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would you mind if it's not too much trouble?
Do you know what? My internet connection is still shitty. I haven't phoned up nthell for a while but it seems to be almost impossible to convince them that it's something wrong with the connection or the modem. What do they think it is? Magic internet destroying pixies?
The rest of the course today was ok and no one had to sing which was a bonus. The last section was about understanding cultural differences and the French woman I work with was wetting herself laughing at the following point about communication style (and the Germans there seemed to find it pretty amusing too) because it's so true:
British: If it's not too much trouble it would be awfully nice if you could consider the possibility of thinking about...
American: We really need to do this by...
German: You must do this by...
There was also something about the way that meetings are run in various countries and the UK bit mentioned small talk involving the weather, TV and sport. Scary, scary lady who was running it (who is Italian by birth, grew up somewhere in Latin America and lives in the US - her accent is mental) said that when she goes back to the US after being here for a while she gets people asking her why on earth she's talking about the weather. Because it's true - you almost can't make small talk here without mentioning the weather. I remember there being nearly a whole chapter in Watching the English about weather small talk and all the unconscious rules we follow while doing it.
In another comedy moment, I spotted that the German guy had a man-bag! A small, leather pouch type affair with a long, over the shoulder strap. Heh. I'd never actually met him before, only communicated with him over email, and he was surprisingly pretty. Tall with longish blond hair and thick black framed glasses.
The rest of the course today was ok and no one had to sing which was a bonus. The last section was about understanding cultural differences and the French woman I work with was wetting herself laughing at the following point about communication style (and the Germans there seemed to find it pretty amusing too) because it's so true:
British: If it's not too much trouble it would be awfully nice if you could consider the possibility of thinking about...
American: We really need to do this by...
German: You must do this by...
There was also something about the way that meetings are run in various countries and the UK bit mentioned small talk involving the weather, TV and sport. Scary, scary lady who was running it (who is Italian by birth, grew up somewhere in Latin America and lives in the US - her accent is mental) said that when she goes back to the US after being here for a while she gets people asking her why on earth she's talking about the weather. Because it's true - you almost can't make small talk here without mentioning the weather. I remember there being nearly a whole chapter in Watching the English about weather small talk and all the unconscious rules we follow while doing it.
In another comedy moment, I spotted that the German guy had a man-bag! A small, leather pouch type affair with a long, over the shoulder strap. Heh. I'd never actually met him before, only communicated with him over email, and he was surprisingly pretty. Tall with longish blond hair and thick black framed glasses.
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Who doesn't spend more time reading Dilbert than working, eh?
Just me and your brother?
Oh.
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We Brits love talking about the weather too! Although that book I linked to suggests that we don't actually find it interesting but that we use it as more of an ice breaker, as a kind of small talk that isn't personal. After I read that book I was internally cringing for days everytime I heard myself saying things like 'it was nice this weekend wasn't it. Bit cooler today though but it's supposed to stay nice isn't it?'. Aaargh.
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He was an idiot. Three hours of things that we all understood by the end of the first half hour and then he just kept repeating himself.
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That sounds rather... horrifying! And that's why I'm no good in a customer service job. It was bad enough working in a call centre where they couldn't see me but I think I'd explode if I was forced to look happy all day!
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That's really funny, the differences in speaking. Though we have the most un-German German in our office. I often forget that she's German. Whenever there is pressure on, she defines the word tizzy. It's kind of amusing, in an evil way. *eg*
I hope the pixies go away soon.
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You evil person! It's scary how often the stereotypes are true though. I know I certainly conform with a lot of English stereotypes. But I don't drink tea! I'm such a rebel.
They seem to have kept away today, but I haven't done much internetting yet so they may be lurking somewhere ready to pounce...
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Could be. By destroying the Internet it will make thing easier for their Night Elf masters.
;)
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