Friday, 12 September 2008

Gifts from my Employer

Since my arrival here at my new job I've been surprised with various gifts. Nothing outlandish, but still useful presents. I've received a diary/planner, which I haven't started to use; and a big umbrella for the frequent rainy days.

And I've also received gifts from work for Chuseok. Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanks Giving. They gave me a box of traditional Korean delicacies called ddeok (rice-cake). I'm not too fond of ddeok, but it is the thought that counts. And they also gave me, a much welcomed, $180 - a Chuseok-bonus. Since I've had little money left for the rest of the month, this particular gift will hopefully carry me to pay day. But I'm probably going to spend a lot of it soon. (I am hoping to buy a new pair of glasses - maybe even this afternoon.)

Apart from the extreme ambiguity at my job, I must say that the university treats the employees really well. (At least that is my opinion so far.)

2 comments:

Mary-Jane said...

Sorry - "extreme ambiguity"? Please explain...

Skryfblok said...

I think I'll devote a post on the "ambiguity" some time. But let me just some it up as a case of Korea being a "high context culture", which means that a lot of the message goes unsaid. One needs to infer from the context and other clues what the real message is.