Friday, June 30, 2006

Interesting things at site

Its been nearly 3 weeks since I arrived in Abu Dhabi. Its my first time working in a construction site, and wearing a safety helmet. Of course, new place new experience.

Have always heard of the job title "office boy" but have never seen one at work. For the 1st time, I saw, not one but two, running errands in the site office. Most of the time, they are serving tea to the engineers in the office, making sure the office is clean, doing photocopying and acting as courier. Sitting in the office at times, one will periodically get to hear "Pataum, watar! Pataum watar!!", the korean site manager shouting across the room for the office boy to bring him a cup of water, and you will see a young indian guy hurriedly walk across the room with a cup in his hand. Interesting job.

And then there is another interesting job at site. They employed a Sikh just to guard the lift. Whole day, he will just sit outside the lift with a fan blowing in his face. When an engineer is there, he will press the lift button. And of course, his most useful purpose is to prevent the workers from using the lift. One day, for unclear reason, he was actually sitting inside the lift, sweating like hell. The only time when he get some ventillation is when someone actually use the lift. Only reason I can think of is to stop workers from taking the lift from other storeys.

Working with indian workers, I still find it uneasy when they addresses me as "sir". But one thing for sure, broken English definitely comes in handy when communicating with them. For those who advocates good English, you are going to have a hard time at site. Communication is key, not grammar.

And one for the korean dramas fans. If you are thinking of having a romantic relationship with a korean guy, just like in the drama, think twice. The koreans are workaholics, resting only a day every fortnight, working 15hrs a day. Its crazy...

5 1/2 more weeks to go...

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