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My travels abroad (3) Trip to Africa (1)

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    June 05, 2023

    My travels abroad (3) Trip to Africa (1)

    In early winter of 1998, I was still an MBA student at Tianjin University. That day, chairman called me and said that he was going to Africa and lead team. The company also has a finance person, a commercial bank president outside and a branch president under him, a total of 5 people. The purpose of visit was mainly to check Chinese enterprise in Tanzania. Due to operational problems, relevant departments wanted our company to accept it, so company organized a group to check daily status of company's assets, production, operations and finance, to help company's board of directors decisions. Since we are talking about foreign investment, presidents of interested commercial banks are invited to participate.

    When I went to Africa, in addition to inspecting production, equipment and assets, I had another important task - to be a translator. The main reason for this was that company wanted to cut costs and cut down on number of people going out and I happened to know a few things in English. In fact, this also put a lot of pressure on me, because other 4 people do not understand this, and issue of communication fell on my head, and I have not yet experienced such a real combat experience. So after that, while I didn't leave house for more than a month, I had one more task every day - to practice spoken English.

    I remember that it was already very cold at that time, but when I thought about going to Africa, a very hot place, I thought about buying short sleeves. For serious occasions, I still need short sleeves, not T-shirts. That Sunday I was cycling and walking down street, but short sleeves were no longer visible, it was almost winter, and they were all taken off shelves. Finally, there is a store that still has short sleeves in stock that have not been completely recycled. The size is just right, and color is also available. I remember it's a Youngor brand and I bought two of them. .

    When traveling to Africa, procedures are same as those mentioned above for traveling to Europe. They are all on business, and Huzhao are also on business. The hujao stayed with company when it returned to China, not with your own hands. if you go abroad, hujao is also kept by team leader, and you yourself will not hold it. Only for a while it will be in your hands when you are go through customs. In addition to complex procedures such as Qianzheng, there is another problem of epidemic prevention when traveling to Africa. Since there are epidemic diseases such as yellow fever and malaria, I remember that those who went to epidemic station gave appropriate injections with their certificates.

    Officially, we flew from Shanghai to Malaysia, staying one night, then moving from Kuala Lumpur to Johannesburg, South Africa, before arriving in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After seeing company, we went to Kenya and Mauritius, Egypt, and then went to Dubai in United Arab Emirates viaMumbai and then returned home from Dubai.

    This trip lasted over 20 days, and a lot of time was spent on plane. A long-haul flight is actually very painful, many people cannot sleep on plane, they stare blankly and do nothing, which is very inconvenient. I'm still pretty normal, sleeping on plane. This is because I often travel on business and get sick in car, so I often sleep consciously as soon as I get in car to avoid dizziness and discomfort. After a long time it became a habit. Even during flight, I slept on plane. I remember that at that time I often traveled to Beijing, and fell asleep as soon as I got on plane. I didn't know plane was taxiing into sky. Therefore, during a trip to Africa, I often slept on plane without feeling discomfort, so sleep is guaranteed, and biorhythm is easily compensated.

    On day we left for Kuala Lumpur, I remembered that plane had landed in city. After hotel was set up, we visited famous twin towers during day and took a taxi to famous Genting in evening. . . .

    It was early morning after taking off from Kuala Lumpur and transiting to Johannesburg, South Africa. After a few hours of rest at airport, it was already morning when I flew to international airport in Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania. The unit we visited sent people to send a car to take us directly to company. The company is located in urban area of ​​Dar es Salaam. The main members of management team are mainly from our country. Opposite factory, there is an expert building, which is also a place of residence and recreation for Chinese team. We also live there.

    My travels abroad (3) Trip to Africa (1)

    Dar es Salaam International Airport in Tanzania

    My travels abroad (3) Trip to Africa (1)

    Thatched pavilion on beach in Dar es Salaam

    My travels abroad (3) Trip to Africa (1)

    Corner of Dar es Salaam Beach

    My travels abroad (3) Trip to Africa (1)

    Streets of Dar es Salaam