Nothing "off the lot" about this tour
26.11.2009
Having visitors, at home or at the office, is always a
little bit stressful. Who’s going to pick them up, show them around, take them
out to dinner and make sure they don’t miss their plane or train back home?
What can we do to make their trip really memorable?
Whereas none of us has the means to go all out like the President and Mrs Obama did during Tuesday’s state dinner in honor of India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, it is nice when you find that special something for your guest.
In my case, with visitors from the US last week, it was a tour of the BMW factory in Munich. That might sound pretty standard, especially after over 15 years in Munich, but for me it was a first. I was impressed from the minute I booked our Saturday morning tour — a simple phone call late Friday evening was all it took.
The 9.30 a.m. tour — in English, no less — was a perfect fit. Although the technology was fascinating, it was our tour guide and his sheer enthusiasm that made the morning so perfect. What did it matter that he pronounced gray like “grew” or said “axe” instead of axle? He embodied the BMW motto Freude am Fahren, or its English equivalent, "sheer driving pleasure".
Did he gain a new customer? Perhaps not immediately, but I’m sure he didn’t lose any because of his English.
So the next time your students give you a tour of their workplace, remember that passion trumps pronunciation any day.
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