Socializing with
your Chinese Coworkers
Can
karaoke
really get me a raise?
Should I socialize with the people at
work?
The webmaster is quite
convinced that he once got a nice raise (the very next
work day!) because he went out singing with the boss and
other administrators. In some cultures, after-work
socialization is very important (it is in the Western
world too -
isn't it?).
Because of the
great cultural divide, it is quite useful to socialize
with your coworkers - on their terms and in their ways -
to help them get to know you. Make an effort and
actually sing if asked. By the way, nobody cares if you sing
well, it's only that you make the effort! And, once you
do it a few times, you'll love it!
Socializing with
Coworkers?
Why not? You
did back home, didn't you? For most people their long-term
friends are people they met at one workplace or another.
Do it just to be
polite. But also be open to finding some new friends.
Be careful,
however, of getting sloppy drunk or becoming too
familiar with members of the other sex until you know
your coworkers a bit better and the culture a bit
better. You don't want to start off on the wrong foot.
Now get out
there and SING!
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"Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the
ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the
trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." -- Mark Twain |
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