Brian of London here reporting in from Koh Samui in Thailand. If you’ve been missing my posts, rest assured I will one day be back in Israel and posting will be able to resume a more regular schedule.
I’ve been on a trip to the far east taking in Bangkok, Thailand; Guangzhou, China and now Koh Samui in Thailand again. If you follow me on either Twitter or Facebook you’d know this of course.one day be back in Israel and posting will be able to resume a more regular schedule.
Both Facebook and Twitter are generally blocked in China and it’s only with a little light subtrefuge that it’s possible to see them.
Some stories and notes from China. I was at the Canton Trade Fair. The scale of this event is hard to convey. I’ve been to large trade shows in Las Vegas like CES and it is no exageration to say that all of CES would fit comfortably into one of the 4 halls in China. It might well fit in the lobby of one of the 4 massive halls.
The majority of the Chinese people we met, who are the public faces of the factories producing all sorts of stuff you use every day, have very little concept of what or where Israel is. In fact I was a bit surprised at how few Israelis or visible Jews we saw. Obviously there were a few, but it wasn’t out of proportion to Israel’s tiny numbers.
A funny thing happened in the lift at my hotel. I get in with two arabs and 3 Israelis. I know their nationalities because they were all speaking loudly on the bus back to the hotel and I wasn’t. I’m determined to listen to hear what the Israelis say without letting on I know. I think they even know (or were chatting with the) two Arabs.
As we get in I accidentally press two floors instead of one and its clearly a mistake because the floor I select is an office floor not part of the hotel.
The Israeli woman tells her friend near me in Hebrew to “double press on the number 11 and see if it cancels it”. I know this trick, my apartment lift works this way!
Of course without thinking I press twice on 11 and then she’s staring at me wondering how I understood her command in Hebrew. Cover blown and I have to admit to understanding Hebrew!
I’d make a lousy spy.
