[Tango-L] Wall St Jrnl: Banker Now Regards $15.4 Million Lessons As a Serious Misstep

[astrid]

> But the fact is that most of Asia is not rich.  The financial crisis a
> few years ago
> knocked down many middle-income families, and wages have yet to recover.

Yes.

> The main reason why Asians appear to have more disposable income is that
> the cost of living (basic food, fuel, clothes) and taxes and insurance are
> under control.
>
Speak for your country, Kace, not for the whole continent.

>We often have to rein in the expectation of foreign instructors who come to
Asia to teach, after they have been suggested to visit by people they met.

Argh. Recently, a very sophisticated lady here, who owns her own small
company and makes frequent trips to BA to dance tango, told her close
friends that she felt rather fed up with a certain star dancer from BA who
keeps coming to teach lessons here. Even though she likes him as a teacher,
and even provided her office space for some of his lessons, she did not
approve of the fact that apart from charging high prices for his classes,
the man has turned out to be a total freeloader. He saves all his money that
he makes here, and has people take him out to dinner all the time. Every
time she goes with him to a cafe, he expects her to pay.

Unfortunately, he gets away with, because there are always a few people
around who take pride in being able to cater to the tastes of someone like
that.

Another star dancer went to Nagoya instead, because people like to show off
their prosperity even more than in Tokyo. Once a friend in Tokyo was visited
by his hosting couple. She had offered to put him up in her large studio
apartment with a harbour view in return for free lessons, when he came to
teach in Tokyo. The couple came to check out her place, making inquiries as
though they were bringing in royalty, and gave her the feeling that nothing
was good enough for this star from Argentina. She found the experience
utterly embarrasing and disgraceful, and finally the couple left, wife's
mink trailing, without accepting her offer.
As long as there are people like that around, the guests from BA may be able
to retain their impression that Japan is a goldmine, but these snobs are
certainly not representative of the country as a whole. And they are making
life hard for the rest of us who really want to learn dancing and not just
show off.

Astrid