Travels with Mickey: Taiwan

While I'm not sure of the exact year, I had the opportunity to do some work in Taipei, Taiwan in the early 90's. 

There was a sales methodology program that our Microsoft sales training group were rolling out to our various Microsoft international subsidiaries and I was one of the trainers that hit the road to teach these classes.

As it turned out, the first class in Taipei would consist of sales managers from Taiwan, mainland China, Japan and Korea. All Microsoft employees were required to speak  English, but to help the process of learning the skills, I would present the first class to the managers and then when I taught the sales teams, their manager would be there and able to do the necessary translation of the key components of the program. And translate my hilarious jokes, as well.

A number of things stand out about this time in Taipei. First, the classes went pretty well given that they were learning a somewhat complicated set of skills in a second language. I could only say "thank you" in Mandarin,  Japanese and Korean. But like every international class I taught, the people were great. 

Also, I was able to take a day to myself and see a few sights. The CKS ( Chiang Kai-shek) memorial is quite interesting and I spent a few hours at the National museum. Beautiful art and history of China. I won't get into the politics of it all. 

Finally, I remember one exceptional night when we all went out to dinner. The restaurant was crowded but the Taiwanese country manager had reserved the second level just for us. The beer was served in liter glasses like the German Maß ( If you read the German essay I wrote, then you know that this symbol/letter is often written as "ss", and the word is pronounced "mass") It seems the restaurant may have had a German theme to it and was even called a Biergarten (beer garden). 

And, of course, there were these huge trays of fantastic Chinese food!

But I digress. The reason I brought up the beer is that we drank a lot of it. That's relevant for two reasons, actually three. One, I had to work the next day and they didn't. I'll revisit that point a little later.

Secondly, and most interestingly to me, was that the Asians like to play drinking games. The Japanese, the Koreans and the Chinese all had these games. These were mostly young people under the age of thirty, and mostly men. While I didn't participate in the games, I found it fun to watch as they used their hands and fingers to challenge each other and determine who had to take the next gulp. There were word games as well, and probably other types that I don't recall.

I copied this from Google.

"These games often involve alcohol, dice, cards, or simple guessing, requiring strategy, bluffing, coordination, or sometimes just luck to determine who drinks."

It was a blast! In a sophomoric sort of way.

Now I said there were three reasons that alcohol played a significant role in the evening's frivolity. At one point we got loud, more like several points. The restaurant manager came upstairs and told the Taiwanese country manager that the customers below had complained about the noise and that he would appreciate it if we could tone it down. I assume that's what he said in Chinese.

Of course, the Asian cultures tend to require a formal mea culpa in these types of situations. So, the Microsft manager went down stairs to apologize in person for our boisterousness. He returned a few minutes later and we were curious as to what he said to the diners below. After apologizing for the noise and disruption of their meals, he offered this explanation.

 "A bunch of us from IBM just closed a big deal and we were celebrating."

Thinking on your feet is a skill not to be underestimated.

Perhaps you're wondering how I managed to do what I was paid to do the next day. Well, I definitely had a case of the Taiwan two-step, or Montezuma's revenge as it is sometimes referred to. 

My contact at the subsidiary was a young Taiwanese man who looked after me and was also taking the class. After I described the symptoms, he took me to a pharmacist or apothecary a few blocks away. The shop was lined with shelves of vials and small bottles of herbs and medicines I could only marvel at. 

The spry, elderly Chinese pharmacist began to gather different pills and tablets. I thought I'd just get a bottle of Peto Bismol and ride it out. He laid a small square piece of paper on the counter and then two more. On each square he carefully placed four different pills of different sizes, shapes and colors. He then deftly folded each square into a neat bundle. He explained to my helpful Microsoft aide that I should take one bundle of pills every fours and I should be fine. I did and I was.

Epilogue 

It has been my goal in writing these stories to share some of the experiences that have broadened my understanding of the world and my appreciation for the people who have treated me with kindness, respect and a spirit of camaraderie.