Richard Jernigan -> RE: Flamenco: no es un show! (Jun. 1 2019 2:44:24)
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ORIGINAL: BarkellWH We began discussing how back in the 1950s and '60s American tourists were known for their loud, uncouth behavior overseas. I asked him who the obnoxious, loud, uncouth tourists were today. Without a pause he said the Russians and Chinese. Neither nationality in groups had any sense of propriety in the setting of Palau. Neither had the slightest respect for the island's culture and tradition. He said they acted that way on land, and they were just as obnoxious in dealing with his boat crews when on a dive or a trip to the island of Peleliu. Demanding and uncouth behavior. Like most nouveau riche. Bill A few years back I was in Bali, traveling with my good friend Paul, the tourist guide and translator. Paul is a genius at languages. He told me he was learning Russian, since quite a few Russians were coming to Bali. "What sort of people are they?" I asked. "The kind of people who bring suitcases full of U.S. one-hundred dollar bills," he replied. "Do they bring their wives?" I asked. "No. They come to abuse Indonesian women." Years ago their was a flight connection from Honolulu to Denpasar, Bali via Taipei. Heading to Bali you spent the night in a squalid hotel for transit passengers, without clearing customs. The upholstered furniture was all covered in clear plastic. In the winter it was freezing cold. There weren't enough blankets. There was no restaurant, no snacks to buy, and no way to heat up anything you brought with you. On the way back you connected with a short layover at Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport. Now they just call it CKS, since Generalissimo Chiang's memory is not as universally popular as it once was. We were met at the gate by a young woman in a smart uniform, who said she would take us to our connecting gate. As a half dozen of us walked along, she repeatedly and rudely told us to walk faster. Finally I said to her, "You may stop cracking your whip about our ankles. We have more than an hour and a half before boarding. If you cannot afford the time to be civil, we can find our own way." She replied, "Hurry! Must walk faster now." At the connecting gate when boarding was announced there was the usual free-for-all scrum with shoving and pushing. Those near me soon learned that I was bigger, stronger and could be just as rude as the average Taiwanese when provoked. As soon as a different connection was put in service, I never returned to Taiwan. The entire country failed to conform to my Texan conception of personal space, though they seem able to cooperate, prosper and resist the People's Republic. Having severely slagged the Chinese, I should add this. My father was friends with Claire Chennault, the leader of the Flying Tigers, an irregular American air force who fought against the Japanese in China before the U.S. entered WW II. Claire's younger brother Joe was Special Agent in Charge of the Washington office of the FBI when we lived in Washington DC, while I was in high school. Joe and his wife came to dinner at our quarters on Bolling Air Force Base from time to time, so we kept in touch with the family. Mrs. Claire Chennault (nee Chan Sheng Mai in Peking, China) was one of the most refined, cultured and civilized women I have ever met. The last time I saw her was sometime in the early 1970s, standing in line behind her to check in at the Airport Marriott in Los Angeles. Gen. Chennault had passed away some years before. Mrs. Chennault was working as some sort of consultant in the defense industry, advising clients on how to do business in East Asia. She was a power in U.S. politics and had been president of the airline begun by veterans of the Flying Tigers She glanced behind her, recognized me, whom she had not seen for at least fifteen years, said hello and asked about my parents and brother. We had a drink at the bar on the top floor of the hotel, and filled in one another about the last few years. She was gracious, charming, and insisted on putting the drinks on her expense account. RNJ
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