Oh - one other anecdote (but not a problem): On my CX mileage run BKK-HKG-BKK, the purser announced connecting gates as we arrived in HKG, including mine back to BKK (the flight continued on to Sri Lanka, by the way). I called her over because I thought she'd get a chuckle out of the fact that most pax probably wondered why she was announcing a flight right back to BKK...but in fact I would be on that very flight!
She didn't see anything funny or ironic about this, and explained that some passengers may be connecting to Sri Lanka. And she didn't understand when I asked wouldn't somebody flying BKK-CMB just have waited to take the return, rather than flying BKK-HKG-BKK-CMB? (Yes, I know the gyrations we go through here in the United States!) She explained that the sheet she was given listed that flight, so of course she read it.
I found this to be a good example of the stereotypical Asian outlook: great at following details, but not at all good at thinking "outside the box." (Anybody who's interested can e-mail me about the confusion in Kyoto when I asked the hotel for directions using a map printed in English instead of Japanese!)
[This message has been edited by johna (edited 11-26-1999).]