First day at work: stick to Plan A?

1. You pitch up promptly for your first day at the hospital at 07.30 as instructed. It’s deserted. You find a little cupboard /office where the last volunteer was based. You turn on light – then turn it off again as it roars like a dentist’s drill. What do you do?
a) Relax, have a look round, wait it out, it’s early days
b) Stress, cry, take it all as a personal insult, stomp home

2. Keeping with plan a) for now, you’re pleased to see the head doctor arrive. He’s welcoming and happy to give you an impromptu Khmer language lesson (pitched way too high, but a nice gesture). People start arriving – there’s a meeting! You don’t understand a word, but the head doctor kindly translates the odd thing – it seems this is a monthly gathering of leaders to report on how many women are registered (to give birth?) at local health centres. 4 hours later it’s still going. Time to escape?
a) Stick with it – getting to know key colleagues is important, and you may even soak up some of the language
b) Make your excuses now, before you die of hunger, boredom or piles from the hard wooden bench

3. You’re lucky you stuck it out – at the end the head invites you to his house for lunch, how nice! He turns to the HIV co-ordinator and asks him to take you there on his motorbike. What do you do?
a) Gently explain that you’d prefer to walk there with the head – you’d need to have a helmet to ride a moto, and you like walking anyway
b) Go with it, probably only round the corner anyway, who’s to know - and you’re hungry

4. Walking round the corner to the house you suddenly realise that this isn’t a personal invitation – the whole of the meeting is decamping to the cafe. And laid out before you is a lovely feast - of the pig trotter / goat eye / prawn gut variety. The chief of the main health centre beckons you over and smilingly asks how you like khmer food. Tuck in?
a) Gently ask if you could have a plate of (lovely Cambodian) veggies instead
b) Don’t risk offending at this stage – surely you can hold down a few entrails to keep the peace?

5. Your luck holds – a reassuringly green plate arrives, along with a couple of fried eggs – result. Now the beers come out – clearly nobody is intending to work this afternoon. Toasting and drinking get going in earnest – this could be a long afternoon... A DVD is inserted into the telly, smoochy k’mai ballads emanate, a microphone is produced. After a few songs, it’s edging in your direction. Time to sing?

Yeah, too right I left at that stage! – I’m not going to inflict my karaoke skills on anyone just yet. What do you think then – was sticking with plan a) the right thing to do?