Flags, Fun, and Feng Shui
By Maggie Dankert, Asian Learning Center Intern
- One Point of Contact: to avoid confusion, have only one person as contact. This will eliminate confusion when accepting RSVPs, avoid duplicate name badges, and minimize other problems that could arise.
- Lead, Don’t Follow: When leading people, always walk ahead. This way you can navigate doors, push elevator buttons, and meet the proper people at check points.
- Advance the Visit: Think of this as a reconnaissance mission. Check out the meeting or dinner’s setting prior to the actual appointment time so you can visualize the set-up and prevent any potential problems.
- The Importance of a Flag (and its proper set-up): We found ourselves setting up the American, Chinese, and Indiana flags all over town prior to each of the delegation’s appointments. Set-up has quite a few more steps then I originally thought. Some of the questions I now ask myself include: When displaying the flag, which direction does the American eagle point? Are the flags even or are they leaning to one side? What order are they in? Is the finial in its proper place in front of the flag? It seemed like a lot of work, but from both my time abroad and the look of comfort on the delegations’ face, I could tell that the sight of their native flag was a welcomed one.