Blog Post #2 – AJ Baird

As I start off blog post number 2, I want to note that the country of Qatar has been very impressive and I believe that they are doing a lot of things better than America. For example, they have much fresher food over there. Even in the fast food restaurants they have fresh food which I was very impressed with. Not only that, their food tasted amazing because they knew how to cook and their ingredients were fresh. Secondly, their hospitality was excellent. Arabs are apparently known for being hospitable but my initial impressions of not knowing or understanding this part of their culture did not help until I experienced it first hand in Qatar. The people were kind and they were inviting to the group of Aggies I was with. I believe America has a lot to learn from hospitality and being inviting and open. It is also a good way to conduct business as well. Having this strategy of hospitality incorporated into my business career could help seal deals and also show people who I am. Qatar did very well in this aspect and they really did show me who they are and what they stood for as a country which gained my respect for the country significantly.  Another subject that Qatar was strong in was transportation. Qatar had a metro system which was recently built because of the world cup happening in Qatar. Qatar did a spectacular job with transportation not only because it was cheap for me to travel around but also because their stations and the metro was clean and well maintained. Lastly, Qatar did well with maintaining public areas and the city in general. The city of Doha was absolutely stunning and it was also clean and well maintained as well. I did not see trash lying around everywhere compared to American cities where it can be very dirty. The streets were in impeccable condition and did not have many bumps or cracks in the roads. That just about sums up my observations for this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks and Gig em.