stories from the land of the rising sun

i’m adjusting to work slowly.. but not totally. office work will always be strange for me. perhaps it’s because i don’t have access to the internet. hrm… the computer’s there, but it’s purely for work and i can only access the local network. office work would be enjoyable when you’re connected to the internet and on msn. haha! i wouldn’t be working then would i?

today, i got to touch and feel 1000USD. well, not really in money form. more like assets. one of the lawyers went to another country to purchase two tenders. each tender costing 500USD. yep. 1000USD for two books (well, photocopied and bound). to be fair, they were about 1.5in thick each. but still, 500USD for a tender! i was really careful scanning and photocopying those two books. i was so afraid the pages would get stuck in the photocopier and i could rip them while trying to get them un-stuck. but thankfully, it didn’t happen. phew…

the people i work for a nice people. the boss is really nice, so are the lawyers (i think there are two of them), the tax counsel (he’s japanese and speaks really good english), and my ‘direct superior’. i still don’t know what she does at work. she’s just busy. legal assistant/secretary maybe? i have no idea.

like i was saying before, the office seems split by the langauge divide. the people i work for, they all speak english, with accents! their english is also very the powderfuls sia! it’s nice hearing them joke around at work. the other side of the room (henceforth referred to as ‘they’ or ‘the other side’), they speak chinese. no prizes for guessing who i get along better with. then again, i work for them, they have to be nice to me or i might decide to shred and rip all their corporate documents. haha as if i would.

the english speaking side seems to be more chilled out, laughing, chatting more. the other side just seems quiet all the time, working more. maybe it’s just me. i get slightly unnerved if they come over to the photocopier to print their stuff.

so on thursday, there’s a department lunch. maybe it’s lunch then tea or something. whatever the girl-lawyer’s fancy. hehe.. and why a department lunch? just cause. cool right?

anyway, here’s a question. is there some unspoken rule at work that you’re not supposed to laugh at a colleague’s way of speaking when they’re on the phone with other people? maybe it’s cause i’m just horrible and like to laugh at people.. but i swear she sounded really really super duper strange speaking in english (you can guess which side she’s on now)! 

to end the post, here’re three phrases i heard at work i found amusing.

girl who was speaking to a client/someone from another company over the phone: “you are most welcome.<insert annoying laugh> [repeat three times]

guy who was speaking to a client/someone from another company over the phone: “wah lau eh!”

guy-lawyer when he walked towards the boss’ office and finds the light off and door closed: “am i hanging around for nothing?”

okay.. i know they aren’t really phrases, more sentances. but you know what i mean. right?