Company Retreat

Wow, I must say I have been completely surprised by today's events. I came expecting a one-way communication of information and cosmetic discussions, but ended up learning quite a bit as well as enjoying the mini-games injected at several intervals.

Nexus mimicked something called Open Source Technology, which gets participants to interact and discuss with one another without subscribing to an overarching agenda, and with just a theme in mind. After having those discrete pockets of discussions, hosts will summarize the ideas glimpsed from the short discussion for the rest. Basically, this model hinges on the usage of collective intelligence which operates on the assumption that the whole is greater the sum of individual parts.

Hence, these words are like a hotline to other ideas, so everytime I use them I don't get a single and monotonous image but rather a more assorted and colourful picture.

Somewhere along, I learnt some interesting phrases such as 'guerilla marketing', and it hit me that I really like collecting quotes and learning new (and often more sophisticated) words! I like using them not because they supposedly impress (actually I believe it doesn't, and I much prefer the simple and the succinct), but rather because such terms often package within them a collection of related ideas. Hence, these words are like a hotline to other ideas, so everytime I use them I don't get a single and monotonous image but rather a more assorted and colourful picture. And that is the reason I like using 'chim' words sometimes.

Similarly, 'lorry ride' has come to mean a lot to some Highlighters, and 'batch dynamics' has made its permanent residence in the hearts of scouties.

In the same vein, some words have been sweetened by experiences and have gained a special flavour that calls upon select memories when used. Just as a picture says a thousand words, saying the words 'blindfold' and 'retreat' in the same breath to any BB 27ths and they may just start recalling the tears, the guitar, the room, the heart, and the whisperings. Similarly, 'lorry ride' has come to mean a lot to some Highlighters, and 'batch dynamics' has made its permanent residence in the hearts of scouties. Not to forget, 'Cok Family' never fails to bring about a smile!

All in all, the first day of retreat ended pretty well, and there will be fun and games tomorrow! I think I'm starting to really like my job and the friends I have made over there (:

The Workplace

It was an ordinary piece of drawing with everyday manifestations depicted in a mundane fashion. The image of an everyday workplace is drawn up, and you look on with masked nonchalance at the sketches marked with ostentatious pencil markings, eraser smudges and miscellaneous lines all over. Desks, people, and the ubiquitious computer make up the essence of the artwork.

It has been three weeks since I started work. The initial awkwardness has ebbed away by a little, but it will take a while more before I become comfortable with the setting and become immersed into the surroundings. This is probably partly due to age differences and the overwhelming gender imbalance. At eighteen, I am the youngest in the department, and the majority of my colleagues are females above the age of 25. Sometimes, it is just a little hard to find common topics and hold sustained convesations. I guess the film of formality has yet to evanescent. And yeah, I have been feeling quite tired recently too, so I haven't been in any mood to talk.

Anyway, I have always regarded my working life as plain and unexciting. After all, despite the benefits of forging such an intimate relationship with newspapers (I read, cut, photocopy and file them on a daily basis), you can't really disguise the banality of the job, can you? Reading Business Times is not my idea of fun and excitement, nor is standing in front of the photocopying machine for hours particularly interesting.

Yet, it seems like the barren and bleak landscape portrayed before me is but a facade waiting to be unveiled. As time elapses, the varied colours of office intricacies and mysteries begin to permeate through the porous covering. Learning about the history behind what was and what had been breathes life into the still imagery of office life that I had first assumed in my mindscape. Names of fellow colleagues begin to mean much more than consanants to be uttered in periodic frequency as their life stories start to unfold through sporadic conversations.

In many ways, life in a workplace is not what I had expected, and I am glad to be mistaken. Despite the whinings and angst over the job, I am actually really thankful to be where I am. Essentially, there is always pros and cons, merits and demerits, as well as advantages and disadvantages to all things in life. It simply depends on our attitude, and as for me, I choose the see the glass as half-full.

You witness the vacuum fill up with colours of all assortments and start to notice the little details you have missed out on your preliminary glance of the picture. You awaken to the idea that there is great beauty and wonder in the ordinary indeed, for it is in the ordinary where the extraordinary originally emerges from.