Weekend's here!

So happy! Yay! Work's ok lah. I'm just a little stressed out, which is normal considering I just started work in a new environment. My colleagues have been really nice and sweet so I feel quite welcomed. There is a new colleague, also on contract, who joined a day after me. It's good to have other "newcomers" within the dept. My dept is quite big...but my team only consists on 3 people, inclusive of myself.

Anyway, the 'Ang Moh Pai' impression of the people I work with hasn't changed. It is a very...I don't know. Let's just say that the environment reminds me of my secondary school. The way the people converse, the kind of family backgrounds they have, the topics they talk about, the poor command of the Chinese language, etc. Honestly, I feel that this environment (made of its people, not the facilities) is a little 'elitist'. Being an elite doesn't automatically classify you as a snob, btw. I've met very very impressive people who are very humble. I've mixed around with people from very different backgrounds and the difference in the (perceived?) social class is quite obvious. It is pretty obvious that the people from my department communicate in English like 99% of the time. Another 1%, maybe in Cantonese (for the older generation) or French (!!!). Some work cultures are more 'Chinese-oriented', if you know what I mean (I think Japanese bank's culture is like that). The work culture here, on the other hand, is definitely a STRONG English-oriented one. Thank goodness my English isn't hopelessly bad. I'm fine interacting with both groups. I'm a bit of an odd-ball, not really fitting into either one of the groups. As you can already tell, I am more interested in Asian entertainment, altho' I am also aware of American and to a lesser extent, European entertainment. I frequent Chinese entertainment sites these days and am comfortable reading Chinese characters. I converse with my mum mainly in Mandarin at home, I'm don't come from a particularly rich family, etc. but I am generally comfortable conversing in English and English is my preferred language for conversing (but I became more 'cheena' after 5-mths with Japanese bank's vendors). Well, I share characteristics from both groups actually and I like it this way.

In a way, I feel quite privileged to be working in this bank 'cos I'm working with 'elites' mah. I don't think it is very easy to join the company (esp. after I entered) and I really don't know how I entered the company. It's really by God's grace. Even a short 6-mth stint in such an environment will help me learn a lot...so I really treasure this opportunity. :)