Pho of Love.

Pho-to.

Hanoi, Vietnam – As I tucked my chair in from a breakfast of pho, assorted Western and Asian standards, and a couple cups of fantastic coffee, the concierge and wait staff stopped me from boarding the elevator.

“We like you. We really like you.”

The cook burst out of the kitchen with a sheepish grin and a twinkle in her eye.

“But she loves you.”

I’m not sure if it’s because of how much of her food I have evidently enjoyed over the past couple weeks.

I love it here at the Church Hotel on Hang Gai, too; this place has been fantastic. In some ways, the morning's laugh was a bit of an omen for the day to come.

After a 2.5-hour meeting with the heads of marketing and recruitment, I was able to compile some best practices from Canadian institutions and make four pages of recommendations for strategically marketing BTL, while enhancing its recruitment efforts.

In the process, I was finally able to cross off two of the seven major results I built into my mandate’s ambitious work plan.

It has been a good day.