导师给我约定每周五下午向他汇报课题进展及讨论有关事项。可这个约定因一件小事改变了。那是半个月前的周一，确切地说是5月14日，小孩去同学家玩还未回来，大概是六点多，外面已经全黑了，我一个人在厨房里忙着，发生了一件令人不愉快的事…..（在此省略三千字）（由于不想回忆该过程，省去描述）。

周五(18日)一上班我就把当周的报告发给导师，并提议将Meeting time改为上午，没想到这一天都在与导师在Email。

   我的第一封Email:（9：30AM）

Dear Professor X,

……

I would like to meet you early today. Maybe 11:00am or 12:00pm, if you have time.

……

导师回复了：(10:40:39am)

Dear Haixia,

Thank you very much for both of your emails.

Unfortunately the earliest I can meet with you today is 2.30 PM.

If this is not convenient, I can meet with you on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday

essentially all day.

I assume that you would like to leave a bit earlier from work? Am I correct? That is fine.

Indeed perhaps meeting early next week is better, as I will have more time to read

and edit your paper.

Please let me know what is your preference.

…..

 看来他以为我想开溜呢。为了让他不误会，我只好把要提前的理由告诉他：（10:58 AM）

Dear Professor X,

I only need to pick Peter back from school at 3:00pm. Because someone came outside our house window and stood there curiously on Monday evening. I am afraid that it is not safe for child stay at home alone after school. Then I must pick him back and let him do his homework at Uni. library. After that, I will work till 6:00pm everyday.

The last two weeks, I came back office to work every evening. But this week I am afraid it is not safe outside on my way home and office, so I did not come.

If you have not time free early. We could meet after 4:00pm today, or , next week Tuesday or Wednesday morning, which day and time depend on your convenience.

……

本以为经过我的解释，导师就OK了。我只是轻描淡写地说有个人很奇怪，站在房子的窗外，并没提到具体的细节，没想到，他很紧张，到底发生了什么事情。这不，邮件又来了。（11:38:10am）

Dear Haixia,

I am very concerned about these matters! Who is standing at your window and why!!?? Did you try to talk to the police?

Do you want me to assist you in this respect?

If you are afraid to walk home on your own after work, I can always take you home or walk with you.

I would be very happy to do that.

Let’s meet at 4pm and if nothing else - we can talk about these matters.

In addition, we can meet next week to finalise the article.

……

我并不想报警，也是为了省去麻烦，也是为了导师不再担心。我知道导师工作也是很忙的，也不想他为这些事占用了时间。于是我回复了：（2:34 PM）

Dear Professor X,

Thank you for your greeting.

I think that I would not like to bother you everyday to take me home.

I will take careful myself.

I also think everything will be good.

And I will assure my work time and progress.

Let me meet you next week, please email me the concrete time.

……
 

有了我的回复，导师大人应该不会再回复了吧。不用担心，我能照顾自己，是吧。可是,  导师的回复又来了，还让人有点感动哎。（15:13:41pm）

Dear Haixia,

You are certainly not bothering me and I do feel responsible for your welfare. Thus I would be quite happy to escort you back to your home to ensure your safety. Please also feel free to talk to me about potential police involvement, as such involvement might need to be considered.

Let’s meet next week on Wednesday at 10 am in my office. I blocked out time until 1.00 pm in the afternoon (i.e. 3 hours).

……

终于定下来见面时间了，我赶紧回复：（3:45 PM）

Thank you X,

I will consider talking to police if this kind of thing happen again.

See you next week.

……

即使如此，导师又回了一封Email: (16:52:08)

That is OK Haixia, please let me know if I can assist you with this matter.

See you next week,

……

从早上9:30到下午4:52，都在邮件中。

从这件事我要调整Meeting time的小事中我看到：

1. 外国导师的时间安排得很紧凑，所有的工作都要做好安排。

2. 外国导师对学生的要求也是很严格的，首先，工作时间我保证；工作进度要跟得上。如果你要改变时间，一定要有充足的理由。如果你想把时间调到上午，很容易让人想到是要提前离开。

3. 即使导师猜想你想提前离开，他也是欣然同意的（I assume that you would like to leave a bit earlier from work? Am I correct? That is fine.）。

4.当得知你遇到麻烦时，一定是很关心，很愿意协助你解决问题的。知道我并不是开溜，只是去接小孩放学，（其实开车也就十分钟时间），后来，就一直给我把时间调到上午了。从这一点，也可以看出外国人对小孩安全问题的重视。

5.他把保证学生的安全，看成是自己的一种责任和义务。