Andrew sees David Hill in the crowd of people meeting different passengers.
David: Andrew, welcome to London. I'm very glad to see you.
Good morning, all of you (addressing the group).
Andrew: Good morning, David. I'm happy to see you too. It is
such a good thing to be in London again. David: I hope you have had a nice trip and you all feel well.
Andrew: Yes, the flight was OK. Should I now introduce the participants? They know your name but I'm afraid you don't know who is who.
David: Let's make all the introductions later at lunch time.
Andrew: It's quite reasonable.
David: Now let's go to the coach. It's waiting for us outside.
Ask your people to keep the lugguage on the trolleys.
Andrew: Yes, certainly. It's a rather long way.
David: Follow me please... Take care... Here we are...
The group comes up to the coach and the driver helps them to put the luggage into the luggage compartment. And a few minutes later when everybody is aboard the coach starts its way to London. The motorway is very busy and the traffic is rather heavy. Some parts of the road are under construction.
David: Oil, well, you see, we shall have to move slowly for some time. Because of this construction work. This motorway, between London and Heathrow, is often un¬der construction.
Andrew: By the way, is there only one international airport near London?
David: Oh, no, there are three, actually. Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead.
Andrew: And is Gatwick far away?
David: If I'm not mistaken it's about fifty kilometres from the centre. It's much smaller than Heathrow. And Stanstead is quite new. Sometimes Moscow flights come and leave there. But not very often.

After undergoing formalities at Immigration the group goes to the Luggage Reclaim point. They find the monitor showing their Flight Number and see their suitcases and bags on the belt. But one of the participants of the group does not see his suitcase and asks Andrew Lvov, the Group Leader, for help. Andrew comes up to an official: Andrew: Excuse me, one of our suitcases is missing. Where can it be? Official: What's your flight number, sir? Andrew: It's SU 241 from Moscow. Official: Some luggage is over there. I hope you'll find yours there. There wasn't enough space on the belt. We had to remove some and put it on the floor. Andrew: Thank you. Andrew and the gentleman who did not find his suitcase go to the place shown by the official and see the suitcase. The gentleman picks up the suitcase, puts it on the trolley and joins the group. So all the participants have collected their luggage. Now they are moving to the Customs point. By the way, it is not necessary to fill in any declaration forms. They see the sign "Nothing to declare" and the green walls of the passage. They all have nothing to declare and pass through this corridor. They see a few Customs officials standing behind the rack. The officials say nothing to them and they safely pass. Some other passengers pass through the red wall corridor since they have something to declare and probably they have to fill in some forms and pay customs duty. Usually every country has a list of the things liable to duty " in addition to the duty free allowance". In a second or two our group gets out into the hall of the airport and sees the crowd of people meeting passengers who have just arrived.

When the plane arrives at the Heathrow airport the passengers get out of the plane and go into the building of the airport. After passing along endless corridors they get to the passport control point called Immigration. There are two gates. One is for passengers from EC (European Community) countries. And the other gate is for passengers from all other countries. After queuing up for some time Mr. Lvov and the group come up to the queue marshal who signals what officer is free. And each person goes to the counter indicated.
Here is a typical talk between the English Immigration officer and a Russian businessman:
Russian: Good morning.
Officer: Good morning, sir. May I see your passport and landing card, please?
Russian: Certainly. Here you are.
Officer: Thank you.... What's the reason for your visit to the UK?
Russian: I'm on a business tour to attend a training programme.
Officer: And how long are you staying here?
Russian: A week or so.
Officer: Have you got a return ticket?
Russian: Yes, certainly. Here is my ticket.
Officer: May I see the invitation of the company who will re¬ceive you here?
Russian: Just a minute I'll ask our Group Leader to present it .... Here is the invitation.
Officer: Thank you .... Everything is OK. Here is your passport, ticket and the invitation.
Some Russian businessmen have difficulty in speaking with the English Immigration officers and answering then questions. Usually English officers do not like strangers to help them with interpreting. In such cases the officers ask their own interpreters for help. Most probably these interpreters are staff members of Immigration. For some Russian businessmen of the group it was the first experience with Englishmen and the only words they could say were:
I am sorry. I do not speak English.
Others could say a few words, like these:
I have come as a businessman for training. I shall stay in England for eight days. I shall stay at Sherlock Holmes hotel in London.

On the twelfth of November the group safely leaves the Sheremetievo airport and flies to London. They have seats in different compartments, for smokers and non-smokers, and in different rows. Practically they all have English speaking neighbours. Here are a few extracts of their talks: — It's a very nice plane, isn't it? — Oh, yes, quite comfortable. By the way, is smoking allowed here? — Why, certainly. It's a smoking compartment. — Have you got a lighter by any chance, please? Mine does not seem to work. — Yes, here you are. — Thank you. — You are welcome. — Excuse me, what's the time please? — It's a quarter past ten. — It's Moscow time, isn't it? — Oh yes. If you want London time, then ... let me see ... the difference is three hours. — I see, it's now a quarter past seven, London time. — By the way do you know when we arrive in London? — The steward says the flight is three hours forty minutes long. What time will it be? Oh, about eleven o'clock, London time. — Then I'll adjust my watch in London. — So shall I. — Excuse me, may I have your newspaper please. — Yes, certainly. Here you are. — Thank you... Excuse my curiosity, are you Russian? — Yes, I am. I'm going to London on a short stay. — Are you a tourist then? — No, I'm going to England for some training as a businessman. — You speak very fluent English. — I'm learning English after my office hours. There are many Russian businessmen who are learning English. — Good for you. But we Englishmen are lazy. Not many of us speak foreign languages. — I like your self-criticism.

Two weeks before the group is to leave Moscow for London Pete telephones David. His secretary answers the call.
Secretary: International Management here, can I help you?
Pete: Good afternoon. My name is Smirnov from Economtraining, Moscow, Russia. Could I speak to Mr. Hill, please?
Secretary: Hold on, please. I'll just see if Mr. Hill is available ... I'm putting you through.
Pete: Thank you
David: Speaking
Pete: David, good afternoon. I am sorry to disturb you but we have a problem I am afraid
David: What kind of problem is it?
Pete: Well, you see, one of the participants has fallen ill and he won't be able to join the group.
David: I'm certainly sorry to hear that. First I 'll have to make another reservation for a single room since the number of participants isn't even now. Besides it will cause changes in the Programme Fee.
Pete: Can you reduce the fee by one thousand pounds auto¬matically?
David: I'm afraid it can't be done. Some of the expenses are not directly connected with the number of participants. For example hiring coaches for excursions, for airporthotel transfers and so on. I'll make calculations and send you the appropriate Amendment to the Contract.
Pete: Good. If I find the amended fee quite reasonable I shall immediately instruct the bank to make the transfer.
David: The reduction will be about nine hundred pounds and I hope you will pay for the Programme next week, as the Contract says.
Pete: When you make calculations please remember it's a force majuere case. Neither we nor you are responsible. We should split the expenses involved.
David: I agree with you and I'll take that into account. In an hour or so I'll send you the amendment.
David keeps his promise and sends the amendment in thirty min¬utes. Pete finds the amended Programme Fee quite acceptable, signs the Amendment and sends it by fax to David

On 15 October after booking airtickets for the Participants Pete sends the following fax message to David: from: Economtraining 1/2 to: International Management Ltd Fax Message No... Re: Contract dated 2 March,199... In accordance with Article 3 of the above Contract we are in¬forming you of the Arrival Date of the Group. It is 12 November and the flight number is SU 241. We hope this will enable you to reserve the accommodation in good time. We have also made the reservation for the return flight on 20 November. In accordance with Article 7 we are attaching the list of the par¬ticipants (Page 2). Please send us your official invitation to sup¬port our visas at the British Embassy. Please also send us the time-table of the Programme showing the exact topics of the classroom sessions and the dates of ex¬ternal visits. It will enable the participants to plan the dates of their own business visits about which we spoke in Moscow. As to the Group Leader we are proposing Mr. Lvov. You must know him. He has been to London a few times with similar groups. He speaks English fluently and knows his business inside out. We are sure he will be of great help. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us. Faithfully yours, Pete Smirnov General Director David Hill sends the official invitation for the group by fax the next day. Then all the participants fill in the questionnaires and attach two photos to every questionnaire. The secretary takes all these mate¬rials and the invitation and hands in all the papers to the Embassy to get visas. In a few days the visas are ready.

Text
The next day the businessmen meet at Mr. Smirnov's premises and Mr. Hill hands him over a copy of the Contract he has prepared.
Here is a part of the Contract.

International Management Ltd
Contract dated 2 March,199. .
This Contact is made between:
International Management Ltd, London, United Kingdom, herein¬after referred to as Organiser and Economtraining, Moscow, Russian Federation, hereinafter referred to as Customer.
This Contract concerns the Programme for a Group of 10 senior bankers and foreign trade company executives (the Participants) from the Russian Federation as nominated by the Customer, scheduled to take place in London during 8 days in November, 199. .. The exact dates are to be specified before 20 October.
Both parties to this Contract are bound by the terms and condi¬tions of the Contract as set out below.
Article 3. Undertakings by the Organiser
• The Organiser shall provide Business Skills Courses during the Programme which shall collectively amount to not less than 15 hours of intensive classroom tuition, to be divided into 15 classroom "Sessions". Classroom Sessions shall take place on Training Days (Monday through Friday).
• The Organiser shall provide professional trainers to teach the Business Skills Courses who shall have appropriate professional and/ or academic experience and expertise.
• The Organiser shall provide an appropriate conference room at the Hotel in which the Business Skills Courses shall be conducted.
After Pete studied the Contract carefully, the businessmen sign two copies, one for each party.
Then Pete invites David to celebrate the event at the restaurant in the evening. The next day David leaves Moscow for St. Petersburg.

After having lunch at the canteen of the company the business¬men resume their talk.
Pete: There a few more things I would like to discuss with you.
David: Well, I'm at your service, sir.
Pete: In your offer you proposed a few external business visits for the group.
David: Yes, I proposed visits to the Bank of England, Metal Exchange, a lawyers' company and a small producing company.
Pete: That's right. Could you cut a visit to the Metal Ex¬change? A few participants would like to have some time for a visit or two of their own interest.
David: Good. We shall have lectures in the moinings and busi¬ness visits in the afternoons. Two afternoons are free. And the participants may easily pay their own visits. If they need my help I am always very glad to help.
Pete: Fine It's settled then And one more thing. What cultural excursions will the group make?
David: I propose visits to Windsor and Oxford.
Pete: Fine. Now comes the most important question. I mean the Programme fee.
David: Let me make some calculations first ... Taking into con¬sideration all the changes we made in the programme the fee comes to ten thousand pounds.
Pete: In other words one thousand per person... I suppose I can agree to that. It seems to me we have discussed all the points and can sign a Contract.
David: When we meet tomorrow afternoon the Contract will be ready and we shall sign it.
Pete: See you at 3, if it is convenient for you.
David: Good. See you tomorrow then. Good-bye.

At exactly ten to ten Nick enters the Russia hotel and sees David in the lounge. They exchange gleetings and go to the car. A few minutes later they come to Pete's office. Now they are entering the office:
Pete: Good morning, David. I hope you had a good sleep and liked the hotel.
David: Thank you. The hotel and the restaurant are all right. We had a very nice evening at the restaurant. Everything was fine.
Pete: I also enjoyed last night. Now, shall we get down to business?
David: Yes, certainly. There are a few points to discuss. What would you like to start with?
Pete: If you don't mind, let's start with the time of the Pro¬gramme. We are planning to send a group of ten per¬sons not later than on the 10th of November.
David: How long will they stay?
Pete: They prefer to be in London for eight days or seven nights.
David: Good. Have you got any comments on the topics of the lectures?
Pete: On the whole the participants are quite satisfied with your choice. But if you could add "Accounting in com¬panies and banks" it will be very good.
David: No problem. I'm making a note of that. We have got a very good lecturer.
Pete: And where will the lectures be read?
David: In one of the conference rooms of the hotel, where they will stay. I mean the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Baker Street.
Pete: I hope it is in the centre of London.
David: Oh yes. It is very close to Oxford Street and Madam Tussaud's.
Pete: Very good. Then let's make a break for lunch.
David: Not a bad idea!

Text
The next day at exactly nine o'clock Pete comes to his office. He knows that he should refresh the correspondence with David and prepare for the talks he will have with David at ten. First he starts looking through all the letters and faxes of Mr. Hill.
Here is the the recent fax message of Mr. Hill: