Company Outing

2037 6-12-10

So I went on a company outing today.  I know, I know, what with the title of the post being "Company Outing" I'm sure you thought I had gone and done something entirely different.

Woke up, went to work, chilled there for an hour, and then we all got into a giant bus and went to a local BBQ restaurant.  We used forks and knives.  After three months of almost never using forks and knives it's rather weird to suddenly eat Asian BBQ with them.  I sat across from Mable (a tech support woman who's in my English lunches) and taught her how to use them.  She's sweet, but when I asked her what she likes to do she replied "watch TV"… pretty much kills any conversations with me.  Not saying I don't watch "shows", I do, but when someone asks me what I like to do I certainly wouldn't say that and nothing else.  She likes to watch "24" and "Grey's Anatomy" by the way, I'm not sure if that means she only watches those or she only told me those because those would be the only ones I recognized.

Anyways the food was decent, and plenty of it.  Afterwards we headed over to a local park where we played a series of games, Tug-a-War, Hula-Hoop, Three-Legged-Race, and Trivia.

I was pumped for the Tug-a-War; after our team was beaten twice, and I was dragged on to the ground for a good couple of feet, my enthusiasm dwindled.  Trivia was also funny because it was all in Chinese and so what Niko would do was wait until everyone had decided which hula-hoop to stand behind (indicating their answer), and then calmly walk over to stand in the front of the line which had the most people.  Needless to say, with almost no Chinese under his belt, he was right nearly every time.

Let's see, oh I scored dad a room.  Nina is leaving the 19^th but her room is rented out till the 31^st so I got it from her for 60RMB ($8.75) a night for 5 nights.  Score!

Alright I'm insanely tired, have a good night.

Going Native

a)      What: Our company went on an outing today and I took some time to observe and talk with our CEO, Trent.  I think an important part of Trent's leadership style is his love for the culture that he's in.

b)      So what: It's quite obvious that the employees in the company truly respect Trent and I believe it's because, unlike most foreign management, Trent has fully committed himself and his family to knowing and understanding the Chinese culture.  He's working on his Chinese, he has some of his children in Chinese schools, and he respects the Chinese culture.  All of this lends him creditability to his workers and a appreciation for his effort.

c)       What now:  Finally something I can actually work on.  Improving my ability to understand and show my appreciation for others cultures.  While I would never describe myself as hostile towards another culture, I'm not really jumping in with both feet either.  I'm more like a silent (it is possible for me not to talk, I swear) watcher that just sits and analysis the situations happening around him.  This doesn't lend itself well if I want to manage people of different culture because it comes off as indifferent or uncaring.  Greater effort in outwardly assimilating while still keeping my core identity and values would go a long way in making people of other cultures feel more comfortable around me.