The Harbin Daily newspaper put on an informational event on studying abroad in the U.S., and invited speakers from the Consulate to speak. The Public Affairs section sent an officer to talk about higher education in the U.S., and I offered to represent the Consular section to talk about selecting a school and student visas. Foolishly, the newspaper and our P.A. section agreed to invite me.
The editor of the newspaper wanted a photo op. I dominated the conversation, as usual.
The poor guy barely got a word in.
When the public affairs officer was talking, I could barely keep in my seat. I bit my tongue while she presented.
I could tell the audience was dreading the time when I would start speaking.
Droning on and on.
The funny thing was, the audience didn’t seem to notice how boring I was, and the P.A. officer must have been napping, because she made up some lie about how well my presentation was received. Obviously, she didn’t pay attention. The newspaper editor was also very polite and told a whopper about how the audience enjoyed the Q&A part of the presentation. Even though nobody walked out during my presentation, I could tell that they couldn’t wait for me to leave. They clapped and clapped as we walked out of the hall, I’m sure it was because they were relieved that they could finally go home.
It was a total disaster. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to inflict myself onto people.