Dinner and Dinner

It’s the end of the year or at leasts almost the end of the year so offices are having Christmas dinner, as well as schools. I went to my office’s dinner recently and felt that it was quite good actually. The food was okay but when I went back home, it occurred to me how different the circle of friends are for people in the UK vs Malaysian.

For example I learned a lot of new things about my colleagues during the dinner. Granted, I am not really talkative but even with the same disposition in Malaysia, people normally talked more about themselves. Also in Malaysia, people from home are normally your friends, or becomes your friends. Here in the UK, although there are cases where colleagues are even housemates, normally I feel that there is a gap between co-workers. It is not that people are not friendly or don’t share, but it feels that when the work is over, people will go back to their own lives. A simple example would be if you get married in Malaysia, you’d invite the whole office. Here, people would hear the news and congratulate, but normally co-workers are not invited (there’s also the fact that weddings here are small and private, unlike in Malaysia where it is like a festival).

I don’t necessarily find it bad, it is just different. I can confidently say that if I needed help, my colleagues will not hesitate to lend a hand, even in non-work areas, but the ‘separation’ feels mainly a good thing as it helps in keeping the work life balance and separating the areas.
Some people might miss the ‘closeness’ you get from working with friends, but I am not too fuss about that.

Thank you for reading.