Separation and Togetherness

These several months have been very hard for me. There were several coworkers leaving the company. People I had been happily working together for years, people who gave me a lot of autonomy in my works and who made me discovered what I was good at. I didn't know it could be so tough until I realized we would no longer having lunch together, nor bitching about something or someone anymore. Farewell parties one after another, and there is still one planned in November. I almost cried during a meeting yesterday, thinking that I would be hearing his voice and jokes for the last time during work environments. Thanks for being my coworker Céline, Patrice, Regis, Noëla, Vincent, Samuel and soon Nicolas.

The photos below warmed my heart. Separation at work, but I'm seeing my girls bonding everyday. Of course they fight, they yell at each other, but they also have fun together. 

The big sister reading to her little sister during her bath time.

The big sister fasten the bell for her little sister.

Reading together

Playing together

I felt so proud that day at this playground. The little one wanted to do this game, but I was tired having walking for several hours that day. I refused to go queue with her. The big sister, after playing somewhere else, came to her and proposed to queue with her. She did several rounds under the watch of her big sister. Not only that, the big sister stopped people from jumping queue in front of  her sister, and yelled away kids who tried to play several times without queuing. She didn't keep quiet if some kids didn't respecting the rules. She also brought her little sister to play swing. She started to show that she was capable to protect her sister.

But for how long? That's a question I often asked myself. For how long will they do stuffs together? In less than two years, the big one is going to secondary school, the little one to primary school. Will they still play together? Or will it be time they play separately? Will they seek out each other? Will their share their happiness and sadness? It is hard to tell. But in general, I notice, siblings are less close in France compare to Malaysia. When they have their own families, they see each other during Christmas, or weddings, or family gatherings. Some manage to travel together but it is rare. My sisters and nieces are traveling this Christmas and will stop by to pay me a visit. I'm eager to see them. I don't know if age matters, but I'm feeling even closer to them now despite the fact that we are living thousand kilometers away. Love has no distance I guess. 

Company Christmas Event Dec 2016

This year my company year-end Christmas party was held in the Cité de Nantes. 

First we were invited to watch a show: three people playing music instruments while doing some acrobat, quite well done. The big daughter was glued to it the whole 1 hour, while the little one was following for 15 minutes then started climbing up and down from her seat.

After the show, we were handed two bags of snack for the kids, and the adults had to go through a long queue just to get a pastry and a hot drink. Food wise we can sense a huge budget cut compared to years before.

 We were told that some games areas were set up. The little one was intrigued by this book area, but since she didn't take a nap before coming, she became fussy quickly.

 The kids got their snack, while I was queuing for ours, managed to chit-chat with some coworkers. Later we played a game, quite easy, depending on the dice color we needed to blow down some fake colorful candles.

We were told then that there were more games upstairs. The kids were totally glued to as soon as they set foot in this area. The little one played with enthusiasm some cars and some trains that she had to put on those racks.

 What I loved the most was the Lego area. Tons of pieces of Lego for anyone to play with.

 Kids teamed up with their parents, constructed some crafts using Lego pieces, wrote down their team name, and I believed the organizers would choose a winner later.

 So many kids happy to find Lego pieces at their services.

 The big daughter was hooked to the train set for a while before joining her little sister.

When we left, the Christmas lighting was on, the girls was disappointed as they couldn't enter the area to get closed to Santa. By the way, due to budget cut, my company didn't invite Santa this year. I didn't know about this (I didn't go ask either), so I told my kids what we were going to see Santa. The big daughter accused of lying when we were about to go. Oh well, she will see Santa soon.

A day in Paris

In my job, I seldom go outstation, but last Wednesday, my boss from Paris asked me to join him for a meeting with customer there. He was a very nice manager, the day before the meeting, he showed me through skype the direction from the metro station to the building where the meeting was held.

So I woke up at 5:30am that morning to catch the train at 6:30am. Hubby was kind to send me to the train station. I slept the whole way to Paris, people around me were either working on their laptop, or reading. We arrived around 8:50am. 

From Montparnasse station, I had around one hour of metro and walk. As soon as I got out of the metro station, I saw the building my boss showed me, so everything went rather smooth. The meeting was carried on for around two and a half hours, then I was good to go. Since my return train was at 3:49pm, I could either go to the train station to change my ticket, or I could wander around Paris. I decided to go to the Malaysian restaurant. I arrived at 2pm, swallowed a plate of Nasi Lemak within 20 minutes, then off I went again as it took some time to go to the train station.

Nasi Lemak set lunch at 14.80€ in the Langkawi restaurant. The taste was quite authentic.

I waited around 40 minutes in the train station, then read through the whole two and a half hours. I got home at around 7pm, exhausted. Overall, I had 6 hours of transport for a meeting of less than 3 hours. I do not envy my coworkers who have to do this regularly.

Some observations during this day:

1. When I was in Singapore several years ago, 90% of the metro passengers were on their cellphone. In Paris, I was surprised to see that only 50% were on their phone, 40% were on book or their metro newspaper.

2. In almost every metro I took, there was a beggar standing in the middle of the train, saying good morning, then trying to sell us stuff or getting money from us. They didn't seem to have accent so they were French. They were also beggars on the walkway between transiting entrance / exit.

3. At 9:30am, the trains were still full.

4. People do not offer their seat often to the elderly or people in need. At one station, there was a woman around 40 years old entering train. She saw that all the seats were taken, so she asked if she could have a seat. A young girl stood up and left her seat, the woman sat down then read her book. She didn't seem pregnant or in need of a seat, but she got it.

The unlayoffable

Two weeks ago there was this news reporting that for 12 years, a French railway  (SNCF) employee was getting paid 5400€ monthly, even though he was sitting at home waiting for his new assignement. He now claimed a 500000€ compensation as his career life was ruined. Apparently, he was put into cupboard after disclosing a fraudful pratice in the company.

Over the years, I have worked with several ex-government turned private companies including SNCF. It seems that some employees in these companies have a special status that make them unlayoffable, or the layoff process is tedious and time consuming. It creates an okward situation when there are no suitable positions for some of them as the skills set required change. Instead of laying them off and let them venture into other career opportunities, these companies have to or choose to keep them, thus putting them into projects without clear job descriptions. Just imagine, you are working with these companies and you are at a meeting where one member just keep disrupting the discussions, or just keep quiet as nobody knows why he or she was there. Some of them tried very hard to catch up, to integrate into the new teams, while some of them just dropped out, feeling discouraged, or even lost their selfworth in the new organisations.

And, from what I heard, civil servants in France are unlayoffable, it is a lifelong employment contract.

As for the private companies, it depends on the sectors. I heard that some sectors layoff easily, for example in the construction. Some private companies prefer to not layoff their employees, even though they arrive late, sleeping during working hours, take long lunch break...and some know how to protect themselves : they become the délégue personnel (Elected employee representatif). If you layoff employees with this status, changes are you will lost if he or she sues you in the Labor Court.

Recently, I heard some people mentioned about "rupture conventionnelle", where employee employer come to agreements so that the employee will leave the company. It is not considered a layoff, nor a resignation, but both parties wanted to be separated. With this, the employee walks away with a severance package (sometimes amounted to several months or years of salaries), and since it was not a resignation, the employee could enjoy unemployment benefits. Employers use this to:
1. Get rid of employees who were under-performend, this could avoid going through the Labor Court
2. Get rid of those with high salaries and close to retirement. A win-win situation for both : employer got rid of the older employees so that they could lower their labor costs, while employee got to enjoy early retirement while being paid the same or almost the same.
3. Get rid of employees who were not motivated. I know of real cases of those who slept during working hours, refused job assignments, they managed to negotiate a severance package before leaving.

Coming from a capitalist country where under-performed employees are fired, it was difficult to accept that the incompetent coworkers or unprofessional behaviors could be tolerated in companies. With the rigid layoff process, it was a challenge for companies to go through reform even though they might be in financial difficulties. It was a vicious cycle : companies do not recruite easily due to the inflexibility in laying off people in case business going down; employees find it difficult to find other jobs thus prefer to stay put in the same job even though it might not please them.

As for this SNCF employee who sat at home for 12 years doing nothing but still received his paycheck every month, surely his career life was ruined. I presume he did try to find other job, but he probably didn't find any that would give him the same salary and benefits. These semi private semi public companies often offer abundant of paid vacations, interesting working hours and attractive retirement schemes. He actually has the courage to disclose his situation to the world, some in his shoes would maintain it until retirement.

What would you do if you were him?

The Asian cliché

Around once a week my coworkers would bring over something to share at coffee break hours : croissants, chocolate breads, brioches (sweet bread)...Most of the time is for their birthday, or someone leaving the company...

I only go when I really know the person. I'm not a big fan of these pastries especially I have already had my breakfast at home. One day a coworker brought over something and he was asking everyone to join him. It so happened that I was walking back to my office so he stopped me and invited me to go. I reluntantly joined them as I had tons of work to finish.

When we were in the office pantry, he asked me why I never join them for breaks, and I really do fall into the Asian cliché as someone who works too much. And this relatively show that French work less in comparaison. I was taken aback when he threw this question to me. It was not my purpose to show that I work harder than anyone. I do not take break because:
- The vending machine proposes a bunch of coffee drinks except one type of tea and tomato soup. I do not take coffee.
- Most of the time people spend like 30 minutes to chit chat, two breaks/day meaning one hour's gone. Since I need to respect a certain amount of working hours per day, I prefer to spend time enjoying my lunch break, then go home early.
- Sometimes the conversation topics bore me, a lot of bitching, complaining, I prefer conversations that give me positive energies :-).

Frankly it is just a matter of habit. My pace is set at working, lunch break, working, go home. Some people would take several breaks because they couldn't stand to sit down for too long, or some need to go out for a cigarette, everyone is different. Having said so, generally I like my coworkers in the company. I enjoy working here because most of the coworkers are easy going, friendly, there are less office politic... As for Asian cliché, I'm fair from it, I know many Malaysians who work long long hours, I'm more on the French rhythm, 37 hours / week, and I'm so eager to be on summer holidays! :-)

6400 French on company sponsored trip to China?

There are news all over the medias regarding 6400 Chinese traveled to Paris and Nice, sponsored by their company. Indeed, it was an eye opening event for a lot of French, it was reported on prime time's news. This 4 days 3 nights company trip was estimated to bring in 13 million euros of business to France.

I wonder, what would be the possibility of a French company offering 6400 of their employees on a trip to China?

Well, financial wise, considering that the labor cost is expensive in France, and a company has to pay 50% extra for an employee on social charges (if you earn 1000€ a month, the company has to pay 50% extra to the government to cover all kind of charges, so you actually cost the company 1500€). Having said so, I know of someone who's company offers an oversea trip every other year for his whole family (4), and they will pay you cash if you don't redeem this right. So in my opinion, companies in France could totally afford to do so.

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However, it is less likely they would organise a trip so high profile. Just look at the photo above, it was like an army matching on the street!

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And, I don't think the French would enjoy dressing up in company uniform and forming a wall of characters just like the photo above!

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Rich bosses in France, are in general quite low profile. Showing off too much of their wealth will only bring negative image to their employees instead of admiration. My bosses do not drive fancy cars, they drive cars like everybody else. In short, they are not going to "parade" on the street in a foreign country with their wife.

As a conclusion, I think financially French companies could afford to offer their employees a trip to overseas, but it is not in their culture to come in such a huge number and to catch the attention of the whole nation. In one of the news, an employee told the media that she spent 7000€ in the morning buying luxury bags and she was very very happy. I think these employees are very proud to be one of the members of this trip. However, I wonder, would they prefer to have a trip overseas once a while, or would they hope to enjoy the social coverages just like the French?

Applaud, or not?

We were having our company annual information session in a castle.

The environment was perfect, peaceful with green scenery, except that it was raining.

So we were restricted to a conference room, with top managers at the front row, and employees following behind.

A manager finished his PPT presentation and the next one was ready to give his speech.

I was going to clap my hands, but I noticed that nobody moved.

I looked at my coworker who sat beside me, he shaked his head, dispproved of what I was trying to do.

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And I was just trying to applaud. We do this when someone finished a speech, right?

Well, not when the person is a manager, and in a company internal meeting, appearantly.

So, during the whole presentation, several managers stood in front of us, informing us on various issues, but non got any applause. The only applause we got that day was when someone provoked the managers with questions difficult to answer. Yes, the spirit of challenging the authorities is in the blood of French people.

Anyway, later, I was having lunch with a group of coworkers, and the coworker who stopped me from applauding told everyone what I was trying to do. They all said no no to me. I defended, that  it was out of politeness!

Yes, I'm the weird one, again.  lol

Back to work at 80%

My maternity leaves ended. I have gone back to work since last week, at 80%.

In France certain employees choose not to work full time in order to spend more time with their kids or simply have time to themselves. The most common being:
-  Mothers working at 90% to take care of their kids who don't have school on Wednesday afternoon
-  Mothers working at 80% to take care of their kids who don't have school on Wednesday (my case)

When Aelig was born, this idea didn't come into mind. But with two kids, it suddenly makes a lot of sense, and I'm really glad that I don't have to work on Wednesday. It is such a huge change, my week is cut into two, I'm happy on Tuesday morning knowing that I don't have to work the next day!

The request to work at 80%, or commonly known as 4/5ème, was simple and straight forward. I briefly told my boss about this intention and I got an oral approval. The HR told me to send them a registered letter two months before my maternity leaves end. I will get an amendment to my work contract, where my salary will be cut off 20%, so do my annual leaves. A lot of people who are already working 80% told me that I would be getting some allowance from the government to compensate my lost of salary. It is a win win situation for the government and the employees, as if kids are with the babysitters, the government will be paying the social charges for the sitters. By taking care of the kids themselves, the charges towards the sitters will be reduced, which in return is being paid to the mothers to encourage them to take care of their kids themselves.

Some mothers did tell me that Wednesday with kids are busier compare to working in the office. I can see that it is true as appointments are being booked now on Wednesday, and as Aelig grows older, I will need to send and fetch her to various activities. I'm still getting information on what to do and where to go on Wednesday, I will share when it is more organized.

Two cultures and two ways of living

A while back I had a coworker who just got back from a 3-month training in India. He was sharing his discoveries, his experiences with us. I still remember his face expression when he exclaimed : " most of my team members live with their parents!" It was something so unbelievable and so astonishing for him.

Then I had a chance to talk to an Indian coworker who came to France for a year assignment. She told me that it was the first time in her life she had to cook for herself, eat by herself and do everything by herself. Even when she went to University to further her studies, she was living with a bunch of friends. Her family would come to visit her whenever she missed them. Life was always surrounded by friends and family.

Coming from Malaysia and now living in France, I know where they are coming from. There is no right or wrong, simply a different preference in life. I wouldn't trade off my life living two years with 11 house-mates sharing a 3-bedroom apartment, but I don't know if I could accept living with my in laws, just like many do in Malaysia. When I was studying in France, I discovered that most of the students lived in a studio, a tiny space where everything is included in one spot : bedroom, living room, kitchen. There were many private studios to rent out to students, and in the University hostel, everyone has their own room/space/studio. That was something I had never seen in Malaysia. My University hostel in Malaysia was consisted of rooms with minimum two students. Most people who rented private property would prefer to share a room or an apartment to minimize the rental cost. The University provided tutorial classrooms and the libraries were opened till mid-night. So students had places to go if they wanted to study in a quiet environment.

My MIL told me that in the past, maybe around 40 - 50 years ago, French families used to stay under one roof too. However the society evolves, and French emphasis on their privacy. Who knows maybe in 50 years, the Indian or the Malaysian societies will go through the same path just like the French? That kids would want to leave their parents and build their nest as soon as they go for their higher education?

Morning Ritual IV

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In Morning Ritual III, I had established my own rule when greeting my coworkers in the morning. This rule was challenged several times, but I decided to stick to it. I have gotten used to many rules in France, but I consider greeting people by air kissing or hand shaking encourages virus transmission, especially during winters when cold virus runs rampantly. Starting from autumn, more and more coworkers are down with coughs, sore throats and running nose. Except those with severe coughing, people still hand shake and air kiss each other in the morning, this is something I do not appreciate much.

So, this was what happened. One day I was having meeting with my big boss and a female coworker. The boss came in, air kissed my coworker, then shaked my hand. Maybe he felt uneasy to greet us differently, so he suggested that from that day on he would air kiss me too. My heart immediately said no, so I politely said that in my culture I do not air kiss men. Well, in my culture I simply do not air kiss anyone, but I will be considered rude in France if I don't even air kiss female coworkers.

Well, every company has its own culture. In my company bosses are quite easy going and emphasis less on the hierarchy. However, most of them still shake hands with their female subordinates. I had heard coworkers saying that who and who are air kissing which boss so these who and who are in the gang with the boss. So, air kissing your boss could be interpreted as joining his club or having a very close working relationship.

Anyway, I don't always have time to tell people my rule. For example, right after that meeting with my boss, I met another male coworker in the corridor and guess what? He just came to me and air kissed me, I didn't even have time to tell him that I don't air kiss man. I met him another morning, this time I quickly told him that I prefer hand shaking, and his response was : "oh, you are sick!" Early January we were saying Happy New Year to every coworker. When one coworker came to me, I raised my hand, he asked me if I was sick, I said no, then he said then in this case we kiss. So he just air kissed me lol.

Maybe it is time to loosen up my rule, but air kissing 40++ people in the morning, I'm simply not ready.

Going to work with the little girl

It seems that Family Day has become an annual event in my company. They organized it again this year, on a Wednesday afternoon when kids are off school. When I told her about it, she immediately shouted : "Yes, I want to go to work with mummy!"

On the way to my office, to my surprise, she yelled "I have been here!". I'm not sure if she really remembered that she had been here last year, but hubby was convinced. We went to every offices and said "bonjour" to most of my coworkers. She was shy at the beginning but was greeting everyone later.

And then it came the highlight for kids : the snack time! She asked for drinks and cookies, and had no shame to ask for candies later.

We then went to my new office and met up with coworkers who did not work on Wednesday (so that they can take care of their kids at home), but decided to come in to show their kids around. Coincidently one kid was born on the same date as her but a year younger, who was as tall as the little girl. Ok everyone agreed that she is short compare to average kids in France, she has certainly got my gene on this.

We then lingered around my desk while I was checking emails. She ran around looking at people, everyone was kind to her. When I suggested that we should leave for home, she protested :"but I like here!". And then she asked:" Will your boss pay me since I'm working here?". Lol.

Here is the little girl who sat in the parking lot refusing to go home. I guess she had fun.

Salary increment : How about a week of baguette?

Manager : I would like to tell you that we are very satisfied with your performance. I believe you have been informed of your salary increment.
Friend : Yes.
A blank in the conversation. Apparently the manager was waiting for some form of appreciation.
Manager : Well, it seems that you are not happy about it.
Friend : Well, the increment is equivalent to my one week consumption of baguette, would you be happy if it were you?
Manager : ...(speechless).

As I have mentioned earlier, salary increment is very slow in my industry. Some people don't get any this year, except those who are doing an outstanding job. One year I got a merely 200€ (before tax) annual increment, which could buy me maybe an extra lunch per month? The manager who announced it to me was quite embarrassed to even spell out the amount. So nowadays when I receive a call from HR to inform me this kind of news, I politely say thank you and get on to my life. I don't feel anything for it anymore.

The true is, France has taught me to appreciate other aspects in my life than money. I'm staying because of all the reasons mentioned in the other post that are more important at this stage of my life.

Anyway, I kind of feel sad when this friend told me about the conversation above, as it really happened to him/her.

Morning Ritual III

Here I'm, 4 years later, writing about morning ritual III, after morning ritual II.

Several months ago, we moved to a new office with open space environment. That was when I decided to establish my own rule for the morning greeting : air kiss with women, hand shake with men. So every morning, once arrive in the office, I go to greet everyone, have a small talk before starring at my computer and keep pressing the keynotes (my mother's expression, that's how she sees people working in front of a computer lol).

Well, at the beginning some men were a bit confused, as they actually do the contrary : shaking hands with every man and air kissing every woman. But little by little, they get used to it.

I'm glad I made this decision. I read a woman's blog (a Chinese married to a French), after several years of air kissing her guests, she decided to just stop. She didn't appreciate the ritual, now she is just telling everyone that she doesn't "faire la bise". Some people were shock, but gradually they accepted it. I found this to be too extreme, but I admired her gut to tell people what she actually thinks.

This only applies to office environment though. I can accept air kissing people outside of work in informal occasions. Maybe one day I will accept to air kiss my male coworkers. It actually happened. One day, I don't know what got into me, I just went to air kiss a team mate, naturally. I think that was because I start to treat him like a friend, a good sign I guess.

Training in Paris : Food and gathering

Early this week I was having training in Paris. I took the opportunity to arrive a day earlier to meet with friends and try out some Asian food.

A friend brought me to try out the Dim Sum in Chinatown last time but it was fully booked on a Sunday afternoon. I really wanted to try it since we don't have Dim Sum in Nantes. The food was authentic, I loved their Cheong fun. Here is their address:
Restaurant chinois Chinatown Olympiades
44 avenue d'ivry
75013 Paris
Tel : 01 45 84 72 21

 Unfortunately we had some sound pollution as a group of Vietnamese were dancing and singing Karaoke, on a Sunday afternoon.

 In the evening I met with my classmates who are now working in Paris. It was nice to catch up with them.

The food was ok. The service was bad. I asked a waiter to take a photo of us and he said he was busy and would come back later but he never did. And, they only accept one restaurant ticket per person. I was a bit surprised as I didn't know that restaurants could limit the use of restaurant ticket as payment.

I know I know I'm going to Malaysia soon. Friends discouraged me to try out Malaysian food in Paris. Well, I don't go to Paris often and we don't have Malaysian restaurant in Nantes. So, I figured I would just try it out for once. I went with my coworker and she loved it. Well, the satay was probably reheated but the sauce was quite tasty.

And, I finally got to eat Nasi Lemak in France. The shrimp sambal was excellent. Under the nice ambiance I slowly introduce the Malaysian culture, language, and cuisine to my coworker. Here is the restaurant:
Legenda de Malaisie
46, rue de Trévise, 75009 - Paris – France
Tél. : +33 (0)1 47 70 87 07Fax : +33 (0)1 40 22 00 41

The training was carried out in La Defense, an area with many headquarters of international companies. We dined out with the trainer once, and felt that 23€ a meal was too expense with the quality of food provided. We decided to venture into other restaurants in the big shopping mall. They have a huge variety to choose from. I got sushi and Chinese for lunch. The service was fast and efficient. That compensated the lousy weather with grumpy sky.

Three days of metro, training, dodo, we had had enough of it and was so eager to go home. Yes home sweet home.

Company Christmas party

Every year end my company organizes a Christmas party for their employees and family. It started at 5pm, so I asked Aelig to take a nap before going. She didn't want to and was playing around, so I told her that since she was naughty, she would not get to see Santa and get a gift this year. Hearing this threat, she went to bed quietly.

So, at 5pm, she was all ready to meet Santa. The party started with a magic show that lasted for around an hour. It was an excellent show that got all the attentions from the kids. The magician threw candies to kids from time to time so the kids were all glued to the stage waiting for the moment.

The highlight of the show was when Santa appeared from an empty box. Aelig was yelling "papa noël" with an exciting tone.

Everyone was queuing to take photo with Santa. The organizer was distributing a bag to every kid attended the event.

Aelig checking out the bag, it has a bag of chocolate plus a duckling. Some kids got a bag of chocolate plus a special gift, which allowed them to sit around the magician and learn to practice magic using the gift.

Santa running out of business when everyone got their photo. The party continued with buffet dinner for adults and kids. They even had oysters, we were really impressed. Dessert was chocolate fondue and some typical French pastry. Macaron was the most popular one, it was out within a minute. The organizer also prepared a separated room with activities for kids. There was a person making balloons in different shapes, a beautician giving makeup to kids, a place to play card games and lego, and lots of room to run around. When the kids got occupied with all these activities, the adults got to enjoy the party. Aelig was playing the whole evening with others instead of sticking to us. Later in the evening a DJ appeared to annouce the beginning of the dancing part, so kids and adults were dancing on the same floor.The magician continued his show in small group.

Overall we felt that it was very well organized. Aelig enjoyed herself very much and asked us for more. So I think we will participate again next year.

A day working in Paris

In my job I rarely need to go outstation. So, when my manager informed me that the management team will have a meeting in Paris, I was all excited. Now I get to experience the famous Parisian working life: Métro, boulot, dodo (Transport, work, sleep).

On a Wednesday morning, our team took the train to Paris. Two hours later, we got out of the train station, then continued our one hour journey on subway and bus.
One arrived, we were fascinated by the campus style headquarter. I felt like I was back in the USA, as offices consisted of huge buildings, everyone was wearing a badge with a photo, entrance guided by security guards.

We got our visiter pass and headed to the company restaurant for lunch. Several high ranking managers joined us. We got to have starter, main course, dessert accompanied with red wine along the meal. We were joking that if we were going to see our CEO, but one manager said he has never seen him eating in this restaurant. Later I chatted with my coworker, who wished that our top management could spend some times, walking into offices and have a little chat with their employees. Well, apparently in the traditional French companies, bosses still keep a distance from their employees, so you could only see them in the newspapers, company newsletters, but seldom in person.

After lunch, it was time to start working. The heartquarter was consisted of many open spaces, a concept I found revolutionary in France. Basically, there is no fixed spot for an employee, everyone comes to an open space and just take the next available spot. There are some cubicles and meeting rooms available for those who want to have phone calls. A coworker told us that he didn't get used to sitting and working beside a big big boss that he just gets to see once in a while.

I bumped into an ex coworker from R town, he just got transfered to Paris and he spends 3 hours everyday in subway and buses. We left at 6.30pm and jumped right into the peak hour traffic jams. The 15 minutes bus ride turned into an hour one and by the time we arrived in our hotel, we were exhausted. Not only from the long transportation time, but the crowd in the subway, the rushing from one subway line to another (don't know why within half day in Paris we all walked at the pace just like the Parisians). While being sardined in one of the subway lines we saw a group of girls jumping in last minute and immediately provoked an oral flight.

The day was not ended once we arrived in the hotel. We were invited to dine with some managers. I found the price exorbitant for what we got. The cocktail was not impressive, the starter and main course barely passed the standard I expected. Anyway, everyone was chatting and talking and at 11pm my mind was in the Zzzz land. We got back to the hotel at 1 am and we have a train to catch the next morning.

I'm glad I got to participate in this event but I don't think I can stand to do it often. I talked to my manager who goes to Paris often, he said he has to wake up at 5am so that he can catch a train to Paris to have the meeting at 9am. In the evening, he doesn't want to do anything but rest.

Anyway I think it all depends on personal choices. Certain people find Paris charming and could not stand living outside of Paris or its suburbs. Certain people condemn the hectic lifestyle. As for me, if I were younger and childless, I would properly venture into this City of Light.

Help yourself

One morning when I arrived at the office I saw this at the entrance.

Wow, someone treated us with some cakes and drinks.

There were two paper plates on the counter, one wrote "Servez-vous" (Help yourself) and the other "Bonne journée" (have a nice day).

It is not uncommon to have breakfast stand in the office but usually you will receive a mail stating the purpose of the celebration : birthday, resignation, retirement...

But this time, till the end of the day we still didn't know who had been so kind and at what occasion he or she was doing this.

Thanks to this anonymous coworker.

Company activities

We had a week of Wellbeing@work activities at work, and one of the events was a cocktail lunch held in our future new building. Here are some common French cocktail serving "Canapé" (couch), a type of finger food.

We started with some appetizers. These were pieces of bread with foam toppings.

Some vegetables with dipping sauce. I had seen these being served in US too.

Sandwiches. Sardine sandwiches are quite popular when having party in Malaysia but uncommon in France.

Sweet breads stuffed with crabmeats.

Ciders and softdrinks.

Some were served in a spoon so that you can put it directly in your mouth.

Ham with cheese.

These should be considered a serving in the main course. I was busy chatting so I'm not sure if I took all the servings in photos.

Scallops in cream sauce, my favorite.

Desserts. Noticed that there was only one macaron left. I took the last one, too sweet.

Another activities was family visiting to the company. It is not a common activity in France so I invited Aelig to go to "work" with me. She was intrigued and had been waiting for the day to come.

There were some snacks and she ate a lot. She even complained when the other kid finished a type of chips.

A Cannabis leave at the entrance

I discovered this at the office entrance one morning. I thought it was just an ordinary leave.

Later on my coworker was joking and he ended his sentence by mentioning that someone has drawn a Cannabis (marijuana)leave at the entrance. I asked him what action would be taken against this person as we kind of know who did it. There had been a group of young kids gathered at the entrance during several evenings. He said what could we do, we are not going to alert the police for a small issue like this.

Indeed graffiti is quite common in certain areas and it is hard to arrest the culprit. Let see how much time it takes before the company decides to repaint the wall.

Farewell party

The dragon has brought me luck. My application to transfer to my city has been accepted. The three hours road trip to R city every Monday and Tuesday was finally reaching the end. What a relief!


I certainly won't miss the traffic jam in the morning. It is becoming worst year after year.


Driving under a raining day is very stressful. The worst is to pass trucks on the highway as they tend to spread ton of water on the sides and make passing dangerous.


Guess what? Today was the first day I didn't have to drive to R city. And look at the road condition! The snow stayed overnight and made getting out of the parking lot a hassle due to the curve before joining the main road. This morning, two neighbors (women) were trying so hard to get out of the parking lot. Each time they went up to the curve, the car slided back. One stuck in the parking lot for at least 20 minutes. During the time, hubby was scratching off the snow on his car, drove away, then came back to drive my car out of the parking lot. Imagine if I had to drive to R city, alone...

Ok, back to the topic. When someone leaves the company (in my case an internal transfer), he or she will organise a farewell party (unlike in Malaysia and in the USA it is the other way around). Once the farewell party is announced, coworkers will collect a fund to offer the person a little farewell gift during the party. My announcement was made the same day I was having the "pot de départ". My transfer was accepted with the condition that I would join my new team as soon as possible. So, a last minute announcement and I told my coworkers I don't want any gift, their present would be already a valuable souvenir to me.


To my surprise, they offered me this lovely orchids. Many turned up to say goodbye. Some stayed late to chat about cultural differences.


I used this chance to introduce pineapple cookies to my coworkers. They loved it. I also talked about the ang pao (red envelop) tradition during the Chinese New Year. Photo shows the leftover dough I used to make a crab for Aelig.

Overall, I enjoyed the working environment in R city. Coworkers were distance at the beginning, but the more you get to know them, the more you appreciate working with them. I would certainly miss the Monday lunch gathering with friends who have enriched my life, and your friendship is deeply needed, and appreciated.

A new chapter begins...