I had seen this company before, but I never really noticed it.
It looked a few years old and so many vans were coming out
through the second gate, each van having the logo of the company on them.
I could only imagine what exactly was in the lunchbox. The guards didn't
let me in until they called the secretary of the CEO. A guard then told me to
go to the fifth floor. I got on the elevator and slowly approached the CEO's
office.
The secretary was a Korean lady, and her beauty was blinding. She
looked like she was in her thirties, and she was a bit tan. Her hair was in a
ponytail, with long bangs that covered her eyebrows.
"Are you Ms. Adunni?" She asked me in an American accent and I
nodded, feeling my cheeks burn. Why? I had no idea. "Okay, the CEO is in,
you can go." I thanked her before I knocked on the door, to which a
feminine voice replied.
"Come in." I slowly walked in.
It was the typical office setting that I'd seen in dramas—renaissance
paintings, shelves with books, a safe, two sofas, a fridge, a glass center
table and a mahogany desk with two chairs.
An elderly lady was seated behind her chair, dressed in a pink dress that
sparkled.
The name slate was on the desk and I read the name:
HanSooMin, CEO ofBadaShirak Nigeria.
"Ms. Adunni?" She said to me, and I was not in control of my body.
I
bowed
.
I BOWED
.
"Good afternoon, ma'am," I said to her.
Why notjustsay
annyeonghaseyo? Ode.
She smiled after my courtesy, and heat rose to my cheeks from
embarrassment.
Why did Ido that?
"Have a seat, Ms. Adunni. I've been expecting you."
I did as she said and I sat down in front of her, looking away as I could
not maintain eye contact. "May I have your documents?"
"Alright, ma'am."
"Are you shy? You can be comfortable."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
"You speak Korean well. Did you study Korean?"
"I actually learned Korean."
"Good. Your qualifications are good. We are planning to send more
Korean-speaking staff soon, so we need at least three employees who can
speak Korean. You also have good experience. You will be an analyst. Is
that okay?"
"Yes, that's right. Thank you very much, CEO."
"Here is the contract. Payment will begin at the end of the month. You
can start working tomorrow. Welcome aboard."
"Thank you. I look forward to working here."
"Alright. You can talk to Secretary Min outside."
"Alright."
I was shaking with excitement as I read through the contract and signed
immediately. A job, finally!
All I wanted to do was to go home and rub it in my parents' faces. And I
did just that. They couldn't believe it, literally. I had to show them my
contract and they read carefully, obviously ignoring the Korean writings
above each English sentence.
"So you managed to get a job at your Chinese people place,
abi
?" My
mother asked and I rolled my eyes.
"No, mom. At a Korean company in Nigerian. They make pre packaged
lunchboxes for students and people who are too tired to cook. All they can
do it to microwave the lunchbox, and it's ready for consumption. No need to
cook or stress yourself."
"I must say, that is quite impressive. So that when your mother is not
around, I can use it. Bring some over when you start working, let me
analyze
it."
Analyze itabieatit?
"Yes sir," I told him, and he said he would send me pocket money. My
mother, surprisingly, said she would get me some work clothes during the
week and I had to smile at their offers. It was actually funny to see them
switch as soon as I got a job. Morning finally came, and I was so ready to
leave home. It was about thirty minutes away from home, so I got up by 7,and was out of the house by 8:30. I was five minutes late on my first day of work.
$$$
"GOOD MORNING" I said to the coworker sitting opposite me,
and she greeted me with a smile.
"Morning. I'm Tessa. Nice to meet you."
Damn, it's been so long.Ihope Idon'tmess up this work.
It's safe to say
that nothing bad happened that day, and I didn't go out for lunch. There was
a lot of work and research to be done and I wanted to, at least, finish one-
third of it.
I was able to finish it all at the end of the day, and my stomach was
growling fiercely after I was done.
"You did well for your first day," a man, who had been sitting by my
right all day, said to me.
"Thank you."
He stretched out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Joshua, but Josh is fine.
I just started working here last month. You'll like it a lot, I promise."
He introduced me to the other seven workers who were equally as nice.
Two were Korean, and one was Chinese. I was given two lunchboxes as a
souvenir for my first day. I received it with cheeks red from embarrassment.
I didn't deserve anything because I had just started working. The CEO
thought differently however, as she noticed me working on the company
during break time. I honestly did not want an award for it, I was only doing
my job.
However, Tessa said it was a courtesy of the company and I humbly
took it. I went home and presented it to my parents who were astonished by
the fancy packaging and after heating it up, they were delighted to find rice
in it.
"That's one thing we have in common. Rice." My father commented as
he looked at the dish. Rice, vegetables, salmon, seaweed, avocados, eggs
and chicken filled the box, and they didn't bother to keep a single bite for
me.
"Sorry, Dunni. Looks like you'll have to eat
that
your Indomie in the
kitchen." My mother said to me and I rolled my eyes.
"Mom, you know I have to order those from Lagos, so I don't eat it
anyhow. And it's not "Indomie", it's ramen!" I whined and went into the kitchen to make some
Buldak
ramen.
"That's the fifth one, now I have to order again. How annoying." I
stayed in bed and watched the C-drama that I barely had time to watch.
Today was a bit stressful, but I managed to scale through. I needed to go
on trips around the company, visiting every single section. I didn't think my
job was this tiresome.
It was fascinating seeing the machines make the boxes from hot plastic,
and watching how the workers assembled each food item was quite
impressive.
"Work etiquette, check. Precautions, check. Cleanliness and hygiene,
check. Fire extinguishers and other safety measures, in handy." I ticked off
the boxes and stretched my arms.
Whata hectic day.
I was in charge of handling the minutes the next day. The CEO listened
well and gave corrections when she needed to. I admired how she spoke.
She wasn't exactly fluent, but she was obviously trying, even if her accent
slipped out.
"Ms. Dunni, any suggestions?" She turned her attention to me and I was
flustered.
"Me? Oh, uh. So, uhm from my research. I think it would be better if
the packaging came in different colors the way the food flavors differ. And
adding the allergy labels to the top instead of the bottom will help a lot, I
guess." I said in an embarrassed voice, and she nodded in approval.
"That's a good suggestion, write it down and submit to Mr. Sim in the
packaging department." She said to me and I nodded.
"Now everyone, I want to make an announcement. I will be returning to
Korea to handle the company there. It's been ten years working with the
Nigerian branch and it's been such a pleasure to be amongst you all, but I
must return and take care of things."
I heard groanings in the room and everyone had a long face.
"Mrs. Han, please don't leave. We love you here, we don't think we can
handle things without you." Mrs. Rosa said to her and she laughed.
"Rosa, you've worked with me for eight years, you're the most diligent
worker I know. And I know for sure that you will do fine without me. Look
at your
hoobaes
, they have you to look up to. I know you'll do your best, I
have full confidence in you. And you all, don't slack around, okay?" She
said to us and everyone nodded.
"Ma'am, who'll be in power when you're gone?" I asked."My son is coming. He will be your new CEO. My husband wants to
hand over the company to him, but we want him to gain experience. And
what better way to get full experience than to work in a country like
Nigeria? Personally, I think Nigeria is a country that will help you develop
serious business strategies, ones that you never thought you could come up
with. In Korea, he can get anything done with the snap of a finger. But here,
here isn't like there. You have to work hard for everything you do. This is
the only place where he can be treated as an equal. The staff in Korea treat
us like gods, they act like robots—no emotions or feelings.
That's what's annoying, you know? When you just want to be a normal
person, but you can't. All because of the status that you hold. So, I told my
husband to send our son to Abuja and let him handle the company here first.
By the end of two years, I'm sure he'll be able to work in Korea better."
Mrs. Han left with Secretary Min after two weeks, and we received five
more Korean employees the same week. All of them seemed to be pompous
and didn't speak to any of us, not even the fellow Koreans working with us.
Tessa wanted to curse them out so bad, but I told her it wouldn't be a
good idea. She rolled her eyes. "
Whatare they feeling like please?"
"Just be nice, Tessa," I told her and she scoffed. The next day, the new
secretary came in. He was wearing a suit and he had large glasses on. On
his employee badge was his name:
Kim HyeonSook
. He didn't bother to say
a greeting to us. Instead, he ordered the janitors to dust the former CEO's
office. Three large boxes from the storage room were moved up as well.
That was when I knew there was trouble, serious trouble.
"Are we about to enter a K-drama?" Tessa whispered to me, and I
laughed.
"I think it's a C-drama, honestly." Er Duo, our only Chinese staff,
added.
"The CEO is coming," the secretary said before he left and we all stood
up, waiting expectantly for this so-called
CEO
. The minute the elevator
pinged, I knew hell wasn't far away. The most beautiful man I had ever seen
in my life walked in wearing an Armani suit and boy, was he disgusted.
"Your new CEO, Mr. Han Ha Neul."
Welcome to Nigeria, Iguess.