pogoism

The work culture in Korea is definitely not what I’m used to. We start work at 9am every morning. Then, everyone just sits around drinking coffee, checking emails or surfing the web. At around 10am, we might think about doing some work. Then, we all go to the cafeteria to eat lunch at 11.30. I can’t work out why they eat lunch so early here. One possible reason that I can think of is that the elevators only work for specific times during the day: from 8.30 to 9,30, 12 to 1.20, and 4.30 to 6. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? It’s part of a cost-cutting drive, as the Institute is mainly funded by the South Korean government, and with the recession hitting South Korea just as much as other countries, it has to appear to be spending money as wisely as possible. How much money is being saved by limiting elevator use is debatable, but at least it’s a start.

Then, after lunch we’re expected to be in work until 6pm. Most people stay in the lab longer than that, even if they’re not doing anything. It’ s just part of the mentality that you *have* to be seen at work, and presumably no-one cares what you’re doing, just as long as you can be seen. Apparently Korea has one of the longest average workweeks and overtime hours in the world.

At any given point during the day, I can be sure that of the 6 people in our lab, at least one of them will be head-down on their desk fast asleep. But hey, at least they’re in work!

Lunch time is also a weird affair. We go to the canteen on the Institute’s campus where we can choose from one of two different menus, and then go help ourselves buffet style. Both menus are the same price, so I’m not too sure why you’re restricted to only choosing food from one. Once you’ve got you’re food, you then have to eat really fast. I’m sure that’s fine for my Korean colleagues, but eating noodle soup with chopsticks isn’t an easy task when you’ve only lived in Asia for a week. Then, when the last person has put the last morsel of food into their mouths, everyone stands up, takes their trays to the hatch and leaves. Koreans don’t even drink anything with their meals, perhaps as it’s wasting valuable desk snoozing time…