Intel Inside - Shanghai
Shortly after I returned from my trip to Tibet, I accepted an offer to return to Intel Finance based out of Shanghai. Thanks to Margene, I was quickly able to contact the right people who would hire me, and luckily they were looking for people to hire, so the initial process was fairly relaxed and smooth. After nine months of studying, traveling, and a huge amount of loafing, it was somewhat gratifying to be starting work again, and as I walked through the lobby of the office on my first official day on the job, I was excited thinking about how my career in Asia was starting at the only company that was ever willing to pay for my services, excluding my exquisite work as a shoplifter testing out the security at Vons back in Claremont (since it was on a volunteer basis and I never got around to telling management).
My first reaction walking down the hallway toward my cubicle was how eerily similar the environment was to Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, where I was originally based. The colors were identical, down to the cheerless gray of the carpet fibers to the feather tone of the cubicle walls. The same Intel motivational posters adorned the walls. People walked past me in on their way to their busy meetings, strictly avoiding eye contact. I walked by cubicles where people on headsets were chatting on the phone with counterparts and peers that they had never before met face to face. The officescape was dotted with pillars, each marked with a letter followed by a number - landmarks for the novice navigator. Just as it was back home in Santa Clara, Chandler (AZ), and Hillsboro (OR). I was beginning to forget that I was thousands of miles away in a completely different country.
I walked into my new cube and plopped my bag down on the chair. I stared to my left, then to my right; the view from inside the cubicle was exactly the same. I breathed in the scent of the office; even that was similar. I was awash in nostalgia, and I leaned against the my desk and felt as if nothing had changed, as if I had never left the comfortable womb of Big Blue. Any minute, I would hear Alejandro knock my partition and utter his famous tagline “Playa Playa.” Any minute, Cindy was going to stick her head over and say “Eric Hu, where have you been?” I was home again.
“WAKATOOOOOOOOOOOOOPY!”
The sound of a fantastic loogey being hawked a few cubes down ripped me from the familiar images in my head. What the hell was that? That sound wasn’t from my collection of golden Intel oldies!
I opened my eyes. “WAKATOOOOOOOOOOOOPY!” Another one. Different vicinity.
No matter how “the same” things can feel, here in China, it will ALWAYS be a little bit different
My first reaction walking down the hallway toward my cubicle was how eerily similar the environment was to Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, where I was originally based. The colors were identical, down to the cheerless gray of the carpet fibers to the feather tone of the cubicle walls. The same Intel motivational posters adorned the walls. People walked past me in on their way to their busy meetings, strictly avoiding eye contact. I walked by cubicles where people on headsets were chatting on the phone with counterparts and peers that they had never before met face to face. The officescape was dotted with pillars, each marked with a letter followed by a number - landmarks for the novice navigator. Just as it was back home in Santa Clara, Chandler (AZ), and Hillsboro (OR). I was beginning to forget that I was thousands of miles away in a completely different country.
I walked into my new cube and plopped my bag down on the chair. I stared to my left, then to my right; the view from inside the cubicle was exactly the same. I breathed in the scent of the office; even that was similar. I was awash in nostalgia, and I leaned against the my desk and felt as if nothing had changed, as if I had never left the comfortable womb of Big Blue. Any minute, I would hear Alejandro knock my partition and utter his famous tagline “Playa Playa.” Any minute, Cindy was going to stick her head over and say “Eric Hu, where have you been?” I was home again.
“WAKATOOOOOOOOOOOOOPY!”
The sound of a fantastic loogey being hawked a few cubes down ripped me from the familiar images in my head. What the hell was that? That sound wasn’t from my collection of golden Intel oldies!
I opened my eyes. “WAKATOOOOOOOOOOOOPY!” Another one. Different vicinity.
No matter how “the same” things can feel, here in China, it will ALWAYS be a little bit different