Ciao! workplace

"Ciao!" from the left, "Ciao!" from the right. "Ciao!", at least once a minute. Welcome to the Italian work place. As I sit and work in a room of no less than 30 people, it's not hard to understand why. People come and go like bees in a hive, and every time this happens, there is an apparent need to signify the occasion with a communal ciao from all. As the newest of new in this strange new workplace, it is both comforting and intimidating to be immersed in this quite different work environment.

There is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of people are friendly, if a little stand-off-ish at first. With the language barrier as it is, much of the this feels somewhat impenetrable to me at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I receive my fair share of ciao's as well. I think there is a gradual warming to me happening, which makes me feel significantly more comfortable.

The impression I get is that this lab is pretty close, particularly the largish group of PhD students I find myself with. Almost all of them from somewhere else in Italy, many of them share houses together, and obviously socialise a lot together. They also seem to be about 5 years younger than me as well, which is no great problem, but there is no doubt that something happens in your late twenties that changes the focus from the "where will we go clubbing this Saturday" to, "this weekend I think I will purchase a basil plant for the window sill". I didn't say this of course.

The other major hurdle to jump in my early days of being in this strange new work place, is working out what the hell I am meant to be doing here. I have not had a chance as yet to talk to those who will be "mentoring" me while I am here. For now I feel fine with the lack of workload, but there is a growing anxiousness inside to work out some of these details, and get some of my many questions answered. I can ask those around me, and I do, but I would prefer to have someone actually show me what's what, rather than me have to annoy the person next to me with yet another mundane question, in English. Having a significant proportion of the eyes in the room on me when I ask it makes it feel all the more awkward.

Bare in mind, this is day three. In a week's time, I expect to have a significantly different impression of things, as I adjust, and have my many questions answered. Going with the flow looks like being the single greatest skill I will have to develop over these next 6 months. It's certainly been the case so far .. and so far .. so good.