More personal stuff... and an update on the trials of getting to China. The client's travel agency had access to some secret fares so they got me to China for a little less than $5K which is half of what I managed. The kicker is I have to fly to Chicago and then to Tokyo and then to Beijing. With the extra lay overs this will add about 8 hours to the trip. C'est la vie! At least it is business class but the downside is it is on American Airlines and Japan Airlines which means I will get didly squat air miles on my Delta account. With my Platinum status on Delta this trip would earn a free domestic roundtrip in miles with some to spare. Can't win them all.
The good news is (I think) that the folks in Houston have emailed my that my passport with the visa for the PRC is on it's way back though I have yet to determine what the cost was.
Trying real hard to maintain a positive attitude about this trip but I am having troubling thoughts with respect to how valuable the client will feel it was at the end. Last week I was dealing with English speaking, folks for the most part, and a group of less than ten. I am being told that I will have a group of twenty plus in Beijing and I am having doubts about whether I can keep such a large group focused for 40 hours, especially with the language obstacle. I know that if I were the client and was paying what they will eventually pay for a week of my time plus travel my expectations would be very high. This self doubt always makes me go the extra mile so it is a "good thing" overall but it does tend to make the time leading up to these sessions a little stressful.
I will, of course, be brilliant but....
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