Office Summer Party

Posted on 2007/07/29 10:06:08 (July 2007).

[Friday 27th July]
My company had a summer party thing today, held in a marquee in the grounds of Imperial College. It started at 2 in the afternoon, and went on into the evening until about 10.

I'd initially wanted to be there for the whole thing, but got caught up in a couple of things and so didn't get there until 4... and then when I did get there I realised I basically didn't know anyone, so had a quick beer and then made a swift exit again, on the premise that I'd come back later when Chie finished work. It was rather unfortunate that all of my team were either on holiday this week or had just decided not to come along. As a team we do seem to be notably lacking in terms of "making an effort" for these type of social functions, and as a result I don't really know anyone outside of my team very well. However I'm determined to try and buck this trend.

So I spent a very dreary two-and-a-half hours or so wandering around trying to kill time. I'd hoped I might be able to discover a nice little pub I could sit in and read a paper or something, but the area around Imperial College seems markedly barren in this respect.

Chie arrived some time before 7, and so we went back again and things were much better on the second attempt. By this time a few people I vaguely knew had arrived.

Again the issue of my team being a bit isolated from the rest of the London office seemed to come up. I can't help but think it's a two way street - whenever two groups of people are not communicating with each other, it is usually not solely the responsibility of one side. I guess what it really boils down to is the fact that we work on completely different areas, and have no actual need for interaction on a daily basis. My team is basically a satellite of a project in the US - our manager is there along with basically everyone we ever need to talk to in order to get our jobs done.

Anyway, I have set myself an objective of reversing this situation over the coming months. Perhaps a few of my famous pub crawls, or a whisky appreciation evening, may be in order.

In answer to your comment about candyfloss on one of the pictures, John, here in Greece it is called "old woman's hair" (malli tis grias or μαλλί της γριάς, not sure if the Greek characters will come out right on others' screens), which I have always thought is enough to put anyone off eating it...!

Posted by Bryan at 2007/07/29 14:12:31.

But in a company like the one you work in I am sure that if you say that your group is a bit left out they`ll sort out something for you in order to meddle with the rest of the people!

Posted by Lox at 2007/07/30 03:17:14.

Post a comment