nanamonteiro (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} nanamonteiro) wrote,@ 2004-03-02 21:28:00 |
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Working Culture - Part II
Lunch: the lunch breaks last 30 minutes, we have a canteen inside the company and the dishes are partially subsidised by the company, therefore the food is tasty and inexpensive. Around 12 a.m. people usually go for lunch, sometimes they invite me to go with them, sometimes all the people from the department go together and we sit in a big round table there.
When the brand manager is there as well the atmosphere changes, everybody is in control. He is the only one who is talkative, he makes jokes and everybody laughs a lot. Of course they do this in German, so I cannot follow it but I always wonder if he is really so funny or if they laugh because he is the big boss though.
I thought that the lunch would be a great opportunity to meet people, to talk to them, but here they don’t mix business and personal life, it’s very clear: we are colleagues not friends. Well, I can see this distance in everybody I met. Over the time some will be opener with time, others will never do.
The lunch ritual: they wear their jackets, catch up the others in the hall. Well, they meet the ones whom are already there, they don’t wait. It’s a real rush to the Canteen Building. There are an enormous wardrobe for our jackets, we hang it in a rush... everything is in a hurry, they choose the meal, pay for it, sit, eat very fast. It’s done in 10 minutes. Amazing! There is rarely a small talk during this initial minutes, so then after eating it starts. As far as I see the small-talks are really superficial and are unsustainable. The conversation doesn’t flow and another subject is chosen. The cycle repeats more times and then it’s time to rush back.
The lunch is not seem as a pleasant moment, but another obligation or appointment that they have during the day. They don’t seem to really enjoy the meal, either the moment.
It’s quite difficult to fit to their time, I feel uncomfortable, that I´m always late. Therefore I cannot really taste anything. (Of course, I met different kinds of people, I´m just sharing the main scenario, as I observed them as a group not as individuals.)
Lunch: the lunch breaks last 30 minutes, we have a canteen inside the company and the dishes are partially subsidised by the company, therefore the food is tasty and inexpensive. Around 12 a.m. people usually go for lunch, sometimes they invite me to go with them, sometimes all the people from the department go together and we sit in a big round table there.
When the brand manager is there as well the atmosphere changes, everybody is in control. He is the only one who is talkative, he makes jokes and everybody laughs a lot. Of course they do this in German, so I cannot follow it but I always wonder if he is really so funny or if they laugh because he is the big boss though.
I thought that the lunch would be a great opportunity to meet people, to talk to them, but here they don’t mix business and personal life, it’s very clear: we are colleagues not friends. Well, I can see this distance in everybody I met. Over the time some will be opener with time, others will never do.
The lunch ritual: they wear their jackets, catch up the others in the hall. Well, they meet the ones whom are already there, they don’t wait. It’s a real rush to the Canteen Building. There are an enormous wardrobe for our jackets, we hang it in a rush... everything is in a hurry, they choose the meal, pay for it, sit, eat very fast. It’s done in 10 minutes. Amazing! There is rarely a small talk during this initial minutes, so then after eating it starts. As far as I see the small-talks are really superficial and are unsustainable. The conversation doesn’t flow and another subject is chosen. The cycle repeats more times and then it’s time to rush back.
The lunch is not seem as a pleasant moment, but another obligation or appointment that they have during the day. They don’t seem to really enjoy the meal, either the moment.
It’s quite difficult to fit to their time, I feel uncomfortable, that I´m always late. Therefore I cannot really taste anything. (Of course, I met different kinds of people, I´m just sharing the main scenario, as I observed them as a group not as individuals.)
