Chapter 208
Chapter 208
Chapter 208 Cinder’s Gift
I was so thankful that I met that kind of doctor when I desperately needed help.
Although the doctor’s joke he told sucked, he not only took me to the healthy and organic snack area but also told me the general location of the products here.
In our simple conversation, I was surprised to find that we had a fairly high tacit agreement on food ingredients.
I almost just followed his habit to find the products I wanted!
When I successfully finished my shopping and walked out of the supermarket, I bowed to him very sincerely, “Thank you very much, Dr. Adenauer. Are you free later? Let me buy you coffee.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have something else to do. Goodbye.” The blond doctor waved goodbye handsomely. After I watched him go, I got back to my new car and started navigating.
I didn’t pay much attention to this supermarket incident. After my first weekend in Germany, I showed up at Lab Three at 7:55 on the next Monday morning in a dark dress suit with simple but exquisite makeup I was grateful to Charlotte for telling me a lot about German workplace culture in advance, such as workplace attire, cupcakes for new employees, short lunch breaks, written culture, etc.
Of course, the most classic was certainly the Germans’ unusually persistent concept of time. An employee should arrive five minutes earlier, and it was not common to see one enter the office ten minutes earlier or just on time.
Therefore, when it was working time, the personnel of the entire Lab Three had all already arrived. And I distributed the prepared cupcakes to each new colleague.
Just then, the door opened, and Dr. Archer appeared.
Dr. Archer was the general manager of Lab Three as well as our immediate superior. He was a middle- aged married man with a ruddy complexion, but his weight was hovering on the edge of obesity
I thought that Dr. Archer would formally introduce me to all the colleagues in Lab Three as usual, but he didn’t!
Dr. Archer was here to see me, “I hope you can submit a report to me half an hour before you get off work today, including how much time you will need to familiarize yourself with the new job position and your preliminary plan for the current position.”
I looked him in the eyes and nodded hesitantly.
Dr. Archer nodded, and then briefly introduced my identity and job responsibilities to everyone.
They all applauded.
I hadn’t forgotten Charlotte’s reminder, “I’ll treat everyone to coffee at lunch break.
The applause seemed to be a little warmer.
Dr. Archer turned around and said, “There will be a welcome induction ceremony for you this afternoon, but it’s not as good as that in the United States. I hope you can integrate into the team as soon as possible.”
With that, he turned and left.
Watching Dr. Archer leave, I secretly sighed that he was indeed a typical German!
I had known that Germans liked to be straightforward in their work and omit unnecessary pleasantries. But it was not until I witnessed it with my own eyes that I had a more intuitive understanding of this
cultural custom.
My colleagues had switched back on work mode, returned to their respective positions, and started to get busy.
As my research assistant, Charlotte took me to my office area. We walked through the fume hood to an unoccupied laboratory bench.
“Dr. Woods, this is your workstation. I have collected the basic materials for you from the pick-up area. The entire laboratory bench is yours, and the materials that you need to review are in the folder on the left.”
I looked at Charlotte and joked, “You’re someone who has lived in Germany for nearly thirty years. Your efficiency is so similar to that of ordinary Germans, very typical.”
Sitting at the workstation, I noticed that the owner of another laboratory bench not far away was a yellow race. He looked like a Chinese. The person on the other side of the bench seemed to be from India.
I looked away.
There were people from all over the world in the lab. No wonder the official language in the lab was English. Any other language would bring a lot of trouble to my work.
I quickly got to work.
After a quick scan of the compiled information, I quickly had a preliminary model of career planning in my mind. Just as I was about to type these thoughts into my computer, Charlotte reminded me that it was time for lunch.
I was surprised, “What time is it?”
She smiled awkwardly, “It’s noon. If we don’t rush to have lunch, I’m afraid it will be difficult for us to come back to the laboratory bench before 12:30.”
The rule of having only a half-hour lunch break was beyond my comprehension.
Besides the coffee machine, I quickly made friends with two colleagues from the United States, Dr. Garcia, and Dr. Smith.
The air in Germany seemed to have some kind of magic, and the two people who should be enthusiastic were not talkative at all, almost exactly like the local Germans!
However, what surprised me was the “induction ceremony” after work.
I thought that these typical Germans would show their true side after work. But I was wrong.
These Indians, Chinese, Americans, and native Germans from all corners of the country all lived with their families!
They came here just out of respect.
I listened carefully to their topics for a while, and the most mentioned ones turned out to be about children and trivial family matters.
“Sorry, Dr. Woods, it’s getting late, and my daughter is still waiting for me at home.” When the first colleague stood up and said goodbye like this, everyone else left one after another.
My induction ceremony ended early!
Charlotte tried to comfort me, “It’s like this in Germany. It is difficult to make many friends at work here. You’d better not expect it, or you will feel very lonely here.”
I looked at her, “Including you?”
Charlotte immediately raised her voice, “Of course not! As long as you need me, I will be by your side at any time, dear Dr. Woods.”
That was enough, at least for me for now.
The induction ceremony ended early, and it was still light when I got home. Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.
I went to the kitchen and whipped up a simple pasta dish with ingredients I had bought last weekend. Then I looked around the empty room in a daze.
Charlotte was right. It was all too easy to feel alone in this environment.
To avoid falling into this loneliness, I turned on the music. In Tyler swift’s beautiful voice and melodious melody, I cleaned the house very clean and then took a shower.
But after doing all this, it was still 9:30 in the evening!
I had to find something else to do!
Suddenly, I remembered that Cinder had said mysteriously that she prepared a gift for me before she left. I had forgotten to open it all weekend.
I quickly took the gift box, which was bigger than my palm, out of the handbag. It was not heavy.
After removing the wrapping paper and opening the box inside, I almost froze in place…
It was a vibrator shaped like a penis!
I thought of what Cinder had said before she left, “Don’t treat yourself badly.”
It was hard to describe my feelings now.
“What the hell?”