Our ‘New’ Canteen
Our ‘New’ Canteen
Sunday, 31 August 2008
The College canteen has always been something of a landmark, being situated beneath a spectacular glass skylight, the cone of which forms the centrepiece of our main front roundabout. Ever since the College began, the canteen had been decorated in a somewhat bland and neutral colour scheme that reflected the fashion of the early 1990s when it was built. That has now changed with the introduction of warmer, more inviting colours that follow a Chinese theme of red pillars with gold enhancements. When our students walked in for the first time this year, the “Wow!” factor was certainly both audible and visible.
Along with the new colours, acoustic wooden panels have been introduced on many of the walls to reduce background noise levels, and the new softer, gold textured flooring is also designed to absorb some noise. The new colours were designed by Di (my wife) in conjunction with our catering company, Sodexho. The entire College community is grateful to both Di and to Sodexho for their hard work.
A VERY SIGNIFICANT MEETING
Much of my working day comprises meetings. I wouldn’t say that I am a ‘meeting junkie’, but I do enjoy the contact with interesting people that meetings provide, and in general I find them to be a productive way of communicating effectively to bring about worthwhile change. I certainly prefer the personal contact of meetings to phone calls or video conferences where the important aspect of communication through body language is obscured and where there are fewer opportunities to ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength by cross-questioning and clarifying points.
The photo at the right shows a few of those who attended this significant first meeting. Unusually for me, I didn’t have my camera with me to record the occasion - fortunately we live in an era when mobile phones can come to the rescue, seemingly to solve any problem. The attendees at the meeting were nominated by both the LPCUWC Board and the Hong Kong UWC Graduates organisation. I am looking forward to the impetus that the new Committee will undoubtedly bring to the UWC Movement in Hong Kong and beyond.
The skylight of our canteen. Like all images in this blog, you can click for an enlargement.