James sits down for a chat with his old friend and Cortland State University alumni, Mr. Todd Friends, whom he hasn't seen in years. Todd is currently an assistant professor at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Listen to how Todd is using his expat experience, along with his extensive business and management background, to impress on his students the importance of developing cross cultural exchanges and understandings at a local level. Also, Todd explains why in some places cultural understandings can turn out to be more valuable and flexible in the long term than contractual agreements, which in the end, builds lasting trust and opens the door for yet seen opportunities. Todd happened to be coming through Taipei to set up the groundwork for a study abroad course he has developed for his students called "The Three Chinas". This course isn't educational tourism. This 2018 course is a live comparative business trip between Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai. This is when Todd's students can get an early taste of an overseas business environment. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Website: Todd Friends @ Whitworth University Page: Website: Whitworth University THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE! Thank you very much for taking the time to share this podcast. Please help us make this show better by filling in this Expat Life Expat Life Survey. It will help us produce a better show for you and thanks! If you have any feedback, please leave a note in the comments section below or leave a voice message via our SpeakPipe voice message page. We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this please share it with your friends, family and co-workers by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Please subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts to get automatic episode updates of our podcasts. And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on Apple Podcasts. They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and I make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get. Please help us spread the word and leave a review in Apple Podcasts by clicking here! Thank you for listening to Four Seas One Family. We are all the same and at the same time uniquely different!