The entire evening was wildly entertaining in that while in Central London, I was transformed back to that crazy country. I felt as if I was sitting in a fancy conference room at the Hilton with Cameroonians. The talk was held at the Knightsbridge Business Center and wasn’t an easy venue to find. We got quite lost and was really late. The invitation said the talk would begin at 4:30pm. When we showed up nearly an hour late, the event still hasn’t started. In fact, true to Cameroon form, we began at 6pm.
Although there were roughly 30 of us in a room, at least half were taking pictures as if it were the UN General Assembly. This is typical; Cameroonians love photos and giving events legitimacy. They always loved the certificates that I would give out when they “graduate” from business classes. Later, cell phone rang throughout the talk. My favorite part, though, was when people ask questions, they don’t just get to the point. They would take 5 minutes to introduce themselves, give some background opinions, and then ask the question. This quirky habit gets really painful in ceremonies when speeches are given. Finally, there naturally needed to be a photo de la famille at the end. Cameroonians always insist on taking a large group photo at the end of every event.
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