project?” from my higher-ups, I get so frustrated, feel stressed out and allow myself to feel so inadequate.  And that’s not a pleasant feeling!  I have yet to feel like I am reaching my professional theme this year – Knock it Outta Da Park!

I am going to Bangkok this weekend for a health check and a shopping excursion.  And a break.  I need to get out of Hanoi on non-business related matters.  Never mind that most of my shopping will be for work clothes, a business card holder and shoes suitable for the office.  I’m spending time just for me, and it is important to replenish my enthusiasm from time to time.

There is no question that life in Hanoi, life is this complex and fascinating culture of Vietnam is much more of a challenge than I anticipated.  There is simply no comparison between Japan and Vietnam.  Two totally different animals.  After nearly 8 months here, I would say it is about time that reality smacks me in the face and I allow myself to feel a bit of culture shock.  I think I’ve avoided it quite nicely by hiding behind the “I’m new” motto.  Now that I am in my good and sturdy home, now that the work has piled upon my desk, that I have made some friends and figured some things out about life here in this 999 year old city….I realize I have to buckle up and prepare myself for a very bumpy ride.  Bumpy but rewarding.

The important thing to note is that I am sitting in the driver’s seat and I am ready for a super long road trip.  I still don’t know what is in store, but I am ready.  A bit shaken and in need of a good night’s sleep, but ready for more.  I really want to find out where this journey will take me.

On the Bright Side,

Shanna

Vietnameses Engrish Tourisme

I mentioned just a few posts ago how I have not ventured far from my days as an English teacher.  Well, today made for another classic.  I received a call from a Mr. Duc yesterday (passed on to me by my staff who encouraged me to talk to him because his offer sounded “exciting”).  Mr. Duc explained that his firm does direct mail marketing.  I explained that we have no budget nor do we desire for such service.  He begged for a meeting with me.  I said no. He was confused and wanted an explanation why we don’t need his service.  I explained I was busy and that we do all direct marketing ourselves.

This morning, one of his staff members came to my office (entered from my side door through the Emeraude office – staff was still excited for me to speak to these folks) to drop off their proposal and insisted that she leave with one of my business cards.  I reminded her that I will not enlist their services.  She did not seem to understand the concept of “zero percent chance” and told me that Mr. Duc will contact me and “really requests” and appointment.

Within an hour of her visit, I received this e-mail:

Good morning Shanna,

As per our short talk of yesterday on phone, I would like to send you here attached our general presentation & our main products & services for your info. In the current contexte of crisis & strong competition, I think enterprise like yours probally need to do some direct advetising mail to promote your businesses. I understand that today 70% of your clients come directly from oversea & only 30% are vietnameses. Why do not make bigger this part of vietnamese people since more & more vietnameses want to enjoy better services than the normal & low standard boat in Halong. I think many “high incomes” local individuals still do not know about Emeurade & they are still hesitating come to see you due to the lack of information. Among your other means of media such as Heritage magazine, forum, name card  collecting, incentive, email which are very efficient also , I think Media Post can help you to do some interesting advertising campaign by direct mail. We can provide you some database of potential vietnameses with high income, tourisme oriented( full name, postal addresse, company, postion, car name owner, consumption habit….) which are regularly updated then we are in charge of sending your advertising piece to these people in the best way( Media Post is using postmen of Vnpost to distribue mail) . In the same way , Media Post has our own checking system to control the quality of distribution( phone call, random check, POD…) The percentage of replying people depend of course in the attractiveness of your products & the potential interest of the recipient but in all cases we can be sure about the accuracy of database, good quality of mail distribution( by minimising loss)…ect. 

For your information, we started our company last july & we already work for Big C Casino, Nestle, Societe General Viet Finance, Ruby Plaza, Prevoir insurance company, CCIFV, ISIVIC…If you are interested, I can come at any time as I base in Hanoi to have further talk with you & Mr Nam.

Meanwhile, please do not hesitate to let me know any information you need & hope to see you soon.

 Best regards

Dang Minh Duc

Deputy General Director(Marketing & Sales)

MEDIA POST JSC

 

The fact that they used postmen of Vietnam Post almost had me hooked!!!

On the Bright Side,

Shanna

More Responsibility, Happy Me

June has been a month with many meetings and travel.  I’ve been to Saigon twice already, a third time next week and spent this last week in Laos looking after our properties there.

The meeting I attended today, gave me a huge boost in confidence and really helped me fall in love with my job, all over again.

I was called into headquarters in Saigon to discuss our online marketing efforts for our hospitality group.  To say that we are ‘average at best’ is an exaggeration, even.  We have outdated websites and no strategic plan in place to drive traffic to our hotels.  This is a project I am excited about and eager to be successful.

Since my office is at the Press Club, where two of my sales and marketing teams sit, I spend A LOT of my day on managerial issues and frankly, correcting English.  On site, I am the only native English speaker, and so I am constantly being asked to proof documents.  Heck, even one of our business partners, who should be providing us perfect copy, asked me to proof their marketing materials (that’s an entirely different issue for another day).  The press release sent out at the time of my arrival completely glossed over my five years as a teacher in Japan.  Yet I find that that entire experience comes into play more often than my years in marketing, alumni relations and hospitality.  In many ways, I am a teacher and mentor to our Vietnamese and Laos staff members.

In addition to this unwritten bullet point in the job description, I love the variety of challenges my job presents, such as balancing the day-to-day stuff versus the big picture projects.  I’m learning new things every day, I am kept well on my toes, and I see a great and long future with this company and in this type of position with other hotel groups in my far-away future.  I have a very long TO DO list, I still need to find the time to get organized, still need to balance out the personal life, but it’s all good.

In a nutshell, I think I’ve found my gig and I’m digging it.

On the Bright Side,

Shanna

This is a brain map!

If all goes well and all gets approved, these scribbles will turn into a new online sales & marketing department with me as a team leader!

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