My first of many assignments in Jamaica was to Ochos Rios and I was working alongside Chef Willy Brand. Many other assignments followed working in tandem with Willy and he and his wife became great friends both in Canada and away. Willy was from Holland and his English was s bit fractured. One day he was demonstrating Puff Pastry to a number of the kitchen staff in the hot kitchen. He folded and rolled and folded again Then said “now we all go into the cooler to rest” Returning a few hours later the pastry was a soggy heap and a bunch of cooks were fast asleep in the walk-in cooler! Some months later I had a contract with the Jamaican Tourist Board in Negril. My first meeting with the director was scheduled for 10 am. Smartly dressed carrying a briefcase with my laptop I arrived on time but no director! I waited a while then asked a secretary when the director would arrive. “Soon come” was the reply. So I waited and got the standard Jamaican reply “Soon come” Finally I asked “where is the director “ “0h director in Miami but soon come!” I never really got used to the Islander idea of flex time but resorted to saying The start time of a meeting is BARBARA time, not Island time which more or less worked. My program with the hotel associations, who were mainly my clients, Was to hold a major topic Lecture once a week to which each property could send the appropriate staff, then to stay at each hotel for a week during which time The manager or owner could get help on their particular problems. This worked out pretty well except when I went To a major conference hotel in Kingston and the manager announced I was in charge of running the hotel for two weeks while he went off on vacation!