The Office (China)

Office work has never been so exciting as it's been these past few days. Monday was my first day of work, and I expected it to be mostly orientation stuff. Not really, though. Shortly after I got to the office, they held a company-wide meeting (something they do every day, and something I will comment on soon) and took the opportunity to introduce me to the office. After standing before everyone and just saying a little bit about myself, they informed me that I had to answer three questions from the crowd. Sure, why not?

The first question came from the HR girl, and was, "Do you remember the first time we spoke?" I took this literally and got it wrong. She meant the first time we had any communication, and I corrected myself. Then, someone called out "Do you think she's pretty?" I didn't know what to say. Looking around at the Westerners in the office, I joked, "Isn't this called a hostile working environment?" Then, I quickly answered, truthfully, mumbling "Very pretty, yes." Seizing the opportunity, someone else called out, "Do you have a girlfriend?" When I responded that, yes, I did have one, the follow-up came: "Are you going to get married?" Some of the girls giggled when I told them that she and I had no plans to do so, saying, "So she (the HR girl) still has a chance, huh?"