Coolness

It's my first time to work with Aussie SMEs, and I have nothing but good things to say about them so far. They're really great -- very accommodating and very nice. I can bug them on IMs in the middle of the day, and they'll be nothing but pleasant and very helpful. I was sort of reluctant before on how to approach them, but so far so good.

I've also tried working with Ukrainians before. Most of them were nice, but a few seemed grumpy (or grouchy?) and some even seemed rude. But to be fair, it's probably mostly because of the language barrier. They tended to express things differently from how I would understand them.

I've worked briefly with Swedes, and they were generally nice. During my short stint with them, I never had a bad experience of any sort (rifling through pages in my memory right now :P )...

Americans, on the other hand, are a mixed lot. I've had lotsa great American SMEs whom I learned a lot from, but I've also had some not-so-nice experiences with them. On my second or third week at my current job, I had to ask for a review from an American SME who was so brash in his email. He gave a comment about my work being "unacceptable", and he even faulted my grammar (duhhh????)!!! It surely ruffled everyone's feathers so-to-speak. My boss and my team's senior director were so worried about me -- how I'd take the email and stuff. Well, it wasn't like I wasn't used to such behavior from SMEs, so I assured everyone that it was no big deal and that no offense was taken. Apparently, this particular SME (let's call him Oscar) had a reputation for being rude and crass in his emails and that many have already complained. Quite surprisingly, though, Oscar got chosen as one of this year's recipients of the company award for top performance and got to join in a trip to Saint Maertens. Hmmm...

Unlike the Aussies, American SMEs also don't like being bothered on IMs. For now, Aussies top my list of favorite SMEs. Good thing, too, 'cause I'll be working a lot with them.

P.S.
No mention here of Filipino SMEs 'cause it's a given that they're nice. What else can I say? :)