Back in Hong Kong for company’s annual dinner, as well as a week of meetings.
Well that last objective wasn’t exactly what I had planned for. I came back to attend the annual dinner was true, the meetings was kind of unexpected. In fact I was due back in Shanghai on Wednesday, but due to some “unforeseen circumstances” (this term is just so versatile – good for everything that you simply cannot describe exactly), I was asked to stay two more days at the company to “finish up my plans” and “be immersed in the company culture”.
And you know what happened, I felt like having a full-on MBA course cramped into my head within five days with endless presentations, powerpoints, group projects and discussions. Adding on to the list were different briefings and trainings of company systems, teachings of company culture as well as numerous principles of leadership and management. All these I was asked to follow tightly when I get back in Shanghai.
And you can just imagine – these five days practically sucked all energy out of me and I had to sleep for 10 hours to recover (which is very rare for me as I normally prefer staying awake doing nonsense).
PLUS the commute – 1.5 hours from home to office every day, especially during rush hours with billions of people squashing into the trains, streets and everywhere. I wonder why we all had to go to work at 9am, what’s this thing about 9am anyway? Can’t we go to work at 9 30am and still work for 8 hours? Considering the fact that 8 hours was simply not enough anyway.
Guess I just haven’t had the experience to work in Hong Kong for quite a long time. This was what my life was before I moved to Mars, where people obey the labour law flawlessly and pack their bags at 6pm sharp. Having had to get up at 6am, rush through lunches (usually coupled with working at the same time), not being able to have dinner until 10pm when I got home and ended up sleeping for only 5 hours. I am so glad that I’ve finally made my way out of it because there’s just not much left to enjoy after all that fuss, unless you receive immense pleasure out of work that is totally overwhelming.
Not me anyway – oh and how many times have I said it that I’m actually more like a lazy person, despite the usual impression I gave people that I was an extremely hard-working person?
Or I shouldn’t say I’m lazy – pardon me – I’m more like the kind of person who prefers a lot of freedom to do whatever that is seemingly interesting. That could well include things that are work-related.
But life doesn’t give you a choice, does it. And I remember my boss told me, once you have fulfilled your commitments, you will have freedom.
Surely darn true.
Just a matter of time.
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