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Sorry, my comment wasn't very well formulated. I actually was trying to be slightly sarcastic and over-dramatic to make a point. The point being, Apple seems t

by physcab 14y ago

Sorry, my comment wasn't very well formulated. I actually was trying to be slightly sarcastic and over-dramatic to make a point. The point being, Apple seems to demand quite a bit from its employees, such that they are required to make sacrifices other companies do not usually require. For me, flying 14 hours to be away from friends and family and not allowed to go anywhere but the factory and the hotel in which you stay seems like suffering. To others, that could quite possibly be the best experience of their lives. To each his own I guess.

glenra 14y ago
Why do you believe an Apple employee wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere but the factory and the hotel? Not that there's necessarily a lot to do in the area, but are you saying they couldn't go out to lunch at a nearby hotpot restaurant? Or at least schedule their return so that there's a weekend to explore Hong Kong on the way back? Me and my coworkers did a bunch of weekend excursions whenever we were in or passing through Hong Kong such as: hiking up to see the Big Buddha of Lantau Island, having dinner at Igor's (a monster-themed restaurant), seeing the local amusement park, finding a private Thai "dinner club", taking the ferry to Macau to play blackjack, seeing museums to get their take on the local history, or just wandering around to find food or souvenirs (the "Temple Street night market") or illegal software (the "Golden Arcade") or video games that hadn't come out in the US yet (Dance Dance Revolution was HUGE there in 1999)... Also, I sometimes scheduled my trips to fly to Hong Kong with a stopover at Narita Airport so I could stay in Tokyo with a friend and take a few days of my vacation time there with my company having paid all my travel expenses. If you like exploring bits of China and the surrounding area, having a business excuse to be going there a lot is awesome. Even if the neighborhood of the factory itself is a bit boring - and it is - the journey there and back can be fascinating. Especially if you like your coworkers - both the ones from your home company and the ones you meet at the factory - and have tried to learn a bit of the local languages. I even had fun interacting with the girls who were working on the line doing electronics assembly - I taught them some magic tricks and brought pictures I'd taken on prior trips and we tried to have interesting conversations despite the language and other cultural barriers.

by physcab 14y ago

glenra 14y ago

Why do you believe an Apple employee wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere but the factory and the hotel? Not that there's necessarily a lot to do in the area, but are you saying they couldn't go out to lunch at a nearby hotpot restaurant? Or at least schedule their return so that there's a weekend to explore Hong Kong on the way back? Me and my coworkers did a bunch of weekend excursions whenever we were in or passing through Hong Kong such as: hiking up to see the Big Buddha of Lantau Island, having dinner at Igor's (a monster-themed restaurant), seeing the local amusement park, finding a private Thai "dinner club", taking the ferry to Macau to play blackjack, seeing museums to get their take on the local history, or just wandering around to find food or souvenirs (the "Temple Street night market") or illegal software (the "Golden Arcade") or video games that hadn't come out in the US yet (Dance Dance Revolution was HUGE there in 1999)... Also, I sometimes scheduled my trips to fly to Hong Kong with a stopover at Narita Airport so I could stay in Tokyo with a friend and take a few days of my vacation time there with my company having paid all my travel expenses. If you like exploring bits of China and the surrounding area, having a business excuse to be going there a lot is awesome. Even if the neighborhood of the factory itself is a bit boring - and it is - the journey there and back can be fascinating. Especially if you like your coworkers - both the ones from your home company and the ones you meet at the factory - and have tried to learn a bit of the local languages. I even had fun interacting with the girls who were working on the line doing electronics assembly - I taught them some magic tricks and brought pictures I'd taken on prior trips and we tried to have interesting conversations despite the language and other cultural barriers.