Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Meeting Vocera in London


I said goodbye to that man with a funny hat at 12:20 pm, London time at London Heathrow Airport. It was 8:20 am in Philadelphia and 5:20am in San Diego. He is an Englishman, obviously. If I was talking to an American who spoke English the way Piers Morgan did, I would have told him he had a fancy accent.
"I come from New England," the American would say.
I was so glad to be back in London after a quickie visit to Turin, Italy. At Stansted Airport, I asked an Englishman at the ticket booth for bus and train which would be the better transportation to take to central London for sight seeing purposes.
He seemed to be listening intently to my question.
"Don Andersten."
Sounds like a Swedish name. I am in EU alright.
"Say that again?"
Instead of saying pardon me, I sometimes phrase my request to repeat what the other person is trying to tell me thinking of a funny way Jules, a former colleagues, used to put it:
"Come again?"
But the Englishman was beginning to look bewildered like he was trying to tell me something in simpler English any Asian would easily understand.
"Don Andersten?"
Hmmm...
Eureka!
I'll have one bus ticket for London Victoria Station, please."
Now I have a name for my Vocera when i return to work: Don Andersten.

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