dirtdoc1
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2016
- Messages
- 472
- Location
- United States
- Vessel Name
- Ann-Elyse II
- Vessel Make
- North Pacific 45
I hope to cruise to as many other countries as I can. I haven't been to but a couple of other countries and I'm 62. I got quite an education when I went to Palau a few years back.
I was hired by Daewoo a few years back because their Geotechnical and Materials labs were apparently having quality control issues and were shut down by the US Corps of Army Engineers, (USCOE), due to suspect test data. Daewoo was loosing about a million dollars a day because of it and hired me to fix it. In the USA Engineers do not do technical work. In other countries Engineers do work in the lab. This lab was no different and had about 20 Engineers in the lab. They were all hired from the Philippines and were getting paid 90 cents an hour and sending it home. After the first week the head Korean Engineer, (Doe), called me and his right hand man -Brien-, (the American Engineer who hired me), in to his office. He asked me how many of the "technicians" should we fire. I sat there in shock. He explained that they needed to show the USCOE that they were making big changes and were serious about fixing the lab. I said that there was this one guy who just sat in his office playing computer games and that we should let him go. This time Doe looked shocked. Brian explained to me that they do not fire Koreans and suggested that him and I should discuss it and that we would meet again with a list of technicians to let go. The next day I found out that they fired all of them!
At some time after that or before, I don't remember the timeline. I decided to go to lunch with a small group of the "technicians". They really should have been called what they were, Engineers. "Technician" was what the Korean engineers called them out of disrespect. As we were approaching the cafeteria I kept walking with the group toward the door on the left and they said no, no you go there and pointed to the door on the right. They all went through the left door. I walked in to the right door, which was this empty cafeteria with one guy, (obviously a Korean Engineer or executive) sitting there eating. He didn't even look up at me. I walked up to the serving window and could see across to another cafeteria with about 300 people talking and laughing and eating. The next day as we were going to lunch again I asked about the two cafeterias. The lab tech told me that I have to eat with the Koreans and that the Pilipinos and Koreans do not eat together. It was more of a engineers and executives do not mingle with the technicians and staff. Although it was really a Koreans and Pilipino thing. I decided that the next time I was going to eat with my fellow technicians. So as they started to push me toward the Korean cafeteria again I said no I'm eating with you guys. They looked horrified and said "no no you must eat there" but I insisted. They all walked behind me as I walked in to their cafeteria. As I entered I saw about 150 people on each side of the room with a big isle down the middle to the serving window. The place was alive with talking and laughter until they saw me. The whole room went silent! Everyone stared at me in stunned silence. Some had big smiles on their faces, some just starred, some actually had their mouths wide open. I'm not exaggerating it was the strangest thing that I have ever experienced. This only lasted for a few seconds but it felt like an eternity. Then everyone, almost simultaneously turned around and started eating again. After that nobody bothered to look at me. I told Brien about it. He told me that I shouldn't have done that because they will lose respect for me. Some did and some didn't. I did have a harder time getting some of the lab technicians to follow my instructions after that. I'm still shocked and confused about that.
Brien invited me to go out one evening to some karaoke bars. I was again shocked because Karaoke bars in Palau are not like karaoke bars here in the states. I was married and faithful. That's all I'll say about that. At the end of the evening Brien was a bit tipsy and I asked about the drunk driving laws in Palau in an effort to get him to pull over and let me drive or call a cab. Brien just laughed and said that the police won't give American's a ticket. You could be 3 sheets to the wind and they would take you home at worst.
One Sunday I took a couple of hours off to walk around a fairly rundown neighborhood (as it turned out) with a camera hanging around my neck looking like a typical American tourist. There were a couple of youngish tough looking guys drinking beer in a kind of car port, at best. When I got to about 50' away one of them yells (in pretty good english) "hey, you American?" I nodded yes and he posed for a picture. Then they smiled and waved and I waved back and kept walking. Then the same thing happened a little further down the street. There was this old guy with a really long beard sitting in a lawn chair on his front lawn drinking beer. He didn't smile but asked me if I was American. I answered and he smiled and held up his beer in a pose so I could take a picture. I felt like a movie star or something.
Earlier that week when I first got there I went down to the lounge in the fairly fancy hotel that Daewoo had arranged for me. It turns out that it was only one of two in the country. While I was sitting at the bar sipping my beer three scruffy looking guys sat down at the bar. They looked very uncomfortable. I assume because it was a fancy place and they were not dressed appropriately. They sat there for a while occasionally glancing over at me. Then one of them asked me if I was American. I said yes I was working for Daewoo. Then the guy told me that they liked Americans and proceeded to tell me how the Americans helped to liberate them and their Island from the Japanese in WWII. I was shocked that these 20 something young guys would know much about WWII. I bought them all a beer and they acted like I had handed them each a C-note. Americans are treated like royalty in Palau. I told my father in-law about it because he was on several destroyers in WWII. All three of the ships that he was on were hit by torpedos and he made it home! He passed away a few months ago. The nicest and funniest guy that I have ever met. A true hero but he was so humble. It turns out that he was there at Palau. He called it Pellalu (SP?). He said that they fired so many rockets or bombs (I forget the word that he used) that it looked like the islands were jumping out of the water! He said that the islanders were treated so poorly by the Japanese that it's no wonder that they still love the Americans. Hey that was a long time ago and it was war. I'm sure that we haven't always done the right thing during war. Anyway I digress.
A couple of days later I walked in to the hotel restaurant, which was empty. There was a very pretty, young, and well dressed Japanese lady waiting to be seated. There were three or four waiters cleaning tables and milling around while she was patiently waiting in the reception area. She looked a bit confused like she was wondering why she wasn't being seated. As soon as I walked in, the waiters almost ran over to me and said "good evening Mr. Cooper where would you like to be seated?". I was very confused and becoming very embarrassed as I started to realized what was happening. The young lady and I were standing about three feet apart. The waiters stood between us with their backs to her as they greeted me. As I was being shown to my table, I gave the lady a confused and apologetic look. I didn't say anything because it was so blatant and I was kind of in shock. I thought maybe she was done with dinner and waiting for someone. I don't really know for sure but I feel pretty confident that they were being rude to her. They seated me with my back to her so I couldn't see if they ever seated her.
It's like WWII just ended for them. The strange thing is. Palau is a very popular place to vacation for the Japanese because it's so close to Japan.
It was quite an experience and quite an eye opener to what a second or third world country is like. And how far we have come in regards to treating each other. I am excited to cruise to other countries and see what they are like. I really want to do a long cruise to Cuba. I am a bit worried that being American may not always open doors for me. Next time I may be left standing in a reception area wondering why they're not seating me.
I sincerely hope that I have not offended anyone. It certainly wasn't my intension. For a guy who was born and raised in San Francisco. It was one of the strangest two weeks of my life. I hope you enjoyed my story. I sure did.
I was hired by Daewoo a few years back because their Geotechnical and Materials labs were apparently having quality control issues and were shut down by the US Corps of Army Engineers, (USCOE), due to suspect test data. Daewoo was loosing about a million dollars a day because of it and hired me to fix it. In the USA Engineers do not do technical work. In other countries Engineers do work in the lab. This lab was no different and had about 20 Engineers in the lab. They were all hired from the Philippines and were getting paid 90 cents an hour and sending it home. After the first week the head Korean Engineer, (Doe), called me and his right hand man -Brien-, (the American Engineer who hired me), in to his office. He asked me how many of the "technicians" should we fire. I sat there in shock. He explained that they needed to show the USCOE that they were making big changes and were serious about fixing the lab. I said that there was this one guy who just sat in his office playing computer games and that we should let him go. This time Doe looked shocked. Brian explained to me that they do not fire Koreans and suggested that him and I should discuss it and that we would meet again with a list of technicians to let go. The next day I found out that they fired all of them!
At some time after that or before, I don't remember the timeline. I decided to go to lunch with a small group of the "technicians". They really should have been called what they were, Engineers. "Technician" was what the Korean engineers called them out of disrespect. As we were approaching the cafeteria I kept walking with the group toward the door on the left and they said no, no you go there and pointed to the door on the right. They all went through the left door. I walked in to the right door, which was this empty cafeteria with one guy, (obviously a Korean Engineer or executive) sitting there eating. He didn't even look up at me. I walked up to the serving window and could see across to another cafeteria with about 300 people talking and laughing and eating. The next day as we were going to lunch again I asked about the two cafeterias. The lab tech told me that I have to eat with the Koreans and that the Pilipinos and Koreans do not eat together. It was more of a engineers and executives do not mingle with the technicians and staff. Although it was really a Koreans and Pilipino thing. I decided that the next time I was going to eat with my fellow technicians. So as they started to push me toward the Korean cafeteria again I said no I'm eating with you guys. They looked horrified and said "no no you must eat there" but I insisted. They all walked behind me as I walked in to their cafeteria. As I entered I saw about 150 people on each side of the room with a big isle down the middle to the serving window. The place was alive with talking and laughter until they saw me. The whole room went silent! Everyone stared at me in stunned silence. Some had big smiles on their faces, some just starred, some actually had their mouths wide open. I'm not exaggerating it was the strangest thing that I have ever experienced. This only lasted for a few seconds but it felt like an eternity. Then everyone, almost simultaneously turned around and started eating again. After that nobody bothered to look at me. I told Brien about it. He told me that I shouldn't have done that because they will lose respect for me. Some did and some didn't. I did have a harder time getting some of the lab technicians to follow my instructions after that. I'm still shocked and confused about that.
Brien invited me to go out one evening to some karaoke bars. I was again shocked because Karaoke bars in Palau are not like karaoke bars here in the states. I was married and faithful. That's all I'll say about that. At the end of the evening Brien was a bit tipsy and I asked about the drunk driving laws in Palau in an effort to get him to pull over and let me drive or call a cab. Brien just laughed and said that the police won't give American's a ticket. You could be 3 sheets to the wind and they would take you home at worst.
One Sunday I took a couple of hours off to walk around a fairly rundown neighborhood (as it turned out) with a camera hanging around my neck looking like a typical American tourist. There were a couple of youngish tough looking guys drinking beer in a kind of car port, at best. When I got to about 50' away one of them yells (in pretty good english) "hey, you American?" I nodded yes and he posed for a picture. Then they smiled and waved and I waved back and kept walking. Then the same thing happened a little further down the street. There was this old guy with a really long beard sitting in a lawn chair on his front lawn drinking beer. He didn't smile but asked me if I was American. I answered and he smiled and held up his beer in a pose so I could take a picture. I felt like a movie star or something.
Earlier that week when I first got there I went down to the lounge in the fairly fancy hotel that Daewoo had arranged for me. It turns out that it was only one of two in the country. While I was sitting at the bar sipping my beer three scruffy looking guys sat down at the bar. They looked very uncomfortable. I assume because it was a fancy place and they were not dressed appropriately. They sat there for a while occasionally glancing over at me. Then one of them asked me if I was American. I said yes I was working for Daewoo. Then the guy told me that they liked Americans and proceeded to tell me how the Americans helped to liberate them and their Island from the Japanese in WWII. I was shocked that these 20 something young guys would know much about WWII. I bought them all a beer and they acted like I had handed them each a C-note. Americans are treated like royalty in Palau. I told my father in-law about it because he was on several destroyers in WWII. All three of the ships that he was on were hit by torpedos and he made it home! He passed away a few months ago. The nicest and funniest guy that I have ever met. A true hero but he was so humble. It turns out that he was there at Palau. He called it Pellalu (SP?). He said that they fired so many rockets or bombs (I forget the word that he used) that it looked like the islands were jumping out of the water! He said that the islanders were treated so poorly by the Japanese that it's no wonder that they still love the Americans. Hey that was a long time ago and it was war. I'm sure that we haven't always done the right thing during war. Anyway I digress.
A couple of days later I walked in to the hotel restaurant, which was empty. There was a very pretty, young, and well dressed Japanese lady waiting to be seated. There were three or four waiters cleaning tables and milling around while she was patiently waiting in the reception area. She looked a bit confused like she was wondering why she wasn't being seated. As soon as I walked in, the waiters almost ran over to me and said "good evening Mr. Cooper where would you like to be seated?". I was very confused and becoming very embarrassed as I started to realized what was happening. The young lady and I were standing about three feet apart. The waiters stood between us with their backs to her as they greeted me. As I was being shown to my table, I gave the lady a confused and apologetic look. I didn't say anything because it was so blatant and I was kind of in shock. I thought maybe she was done with dinner and waiting for someone. I don't really know for sure but I feel pretty confident that they were being rude to her. They seated me with my back to her so I couldn't see if they ever seated her.
It's like WWII just ended for them. The strange thing is. Palau is a very popular place to vacation for the Japanese because it's so close to Japan.
It was quite an experience and quite an eye opener to what a second or third world country is like. And how far we have come in regards to treating each other. I am excited to cruise to other countries and see what they are like. I really want to do a long cruise to Cuba. I am a bit worried that being American may not always open doors for me. Next time I may be left standing in a reception area wondering why they're not seating me.
I sincerely hope that I have not offended anyone. It certainly wasn't my intension. For a guy who was born and raised in San Francisco. It was one of the strangest two weeks of my life. I hope you enjoyed my story. I sure did.