Meet the Taiwanese tourist who had tea with the Polish President
台灣遊客與波蘭總統喝午茶
"This was for real, not prearranged" said Jerry Lee, an English teacher at Ping-he elementary school in Nantou City of central Taiwan
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - A video of four foreign tourists being randomly selected on the street to have a cup of tea with the Polish President in Warsaw has gone viral recently, one of the four tourists told Taiwan News that it was for real, rather than a prearranged meeting as some netizens assumed.
A Taiwanese couple, Jerry Lee and Rosa Tang, made a two-week trip to Poland and Hungary in early July. On July 12, the last day of their trip in Europe and hours away from flying back to Taiwan, they went out shopping for some souvenirs. When the two strolled past the Presidential Palace, a woman approached them and offered them an opportunity to "have a tea and a chat with Polish President Andrzej Duda."
Lee, an experienced backpacker and an English teacher, recalled the conversation, and thought they had come across a travel scam.
The woman politely told Lee that they would like to invite the couple to have a cup of tea with the President, and the meeting will be videotaped and posted online to promote Poland as an attractive tourism destination. The woman also showed some documents to win their trust and agreement to join the filming project.
A couple from Singapore were also invited to meet President Duda as a group.
Wearing T-shirts and jeans/khaki, the group walked into the Presidential Palace.
Before filming, they underwent a security check and were briefed on the rundown. 20 minutes later, President Duda showed up and moved toward them to shake hands as a friendly greeting.
Duda showed the group around the first floor and then went up to his office at the second floor. As the door opened, Lee saw a well-set table awaiting them.
Lee recalled Duda as a friendly and humble person, who poured tea for them when they were seated. As shown in the video, the four had a pleasant talk in English with Duda. The meeting ended as a presidential aide reminded Duda to leave for an important meeting. Read More: Two Taiwanese tourists invited to meet Polish President for tea by surprise
"The tea time lasted approximately for 20 minutes, with no prearranged questions. All spontaneous questions!" said Lee.
At the end of the tea chat, Duda proposed to take group photos and selfies. Duda tweeted the selfie photo of the happy guests and himself later that day.
Before leaving the building, Lee and the Singaporean couple each received a bag of souvenirs from the President, including a cup, pen, and a paper notebook.
(Photo courtesy of Jerry Lee)
Lee later also learnt that the idea to invite international tourists to have a cup of tea at his office was from Duda himself, with the aim to promote Poland tourism worldwide.
Asked for his takeaways from the unique encounter, Lee said that he wants to get to know the country more after his return, and will also recommend friends to visit the beautiful country.
"I will also share this unique experience with my students, and encourage them to improve the ability to effectively communicate in English. Such a great opportunity to personally meet a country's leader would just pass by if they couldn't understand the offer," said Lee.
Lee also told Taiwan News that Taiwan and Poland share a number of similarities in history. He observes that Polish people are diligent and patriotic.
"Relatively under-visited by Chinese tourists, Poland is an affordable tourist destination, while offering travelers an incredible experience. The country is definitely worth visiting," he concluded.
The twitter page of the selfies mentioned in the article:
Po powrocie z #NATOSummit w Brukseli mia em w gabinecie mi ych Go ci. Tury ci z Tajwanu i Singapuru odwiedzili Pa ac Prezydencki... i mnie. pic.twitter.com/3U1pInZnGR
— Andrzej Duda (@AndrzejDuda) July 12, 2018
