Unit Nine

Visitors & travelers

Study objectives

• This unit covers many of the situations if you are dealing with visitors/customers from abroad (or if you are yourselves traveling abroad on business):

making travel arrangements, arranging accommodation and dealing with

hotels,having a meal with an English-speaking

person.

Do you like traveling? Why or why not?

What preparation should you do for a trip?

How is a business trip different from a sightseeing tour?

What preparation should you do for a business trip?

BUSINESS travel seems glamorous — unless you are the one doing it. Colleagues who are left behind imagine that you are loafing on a beach, drinking cocktails on company expenses.

The reality, though, is quite different.Business traveling is considered these

days as one of the most efficient tool of export prospection, especially for looking for business partners (agents, distributors, importers, etc.)

• So, how can you make the business trip well-prepared and successful?

• Organizing professional travel has to take care of three essential phases :

• (1) preparation of departure• (2) on-the-spot organization • (3) follow-up action on the mission

completed.

Preparation for Departure

One has to arrange for air bookings in the quickest possible time.

Lodging arrangements are also as important as traveling. Therefore, hotel reservation has also to be made in advance.

Moreover, one should not wait until the last moment for verifying the validity of passport or applying for visas. The traveler must also verify the validity of his credit card, obtain an international driving license and carry some foreign exchange of the country concerned in order to be able to pay taxi fare and give tips on arrival.

Pack light: Put everything you plan to take on a bed and then discard half of it, because you do not need a different suit and pair of shoes each day. Color co-ordinate and mix and match clothes. Make sure you can get everything in a carry-on bag with wheels — this will save time and will not give the airline a chance to lose your luggage.

One has to prepare documents and files sufficiently in advance and these will be required on the spot (printed folders, catalogues, price list). These have to be translated into the language of the country (at least into English)

On arrival at the destination

• Once arrived at the destination, the major part of one's time is devoted to meeting different appointments.

• Above all one must confirm these appointments and delay, if any.

• He has also to know how to be flexible and to limit the number of appointments fixed for any day. Hence, it is better to have on hand additional days in order to be able to manage time in the best possible manner and to work upon each business contact in a rigorous manner.

Use proper business language. Even though some business trips may include more casual situations, such as lunch, dinner or even golf, keep in mind that you are still representing your company.

Dress professionally during the entire trip. Your attire should reflect the fact that you are on a business trip, whether you are on a plane, on a golf course or in a conference room.

Preparing follow-up action

• Preparation of follow-up action is, perhaps, the most important phase in a business mission.

• In fact, it consists in giving concrete shape to the contacts to be established with foreign countries. Immediately on his return, an exporter must always personally thank the parties contacted and send to them the literature requested by them or the information promised by him.

• The company must immediately put to good use the results of the mission. A contact which is not reactivated during the week that follows the business trip, is considered lost.

9.2 Hotels and accommodation

• This section deals with making hotel bookings and discussing accommodation facilities.

Step A

• If you have to make a reservation at a particular hotel you know of, you can just send them a fax to book a room. But if you require more information about the hotel, or if you have special requirements, you may need to telephone them…

• The recording shows a fairly typical phone call to a hotel.

• Vera Muller phones because she has special requirements---one of the people she’s booking for is unable to climb stairs---and she needs the information very urgently.

• The relevant information she gets from the hotel:

1) Single rooms are 400 francs, doubles are 700 francs

2) You could have three rooms on the ground floor, one single and two doubles. No view of the city, but close to the garden

3) We have a nice quiet room that will take about 12 people

4) The restaurant is on the first floor—there’s a lift. Otherwise everything, including the conference room is on the ground floor.

9.3 & 9.4 Local knowledge: You are the expert--- Eating, socializing and telling stories

• To a foreign visitor, you are the expert on the place where you live. A visitor may expect you to know how to get to places and to explain local customs and habits.

• As one essential task that you will probably have to perform when eating with a foreigner is explaining dishes on the menu, it takes more sense if these are national dishes of their own country.

Beautiful Hangzhou: Scenery of 10 Scenic Spots in New West

Lake

1. 1. Spring Dawn at Su Spring Dawn at Su

CausewayCauseway

2. Breeze at Crooked

Courtyard

3. Autumn Moon on Calm Lake

4. Melting Snow on the Broken Bridge

5. Orioles Singing in the Willows

6. Viewing Fish and Lotus at

Flower Pond 

7. Sunset Glow over Leifeng Pagoda

8. Twin Peaks Soaring

through the Clouds

9. Evening Bell at Nanping Mountain

10. Three Pools Mirroring the

Moon

• Eating is an important part of social life, even in business. Often the most important things are discussed during lunch or dinner. Who gets the job? From whom will the manager order in future?

• Of course this is not the only reason, but long lasting business contracts also depend on how well the people get along and a lunch is a great opportunity to find this out.

Eating

Ways of Cooking Food• 煮• 烩• 焖• 红烧• 煨• 蒸• 烤• 煎• 炸• 炒• 爆• 熏• 腌• 涮• 卤

• boiled• stewed• braised• braised in soy

sauce• simmered• steamed• roasted/baked• fried• deep-fried• stir fried• quick-fried• smoked• salted/pickled• instant-boiled• salted in soy sauce

Selected Chinese Dishes

• Braised Pork in Brown Sauce• Twice-cooked Pork• Steamed Pork with Rice Flour• Su Dongpo braised Pork• Fish-flavored Pork Shreds • Beef and Organ Meat Slices• Sweet and Sour Spareribs • Boiled Beef with Chilli Sauce• Dry-fried Beef Shreds • Baked Beef on an Iron Plate • Roast Lamb on Skewers• Gong Bao Diced Chicken

• 红烧肉• 回锅肉• 粉蒸肉• 东坡肉• 鱼香肉丝• 夫妻肺片• 糖醋排骨• 水煮牛肉• 干煸牛肉丝• 铁板烧牛肉• 烤羊肉串• 宫保鸡丁

• Steamed Duck in Bamboo Tubes• Duck’s Tongues and Young Corns• Crisp-skinned Spring Pigeons• Sweet and Sour Tile-shaped Fish • Steamed Mandarin Fish • Braised Fish Head in an Earthen Pot • Dry Deep-fried Whitebait• Dry Braised Shark’s Fins • Wine Preserved Crabs • Home-cooked Beancurd• Broad Beans and Fresh Bamboo Shoots

• Dry Fried Kidney Beans • Stir-fired Shredded Potato• Boiled Rape with Oyster Sauce

• 竹筒蒸鸭• 玉笋鸭舌• 脆皮乳鸽• 糖醋瓦块鱼• 清蒸桂鱼• 砂锅鱼头• 干炸银鱼• 干烧鱼翅• 醉蟹• 家常豆腐• 蚕豆春笋• 干煸四季豆• 炒土豆丝• 蚝油菜心

Selected Western Dishes

• Smoked Tuna• Caviar • Sliced Tomato Salad

• Russian Borsch• Spinach Soup

• Oxtail Soup 　　　　　　　　

　　　 • Bacon Omelette• Poached Eggs • Spaghetti with tomato • sauce Macaroni Cheese• Beef Steak with Onions and Ri

ce

• 熏金枪鱼• 鱼子酱• 番茄沙拉• 罗宋汤• 菠菜汤• 牛尾汤• 咸肉蛋卷• 水煮荷包蛋• 茄汁意大利面条• 奶酪通心粉• 洋葱牛排饭

West Lake Fish in Sweet & sour source• West Lake Fish in Sweet & sour source is

a famous traditional dish in Zhejiang province. It is said that during the Song Dynasty, there were two brothers near the West Lake. The elder had married a pretty girl.

• One day, the beautiful sister-in-law was taken liberties by a local hooligan. And the elder brother was beaten to death. Though the sister-in-law contended at law, no one paid attention to her. At last she made her mind to encourage her brother-in-law to pursue his studies under difficulties. The next winter, the sister-in-law jumped into the West Lake’s ice water to catch a carp.

• She cooked a bowl of fish for him. She added some sugar and vinegar to the fish and told her brother-in-law: in this dish, the sweet relish expresses my wish for your success. And the sour relish represents my expectation that you would never forget our misery when you succeeded.

• Before long, the younger brother passed the examination and appointed an official post and came back to Hangzhou. He was able to revenge for his elder brother and look for his sister-in-law. But he didn’t know where she was. He searched for her at many places, but failed. One day, he was invited to dinner, and found that one of the dishes was “Vinegar Fish”. He was surprised and asked who cooked it. It turned out to be his sister-in-law, they were so happy to meet each other again.

Step C

• You’ll hear two people talking about travel experience.

• Put the pictures for each story in the correct order.

• Correct arrangement of the pictures:1) a d c e b2) c a b3) d b c a 4) e a c d b

9.1 Did you have a good journey?

•This section introduces some useful phrases which can be used when meeting or being met.

VOCABULARYtrolley: a streetcaritinerary: a route or proposed route of a j

ourneybelongings: something owned; a possessi

ontraveler's cheques: a kind of cheque whic

h can be used when you are travelingphone booth: a small enclosure containi

ng a public telephone

Step A Warm-up discussion• Please look at the three

pictures and discuss these questions:

What is each person doing? What is going to happen

next? Have you ever been in any

of the situations shown?

Step B

• The recorded conversation illustrates some of the phrases in the speech balloons being used in a typical situation.

• Listen to the recording and highlight the phrases you’d like to remember.

Step F• You can find some advice

which might be given to travelers. Decide: which of the advice would you yourself follow when visiting a foreign country or a new place?

9.5 Organizing a conference

• This integrated activity involves resolving problems, making arrangements, and drafting correspondence with speakers: here you will be practising your letter-, e-mail- and fax-writing skills.

• What arrangements will you have to make for a conference?

• March 16• March 30 Madeleine Tennant: I’d like to have

my expenses paid in cash in dollars, not by cheque in your currency…

• April 13